Mass Effect 3 Is a Good Game.

[idarkphoenixi]

- A BROKEN QUEST SYSTEM IN AN RPG GAME. This is one of the deadly sins when it comes to gaming and is absolutely unforgivable. You are never told when your quest was completed. You are never told if you are even still eligable to finish the quest. Quests are mostly given through overhearing conversations (again, less dialogue scenes to save money)

My lord this. I honestly think that this is perhaps the most baffling as it is the most obviously wrong. How did they fuck this up? Why didn't anyone say "Your quest system doesn't work"

Gosh, It just irritates me. I hope they patch it. They won't but I hope they do.

If you had the game on PC I would normally say to just find a community mod that fixes it. Except if you did that then EA's Origin would ban your account indefinately.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

ng...even gripping...to listen to/play through, by the time you get to the agonizingly pointless ending you realize you've been duped and the entire thing has been a complete waste of time.

I can't honestly agree with this. I have never felt that my playthrough of Mass Effect was a waste of time, and to use your own words, I wouldn't feel comfortable with saying so. I suppose it's a matter of opinion, but I don't feel that likening it to literal shit is saying much for either the people who spent so much time making the series or the people who spent so much time playing it. Sure, the ending wasn't written by the writing team, but rather two people in an office (or so I've been informed), but the rest of the game is just as well written as the rest of the series.

I agree with you that the Mass Effect series are great games but for me I just can't bring myself to play through it again while that ending is in place...it just feels pointless.

There is absolutely no point in doing anything, you should have just gone home after Eden Prime and enjoyed yourself.

Because the outcome would have been exactly the same.

For me my Paragon Shep was an embodiment of that 'never surrender' attitude that Britain had during the second world war. Yet when she is confronted with a nonsensical choice she just accepts it. My Shep would have told them to shove their choice up their ass and let the fleet sort it out for good or ill.

That's what annoyed me and that's why the ending makes me not want to play through the game again. I hope that answers your question.

 

[370999]

- A BROKEN QUEST SYSTEM IN AN RPG GAME. This is one of the deadly sins when it comes to gaming and is absolutely unforgivable. You are never told when your quest was completed. You are never told if you are even still eligable to finish the quest. Quests are mostly given through overhearing conversations (again, less dialogue scenes to save money)

My lord this. I honestly think that this is perhaps the most baffling as it is the most obviously wrong. How did they fuck this up? Why didn't anyone say "Your quest system doesn't work"

Gosh, It just irritates me. I hope they patch it. They won't but I hope they do.

If you had the game on PC I would normally say to just find a community mod that fixes it. Except if you did that then EA's Origin would ban your account indefinately.

Well like even if they weren't that zealous, this is such a basic comfort feature that it just seems so self evident to me that you include it automatically. It's like having a map, it's become so established I'm amazed you wouldn't have it. Like i couldn't ever imagine depending on the mod community for it.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I want you to imagine you are at a banquet.

However, this is not just any banquet. It is the banquet to end all banquets. It is the culmination of many banquets that have gone before. Laid out before you is a sumptuous feast, every dish and delicacy you can imagine, a vast, mouth-watering selection of old favourites and new flavours.

You eat.

It is good. It is fantastic. It is hard to imagine how it could be any better.

Then, as you sit back with a contented sigh and a full stomach, a small plate is placed before you. On that plate is a single small dollop of dog shit and a spoon.

That's the Mass Effect 3 experience.

Sure, the feast was fantastic, but guess which flavour will linger in your mouth when you think back on it. That's what people mean when they say that the whole thing was ruined.

I'm with Zhukov on this one.

Up until the last ten minutes, it was the best game I've ever played.

Bioware was this close to creating a near perfect gaming experience, and they fucking blew it.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's a very good game, and the crybabies who are sad because the ending (.001%) of the game was shit just make me confused because it's just ONE part of the game they admitted having hours of fun with. But just that one bit makes the game abysmal and terrible and they need their money back.

News flash: Most games that are 60USD+ are far shorter and have far far crappier endings. I mean look at any game from before the PS2 era, sometimes you just got "Thanks for Playing!" no alternate endings, no possible patch, the ending was just disappointing and sad.

Did the ending suck? Yeah but what else is new? Was the rest of the game fun? Yeah it was pretty spiffy. And if you didn't like the rest of the game the ending would be the least of your problem. And chances are with the DLC you'll probably find yourself with a new ending anyway, because that's what they did with Fallout 3 and other games.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

It's a very good game, and the crybabies who are sad because the ending (.001%) of the game was shit just make me confused because it's just ONE part of the game they admitted having hours of fun with. But just that one bit makes the game abysmal and terrible and they need their money back.

News flash: Most games that are 60USD+ are far shorter and have far far crappier endings. I mean look at any game from before the PS2 era, sometimes you just got "Thanks for Playing!" no alternate endings, no possible patch, the ending was just disappointing and sad.

Did the ending suck? Yeah but what else is new? Was the rest of the game fun? Yeah it was pretty spiffy. And if you didn't like the rest of the game the ending would be the least of your problem. And chances are with the DLC you'll probably find yourself with a new ending anyway, because that's what they did with Fallout 3 and other games.

Yeah because never asking for things to be improved really causes progress.

We should be happy with our suck.

 

[Vigormortis]

-snip-

Pretty much my thinking, though I've never been that fond of Mass Effect. (omg! blasphemy! I'm a huge fan of science fiction, but ME never did it for me. felt too much like any other space opera.)

Still, what qualifies a game as "good" or "bad" is the sum of it's parts; with the series finale being one of the crucial parts. Therefore, despite how good the other aspects were, when the ending is that colossally bad, it brings down the overall quality of the entire series.

Given that you "look back" to gauge your experiences with a series, when the ending is bad, it inevitably taints your view of the whole. It's sad really, but a bad ending can be that disruptive. (see the new Battlestar Galactica series. amazing until the last few episodes; of which all but ruined the series for me)

Shitting on shit does not make it exponentially shittier.

You'd think that, but then Bioware.

I see what you did there. XD You may want to don your flame shields and prep to stand against the oncoming shit storm of fan rage.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

It's a very good game, and the crybabies who are sad because the ending (.001%) of the game was shit just make me confused because it's just ONE part of the game they admitted having hours of fun with. But just that one bit makes the game abysmal and terrible and they need their money back.

News flash: Most games that are 60USD+ are far shorter and have far far crappier endings. I mean look at any game from before the PS2 era, sometimes you just got "Thanks for Playing!" no alternate endings, no possible patch, the ending was just disappointing and sad.

Did the ending suck? Yeah but what else is new? Was the rest of the game fun? Yeah it was pretty spiffy. And if you didn't like the rest of the game the ending would be the least of your problem. And chances are with the DLC you'll probably find yourself with a new ending anyway, because that's what they did with Fallout 3 and other games.

Yeah because never asking for things to be improved really causes progress.

We should be happy with our suck.

I know right?

I mean, some guy stabbed me the other day, but I sure am grateful he didn't kick me in the balls too.

I mean, being stabbed is one thing, but being stabbed and kicked in the balls?

I'm so lucky.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

It just sounds like

Don't complain! In my day we all shared one pair of shoes and breakfast was stale bread with a scrape of lard and we were happy for it!

Yes and then things magically got better with no one complaining about working class conditions at all.

A wizard did it.

 

[lordmardok]

The game is fine, the ending is shit.

Read this, might help:

http://kotaku.com/5898743/mass-effect-3s-ending-disrespects-its-most-invested-players

 

[Daystar Clarion]

snip

It just sounds like

Don't complain! In my day we didn't have shoes we had to wear kleenex boxes on our feet and breakfast was stale bread with a scrape of lard and we were happy for it!

Yes and then things magically got better with no one complaining about working class conditions at all.

A wizard did it.

Indeed.

'Shit' is not a standard one should settle for, and it's certainly silly to say 'Well X was shit, so why does it matter if Y is too?'

That logic makes my head hurt.

 

[Jason Kost]

Mass Effect 3 is a good game, the only part the majority of the fans have an issue with is the ending since it doesn't answer anything. and paints your allies as traitors to you're m/f shep. My only issue with the ending is that and it doesn't answer any questions at all. I have never had an issue with my shep dying at all, matter of fact i was expecting him to die. just my .02

 

[Sparrow]

Oh, yeah. It was a great game. They really delivered on so many levels. The multiplayer is a lot of fun, the story does a lot of things fans have wanted to do for ages (curing the genophage, visiting several important home worlds, chilling with Garrus on the citadel) and they improved the mechanics in... basically every way possible.

Probably one of the reasons the ending pissed me off so bad. It's like getting to bang your dream woman, but just before you finish up someone hits you in the nutsack with a hammer.

 

[Asita]

For those that thought the game was ruined by the ending, I ask would any ending live up to your expectations even if you did have to work for it?

Your patronization is noted. Moving along though: Contrary to popular belief among those who malign those who are dissatisfied with the ending, the standards set for the ending are not impossibly high nor terribly difficult to envision. Two of the more popular ideas I've seen are as follows:

1) No Starchild: Believe it or not, many have expressed an opinion that the ending would have been much more palatable if it had ended with Shepherd and Anderson bleeding out after the death of TIM and then the crucible activating. While it wouldn't have been a great ending, it wouldn't have been the broken narrative that the starchild created in the last few minutes, and to which a sizeable portion of the complaints can trace their root cause.

2) The "Zerg Rush": This is a somewhat popular idea that focuses on two key plot elements. The first is something that was made explicit in the original installment of the franchise: the Reapers are not invincible, and they were well aware of this fact[footnote]Indeed, this is very strongly implied to be why Sovereign used such a roundabout way of assuming direct control of the Citadel rather than brute forcing it[/footnote], and their strategy revolved around dividing the galaxy into manageable fragments to circumvent this problem[footnote]They enter through the citadel relay and the galaxy is plunged into chaos due to the central government collapsing before the defenders even know they're under attack, and through the citadel they gain control of the Relay network, isolating settlements and thereby preventing them from organizing a true defense or calling for/providing reinforcements[/footnote]. The key principle here is that the Reapers have never had to face the full might of a galaxy united against them, and that an ending reflecting this would hav been both very cathartic and - more importantly - true to the core idea in the series of unity and diversity triumphing over incredible odds[footnote]This is perhaps best embodied by Mass Effect 2's final mission which - though identified consistently as a suicide mission - can be completed without losing a single member of your crew if you invest the time into accomodating their needs (Loyalty missions), listen to what they have to say (at least with regards to Normandy upgrades) and use their strengths effectively (chosen roles during the suicide mission)[/footnote].

At the end of the day though, the main idea espoused by those you're talking down to is that they simply don't want a story that loses narrative coherence in the eleventh hour of gameplay nor one that invokes half a dozen well known narrative flaws in the process. The dissatisfaction isn't "this isn't the ending I wanted", it's "this ending is downright broken from a storytelling perspective", which is fairly eloquently spelled out in this video and this article, if you care to peruse them.

 

[RedDeadFred]

No, it's an extremely awesome game that unfortunately has one of the worst endings I've ever seen.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's a very good game, and the crybabies who are sad because the ending (.001%) of the game was shit just make me confused because it's just ONE part of the game they admitted having hours of fun with. But just that one bit makes the game abysmal and terrible and they need their money back.

News flash: Most games that are 60USD+ are far shorter and have far far crappier endings. I mean look at any game from before the PS2 era, sometimes you just got "Thanks for Playing!" no alternate endings, no possible patch, the ending was just disappointing and sad.

Did the ending suck? Yeah but what else is new? Was the rest of the game fun? Yeah it was pretty spiffy. And if you didn't like the rest of the game the ending would be the least of your problem. And chances are with the DLC you'll probably find yourself with a new ending anyway, because that's what they did with Fallout 3 and other games.

Yeah because never asking for things to be improved really causes progress.

We should be happy with our suck.

Right, nothing has progressed, games have not become bigger larger grander scale games with better and better music, visuals, voice actors, respect and art direction. The ability to fix games after its release and add to it via internet/not having to leave the house to get your new game content.
But an shitty ending that's bound to be fixed ruins the span of a 30hour+ game and the other 2 15-30 hour long games.

You missed the point, shitty endings are nothing new, but that doesn't change that the rest of the game was fantastic as well as other entries in the series. I'm not saying the ending wasn't bad but .01%/3 minutes of the 30 hour game ruined it for you? Something that in this day and age CAN be fixed and changed?

I don't know maybe it's just me but I loved the ME 1-3 and the ending to one of them isn't going to make me pissed at the series, just hope they decide to add another one. Again there's been FAR worse endings, such as RAGE and I knew that was gonna be shitty and holy crap it was worse.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

It's a very good game, and the crybabies who are sad because the ending (.001%) of the game was shit just make me confused because it's just ONE part of the game they admitted having hours of fun with. But just that one bit makes the game abysmal and terrible and they need their money back.

News flash: Most games that are 60USD+ are far shorter and have far far crappier endings. I mean look at any game from before the PS2 era, sometimes you just got "Thanks for Playing!" no alternate endings, no possible patch, the ending was just disappointing and sad.

Did the ending suck? Yeah but what else is new? Was the rest of the game fun? Yeah it was pretty spiffy. And if you didn't like the rest of the game the ending would be the least of your problem. And chances are with the DLC you'll probably find yourself with a new ending anyway, because that's what they did with Fallout 3 and other games.

Yeah because never asking for things to be improved really causes progress.

We should be happy with our suck.

Right, nothing has progressed, games have not become bigger larger grander scale games with better and better music, visuals, voice actors, respect and art direction. The ability to fix games after its release and add to it via internet/not having to leave the house to get your new game content.
But an shitty ending that's bound to be fixed ruins the span of a 30hour+ game and the other 2 15-30 hour long games.

You missed the point, shitty endings are nothing new, but that doesn't change that the rest of the game was fantastic as well as other entries in the series. I'm not saying the ending wasn't bad but .01%/3 minutes of the 30 hour game ruined it for you? Something that in this day and age CAN be fixed and changed?

I don't know maybe it's just me but I loved the ME 1-3 and the ending to one of them isn't going to make me pissed at the series, just hope they decide to add another one. Again there's been FAR worse endings, such as RAGE and I knew that was gonna be shitty and holy crap it was worse.

Things have only improved because people pointed out that maybe a 'Thanks for playing!' screen didn't cut it anymore.

Do you see what I'm saying?

If we all sit here with inane grins on our faces accepting whatever crap we get tossed then we only have ourselves to blame when all we have is crap.

The only reason they are considering changing it at all is because of those 'crybabies' you denounced at the start of your initial post.

 

[AbstractStream]

Mass Effect 3 is near perfect (I just finished a third playthrough today despite the ending). I'd like to say about 93% perfect. So yes, OP. I agree with you in saying ME3 is a good game.

Actually, this time around for the ending, I just got up and left.

1) No Starchild: Believe it or not, many have expressed an opinion that the ending would have been much more palatable if it had ended with Shepherd and Anderson bleeding out after the death of TIM and then the crucible activating. While it wouldn't have been a great ending, it wouldn't have been the broken narrative that the starchild created in the last few minutes, and to which a sizeable portion of the complaints can trace their root cause.

I can vouch for that. Seriously. No Stargazer would have been excellent too.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's a very good game, and the crybabies who are sad because the ending (.001%) of the game was shit just make me confused because it's just ONE part of the game they admitted having hours of fun with. But just that one bit makes the game abysmal and terrible and they need their money back.

News flash: Most games that are 60USD+ are far shorter and have far far crappier endings. I mean look at any game from before the PS2 era, sometimes you just got "Thanks for Playing!" no alternate endings, no possible patch, the ending was just disappointing and sad.

Did the ending suck? Yeah but what else is new? Was the rest of the game fun? Yeah it was pretty spiffy. And if you didn't like the rest of the game the ending would be the least of your problem. And chances are with the DLC you'll probably find yourself with a new ending anyway, because that's what they did with Fallout 3 and other games.

Yeah because never asking for things to be improved really causes progress.

We should be happy with our suck.

Right, nothing has progressed, games have not become bigger larger grander scale games with better and better music, visuals, voice actors, respect and art direction. The ability to fix games after its release and add to it via internet/not having to leave the house to get your new game content.
But an shitty ending that's bound to be fixed ruins the span of a 30hour+ game and the other 2 15-30 hour long games.

You missed the point, shitty endings are nothing new, but that doesn't change that the rest of the game was fantastic as well as other entries in the series. I'm not saying the ending wasn't bad but .01%/3 minutes of the 30 hour game ruined it for you? Something that in this day and age CAN be fixed and changed?

I don't know maybe it's just me but I loved the ME 1-3 and the ending to one of them isn't going to make me pissed at the series, just hope they decide to add another one. Again there's been FAR worse endings, such as RAGE and I knew that was gonna be shitty and holy crap it was worse.

Things have only improved because people pointed out that maybe a 'Thanks for playing!' screen didn't cut it anymore.

Do you see what I'm saying?

If we all sit here with inane grins on our faces accepting whatever crap we get tossed then we only have ourselves to blame when all we have is crap.

The only reason they are considering changing it at all is because of those 'crybabies' you denounced at the start of your initial post.

I say crybabies because when people demand a full refund for a game they had fun for 29 hours of 30 of is just a crybaby. Wanting another ending is fine, I'd like to see another one but at this stage of beating many games I'm just used to endings being awful. ME3s ending wasn't even that bad (to me).

I'm not grinning or trying to be smug, nor do I care about Bioware or other companies who make the game. When a game was mostly enjoyed I don't see how someone can just say "the whole game was bad".

So just understand when I say crybaby, I mean a specific type of person. New ending(s)? That'd be awesome, really I'm for it and they probably should. But refunds for a game that was loved until the last bit? Dumb.

 

[Goofguy]

Banquet analogy

So what does that make the indoctrination theory? The clothespin some of are willing to put on our noses so the dog shit doesn't taste as bad?

Back on topic, the ending does mar the rest of the experience, at least for me. I don't think any less of ME1, ME2 and the first 98% of ME3, I'm just not as inclined to invest any more time in to the series as I was a month ago. Maybe, I will play through it again but it probably won't be for a very long time. Not until I've used enough mouthwash to get the taste of dog shit out of my mouth.