You could make a convincing argument that the ongoing theme of the Mass Effect series is the hopelessness of escaping from the terrifying cycle of existence. It's constantly implied throughout the series that while the Reapers are, on the surface, a force of destruction devised to wipe out all organic life for no understandable reason, it may be the case that there's some unavoidable, essential purpose to their actions. I believe it's only in ME3 that they come right out and say that the Reapers exist to wipe out all advanced civilizations before they get too uppity and fuck everything up, leaving all the rock suckers and mouth breathers to fill the gap, and that this cycle has kept life in the universe in stable existence for longer than anyone can contemplate.
That's quite a layer of Shitshine you've sprayed on a turd of a plot point.
Organics weren't going to cause some sort of apocalyptic disruption of the natural order, thus needing the Reapers to destroy them: in the words of the child AI, organics were being destroyed because they would inevitably create a synthetic race that would be their undoing. In other words...
The theme of inescapable cycles can be seen elsewhere in the series, such as the implication that ending the Krogan genophage will cause the Krogan wars to happen again.
No shit, Sherlock. That was a theme because Shepard and, by effect, the player, was breaking those cycles. The only time that there's real reason to believe that history will repeat itself with the krogan is if your choices led you to that point, specifically if Wreav is in charge and
especially if Eve is dead. The cycle only repeats if you let it. Hell, in ME1, you had the option of killing the last rachni queen, effectively destroying their entire species.
Taking this as the series' theme, the ending of ME3 makes sense. In fact, it would make even more sense if everyone had just gotten wiped the fuck out and the cycle is shown to start again. It would show that even Commander Shepard, a man with all the resources available to anyone in the universe, the greatest technology, the greatest minds and the greatest navies at his side, is powerless to overcome the inevitability of entropy.
Actually, that
wouldn't make sense. As a man who despises DLC as much as you do, I doubt you got the Prothean squadmate, so you probably don't know the tidbits of backstory he provides.
In short, the downfall of the Prothean Empire was in their uniformity. Every race that composed the empire fought as a Prothean, not as whatever race they were. Crippling overspecialization, if you're a troper. As a result, Javik (the Prothean squadmate) actually thinks the races of the ME era have a chance against the Reapers because they traded the total stability via uniformity for moderate stability with diversity.
So with that in mind, no, it wouldn't have made sense for it to end that way. If this were the story of the Prothean Empire, it might've made sense, because for all their power and knowledge, they still lost against the Reapers because they simply couldn't adapt once the Reapers knew how to fight them.
Alternatively Shepard could save everyone from the Reapers and the universe would immediately descend into the very apocalyptic infighting the Reapers were created to stop.
Which is what virtually everyone assumes with the given ending. Because of how horrifically shortsighted blowing up the mass relays is and all.
But I doubt the fanbase of Mass Effect were dismayed because they wanted an appropriate ending to the story.
Wow. I'm surprised you're being this presumptuous after your old Mailbag Showdown made it clear that you regard presumptuous people as, quote, "dickhead
."
Rather, they wanted some kind of appropriate closure for the many-storied and I would argue unnecessarily lengthy process up to this point. Perhaps some epilogue where we get to see what all the characters we met along the way got up to after the events of the series, which I imagine would be easier if they hadn't pretty much all been killed off.
That's a horrible idea. Fans are upset because the ending was terrible on levels deeper than thought possible from Bioware. Providing an epilogue that shows how everyone dealt with the horrific ending is like comforting someone with a horrific disease by telling them how they originally acquired said disease. Their organs are still shutting down, but hey, at least they know unrelated facts pertaining to their specific case. That makes it better, right?
I've been given to understand that Bioware are talking about changing the ending under the massive pressure from the idiot fanbase, and I hope like hell they're just talking about doing something like that, an epilogue appendix style thing just to square away the subplots.
Oh, God. Please, don't do this, Yahtzee. I know you like the whole 'games are art' thing, but I see where this is going. I can already smell the horrible, self-righteous odor of the term 'bad precedent.'
Because it would set a horrible precedent
GODDAMNIT
if they're serious about actually changing the ending in line with some kind of democratically agreed upon alternative, rather than merely expanding or adding to it.
I'm guessing you never actually looked at the "Shepard was indoctrinated" theory yet?
Check it out. It would provide more than enough of a window to freely change the ending without outright retconning stuff.
I'm not as incensed about this concept as Moviebob has been on Twitter lately, but I can definitely say it's a bad idea. Because if it's established that the creators of a story can be pressured by constant browbeating by the audience, then the sanctity of the creator's original intention is made meaningless. The series will effectively have no ending, just a big gap with the words "Audience: Fill In Your Preferred Ending Here".
Oh, the beloved slippery slope argument. "If Bioware changes the Mass Effect ending, soon no game will have a solid ending! And same-sex marriage will lead to human-dog marriages! And women's suffrage will lead to hamster suffrage!"
This may be a time of politically correct inclusion of all points of view, but sooner or later the cockheads of the world are just going to have to accept that there are people who know better than them. You know. People who don't have cocks for heads.
I can already see this being added to the 'Dethroning Moment of Suck' trope page for ZP. I've been a fan since your Darkness demo days, but this was a misstep for you. For a critic who prides himself on reviewing for the average gamer, you're not reading the direction the wind's blowing very well.
It probably doesn't help that you clearly didn't like the series very much, and now you're mounting a multi-story high horse to call everyone who was very much invested in the series and outraged by the conclusion a "cockhead." I could understand if you didn't see what all the fuss was about. But frankly, it's a bit tough to accept your attempts to break down the major thematic elements of the story while you simultaneously remind us that you kitted your Shepard out with hot pink armor and a handlebar mustache and named him 'Titty.'
You're more than eloquent enough to convince us that you're knowledgeable in the area. But when you're obviously not taking the thing seriously, it pretty much cripples your credibility and makes the insults you sling out seem like a particularly easily-hated flavor of ignorant.
rigins, Starwars:KOTAR 1&2, Jade Empire,Neverwinter Nights 1&2, Baldur's Gate 1&2,Shattered Steel, Mass Effect 1&2(both still amazing games.)
