ME3 Ending - I liked it?

Crunchy English

Victim of a Savage Neck-bearding
Aug 20, 2008
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Ok, so I was really late playing ME3. I was worried they'd turned my beloved Space Opera into a mindless shooter and wanted to wait and see how it played out. Then I got it for my birthday from friends and played it anyway. Everything from here on out is SPOILERS, obviously. Not just for my post, but the whole thread. Also, TL;DR - Mass Effect's ending was actually pretty good, if a bit mediocre for such a great series.

I chose Synthesis and set my jaw. I was sure this was the horrid ending everyone was talking about. It was the obviously "correct" choice, most people probably picked it first and it was going to suck. I'd really enjoyed the game thus far, was all set to get through this terrible part and then go back to remembering the good times.

It was fine.

I mean, it wasn't great I guess. But it solved a lot of problems for me. First, the idea of a "Human Reaper" from the end of ME2 had always pissed me off. The Reapers straight up think we're obsolete and inferior, why copy us into their designs? Oh, because part of Reaper programming is to "preserve" the races they harvest. That actually makes sense.

Some bullshit about "ascended beings" being responsible for the Cycle? Works for me. It's a cheat and a dodge, but a forgivable one. Any race old enough and powerful enough to set the cycle in motion was going to be a lampshade anyway.

Why the Cycle? Because Synthetics always end up destroying their organic creators. I really like this. Modern science sort of agrees that the "Singularity" is an inevitability. I like the idea that this isn't just true for our species, but for all species, ever. Plus, there's already evidence to support it with the Quarians and Geth, since I let the Geth destroy the Quarians in my playthrough. So since it's inevitable that synthetic life evolves, and since it's inevitable that synthetics detroy organics, what's the solution? An ultimate synthetic programmed to preserve the concept of each species it kills, rather than wipe them out forever.

So the choice of Synthesis let's you end the conflict in the way almost all conflicts truly and permanently end. By blurring the lines between the sides until they are the same. A new hybrid form of life. You get a shot of Joker (cured of his disease maybe?) on a garden worldwith EDI and knowing they have to begin all over again, but this time, free from the cycle. Heavy-handed "Garden of Eden" imagery, but again, forgiveable.

What exactly is the complaint? What am I missing here?
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

I never asked for this
Sep 8, 2011
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Just watch this if you want to know what you're missing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MlatxLP-xs&feature=youtu.be
 

number2301

New member
Apr 27, 2008
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I just completed ME3 last night and I've got a similar 'what was all the fuss about' feeling.

I've since come to terms with it being a bad ending, there are so many better ideas out there. Although I have to say, indoctrination theory is one of the worst, it would mean Bioware ended the game I've invested 4 years and 120 hours in with a MASSIVE fuck you. I can accept being railroaded, defeated, and having no heroic ending, but having some shitty Oceans 11/Dallas style retcon? Now that would piss me off.

But synthesis being the best option, really? I guess I just never trusted that it would work, the only real option for my Shep was destruction. EDI and the Geth going was tragic, but it was needed to remove the flawed system.

Anyway, back to the point, what was the complaint? As I say I didn't understand it at first, but think about the series so far, why was there no real choice? Why did Shep suddenly become so passive? Why were no questions answered? Why was the starchild pulled out of someone's ass right at the end?

Hell, it was the end of a trilogy, the endings could and perhaps should have been massively divergent. One of the best ideas I've heard so far are that Shep should have been able to go against the starchild and call in assistance to disable the reapers in another way.
 

putowtin

I'd like to purchase an alcohol!
Jul 7, 2010
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I like people that search the forums

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.355578-I-liked-the-ending-to-Mass-Effect-3#14124484

(please search, there are some around here that'd kill you for not doing so!)

OT: Everyone has their own feelings on the ending, me? I've calmed down, but I'm still not happy, just have to see what Bioware have planned for the DLC
 

Catfood220

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 21, 2010
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I finished it the other night, I thought it was ok, nothing special but nothing worth getting really upset about. I liked the final part where the child is talking to his dad (grandad?). The only thing that annoyed me was the screen after that which basically said "Thanks for playing Shepard, but our ending is in another castle..."

I hope that whatever DLC they release just kinda fills in events following the ending, not change it completely.