Poll: Did the ending of Mass Effect 3 ruin the whole trilogy for you?

[Merrick_HLC]

Yes and no.
I haven't brought myself to replay ME3 a 3rd time, which says alot considering I played ME2 at least adozen or so before ME3 game out, and I forget how many times I played ME1 (360 broke ages ago so I can no longer access those saves)

I still remember ME1 & 2 fondly, but I doubt I'll ever bother replaying them again given the feeling that what happened doesn't really matter at all.

 

[Merrick_HLC]

Nope, I thought it was a satisfactory ending. Not everything has to be sunshine and flowers.

Ohh you are one of THOSE people.

There also doesnt have to be sunshine and flowers to have some actual closure.

Also Mordins death really got to me as well, particularly when he started singing.

OT: Nope, I thought Mass Effect was 99.98% pure awesome, the last 5 minutes are the only downer for me

xD Exactly.

I can't get over how some people think "Y'all want a happy roses & sunshine Disney ending"

No, I want an ending that gives closure.
I was actually happy with

Spoiler

Shepard and Anderson dying together on the Citadel as the device fired.
If the ending had been destroying the Reapers and then a montage about how your various decisions influenced the ME world ala-Fallout game endings, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about it.

 

[wintercoat]

It only ruined itself for me. I can still go back and play the first 2, but I've only been able to finish ME3 twice. The second time I felt like I was forcing myself to though. Every time I try to make a new character, I just have no enthusiasm for it.

I think part of the problem is that the whole game is linear, unlike the first two where you were given a few story quests in the beginning. In ME1, your given 4 planets to go to to gather info/fight the Geth, and in 2 your again given a few places to go, this time to gather up your team. In three it's "Go to this planet and do this, then go here and do that" with a few side quests available along the way. Even the side quests given by the major plot characters during the different story arcs are just side missions.

And then there's the ending. It's hard to be enthused when you know all of the different choices only equate to a number on the TMS/EMS bar. I mean, they could have at least had your choices effect your available backup similar to what they did during the end of DA:O, but no, they did nothing with it. It's just a number. I might've actually enjoyed the endurance fight at the missile launchers against the Banshees and Marauders if there was backup. Maybe some Krogan to head-butt the Banshees, or some Geth Primes air dropping in. Make it a more interesting final fight.

 

[Cheesehead]

At least for now, I can't bring myself to replaying ME1 and 2. I will probably replay them in the future (maybe a few years from now), but the idea of my choices counting for nothing, in a game based around choices...it feels pointless right now.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The ending, sucky as it was, is dwarfed in comparison to all the things in Mass Effect 3 I love, let alone the previous 2 games. So no, it didn't.

 

[SS2Dante]

Nope, I thought it was a satisfactory ending. Not everything has to be sunshine and flowers.

Ohh you are one of THOSE people.

There also doesnt have to be sunshine and flowers to have some actual closure.

Also Mordins death really got to me as well, particularly when he started singing.

Edit: Also as you asked http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ7bsIpEKIg here is a video that summarizes the indoctrination theory.

OT: Nope, I thought Mass Effect was 99.98% pure awesome, the last 5 minutes are the only downer for me

That link for the indoctrination theory isn't right. The point of the indoctrination theory is that Shepard didn't wake up again after getting hit by Harbingers ray on earth. Everything after that is Shepard's mind. (apart from if you chose the 'fight ending', in which case we get the extra clip of Shepard waking up in the ruins of London, since that's you beaten the indoctrination.)

Here, this sums it up really well http://www.gameseyeview.com/2012/03/15/why-i-liked-the-mass-effect-3-ending-eventually/

If I could add my own point to that - notice in the Citadel (Anderson says it) that it looks like "the collector base". And the confrontation with the illusive man is EXACTLY the same as the one with Saren at the end of ME1. It was Shepard's mind trying to use the past to fight the indoctrination.

Anyway, since I'm with this theory, I'm happy with the ending. I don't even need dlc afterwards, I'm fine with the idea that my Shepard succumbed to indoctrination and the universe was lost, just because it's so clever.

 

[freaper]

No! Of course not! I've enjoyed Mass Effect 1 & 2 ever since a friend recommended the games to me. I've finished ME2 more than I can remember, and the story of ME3 was much more gripping than the previous two put together. The ending was unsettling at most, but not disappointing.

Besides, for the Mass Effect trilogy in particular, it's about the journey, not the destination.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Yes, it did ruin it for me, as much as I hate to say it.

As an example, this is why.


Guess what? Mordin's sacrifice doesn't matter. Nothing mattered because of it. It had no place at the end of the series, and it jipped us all out of proper closure.

When Shepard started bleeding out, I was happy. He died right beside Anderson, it was touching.

When he ended up being forced to pretty much destroy the galaxy, it was out of place. It didn't make sense, and it didn't belong in the game. I didn't care for a sad ending. I just wanted closure. If it meant the death of me, than fine.

But it ostensibly made everything you did in that series useless.

 

[Rynozeros]

Yes I loved all the Mass Effect games but now it just feels tainted. Like it was all for nothing.

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-

I figured the fallout type ending would have fit in perfectly. sort of "Shepard dies, his saga is over, here is how his decisions and his ending shaped the galaxy."

I would have preferred something like the character monologues of New Vegas instead of the Fallout 3 endings narrated by one person.

Also,

Spoiler

Legion's sacrifice to free his people was more moving IMO than all the the other deaths, minus Thane's, combined.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Sadly it kind of did.

The unavoidably bleak and depressing ending means that repeated playthroughs are tainted with a feeling of 'what's the point?'

 

[Cid Silverwing]

YES.

I will never be able to replay the trilogy the same way again.

 

[teh_Canape]

They took my choices and made them not matter

from what I see, it's the choices you made that even got you there

Spoiler

also I just noticed that Saren's left shoulder pad is a Prothean armor shoulder pad

 

[Merrick_HLC]

Yes I loved all the Mass Effect games but now it just feels tainted. Like it was all for nothing.

Nope, I thought it was a satisfactory ending. Not everything has to be sunshine and flowers.

Ohh you are one of THOSE people.

There also doesnt have to be sunshine and flowers to have some actual closure.

Also Mordins death really got to me as well, particularly when he started singing.

OT: Nope, I thought Mass Effect was 99.98% pure awesome, the last 5 minutes are the only downer for me

xD Exactly.

I can't get over how some people think "Y'all want a happy roses & sunshine Disney ending"

No, I want an ending that gives closure.
I was actually happy with

Spoiler

Shepard and Anderson dying together on the Citadel as the device fired.
If the ending had been destroying the Reapers and then a montage about how your various decisions influenced the ME world ala-Fallout game endings, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about it.

I figured the fallout type ending would have fit in perfectly. sort of "Shepard dies, his saga is over, here is how his decisions and his ending shaped the galaxy."

I would have preferred something like the character monologues of New Vegas instead of the Fallout 3 endings narrated by one person.

Either one, but yeah character monologues would probably work better.

Spoiler

Imagine hearing Mordin's voice talking of the effects of curing the Genophage, or it being uncured. It could bring tears of either joy or sorrow.

 

[Athinira]

No.

As much as i hate it, i can still pretend that it ended differently and hope that some fans (or even BioWare themself) make something that corrects this mess. As with everything bad, you get used to it eventually. But it's still a terrible ending.

What it did ruin, however, was my last faith in BioWares writing. And I'm likely not alone there )

 

[endtherapture]

Sadly it kind of did.

The unavoidably bleak and depressing ending means that repeated playthroughs are tainted with a feeling of 'what's the point?'

Indeed.

All your choices, don't matter, at all, it's really sad and a slap in the face.

I can't face playing it again, not even multiplayer. Before though, I was raring to start another ME1 playthrough, now I just can't I just physically can't.

 

[Rynozeros]

Yes I loved all the Mass Effect games but now it just feels tainted. Like it was all for nothing.

Nope, I thought it was a satisfactory ending. Not everything has to be sunshine and flowers.

Ohh you are one of THOSE people.

There also doesnt have to be sunshine and flowers to have some actual closure.

Also Mordins death really got to me as well, particularly when he started singing.

OT: Nope, I thought Mass Effect was 99.98% pure awesome, the last 5 minutes are the only downer for me

xD Exactly.

I can't get over how some people think "Y'all want a happy roses & sunshine Disney ending"

No, I want an ending that gives closure.
I was actually happy with

Spoiler

Shepard and Anderson dying together on the Citadel as the device fired.
If the ending had been destroying the Reapers and then a montage about how your various decisions influenced the ME world ala-Fallout game endings, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about it.

I figured the fallout type ending would have fit in perfectly. sort of "Shepard dies, his saga is over, here is how his decisions and his ending shaped the galaxy."

I would have preferred something like the character monologues of New Vegas instead of the Fallout 3 endings narrated by one person.

Either one, but yeah character monologues would probably work better.

Spoiler

Imagine hearing Mordin's voice talking of the effects of curing the Genophage, or it being uncured. It could bring tears of either joy or sorrow.

WTB this ending.

 

[wintercoat]

They took my choices and made them not matter

from what I see, it's the choices you made that even got you there

Spoiler

also I just noticed that Saren's left shoulder pad is a Prothean armor shoulder pad

Hmm...

Spoiler: Saren's pauldron

Spoiler: Prothean pauldron(best shot I could find)

Nope, just a couple of pauldrons.