ME3 ending is it really that bad?

[VaNilla]

It's not bad at all, people are just jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[Zeraki]

The last five minutes of Mass Effect 3 effectively renders everything you did in the entire trilogy completely meaningless. I can't even get invested in the series any more after that bullshit.

 

[Tommahawk]

The ending is a failure not because "it's the worst thing EVAR", it's a failure because it's an abrupt and confusing deviation from the spirit of the games its concluding. The games deserved a more coherent culmination. The fans deserved it, as well. If this is truly Bioware's artistic vision for their game, they don't need to violate it to satiate angry or disillusioned fans, but at the very least they have a responsibility to provide a little more clarity.

I know this will probably not go over the best, but I'll have to disagree on this. But before I get into the spoilers, I will say it requires going into the meta-concepts of the series.

Spoiler

Mass Effect isn't so much about the consequences of your decisions as it is about the player making those decisions. By extension, it's a metaphor for life; your actions and decisions shape who you are. You can always look back and say whether or not it was the right decision to make, but at the time you simply have no idea what the consequences are. Sometimes your options are all unpleasant, but you have to make a decision just the same or else nothing good will come of it all.

At the end of it all, you are give the power of a God.
You are given the final decision which will determine the fate of the galaxy.
You have no idea what the full consequences will be, and you never will.
But you are still given the responsibility to make that final choice.

What is your decision?

---

Essentially, Mass Effect is about self-determination.

The nature of the final decision and the lack of closure are to emphasize that we live in the present, not the future. We can always weigh our options based on what we feel will give the best outcome, but the truth is that we never know what will genuinely happen. So have no other option but to take life as it comes, choosing our actions every step of the way. In the end, we not get what we wanted... but we made those decisions just the same.

---

When I was faced with that final decision, my thoughts were:

"I hope I'm doing the right thing..."

By extension, these were (my) Shepard's thoughts as well. All that preparation, only to be faced with something else entirely. Nevertheless, my motives were do what I felt what was best for everyone. I won't know if was the best decision, or even if there was a good one.... but what I do know is I tried to do what was right.

For those who are outraged by the ending, it would be safe to say (their) Shepard is outraged as well. Having a choice thrust upon them, being denied the (happy) ending they so wanted. But it's what you get.

In the end, what you (and by extension, Shepard) feel about the ending... is just that.

No more, no less.

Shove all the meta up your pretentious little ass. The thing that pisses me off that all three choices are fuckin' same. You are given a "choice" to obey. I say fuck that. I (my Shepard) would rather go down fighting reapers than accepting any of bullshit options given to me.

 

[Richardplex]

Depends on your interpretation. If you believe the ending is real, it is that bad. If you say, believe

Spoiler

it was indoctrination

then it's great, except that it's missing a couple of minutes from the Good End.

 

[Pandabearparade]

I thought it was awesome.

No, really.

I haven't laughed that hard at anything in a long time, it was funnier than any Adam Sandler movie has ever managed.

 

[Formica Archonis]

So... I think I'm one of the lucky ones who hasn't finished ME3 yet, I'm taking my time, and just getting my MP character up now. But by the sounds of it the ending sounds like it ruins the entire game

I don't have a particular horse in this race, since I didn't like the gameplay in Mass Effect, so I haven't played more than an hour or two of the first game. So let me tell you what happened from my point of view....

When the current fiasco started up I got curious and watched the endings on Youtube.
And then I found another user and watched them again because I thought the first user was trolling.

I liked the music, though.

 

[Aprilgold]

Yes, yes it is. Simply put, it takes all your previous actions and throws them in the can for the finale. In a RPG, your choices should change events, and the ending should be changed because of past actions, not because the writer obviously gave up and gave you a lever choice.

Also, could they seriously just not make a different model for the catalyst, it is the same exact kid from the begging. Holy shit they just got sloppy at the end.

The ending of Mass Effect 3 isn't as horrible as people are making it out to be, but it certainly is a bit of a curveball. It's pretty clear that the ending is meant to be thought-provoking and polarizing, a case of where the only answer is the player's own interpretation. The lack of closure only enhances this effect, Bioware deliberately denied us an answer so that we can find one for ourselves. Bioware gave Mass Effect the ending people needed, not the one they wanted. Bioware gave Mass Effect the ending players needed, not the one they wanted. Or something.

Understandably, some people aren't taking this well.

Is it like the ending to "Inception"? Where you're supposed to create your own opinion about what happened (i.e. whether the main character was still dreaming or not).

Because if it's like that, I won't have any problem with it. Dunno if Bioware could match Christopher Nolan, but still.

Right off the bat, no. Inception hinted and lead to a conclusion, but here they threw in new plot devices, characters and overall took the past and burned it.

It's not bad at all, people are just jumping on the bandwagon.

If I had a nickel for every time someone used this same line. No, and I might as well call you a bio-drone since I'm done having to explain why this was a bad ending. Seriously, go look up why or read arguments of the opposition.

The main reason was the fact that there is no closure, its just a lever pulling puzzle. The past actions don't matter at all, so all that matters is what choice you pick. And they were so fucking lazy that they decided to re-use the same fucking ending 3 MOTHER FUCKING TIMES for the cutscene, everything that actually changes is not in the actual ending, its just in your head.

 

[AK47Marine]

I was left unsatisfied and disappointed. If the end of a creative work of any kind inspires the primary reaction of "That left so much unsaid and unexplained and filled with holes I need to go write my own epilogue to feel better about it (which I did) then by definition it's broken.

 

[boag]

I liked the ending I got. I thought it was fitting and a very good ending to Shepherd's story. Especially the scene after the credits. I loved it and I felt completely satisfied with the ending.

What did you get with your war assests? Because I fully intend to get my readiness to 100%, import my MP character AND do as many side quests as I can. Basically I've also heard that the ending isn't AS bad if you get the 'perfect one', I've already been spoilt that shepard dies, but I predicted/expected that anyway. What gets me worried the most is that there's apparently no closure, I'm picturing at least some epilogue scene where Liara (Or your romance) pays her respects or w/e.

Dont, you get the same ending regardless of war assets.

 

[Samarith]

I must admit I chose the Alt+F4 ending as well.

Ofc course it was too late because I had heard the options by then.

It was so atrocious that at first I refused to watch the ending cinematic. I actually was stunned at how bad the game changed things that I Alt-F4'd out in disgust. The last few minutes of the game totally ruined it. Finally I did get around to watching the cinematic, and it made it even worse. Simply appalling.

I chose the Alt+F4 ending too, too late though since I'd already heard the options.

 

[Sethran]

I liked the ending.

If you haven't seen it yet, finish the game and find out for yourself, since the people who hate it hate it as though it murdered their first born and wore the skin as a hat.

Whereas the people who like it tend to not say anything because of the overwhelming mass of nerdrage directed at anyone whose opinion is not "OMG THIS SUCKS"

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I liked the ending.

If you haven't seen it yet, finish the game and find out for yourself, since the people who hate it hate it as though it murdered their first born and wore the skin as a hat.

Whereas the people who like it tend to not say anything because of the overwhelming mass of nerdrage directed at anyone whose opinion is not "OMG THIS SUCKS"

That's nice. I'm glad you liked the ending.

Maybe you could refrain from using rude generalizations to attack everyone who didn't, though. Since you're busy presenting yourself as a model of maturity and composure, it comes off as more than a tad hypocritical.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

It is quite honestly an ending that makes little sense to be attached to the rest of Mass Effect 3, put bluntly. Like if Star Wars ended the final battle with the Emperor with the star child from 2001: Space Odyssey telling Luke that he had to kill the Force and the entire rebel fleet just to defeat the Emperor.. and then Luke gets killed by the Death Star blowing up (again) and we get credits.

No one wanted a disney ending to Mass Effect 3 (personally, I went into the final mission expecting my Shepard to die), but we could have at least gotten an ending that make narrative/logical sense to the Mass Effect universe. "Synthetics will always try to kill organics" was quite frankly a bullshit premises in itself, and really only applies to the Reapers themselves (take in mind, this is the Reaper's "justification" for harvesting the galaxy). Hence the notes of awful circular logic during the god-child/Shepard cutscene.

The only thing that can even remotely (and logically) explain the endings at this point, is the Indoctrination Theory on the BSN. And even then, the "ending" isn't the ending yet, if so.

 

[MorsePacific]

I liked the ending I got. I thought it was fitting and a very good ending to Shepherd's story. Especially the scene after the credits. I loved it and I felt completely satisfied with the ending.

Completely agree. I'm not sure why people think the endings were bad or what they're looking for in another DLC ending, but there was no better way to end the series in my opinion.

No other ending has left me as touched as watching the synthesis ending in any game. It was beautiful and I don't regret any of Shepard's decisions for even a second.

 

[boag]

I liked the ending.

If you haven't seen it yet, finish the game and find out for yourself, since the people who hate it hate it as though it murdered their first born and wore the skin as a hat.

Whereas the people who like it tend to not say anything because of the overwhelming mass of nerdrage directed at anyone whose opinion is not "OMG THIS SUCKS"

Oh HAI STUPID GENERALIZATIONS.

Im a guy that dislikes the Ending, and I would be perfectly happy if they just game me a load of text saying what happens after the fact, without changing anything.

 

[SciMal]

So... I think I'm one of the lucky ones who hasn't finished ME3 yet, I'm taking my time, and just getting my MP character up now. But by the sounds of it the ending sounds like it ruins the entire game, so I'm actually seriously debating turning off the game 10 mins before *it happens* and watching a fan made ending. Opinions? Because so far I'm loving everything, Rannoch was especially awesome.

Edit: No Spoilers please

It will leave you confused, furious, and hollow. This is a guarantee.

However, unfortunately you will have to complete it. You won't be able to stop yourself because by the time you're realizing exactly how this is going to turn out, you're so close to experiencing the pain that you might as well do it in order to experience it.

 

[Sethran]

That's nice. I'm glad you liked the ending.

Maybe you could refrain from using rude generalizations to attack everyone who didn't, though. Since you're busy presenting yourself as a model of maturity and composure, it comes off as more than a tad hypocritical.

Oh HAI STUPID GENERALIZATIONS.

Im a guy that dislikes the Ending, and I would be perfectly happy if they just game me a load of text saying what happens after the fact, without changing anything.

It's not a 'stupid' or 'rude' generalization, it's simply the situation.

I don't have to look very far to find: Twitter attacks at Ben Kuchera, claims that Susan of our very own Escapist has been paid by EA to say positive things about ME3, and then the hordes of people saying "I respect your opinion, but objectively my opinion is right." without irony.

Not saying you two are any of those - nor am I attacking anyone, as I didn't name anyone who was doing these things - but don't assume I'm making stupid or rude generalizations when the proof is all over the internet.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

It's not a 'stupid' or 'rude' generalization when it's fairly evident, based on the number of people claiming Susan was paid by EA to give ME3 a positive review, and the number of people spewing hateful rhetoric at the game's ending all over the internet.

I don't have to look very far to find: Twitter attacks at Ben Kuchera, claims that Susan of our very own Escapist has been paid by EA to say positive things about ME3, and then the hordes of people saying "I respect your opinion, but objectively my opinion is right." without irony.

Not saying you two are any of those, but don't assume I'm making stupid or rude generalizations when the proof is all over the internet.

You know what a generalization is, right? It's when you take anecdotal evidence, and extrapolate it to encompass an entire group or community. There are actually uglier words and sentiments to describe this kind of behavior than "rude generalizations", but I opted to not be hyperbolic.

Of course there are people being idiots in how they're presenting their distaste for the ending. There are also people being really rational about it, too. On this forum and elsewhere. Forbes has done, what...3 separate articles on it now?

I liked the ending for The Sopranos, and I liked the ending for Lost, but I UNDERSTAND why people were upset. I may not agree, but there was certainly grounds for discord there. I never felt the need to sneer at people who were unhappy and condemn them in the entire based on the ridiculous actions of a few.

 

[boag]

That's nice. I'm glad you liked the ending.

Maybe you could refrain from using rude generalizations to attack everyone who didn't, though. Since you're busy presenting yourself as a model of maturity and composure, it comes off as more than a tad hypocritical.

Oh HAI STUPID GENERALIZATIONS.

Im a guy that dislikes the Ending, and I would be perfectly happy if they just game me a load of text saying what happens after the fact, without changing anything.

Not saying you two are any of those - nor am I attacking anyone, as I didn't name anyone who was doing these things - but don't assume I'm making stupid or rude generalizations when the proof is all over the internet.

Then I suggest in the Future, you WORD your POSTS, with better Judgement, making blanket statements makes you look as irrational as the people you are Criticizing.

 

[fozzy360]

I don't have to look very far to find: Twitter attacks at Ben Kuchera

Yeah, he's not really getting attacked so much as it is that people are calling him out for disparaging those who didn't like the ending (much like how you're doing), and he's proceeded to go about by just blocking everyone who brings it up now.

It's not a 'stupid' or 'rude' generalization, it's simply the situation.

So, when you said this:

since the people who hate it hate it as though it murdered their first born and wore the skin as a hat.

that wasn't making a generalization about everyone who disliked the ending?