I had promised myself not to do any more discussions of Mass Effect 3, but there is a disturbing trend out there that I have noticed, which made me want to write this thread. Before any flames or pitchforks or anything else are thrown my way, I want to say that I have played Mass Effect 3 through the end, and that I did not like the ending. With that out the way, the ending of the game has been discussed enough, and in so much detail that I'm pretty sure I could find a numbered list of every single argument that has been presented to date on either side. What I'm here to protest, however, is the somewhat disturbing number of people who say that the ending has completely ruined not only Mass Effect 3, but the entire series for them. There are some people out there who claim to be forever boycotting Bioware due to their 'hatred' of the ending. While I realize that some of these people are what the internet refers to as 'flamers' or 'trolls', I think that there are some out there who are actually serious about this point. Because I feel that I'm going to ramble on and on about this subject, I've decided to break it up into different subjects, and you can decide to click on any one you desire, or simply read them all, if you wish.
Now, I am by no means qualified to present any opinion at all, but this is simply my point of view on the matter. I'm not a journalist, I'm not majoring in any literary field. I'm a marine transportation major, really. I am, however, a gamer, and I feel that I had to present my point in the best way that I could, no matter how many/few people will actually read it.
Thank You
-Izzy
Now, I can understand that the ending was disliked because it didn't provide closure, and barely anything that could be considered a conclusion to the story. That being said, until those final minutes, I was utterly engrossed in Mass Effect 3, just as much so as I had been in both Mass Effect 1 and 2. Perhaps even more so. The series' developers and writers have obvious placed so much time and attention into making a science fictino world, while not entirely based off of new ideas, still stands as a world all it's own. If one were to sit and read every entry in the codex, as I imagine some have, it provides some hours of extra information about the world that Shepard and his/her crew inhabit.
Now, if the ending of a story is bad, does that necessarily negate the entire story? I don't think it does. The journey has always been the most important part of any story, not the conclusion. While a bad ending can certainly make us feel disappointed or let down, it does not change the fact that the story up until that point was one of the most enjoyable I have ever played. Mass Effect is one of the few series I've seen to marry shooter concepts and story concepts in a way that actually caters to both and makes each feel well used and comfortable, even if they took a little bit of trial and error to get it right (The first was a little heavy on story elements, and the combat admittedly suffered for it).
Now, if the ending of a story is bad, does that necessarily negate the entire story? I don't think it does. The journey has always been the most important part of any story, not the conclusion. While a bad ending can certainly make us feel disappointed or let down, it does not change the fact that the story up until that point was one of the most enjoyable I have ever played. Mass Effect is one of the few series I've seen to marry shooter concepts and story concepts in a way that actually caters to both and makes each feel well used and comfortable, even if they took a little bit of trial and error to get it right (The first was a little heavy on story elements, and the combat admittedly suffered for it).
Mass Effect is a game, and one of the ways we judge games is how well it plays. Now, I am the first to admit that the first Mass Effect was a little clunky in the way it handled combat and exploration, and I do feel that the Mako could have been handled a little better, gameplay wise. That being said, I also missed the open feeling of exploration that the Mako brought to the gameplay in Mass Effect 2 and 3, but they did make up for it with a much larger variety of locations. The combat, however, was thoroughly enjoyable in both the second and third games. The changes to the combat system made it more responsive, and, in essence, more enjoyable. I also applauded the change in the inventory system, which was oversized and complicated in the first Mass Effect, a relic of the RPG systems still inherent within the game itself. By Mass Effect 2, however, I feel that Bioware had a much better system for the inventory, and a more realistic one, rather than carrying hundreds of tons worth of items in an inventory.
All of the changes made in Mass Effect 2 were arguably for the better, and most of them were carried on into Mass Effect 3, with some more smoothing and tweaks that made the playing of the game even more enjoyable. The further focus on the cover mechanics, an increased look at the weapon systems in the game, and more attention paid to the powers and abilities gained by leveling made it an extremely fun experience overall. The dialogue system, first introduced in Mass Effect, and made more interactive in Mass Effect 2 through the use of interrupts was, to my mind, just as integral to the game experience in the third game as it was in the first two (Note: Still not including the ending in this). I don't understand how any person could find fault with the gameplay of the third game.
All of the changes made in Mass Effect 2 were arguably for the better, and most of them were carried on into Mass Effect 3, with some more smoothing and tweaks that made the playing of the game even more enjoyable. The further focus on the cover mechanics, an increased look at the weapon systems in the game, and more attention paid to the powers and abilities gained by leveling made it an extremely fun experience overall. The dialogue system, first introduced in Mass Effect, and made more interactive in Mass Effect 2 through the use of interrupts was, to my mind, just as integral to the game experience in the third game as it was in the first two (Note: Still not including the ending in this). I don't understand how any person could find fault with the gameplay of the third game.
Now, I felt that this could be adequately explained by content that I've written before, so...
Mass Effect to me is special, because it not only provides a tight, clean, and utterly unique science fiction experience, but because it honestly makes you care about the individuals within that universe. Through your interactions with the people and races in the Milky Way galaxy, you and your Shepard become invested, in one way or another, in the world and the characters that inhabit it. I became so enamored of the shipmates and friends that Shepard met and gathered on his travels that many of the moments in the game still stay with me. I wonder how many of us can still remember the first time we met Wrex, or Garrus. Ashley, Kaiden, Liara, Tali'Zorah. These are names that still strike at me, because of the choices I made in their evolvement as characters in a story that spans hours upon hours of gameplay.
Mass Effect has been one of a very small number of games that truly encourages us to not always imagine the big picture, but to look back at the smaller details, the tiny stories within the vast epic that flush out the character of the world itself. The constant financial machinations of the Volus, The horrors that the Krogan suffered through the genophage, or the difficult decisions that Salarians had to make. Even events before the series found importance, the First Contact war between Turians and Humans leaving a lingering animosity between the two species, a cold civility.
In this view of retrospective, Mass Effect 2 drove gamers even deeper into the lore of the galaxy. We were introduced to the seedy, exciting underbelly of the stars, away from the bright lights and flowing water of the citadel, to the dangerous apartments and nightclubs on Omega. Afterlife is still (to my mind) one of the best clubs/bars ever found in a video game, and it also provided a new face, the dangerous Asari Aria T'loak. Although a vague and mysterious individual, the few small pieces of information that Shepard discovers about her past paint the portrait of a life lived on the edge, far removed from the bright, civilized image of Asari portrayed by the individuals in Mass Effect 1.
The Krogans were fleshed out as well, their barren, dusty world of Tuchanka brought to life with history and desperation, the krogans having destroyed their own world with nuclear war. There, if the proper decisions were made in the first Mass Effect, we were reunited with Wrex, who was actually one of my favorite characters from the first game.
As Mass Effect 2 brought us back to the old connections we had formed in the first game, it also brought forth new ones, and gave us the opportunity to invest as much, if not more, in them. The 'perfect' Miranda, focused on her work and her responsibilties in Cerberus. Jacob, whose doubts colored his relations with the organization he worked for. Mordin, the brilliant and loquacious Salarian, who had lived a complicated life before arriving on the Normandy, involved in a restructuring of the Genophage. Jack, the cold and dangerous biotic experiment, whose past hid more than she was willing to reveal to most people. The list goes on with Samara, Thane, Grunt and Legion, as well.
Throughout my playthrough of Mass Effect 3, I found myself easily slipping back into the world and characters of the game. (Effectively, massive Spoilers follow hereafter, but I'm not done yet, sorry)
The choices I had made in the past two games all came back to follow me through the climactic story of the third, characters that I had met, shipmates that had followed me, friends that I had made. They lived, they laughed, they drank, and some of them died (RIP Mordin Solus, hero of the krogan people, and Legion, the first Geth to truly develop individuality, Kal'Reegar, the Quarian who saved Turians by repairing their communications under fire, and many more), while Shepard raced through the universe, trying desperately to recruit further help for the war back home. I felt deeper connections to the characters than ever before, desparate because of their plight, and what little they could do about it as individuals. Garrus, pulled into Turian military matters, forced to make decisions that could save or doom his entire planet. Tali, placed in a position of power that practically gave her power over the Entire Migrant fleet, the decisions that she made echoing throughout Quarian history. Liara, watching the destruction of her homeworld, Thessia. At the same time, the player stopped and grabbed at what small victories they could find. The individuality of EDI, as she pursued deeper understandings of sentience, what romance actually meant. James Vega's new outlook on the series providing a viewpoint completely different from the other members of the crew. Even meeting old crewmembers like Grunt, Samara, Thane, and Jack were small victories in their own right, a reckoning back to decisions that had saved them.
All of the decisions made throughout the series felt important, like I had actually done something right, saving Maelon's data so that the genophage cure could be completed, Letting the Geth rewrite themselves and find their own individuality, working together with the Quarians for the first time since their creation. Turians and Krogan setting aside their old differences to join together against a much larger and more dangerous threat. I was proud that I had brought the full force of the galaxy to bear on the Reaper fleet, confident that I could stop them, with my full bar of War Assets, so painstakingly filled and padded with every detail I could find, even investing time in the multiplayer (which actually works quite well, despite my initial hesitations at first hearing about it.) so that I could boost my galactic readiness to full. Armed with the might of the galaxy, I set forth to prove once and for all that the organic beings of the galaxy would not be forced to relive the cycle of processing any more.
And then, as we all know, came the ending. But that, as mentioned, has already been discussed.
Mass Effect to me is special, because it not only provides a tight, clean, and utterly unique science fiction experience, but because it honestly makes you care about the individuals within that universe. Through your interactions with the people and races in the Milky Way galaxy, you and your Shepard become invested, in one way or another, in the world and the characters that inhabit it. I became so enamored of the shipmates and friends that Shepard met and gathered on his travels that many of the moments in the game still stay with me. I wonder how many of us can still remember the first time we met Wrex, or Garrus. Ashley, Kaiden, Liara, Tali'Zorah. These are names that still strike at me, because of the choices I made in their evolvement as characters in a story that spans hours upon hours of gameplay.
Mass Effect has been one of a very small number of games that truly encourages us to not always imagine the big picture, but to look back at the smaller details, the tiny stories within the vast epic that flush out the character of the world itself. The constant financial machinations of the Volus, The horrors that the Krogan suffered through the genophage, or the difficult decisions that Salarians had to make. Even events before the series found importance, the First Contact war between Turians and Humans leaving a lingering animosity between the two species, a cold civility.
In this view of retrospective, Mass Effect 2 drove gamers even deeper into the lore of the galaxy. We were introduced to the seedy, exciting underbelly of the stars, away from the bright lights and flowing water of the citadel, to the dangerous apartments and nightclubs on Omega. Afterlife is still (to my mind) one of the best clubs/bars ever found in a video game, and it also provided a new face, the dangerous Asari Aria T'loak. Although a vague and mysterious individual, the few small pieces of information that Shepard discovers about her past paint the portrait of a life lived on the edge, far removed from the bright, civilized image of Asari portrayed by the individuals in Mass Effect 1.
The Krogans were fleshed out as well, their barren, dusty world of Tuchanka brought to life with history and desperation, the krogans having destroyed their own world with nuclear war. There, if the proper decisions were made in the first Mass Effect, we were reunited with Wrex, who was actually one of my favorite characters from the first game.
As Mass Effect 2 brought us back to the old connections we had formed in the first game, it also brought forth new ones, and gave us the opportunity to invest as much, if not more, in them. The 'perfect' Miranda, focused on her work and her responsibilties in Cerberus. Jacob, whose doubts colored his relations with the organization he worked for. Mordin, the brilliant and loquacious Salarian, who had lived a complicated life before arriving on the Normandy, involved in a restructuring of the Genophage. Jack, the cold and dangerous biotic experiment, whose past hid more than she was willing to reveal to most people. The list goes on with Samara, Thane, Grunt and Legion, as well.
Throughout my playthrough of Mass Effect 3, I found myself easily slipping back into the world and characters of the game. (Effectively, massive Spoilers follow hereafter, but I'm not done yet, sorry)
The choices I had made in the past two games all came back to follow me through the climactic story of the third, characters that I had met, shipmates that had followed me, friends that I had made. They lived, they laughed, they drank, and some of them died (RIP Mordin Solus, hero of the krogan people, and Legion, the first Geth to truly develop individuality, Kal'Reegar, the Quarian who saved Turians by repairing their communications under fire, and many more), while Shepard raced through the universe, trying desperately to recruit further help for the war back home. I felt deeper connections to the characters than ever before, desparate because of their plight, and what little they could do about it as individuals. Garrus, pulled into Turian military matters, forced to make decisions that could save or doom his entire planet. Tali, placed in a position of power that practically gave her power over the Entire Migrant fleet, the decisions that she made echoing throughout Quarian history. Liara, watching the destruction of her homeworld, Thessia. At the same time, the player stopped and grabbed at what small victories they could find. The individuality of EDI, as she pursued deeper understandings of sentience, what romance actually meant. James Vega's new outlook on the series providing a viewpoint completely different from the other members of the crew. Even meeting old crewmembers like Grunt, Samara, Thane, and Jack were small victories in their own right, a reckoning back to decisions that had saved them.
All of the decisions made throughout the series felt important, like I had actually done something right, saving Maelon's data so that the genophage cure could be completed, Letting the Geth rewrite themselves and find their own individuality, working together with the Quarians for the first time since their creation. Turians and Krogan setting aside their old differences to join together against a much larger and more dangerous threat. I was proud that I had brought the full force of the galaxy to bear on the Reaper fleet, confident that I could stop them, with my full bar of War Assets, so painstakingly filled and padded with every detail I could find, even investing time in the multiplayer (which actually works quite well, despite my initial hesitations at first hearing about it.) so that I could boost my galactic readiness to full. Armed with the might of the galaxy, I set forth to prove once and for all that the organic beings of the galaxy would not be forced to relive the cycle of processing any more.
And then, as we all know, came the ending. But that, as mentioned, has already been discussed.
I believe that Mass Effect 3 is still a great game, no matter what the ending might hold, because of the content that it holds within it. The characters, the world, the gameplay, everything that has been filtered through the first two games and continues to enrich and complete the experience that is, to me, definitively Mass Effect. I loved Mass Effect 1, I loved Mass Effect 2, and I love Mass Effect 3. I do not believe that this is the end of gaming as we know it, despite several journalists and forum posters claiming that to be so. I don't think that the ending of Mass Effect 3 is proof that Bioware is circling the game as a developer, in fact I find it quite ridiculous.
Now, I am by no means qualified to present any opinion at all, but this is simply my point of view on the matter. I'm not a journalist, I'm not majoring in any literary field. I'm a marine transportation major, really. I am, however, a gamer, and I feel that I had to present my point in the best way that I could, no matter how many/few people will actually read it.
Thank You
-Izzy
