Zachary Amaranth said:
Bang on, guys. I am so loving you right now.
DVS BSTrD said:
Okay now you guys are really starting to scare me. Hold me Garrus!
It's not gay if it's with a Turian.
I always just assumed everyone was gay for Garrus, or its not gay if its with Garrus. =)
Anyways...yeah, I think this is how I feel. Not to the extent of Erin, but its been like 3 days since I beat the game...and I'm still not sure what to think.
I know a lot of people are hoping that the ending is just some secret Indoctrination test or something, but that doesn't make too much sense to me. Likewise, the original ending from the original writer Drew, I felt was really predictable since ME2 and I'm actually glad they changed it (though I wish they didn't drop the plot point entirely).
Mass Effect 3 was just...just awesome. It hit a lot of points really well, and it captured the feel of an overpowering invasion almost perfectly. The writing and dialogue was still excellent, the crew interaction was much better and more involving, none of the side missions or story missions felt like they didn't belong.
But the ending starting from the elevator sequence...ugh. So disjointed that it felt like it literally pulled me away from the experience forever, especially in future playthroughs. Every time I see something mass effect related (mostly songs), I can't help but feel depressed.
And the thing is, the after credits don't bother me. The tali thing, import bugs, day one DLC, occasional glitched mission, technical problems, the Catalyst(to an extent), all of that I could ignore. Hell, I could forgive the endings, and actually didn't mind whether I got a happy or depressed ending. It was the lack of closure that killed me. Yes, the endings are bull crap and the Normandy situation makes no sense, but if I at least got SOMETHING regarding everyone (preferably NOT something like the Dragon Age text ending explanations) then I could at least be angry, but somewhat glad.
But if you want more insight into my feelings of the matter, hit the very obvious spoiler below...granted most of this has been said before. Also, quite a long, long read. Sorry.
I felt absolutely horrible, that I was screwing everybody over in every ending. These decisions I felt, were just a tad too big for Shepard to make. Of course, they are also extremely vague.
The Destroy ending gets rid of all synthetics, but Legion had sacrificed his Identity in order to help the Geth. Doing that would be a big Screw You to him, what he stood for, and everything you sacrificed during those Geth/Quarian missions. Likewise, we don't know how much synthetic things are destroyed. Is it just AI? Does it encompass all technology like VIs, Omnitools, and the various implants soldiers have?
The Control ending seemed preferable, but how could I assume I could totally control the reapers? Do I become the Catalyst itself and tell them all what to do? I am constantly conversing with the Reapers for the rest of their lives or something? Am I now the head Reaper in charge? Or do I just send them away for a while? Plus, even though TIM was technically right, the fact that I had told him how stupid he was only 3 minutes before hand made me seem like a big hypocrite if I were to choose. Also, it was HIS idea. Not touching that with a ten foot pole.
The Synthesis ending seems like "the best" ending, especially if you have been a Paragon Shepard for most of the game. But how does it manage to affect all Organics? The other two endings affected just the Reapers and Synthetics, which I could buy. But this plan somehow involves rewriting the DNA of all life with almost no explanation? And since I'm putting my whole being into this, does that mean people will actually know what I have done? Am I like...sort of a part of everyone or something? And how much of a change are we talking about? Can we converse in a sort of hivemind now like the Geth? If so, can we do the same to the Reapers?
So besides all of that not getting answered, we have a new problem: The Mass Relays. Now, I'm fine with the Mass Relays not working/being destroyed. I totally believe the galaxy can build new ones (ever the optimist that I am), but its pretty vague on HOW they are destroyed. When we destroyed the Alpha Relay in Arrival, we killed 300,000 Batarians. Granted, we shot a big asteroid at it, but does the same apply to the other Relays? Is the explosion going to be smaller, bigger, or the same as in Arrival? If its bigger or the same, guess what? We killed pretty much everyone because in EVERY ending, the Relays get destroyed. Think about how Tuchanka, Rannoch, Sur'kesh, and even Earth, are all next to those relays. Is everyone there dead? If so, then curing the Genophage and bringing peace between the Quarian and the Geth seem almost pointless. Hell, the whole "Take Earth Back" that's been hammered in the marketing and in the game now means nothing since Earth is screwed.
But let's assume that the destruction of the Relays doesn't kill everyone in the vicinity. The Relays send the energy forward to the next Relays, and the resulting discharge simply causes the Relays to crumble in a ball of fire. OK, I can buy that; but how would I know for sure? This Reaper AI told me so? Even if this thing isn't threatening me, I can't trust what it says. How would I, or Shepard for that matter, know what would happen? What about the Quarians and Turians that are on Earth? If they are stranded there, how are they going to survive without proper food? Are we somehow able to make food tailored to them? If not, do they mostly just die off?
And this Reaper AI thing. I actually, don't have TOO big a problem with it. Even the whole plot of the Reapers being Organic who turned into Synthetic/Organic hybrids to stop (read, kill and transform) Organics from repeating the mistake of making Synthetics is OK. Sure its hypocritical and flawed, but I can understand it to a point. Many see that because it exists, that Sovereign, the big bad of ME1 is now useless, but that isn't the case. Sovereign was actively seeking a way to bring the Reapers through the Citadel because the Reaper Signal that went to the Keepers to activate it was blocked/changed. Its OK to assume that the Reaper AI sends the signal to the Keepers to do the job; like with the Relays, its a shame they don't tell us this outright, but lets assume. The problem I have is its attitude. We get to it, and all it says is "Yeah, you won, we totally lost"? They still have Reapers in other systems, and Shepard is pretty much spent at this point. The Reaper AI has no evil motive whatsoever to try and stop or dissuade me? Its actually trying to help me? I GUESS I can sort of get it, but not really. Then it presents you with 3 different alternatives, but all of them sort of seem like they win anyway. Destroy Synthetic Life? Well, that's sort of been their goal but not really; plus you are possibly destroying all tech in the galaxy, which is almost like being wiped out in a sense. Synthesis? That's technically what the Reapers are in the first place, only on a much smaller scale body wise. Control? Well well, isn't that exactly like Indoctrination. Again, it was an idea brought up by TIM as he was being controlled by the Reapers.
In hindsight, an investigate option with this thing would have worked out really well. However, I guess Bioware didn't want to boggle us down with some technobabble or big long winded explanations at the end, which I can understand. However, throughout the game, and actually the series, Shepard has done almost the impossible. They said he couldn't go to Ilos and/or stop Sovereign, and he/she did just that. They said going through the Omega 4 relay was certain death, he/she came back (with various success of course). In Mass Effect 3, Shepard believes it'll be quite hard, mostly impossible to possible win against the Reapers...and he's/she's right? Shepard has nothing to say back to this AI? He/She can't bring up that they are now working together WITH Synthetics like the Geth so the whole cycle thing is bull crap? There isn't some other option that Shepard can't find?
Now, I'm fine with a downer ending. But for Shepard to just believe this AI thing without resistance? Seems a bit off.
Harbinger. Poor Harbinger. He was the big bad of ME2, but has no lines or anything super important besides shooting a laser at Shepard. I don't really understand why. Maybe budget reasons? I totally thought he was going to ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL over TIM's body or the AI and try to do something.
And of course, the Normandy situation. Again, due to the vagueness of it all, the whole thing looks stupid. Joker somehow got to Earth, picked up all of my team mates(who again, due to the vagueness of it all, I thought were all dead when Harbinger showed up), all uninjured by the way, then turned to the Mass Relay and started going through it, in the span of less than 10 minutes? He somehow, knew that a big beam of energy would shoot out from the Crucible/Citadel, and despite its speed and energy, was able to outrun it for a time? Perhaps it would make sense if I had warned him on the way to making my decision, or overheard him say he was coming to my location but still. I have no problem with the Normandy surviving on a nice planet...but if they are the only ones left in the galaxy (when taking into account Mass Relay destruction) then isn't the crew a bit too small to repopulate? Again, the concept of food has to come up for Tali and Garrus, we have no idea if they will survive.
There are just other small points that annoy me. The Echo Shard Javik gives you on Earth doing absolutely nothing in the end. The fact that despite this game having more connection to your crew than the other games, you have to do everything after Harbinger alone. The idea that you have to make these big 3 choices, with no input from anyone other than an AI belonging to the enemy and just yourself. The fact that the Normandy and your crew do pretty much NOTHING in regards to try and help you in the last 10 minutes. Smaller plot points like Aria not doing anything in regards to try and take back Omega seem to scream a bit of DLC (which technically isn't a bad thing if done right), the Yahg showing up but do nothing at all even though they seemed really interesting. The Dark Energy plot line from the 2nd game not really doing anything at all, even if the original plot line had changed. Would have like to see something regarding the Omega 4 or the Reaper IFF considering ME3 took the time to actually go back to old familiar places that were pretty important. Or maybe Ashley having quite a bit more to say to the crew instead of just hanging around doing nothing. Again, all of this is just super small annoyances that don't really hinder the game, just my personal stuff.
Whew, felt good to get all of THAT off my chest.
Mass Effect 3 truly was awesome, and I'm really glad that I got to experience and play such an epic game series. I would even encourage a lot of people to try it out! I don't even know if I will ever experience such attachment to characters or care about the universe in other games as I did for Mass Effect. And yet, the ending has left such a scar, that I don't know if it will ever heal (unless there is some DLC for more endings or something, and they would have to be on the same quality of writing and dialogue as the rest of the game of course).