Mass Effect 3 Fans Will Find Closure June 26th

[votemarvel]

For instance, in a recent interview, Casey had said they never intended people to infer that all the races are stuck in the Milky Way to starve to death. Which I presume to mean in the new ending we will see HOW and WHY this isn't the case. And if they're changing something on that kind of level, I can see how clarification can fix a good many other things, as well.

Assuming you mean stuck in the Sol System I don't see how we were meant to infer anything else.

With the relays destroyed the ships are going to have to rely on conventional FTL to get them anywhere. We have no idea how long it is going to take the quarians and turians to reach a system with food they are able to eat or if their ships are going to be in a suitable state of repair to be able to make the trip in the first place.

The likelihood is that a great many of their survivors did starve.

That being said, Shepard still ends up dying at the end (unless you got the perfect ending that is only obtainable by having a save from the previous games...which A LOT of people didn't) AND death in video games is generally associated with failure...but the game meets it's resolution and ends...so did you really "win" if you ended up dying?

Even if you import 1>2>3 you still can't get that 'hidden' scene unless you play either the multi-player or the iPhone apps.

 

[MrBrightside919]

That being said, Shepard still ends up dying at the end (unless you got the perfect ending that is only obtainable by having a save from the previous games...which A LOT of people didn't) AND death in video games is generally associated with failure...but the game meets it's resolution and ends...so did you really "win" if you ended up dying?

Even if you import 1>2>3 you still can't get that 'hidden' scene unless you play either the multi-player or the iPhone apps.

Really? I didn't know that...

...I just ended up playing the multiplayer anyways since some people wanted to play it with me...

That's pretty messed up tho...

 

[votemarvel]

That being said, Shepard still ends up dying at the end (unless you got the perfect ending that is only obtainable by having a save from the previous games...which A LOT of people didn't) AND death in video games is generally associated with failure...but the game meets it's resolution and ends...so did you really "win" if you ended up dying?

Even if you import 1>2>3 you still can't get that 'hidden' scene unless you play either the multi-player or the iPhone apps.

Really? I didn't know that...

...I just ended up playing the multiplayer anyways since some people wanted to play it with me...

That's pretty messed up tho...

There weren't enough war assets in the game at the default Galactic Readiness of 50% to unlock that scene.

Apparently they've changed that with the Extended Cut, so hopefully everything will now be available from single player alone.

 

[CarlMin]

By now, I'm actually more upset with the ME3 reactions over the net. It has grown out of hand.

Mass Effect fans are like an obsessive ex who, alternatively hate and obsess over his significant other whom he feels betrayed by, but at the same time just can't forget and leave behind.

That's the impression I get when I see mile-long threads with thousands of posts with people (ironically) announcing that they don't care about the franchise anymore.

 

[votemarvel]

That's the impression I get when I see mile-long threads with thousands of posts with people (ironically) announcing that they don't care about the franchise anymore.

I'm not done with the franchise or Bioware games in general.

What has gone however is the "buy without question" mentality that I used to have with Bioware games.

I didn't like the changes in combat in Mass Effect 2. I thought Dragon Age 2 was pretty poor in every area except its characters. Couldn't play more than a month on the Old Republic it was so dull and there wasn't much in Mass Effect 3 I liked.

Bioware have burned me, so my pocket now treats them with the same sceptical nature I look at every other developer with.

That being said the Extended Cut could 'redeem' ME3 in my eyes. A great final act can pretty much save anything, so I'm hoping they can get it right in the DLC.

 

[mdqp]

The snip to end all snips

I guess it was all a little misunderstanding, then. And as for what's in the DLC, we'll see soon enough, no need to think about what it could or couldn't do anymore, I guess.

I actually kind of agree with your votes for the games, it's just that I generally value the narrative more than other parts, in RPGs that aren't sandboxes (I don't expect anything great storywise from an elder scroll game, just to name a famous series), but I expected a lot more from ME, especially since the game is lightweight in the RPG mechanics. I kind of wanted a trade-off (and I think I had it in the first ME).

I would say that I would just evaluate ME gameplay higher, because it had a lot of flaws, but it was particularly fun for me (the Mako was a ***** to control, especially if you tried to climb a mountain? True, but it was fun to go around fighting tresher maws, exploring small worlds to find something new or interesting. It was one of the few "exploration" you could do in the game, and they killed it).

The fighting was a little clunky, but I found it fun, too. The fights weren't as predictable, for once: the first time on Noveria, when I met the rachni for the first time, I was genuinely surprised: I didn't expect a fight there, with almost no covers!

The weapon had the cooldown mechanic, which I thought was cool, and compared to the other 2 games, a lot less generic. Also, you and your enemies could both overload the weapons, it was tactically more interesting, in my opinion.

Biotic should have been nerfed down a little, I agree, but wasn't stasis awesome, tactically? Why remove it in ME2 (they ended up bringing it back in TLOTSB, and ME3, but still...)?

Ammo as a skill... WTF?! And while I could agree for cooldown for each type of skills, having a single cooldown for everything it's just lame...

Also What's the point of having ammo instead of a cooldown, if I can replenish them so easily? At least the cooldown kept you on the edge, most of the times...

The inventory was poorly done in ME, but not having it at all was... Overdoing it? Same with the weapon restriction, ME already had a nice system to give your specialization a special feel, no need to lockdown weapons (this was better in ME3, though, with the encumbrance system).

I liked the interrupts during scenes, though, I thought they were a really nice touch, especially for renegade playthroughs (Just shooting in the face an enemy who's going on and on about this or that feels perfectly in role with a ruthless approach, like a renegade should be).

And the main plot narrative was too fucked up in ME2 (death and resurrection + working for Cerberus just like that= me going "WTF!?" over and over again) and ME3 (poorly handed tear-jerking death child in the first minutes + crucible "we-don't-know-what-it-really-does-quick-let's-put-everything-we-have-into-building-it" and more nonsense about multiple races building it over time withou knowing what does it do + lots and lots of the game doesn't care what you did before, you'll just get a nod of acknowledgement for them= me going "not again?"),for me, with a lot of lines that felt stupid, for me. Characters kept things afloat in ME2, but I feel like they were put aside most of the times in ME3, which was left with nothing in the story department, as a result.

 

[MrMan999]

So, how much do you guys wanna bet that it's a giant "Fuck You" To the fans who didn't like the first ending?

 

[votemarvel]

So, how much do you guys wanna bet that it's a giant "Fuck You" To the fans who didn't like the first ending?

The guys who have played it over on the Mass Effect 3 board of xbox.com are saying it's not a middle finger but it is funny rather than exciting new content.

Just got to wait until EA can be bothered to put it on Origin before I can get a go.

 

[mdqp]

I saw the endings... And I still don't like them. The endings remain stupid for the most part, and the game seems to confirm that the catalyst has pretty much free will so it could easily:

1)Instead of control, simply do what Shepard asks him to do (no dying);

2)Instead of destroy, simply self destruct/fly away/whatever (no need to risk death for Shepard);

3)Synthesis justification is so stupid I don't want to discuss it, but for the sake of making my point clear, it says that it tried something like that on its own, but failed... WTF?! And it says that something like organics weren't ready, or some other bullshit like that... This comes from the most advanced AI in existance, supposedly, the collective consciousness of the reapers couldn't do it, but now by dumb luck Shepard fits the bill;

This doesn't explain why the EMS affects the ending at all, and doesn't address the fallacy of the catalyst (appeal to probability), but we can consider it crazy, after all (it goes on explaining its origins, and says something stupid... Again: that it was created by someone that feared the problem between organics and synthetics couldd arise, and he was to be a mediator of sorts, but the problems happened multiple times... This means that its creator created synthetics multiple times and never were destroyed? So it is wrong by its own admission, and its creator were morons, I guess. It also created the first reaper from its creators against their will, possibly being the first AI to get close to what it claims that synthetics might do.

In Bioware defense, I think that people that wanted just closure will be happy with it, and that if this was the ending from the beginning, they wouldn't have received that much negative feedback.

As for myself, it does nothing to fix it for me (as I said before), in fact it makes a few things worse. I guess I wasn't their target to begin with, and this is just more proof I don't fit with their games anymore...

P.S. Captcha: One way... I think there is a captcha guy somewhere, and he must be stalking me... ;p

P.P.S. I must also admit that I lolled hard at some of the explanations, so I got something from the extended cut, in a sense...

 

[darkbshadow]

I just played through Three out of four of the endings and I do have to say it's better. It's an actual ending, it gives closure, and fills majority of those glaringly bad plot holes. You are able to actually ask questions of the blue kid and are able to find out more of what the hell is happening. It's really what made the extended cut worth playing through.

It's not the best ending, however it is an ending now. Plus you're able to shoot the stupid blue kid and it gives it's own ending. While it being a pretty bad ending I still got the satisfaction of putting a bullet through that stupid blue glowing face of his. In punishment of not telling me what the hell was happening the first time I played through the game.

If they had this included when the game went live I think a lot more people would be happy with the ending of the game. Now I think whatever ending they made your still going to see a huge backlash from fans saying that it's not enough or it's not what they were looking for. Personally I'm satisfied with it and glad Bioware didn't change it, but instead just added onto the end.

Still I wish the Indoctrination Theory was correct.

 

[Masterdebator]

I'll maybe watch the "explanations" on Youtube. Honestly, I've just lost interest in/ respect for Bioware as a developer.

The trilogy was ruined by the original ending and Bioware outed themselves as hypocritical morons in doing this damage control DLC (whatever happened to that "artistic integrity"/ "games are art" mantra/s they so valiantly preached?), on top of selling an incomplete and clearly rushed game with glaring plot holes to begin with.

There's little doubt in my mind the eventual Dragon Age 3 will just continue Bioware's descent into mediocrity, until EA takes the company out back, and puts a bullet in their head when they can't squeeze a buck out of them any more.

 

[Kevin7557]

They should just release the real ending of the game instead of expanding the crappy chopped ending that is in game. I didn't even get the game because I knew EA would somehow mess it up and now I'm never getting the game.

Way to kill Mass Effect EA.

I'll maybe watch the "explanations" on Youtube. Honestly, I've just lost interest in/ respect for Bioware as a developer.

The trilogy was ruined by the original ending and Bioware outed themselves as hypocritical morons in doing this damage control DLC (whatever happened to that "artistic integrity"/ "games are art" mantra/s they so valiantly preached?), on top of selling an incomplete and clearly rushed game with glaring plot holes to begin with.

There's little doubt in my mind the eventual Dragon Age 3 will just continue Bioware's descent into mediocrity, until EA takes the company out back, and puts a bullet in their head when they can't squeeze a buck out of them any more.

Bioware is a marketing brand of EA. This was EA's decision all the way. Bioware is just a souless corpse at this point.

 

[votemarvel]

Honestly after playing through the Extended Cut with the Destroy ending my only real complaint is why the hell wasn't this the ending that shipped with the game.

It's still not perfect by any means, what is after all, but it is infinitely better than what was there originally.

Things are cleared up, scenes extended when they needed to be and even the Star-Child actually starts making a little sense with its expanded dialogue.

Bioware if you can make the ending of Mass Effect 3 this good why oh why didn't you do it in the first place?

 

[freaper]

I for one liked the addition and removal of a few scenes. Some holes have been covered, and that's good enough for me. Time to let it rest guys!

 

[xorinite]

Having played at least one of the new endings.
Well, I summed up my thoughts elsewhere. Suffice to say I found myself pleased. There are still big plot holes however.
The worst is, the aliens get back to their worlds.. and THEN fix the mass relays.... wut?

There's a pretty good epilogue, the AI actually explains its motivations and what the choices will do, oh the Normandy still lands in a jungle, but that's so joker can take a leak, it takes off again a moment later there are some nice additional scenes, there are also some weird scenes designed to negate previous stuff without removing them, which is an odd decision. Oh and a fourth ending which while it works could have done with a little more development it has some jarring to it.

Overall, its pretty good I thought. So shall we send the antidote to the laxative we put in those cup cakes now?

Capcha: thumbs up.

 

[Steampunk Viking]

I watched the endings on YouTube ('coz I'm impatient and only just recently restarted the game on insanity) and I have to say, although the explanation could've been better, I find myself very satisfied with the updated ending. Yes, very much so.

I also like the fact you can refuse to make a choice now and the Reapers really CAN win.