Mass Effect 3 ending SPOILERS!

[Aisaku]

That's priceless... This is exactly what the game needs, Shepard rebelling against the Conduit's options and fighting to the bitter end. That way the assets would be worth something.

That is exactly what I thought, make sure to spread the message though. If Bioware is going to change it they need to know were upset. Although from the amount of heat there going to be getting in the next couple weeks I'm sure they will know.

On spreading the word... I hope this will help: http://www.facebook.com/DemandABetterEndingToMassEffect3

1800 likes since thursday.

 

[Bigeyez]

So I finally reached the end of the game...and I loved it. Sure while I understand the gripes with the ending but to me it fits this series perfectly. All three games have revolved around making sacrifices in order to achieve the overall goal. Now as far as the "Child" goes I feel thats left up to the player to interpret. In my mind what we are seeing is simply an AI that was created to be in charge of the Reapers and control their actions. It takes the form of a child because it most likely delved into Shepards mind and realized that child had a profound affect on Shepards mind and then decided to take that form. Remember the child itself says no organic has ever made it that far so why would it look like any other form in particular? It picked something from Shepards own mind that Shepard would recognize as important and be familiar with.

In my game I had over 5k military strength, 100% Galaxy Readiness and all side missions complete except for some of the scanning ones. I was presented with the three options. Destroying the Reapers, controlling them, and synthesis. I chose to destroy them. The crucible fires destroying all synthetic life. The Mass Relays get destroyed in the process (happens in all three choices) leaving the Normandy and crew stranded on an unidentified (to the player) planet. We then see Shepard's body in rubble in a closeup of his N7 tag and in the last seconds Shepard's chest moves which looked to me like he breathed, or in other words he survived. Credits roll to final cutscene of an elderly man telling a little girl about the Legend of Shepard. Hearing the end of the Reaper story the girl asks for one more tale about Shepard and he agrees to tell her one more story, again confirming that he survives. Last thing is a piece of text from Bioware saying something along the lines that Shepards tale will continue in the future with DLC, etc which makes three confirmations that Shepard survives in my book.

Do I understand the complaints? Yes. Do I feel like my choices mattered? Yes. Am I happy with the ending? Yes. Would I have preferred a total "happy" ending? Maybe, but maybe not and maybe we will eventually get one.

All in all though I applaud Bioware writers for having the balls to go with a risky ending. They could have simply ended it with the Reapers being destroyed and everyone goes home for a cup of tea and hot love making but they in my opinion stayed true to the core of what the series has been about and offered up three huge bittersweet sacrifices as your final options.

I know my opinion isn't a popular one, but I sure as hell enjoyed this game and enjoyed the ending. And the way I see it any ending where someone somewhere survived is a good ending versus the Reapers. And seeing that Shepard survived through it all and we will most likely have DLC or more games furthering the story I see this as far from a bad ending.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Actually Bigeyez Bioware has already said there will be no DLC that takes place post-game, and that Mass effect 3 is the end of shepard's story.

His adventures afterwards are most likely be left to the player to imagine.
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Captcha: nut case, what I feel about many of the ME3 ending haters.

 

[synobal]

So I finally reached the end of the game...and I loved it. Sure while I understand the gripes with the ending but to me it fits this series perfectly. All three games have revolved around making sacrifices in order to achieve the overall goal. Now as far as the "Child" goes I feel thats left up to the player to interpret. In my mind what we are seeing is simply an AI that was created to be in charge of the Reapers and control their actions. It takes the form of a child because it most likely delved into Shepards mind and realized that child had a profound affect on Shepards mind and then decided to take that form. Remember the child itself says no organic has ever made it that far so why would it look like any other form in particular? It picked something from Shepards own mind that Shepard would recognize as important and be familiar with.

In my game I had over 5k military strength, 100% Galaxy Readiness and all side missions complete except for some of the scanning ones. I was presented with the three options. Destroying the Reapers, controlling them, and synthesis. I chose to destroy them. The crucible fires destroying all synthetic life. The Mass Relays get destroyed in the process (happens in all three choices) leaving the Normandy and crew stranded on an unidentified (to the player) planet. We then see Shepard's body in rubble in a closeup of his N7 tag and in the last seconds Shepard's chest moves which looked to me like he breathed, or in other words he survived. Credits roll to final cutscene of an elderly man telling a little girl about the Legend of Shepard. Hearing the end of the Reaper story the girl asks for one more tale about Shepard and he agrees to tell her one more story, again confirming that he survives. Last thing is a piece of text from Bioware saying something along the lines that Shepards tale will continue in the future with DLC, etc which makes three confirmations that Shepard survives in my book.

Do I understand the complaints? Yes. Do I feel like my choices mattered? Yes. Am I happy with the ending? Yes. Would I have preferred a total "happy" ending? Maybe, but maybe not and maybe we will eventually get one.

All in all though I applaud Bioware writers for having the balls to go with a risky ending. They could have simply ended it with the Reapers being destroyed and everyone goes home for a cup of tea and hot love making but they in my opinion stayed true to the core of what the series has been about and offered up three huge bittersweet sacrifices as your final options.

I know my opinion isn't a popular one, but I sure as hell enjoyed this game and enjoyed the ending. And the way I see it any ending where someone somewhere survived is a good ending versus the Reapers. And seeing that Shepard survived through it all and we will most likely have DLC or more games furthering the story I see this as far from a bad ending.

Just my 2 cents.

We don't really know Shepherd survived though the DLC and stuff could be prior to the final battle for earth, after all the game takes you right back to the moment once it is all over. Which suggests to me that Bioware have DLC that takes place prior to the ending of the game not after.

I hope Shepherd died myself, its fitting really.

It is possible though and Bioware certainly left that open for the future. If the 'control' ending got established as Cannon it might be interesting to talk to Shepherd as a Reaper though obviously he wouldn't be all 'destroy all organic life'.

 

[Bigeyez]

Actually Bigeyez Bioware has already said there will be no DLC that takes place post-game, and that Mass effect 3 is the end of shepard's story.

His adventures afterwards are most likely be left to the player to imagine.
.
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Captcha: nut case, what I feel about many of the ME3 ending haters.

Well even with Bioware saying that I really would not be shocked if they changed their minds on it. Shepard's story may be over but that doesn't mean thats the last we will hear of Shepard in future ME games. =) But yeah Bioware left the ending entirely up to the player to imagine. And while I understand why a lot of people might hate that it was the perfect way for the series to go in my mind.

 

[synobal]

Actually Bigeyez Bioware has already said there will be no DLC that takes place post-game, and that Mass effect 3 is the end of shepard's story.

His adventures afterwards are most likely be left to the player to imagine.
.
.
Captcha: nut case, what I feel about many of the ME3 ending haters.

Well even with Bioware saying that I really would not be shocked if they changed their minds on it. Shepard's story may be over but that doesn't mean thats the last we will hear of Shepard in future ME games. =) But yeah Bioware left the ending entirely up to the player to imagine. And while I understand why a lot of people might hate that it was the perfect way for the series to go in my mind.

Oh ya for sure. It's likely that in future games Shepherd will be deified. Ya I don't understand why people are so upset at leaving open possibilities for the future that was full of hope.

From they way they talked you'd think Bioware said 'you all die horribly and the reapers die too and guess what that space hamster was the only one left alive from the Normandy and he was paralyzed from the waist down and only lived for five terrible days in a slowly depressurization Normandy that was on its way into the star of the sol system.

 

[Bigeyez]

Oh ya for sure. It's likely that in future games Shepherd will be deified. Ya I don't understand why people are so upset at leaving open possibilities for the future that was full of hope. From they way they talked you'd think Bioware said 'you all die horribly and the reapers die too and guess what that space hamster was the only one left alive from the Normandy and he was paralyzed from the waste down and only lived for five terrible days in a slowly depressurization Normandy that was on its way into the star of the sol system.

Exactly haha. I've been reading this thread and the descriptions of the endings and the way people talked about them here it sounded nothing like what I got from playing through the game and seeing the ending in it's proper context.

 

[Aisaku]

Actually Bigeyez Bioware has already said there will be no DLC that takes place post-game, and that Mass effect 3 is the end of shepard's story.

His adventures afterwards are most likely be left to the player to imagine.
.
.
Captcha: nut case, what I feel about many of the ME3 ending haters.

Well even with Bioware saying that I really would not be shocked if they changed their minds on it. Shepard's story may be over but that doesn't mean thats the last we will hear of Shepard in future ME games. =) But yeah Bioware left the ending entirely up to the player to imagine. And while I understand why a lot of people might hate that it was the perfect way for the series to go in my mind.

Oh ya for sure. It's likely that in future games Shepherd will be deified. Ya I don't understand why people are so upset at leaving open possibilities for the future that was full of hope.

From they way they talked you'd think Bioware said 'you all die horribly and the reapers die too and guess what that space hamster was the only one left alive from the Normandy and he was paralyzed from the waist down and only lived for five terrible days in a slowly depressurization Normandy that was on its way into the star of the sol system.

It may look full of hope on the bigger scale, but they just handed the Normandy crew a death sentence... Jacob's father is laughing in his grave.

How can't people take offense in this?

http://cloudn1en.tumblr.com/post/19078422136/this-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-worst-uses-of-a-deus

 

[4173]

I've actually had my mind shifted towards liking the ending more because of this thread, but I still have a big problem; the reveal of the Reapers' motivations is really underwhelming.


I'm really unhappy Sovereign seems to have been blowing hot air in ME1. "We wipe out advanced races in order to stop them building Skynet" is the awesome (as in the original sense of the word) purpose we couldn't possibly understand?

They were set up to be some hybrid of C'thulhu and Galactus and instead they are just another paternalistic, "father knows best," video game boss.


At the very, very, very least I wish I had the chance to ask the Catalyst why they give two fucks if organic life is destroyed.


I'm not going to say that the ending invalidated all the prior choices, but doing a hard reset does make a number of largish (saving the Council) and tiny (punching the reporter) choices pointless. After being so involved in galactic politics, it was sad to see so much of it wiped away.


The collectors still feel pointless. It feels like huge chunks of the main story in ME2 was a completely useless detour.

Not related to the ending, but I think Kai Leng has become my most hated video game character. Simply awful.

 

[synobal]

Actually Bigeyez Bioware has already said there will be no DLC that takes place post-game, and that Mass effect 3 is the end of shepard's story.

His adventures afterwards are most likely be left to the player to imagine.
.
.
Captcha: nut case, what I feel about many of the ME3 ending haters.

Well even with Bioware saying that I really would not be shocked if they changed their minds on it. Shepard's story may be over but that doesn't mean thats the last we will hear of Shepard in future ME games. =) But yeah Bioware left the ending entirely up to the player to imagine. And while I understand why a lot of people might hate that it was the perfect way for the series to go in my mind.

Oh ya for sure. It's likely that in future games Shepherd will be deified. Ya I don't understand why people are so upset at leaving open possibilities for the future that was full of hope.

From they way they talked you'd think Bioware said 'you all die horribly and the reapers die too and guess what that space hamster was the only one left alive from the Normandy and he was paralyzed from the waist down and only lived for five terrible days in a slowly depressurization Normandy that was on its way into the star of the sol system.

It may look full of hope on the bigger scale, but they just handed the Normandy crew a death sentence... Jacob's father is laughing in his grave.

How can't people take offense in this?

It was not deus ex machina, I wish people would really figure out what that is.

Plus we don't know anything about the planet they crashed on and we don't know to what extent the Normandy was damaged, it obviously wasn't destroyed.

For all we know it is some colony of the Asari or some other race.

The ending with everyone getting off the Normandy is symbolic, Joker and EDI symbolize Adam and Eve, and the planet is suppose to be 'Eden' hell for all we know it is Eden Prime.

It's the start of a new cycle one that wasn't reaped by machines anything is possible it is a new era!

 

[Bigeyez]

Actually Bigeyez Bioware has already said there will be no DLC that takes place post-game, and that Mass effect 3 is the end of shepard's story.

His adventures afterwards are most likely be left to the player to imagine.
.
.
Captcha: nut case, what I feel about many of the ME3 ending haters.

Well even with Bioware saying that I really would not be shocked if they changed their minds on it. Shepard's story may be over but that doesn't mean thats the last we will hear of Shepard in future ME games. =) But yeah Bioware left the ending entirely up to the player to imagine. And while I understand why a lot of people might hate that it was the perfect way for the series to go in my mind.

Oh ya for sure. It's likely that in future games Shepherd will be deified. Ya I don't understand why people are so upset at leaving open possibilities for the future that was full of hope.

From they way they talked you'd think Bioware said 'you all die horribly and the reapers die too and guess what that space hamster was the only one left alive from the Normandy and he was paralyzed from the waist down and only lived for five terrible days in a slowly depressurization Normandy that was on its way into the star of the sol system.

It may look full of hope on the bigger scale, but they just handed the Normandy crew a death sentence... Jacob's father is laughing in his grave.

How can't people take offense in this?

http://cloudn1en.tumblr.com/post/19078422136/this-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-worst-uses-of-a-deus

How do you know they handed the crew a death sentence? For all you know they landed on a colonized world. Its obviously habitable and if its habitable it will have a chance of having life and food on it. So yes I don't take offense because WE DON'T KNOW THEY WILL DIE.....

 

[Aisaku]

How do you know they handed the crew a death sentence? For all you know they landed on a colonized world. Its obviously habitable and if its habitable it will have a chance of having life and food on it. So yes I don't take offense because WE DON'T KNOW THEY WILL DIE.....

Asuming they landed in a habitable world, not all of them could survive without stretching things. For starters, Tali and Garrus are dextro dna so they can't eat food from a levo dna (regular) planet. So they either invent a way to produce levo food or starve to death. There's the issue of Joker's vrolik's syndrome. He needs constant medical attention or else he will be bedridden and sick. Even not showing anything would've been better than this. It's on par with the gross contradictions of established lore on the latest ME novel.

 

[synobal]

How do you know they handed the crew a death sentence? For all you know they landed on a colonized world. Its obviously habitable and if its habitable it will have a chance of having life and food on it. So yes I don't take offense because WE DON'T KNOW THEY WILL DIE.....

Asuming they landed in a habitable world, not all of them could survive without stretching things. For starters, Tali and Garrus are dextro dna so they can't eat food from a levo dna (regular) planet. So they either invent a way to produce levo food or starve to death. There's the issue of Joker's vrolik's syndrome. He needs constant medical attention or else he will be bedridden and sick. Even not showing anything would've been better than this. It's on par with the gross contradictions of established lore on the latest ME novel.

Did you miss the synthesis bit? We don't know what changes that has, for all we know they can survive on dirt, air, batteries or don't even eat any more.

Plus we don't know anything about the planet they crashed on and we don't know to what extent the Normandy was damaged, it obviously wasn't destroyed.

For all we know it is some colony of the Asari or some other race.

The ending with everyone getting off the Normandy is symbolic, Joker and EDI symbolize Adam and Eve, and the planet is suppose to be 'Eden' hell for all we know it is Eden Prime.

It's the start of a new cycle one that wasn't reaped by machines anything is possible it is a new era!

 

[Hyper-space]

snip

I am writing just seconds after finishing the game and I completely agree with you. In ME2, everyone on your ship and your crew could die, all bets were off. The possibility of an ending where everything is sunshine and unicorns wasn't owed to us, it wasn't even promised (considering how people kept going on about this being a one-way trip) nor was it necessary for the series.

These endings were not an insult to the player, it simply did the unexpected. The vitriol that surrounds it might just be a byproduct of the immense hate that is being directed towards Bioware and the high expectations.

 

[Bigeyez]

How do you know they handed the crew a death sentence? For all you know they landed on a colonized world. Its obviously habitable and if its habitable it will have a chance of having life and food on it. So yes I don't take offense because WE DON'T KNOW THEY WILL DIE.....

Asuming they landed in a habitable world, not all of them could survive without stretching things. For starters, Tali and Garrus are dextro dna so they can't eat food from a levo dna (regular) planet. There's the issue of Joker's vrolik's syndrome. He needs constant medical attention. Even not showing anything would've been better than this. It's on par with the gross contradictions of established lore on the latest ME novel.

But nothing you said was a contradiction. And again you are assuming the worst. We don't know where they are. Again for all we know they are on a colonized planet. For all we know the crew can come up with a food source for Tali/Garrus and meds for Joker, there is a full lab and tons of tech aboard the Normandy. We just don't know. And say the worst happens and Tali/Garrus/Joker die and they are on a planet with no other humanoids. Thats still doesn't mean the rest of the crew will die. Again not liking it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. Just like I'm entitled to like it. =)

 

[Bigeyez]

snip

I am writing just seconds after finishing the game and I completely agree with you. In ME2, everyone on your ship and your crew could die, all bets were off. The possibility of an ending where everything is sunshine and unicorns wasn't owed to us, it wasn't even promised (considering how people kept going on about this being a one-way trip) nor was it necessary for the series.

These endings were not an insult to the player, it simply did the unexpected. The vitriol that surrounds it might just be a byproduct of the immense hate that is being directed towards Bioware and the high expectations.

I feel the same way. I think if it wasn't for all the hate that has already been surrounding EA and Bioware this wouldn't be the crazy ragefest that it is right now.

 

[gundamrx101]

So choices went out the window, people are arguing/defending that.
The argument the Reapers had went out the window for some, including myself with the whole organics vs synthetics. I united the Geth and the Quarian. Hell, the old Geth archives showed that the Geth wanted to live peacfully with their creators. So by the AI saying synthetics are evil and will destroy humanity with no proof or backing was just dumb. Even EDI once she was free chose to integrate herself with the crew. All that hard work over the course of two games, just so Bioware could rip of the Age Of Strife from Warhammer 40k. Actually now that I think about Mass Effect is one big Warhammer rip off.

I can see the point of people defending these endings but at the same time. This statement "Humanity can now freely chose their path" is completely redundant. We'll just head back up into the stars with Mass Relay 2.0, which could still be manipulated by an outside force/start a new war. Life goes on and the cycle continues.

That statement there is why I'm pissed. The cycle continues. What good are choices when you can't break the cycle? I proved that organics and synthetics can live in harmony, but some asshole is going to tell me that it was temporary. No, the Geth wanted to be with their creators. Living in harmony. That's why they chose to never purge from their databanks the sacrifices that many Quarians made to protect them. I helped the Quarians see the error of their ways and they in turn wanted to live in harmony with the Geth.

It's Dragon Age 2 all over again. I made the choice to sacrifice my PC to rid the world of the blight. Then in DA2 they state that my PC went missing. I guess he got bored of being dead. If Bioware wanted to give us free will in out games to determine an ending. Why restrict us? Three games, all with choices; expanding with every game and it boils down to Human Revolution. Press button A to bake bread, ect ect.

You guys can argue and defend the endings all you want, but from a writing stand point and at their core. They're lazy. I knew going in not everyone would walk away from this fight but I knew you could change certain outcomes. It turns out though, no. No you really can't. This hard reset ending is about as lazy as the "It was all dream" endings or the horror movie "It's all over now but it isn't" endings. I could see how the relays posed a threat, but couldn't the crucible be programmed to just detect Reaper IFFs? So when Shepard set it off, sure it shut down the relays and takes out the reapers but leaves the ships intact. That would be a bittersweet ending. Reapers wiped out, Technology still intact but the relays are disabled with no way in the near future to boot them back up.

We don't even get that. Everyone crash lands, stranded and defeated. Your choices didn't matter, getting ready didn't matter. Life goes on anyway. So what was the point of building up EMS? Oh right, to get a different angle on the same cutscene. You guys can respond but I'm not going to waste my breath replying. At the end of the day, Bioware decided to turn the "epic" conclusion to SHEPARD'S (as opposed to ending the Mass Effect franchise which they stated could still go on without Shepard) story into the history eraser button. Thanks Bioware.

Dude I had full Paragon and everything but I didn't notice a 3rd ending.

Yeah you had three endings because you had three magic buttons to push. Destroy the Reapers, Control the Reapers or Merge organics and synthetics together.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Why would you want to destroy the Reapers? They are the guardians of life, destroying only the life that threatened all life. Inevitably without them some race would make AIs that would rebel against organics and kill all life in the galaxy.
Which is worse? A galaxy teemed with life that only has its advanced races extinguished every 50.000 years, or an eternally dead galaxy? Obviously the second.

That's why I see the synthesis as the only good ending. No more doomed galaxy, no more Reapers.
This is all based on what the Catalyst said anyway. I hope he didn't lie. Lol.

But that makes no sense. We've already proven, via the Geth and EDI, that it is untrue that all synthetics want to wipe out all organic life. Hell, the Catalyst itself, by its very existence and purpose, disproves that. It just doesn't make sense.

The ending video was crap, but the actual ending, and the choice you must make, are great.

The entire point of the catalyst is supposed to be that there are simply things in this universe far too vast or old for us to possibly begin to comprehend.

Was the catalyst God? Was it some incredibly advanced AI from a race that came long before our time?

I'm sorry, but that's BS. The "you're too simple to understand it" thing only worked with Sovereign's motivation in ME1, and even then only because we had only just been told about the Reapers in the first place. After that, it's just taking the easy way out.

After finally finishing ME3, I think the ending was rather brilliant.

I guess I can recognize that people would want a happier ending.

...But ME3 was all about personal sacrifice and "the end of days". Shepard goes all that way to watch the fleet of the whole galaxy torn to shreds around him/her, all to defend the crucible which turned out to not work. All the hopes of the galaxy rested on that device working, and it failed utterly. It was an excellent tale of "sometimes even your best is not enough".

The "god child" made sense to me, the Reapers had always put great importance on the citadel. That it should be the home of their directing consciousness explains why the reapers are able to tell when civilizations have reached the right level of technology. They have a spy right there. I always felt that there was more to the citadel then simply being a Mass Relay for the Reapers.

The choice you make matters, the whole galaxy changes based on what you do. It's not like Deus Ex where it's just stating some opinions and nothing happens.

None of the choices are "easy", as it should be.


So I for one, loved the ending.

The problem wasn't so much the ending as how it was presented and paced. We confront the Illusive Man, that ends, and the game slows down. The game feels over, there is no reason to go on. Then...the ending is snatched away at the last second (which is extremely frustrating all on its own) and we suddenly get an info dump from a big important character that we had never had a hint of existing before. He then describes 3 options which are so completely out of the blue.

It may not be a deus ex machina asspull, but the way they presented it sure makes it feel that way. If it had been developed in some way before the climax, that would have been fine.

This post will piss people off, but I feel it needs to be made. Sorry guys, but...


Who else expected the game to end like this? Seriously, please tell me I wasn't the only one who was expecting it to end tragically.

I haven't finished the game, but I came across some minor events that screamed "THINGS WILL NOT END WELL!" Who else noticed that the new human characters had back-story resulting in pointless loss? Anyone else notice that people suffering some form of loss (or doubt) could be influenced? Can someone else notice that the fact that you are facing a force you are repeatedly told is so powerfully overwhelming they doubt you can win, even when you pull off the 'impossible'?

Unless they execute the end movie improperly, I applaud Bioware for making people realize THIS IS NOT A FAIRY TALE. If people you connect with make heroic sacrifices, and Shep did this in ME2 then you will NOT get the pretty rainbow rosy ending. You want a bittersweet ending to a game, play as a Dwarf Commoner character through Dragon Age Origins and don't use Morrigan's 'trick'. That's bittersweet.

Standing on the planet after you save the galaxy is just a boring version of Star Wars Prequel Episode (whatever one had the parade at the end).

I would 'engage flameshield', but I really don't care. If people couldn't see it coming, then you need to pay a bit more attention.

The issue isn't that the game ends sadly, it's that the WAY it ends sadly is bullshit. I'd have been fine with a bittersweet ending if it was told well.

I have to say, I didn't take all the hate surrounding the endings in the leaked scripts on the Bioware forums that seriously. I figured it was just more unified fans butthurt that they didn't get the ending they wished for.

Alas, how wrong I was. I can appreciate a sad, no hope ending, but not when you've invested so much choice into a trilogy spanning 5 years. It's just a massive waste.

Leave it to Bioware to go so well then trip at the last hurdle, but the sheer amount of vitriol the endings are recieving EVERYWHERE won't go unnoticed. There's no doubt about that, and neither should it.

How are any of the endings sad or even close to 'no hope' except for the one where you destroy all synthetic life?

I've seen you posting about this, so I just grabbed the first post of yours I saw. Look, the problem a lot of people have with this isn't that the endings are sad (though I have seen a few people frame it that way), it's that the way it's presented feel wrong and takes away our agency. See above.

 

[Aisaku]

How do you know they handed the crew a death sentence? For all you know they landed on a colonized world. Its obviously habitable and if its habitable it will have a chance of having life and food on it. So yes I don't take offense because WE DON'T KNOW THEY WILL DIE.....

Asuming they landed in a habitable world, not all of them could survive without stretching things. For starters, Tali and Garrus are dextro dna so they can't eat food from a levo dna (regular) planet. There's the issue of Joker's vrolik's syndrome. He needs constant medical attention. Even not showing anything would've been better than this. It's on par with the gross contradictions of established lore on the latest ME novel.

But nothing you said was a contradiction. And again you are assuming the worst. We don't know where they are. Again for all we know they are on a colonized planet. For all we know the crew can come up with a food source for Tali/Garrus and meds for Joker, there is a full lab and tons of teach aboard the Normandy. We just don't know. And say the worst happens and Tali/Garrus/Joker die and they are on a planet with no other humanoids. Thats still doesn't mean the rest of the crew will die. Again not liking it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. Just like I'm entitled to like it. =)

Agree to disagree then? =) I actually put a list of reasons why the ending isn't as bleak as it seems if you consider the Destroy and the 'Shepard becomes a Reaper' endings on the review thread. Another poster said it was too much of a reach, that this is something Bioware shouldn't have left open. For that, I agree. The moment I saw what I thought was a child getting blown up in the transport I knew something was up with this Mass Effect.

Still, I'll hope for that olive branch from the developer, something to say Shepard did not just conform to the choices given and die, and that the Normandy crew did not get stranded just because they didn't find profitable to produce all the possible LI reunion sequences.

 

[V8 Ninja]

After further inspection, yes; there is a third option that cannot be unlocked through a normal playthrough of the game.

...HOWEVER, it is so vague and almost exactly identical to the other two endings so much that, until more DLC or another game in the series is released, we have no idea whether it effects anything about anything. And the choice is still very much ternary; even if you unlock the ending you don't have to take that option. The game doesn't enforce your past actions on you, making the choices (appear) pointless in the grand scheme of things.

Weird, after my first playthrough of the game (an imported ME1-ME2 file) i had the 3 options, Control destroy or synergy, did you mean a standalone playthrough or a single player playthrough? because you can attain all endings via single player alone.

I believe that the synergy option requires doing X amount of war assets before the final mission. I also may have no idea what I'm talking about.