Update: Fan "Fixes" Mass Effect 3 Ending With A 539-Page Rewrite

[chstens]

I have noticed a strong correlation between those who followed Mass Effect games as they launched and hated the ending, and those who got into it later and didn't mind it.

I strongly suspect that a lot of the dislike comes from the hype and exaggerations/falsehoods that Bioware used in it's marketing. If people didn't have such high expectations, I suspect the ending would have been written off as just another series a developer didn't know how to end.

The fact that Bioware repeatedly stated that choices would significantly impact the ending, that the game wouldn't simply have an A,B or C ending and that it'd answer all questions is what upset a lot of people.

Regardless of whether or not somebody liked the ending, nobody can truthfully say that it fit in with what Bioware promised it would be like.

I've followed Mass Effect since the beginning, and consider myself a huge fan of the franchise, and I just found the original ending underwhelming at worst. It wasn't good, but it's not even close to as bad as the majority claims. So does that mean I'm just better at managing my expectations than most of the vocal Internet?

 

[daveNYC]

Interesting that he decided to keep the Crucible plot. I thought that the 'super anti-Reaper weapon whose plans have been passed on and built on for hundreds of cycles of extermination and that just happened to be discovered in our solar system just as the Reapers show up' was a weak main plot line.

Now if he had made the Crucible plans a trap that had been planted by the Reaper agents as a Plan B once they discovered that their usual 'show up and lop off the head of the government with a strike at the Citadel' plan fell apart in ME1, then we'd be cooking with gas.

 

[alj]

This is indeed impressive work, however even as a huge huge mass effect fan who was very disappointed at the ending even i think this is going a bit too far, as impressive as it is.

As far as the ending goes its clear it was rushed out.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Impressive, though honestly I wouldn't use his work for the ending of the Shep I treasure most, since he sticks with the original concepts and all. The endings available just came off as insultingly tragic for my Shep, and since it was a game and character I'd used to pull myself out of a serious suicidal despair, being told the only way to end the damn game is to off yourself, or off half of your friends with a slight chance of survival if you go renegade, comes off as an immense personal insult. The extended cut sure as hell doesn't fix that, and I have a feeling his work doesn't either. I'll look at it later to see if there's any ending there that I'd be satisfied with.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Well, that's certainly one hell of an impressive feat, especially if it turns out to be any good. It still won't change my mind that the original ending (while shoddily executed in a few areas) never needed 'fixing', especially not beyond the EC, and that all the rage was a massive over-reaction and involved a lot of wilful misinterpretation of the concept. However, good on him regardless.

 

[daveNYC]

I think there's a difference between liking the ending and thinking the ending was good. As in good in a well written, flowed from themes earlier in the story, foreshadowed in places but not obviously telegraphed, etc... way.

Someone could like Plan 9 From Outer Space, but there ain't no way to consider it a good movie. Not that I put the ending of ME3 in the same category as that train wreck.

 

[Saulkar]

The ending was a trainwreck of EPIC proportions and just all round horrible writing. However unlike most people outraged or who were happy with the ending I expected it to suck. I was still angry but the signs were there from Mass Effect 2 that they really had no idea what to do given the meandering plot of the second game.

Oh right you convinced me, how could I be so wrong liking something that many other people don't? I thought there's something such as subjective and taste, how I was wrong all along!

Here, you want an objective analysis that smartassery cannot disarm? (rhetorical question)

Spoiler: Then pull up a chair, grab a drink, and turn your brain on...

This will be a long one.
Mind you, there is very little open to interpretation when you break the ME3 ending(s) down.

P.S. I will start reading it tomorrow as my ass needs to meet sheets sooner than later.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I just finished ME3 and with all the rage I had heard about I was bracing myself for something truly awful, but quite the opposite happened. I was quite satisfied with the ending, and the options presented, and it all seemed to fit well within the themes the trilogy dealt with.

But hey, everyone's free to write their own fanfic. With all the attention this will get, it'll no doubt be a positive for the author.

Same. I finished with the Extended Cut and all of the associated DLC, and the revised ending is surprisingly palatable. I went for Synthesis as my canonical ending, but I did check out the Control and Destruction endings. In all cases, all three endings are adequately justified, with points of contention really being up to the player.

Leviathan is really vital, though. Without it, the Catalyst's fallacy just comes out of left field. With it, you can see the God Child's origins and actually get a reason as to why he's so horribly misguided. It doesn't excuse his terrible reasoning, but it has the game acknowledge that it *is* terrible. Fixing that is on your Shepard's shoulders.

 

[CloudAtlas]

I read a couple of pages of this script, but I was not very impressed. He put in a lot of time, sure, but at the end of the day it's just fan fiction. An like much other fan fiction, it shows, for example, an abudance of indulgence and a lack of restraint. And judging by what I read, I doubt he'll be hired as a writer at a game company for this.

In this version, Destroy is automatically picked if you're a paragon (get rid of reapers), Control is renegade (take their power for yourself) and Synthesis is for if you played an in-betweeny Shepard. Synthesis is portrayed here as being the inferior choice that Shepard resigns his/herself to as there is no other way they can foresee; you even have the option here (unlike the other two) to back out and get the "refuse ending" introduced in the extended cut.

After all that, there's hours of epilogues. The writer even suggests providing the player with a kind of gallery, so they can watch each epilogue (one for almost every important character in the game) in any order, pause them and come back, etc.

Here's a list of the characters he writes epilogues for:

[more names than even I can remember]

And each one varies depending on whether you get a good, medium or bad version of the Destroy, Control or Synthesis ending. These are also in addition to the main epilogue. It's really over-the-top.

Does he really make the availability of the endings contingent on your paragon/renegade score? What an awful idea.

Now I generally don't understand the people complaining about a lack of closure in Mass Effect 3, since the whole game is dishing out closure in spades end every major story and character arc is completed before the actual ending, but even if that was not the case...

A big story like Mass Effect should end on a bang, it should leave you with a "wow", it should leave you with something to think about. And the best way to crush any such feelings is to add hours of epilogue describing what happens afterwards to each and every minor character. None of this matters to the story, and just shows the aforementioned lack of restraint.


Edit: I'm also surprised that someone who spends so much effort into correcting everything that he thinks is wrong with Mass Effect 3 just re-writes Mass Effect 3, without addressing the story issues of the other two games in the context of the narrative of the trilogy as a whole.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Here, you want an objective analysis that smartassery cannot disarm? (rhetorical question)

Spoiler: Then pull up a chair, grab a drink, and turn your brain on...

This will be a long one.
Mind you, there is very little open to interpretation when you break the ME3 ending(s) down.

Do you realize that there are also a lot of people who wrote equally detailed analyses in defense of the ending as a reaction to all the critique? Just linking to a number of one select series of videos arguing in one direction does not proves you right, as much as me linking to one of those defenses would prove you wrong.

Besides, claiming that some critique of art is pretty much an objective, irrefutable analysis that leaves nothing open to interpretation... well, the only thing you'll achieve is make me laugh.

 

[Brother Pain]

I still think the best ending they could have done would be simply ending the game as Shepard sits down next to Anderson and watches the fireworks, slowly fading out and dying from exertion and blood loss.

Perhaps a decent epilogue afterwards, but I'd have been happy with the above. Instead we got the stupid Star Child stuff.

Note, I still haven't played the extended cut. Anytime I think of going through the third game again, all I can think of is how they ruined what had until then been a truly great and engaging game in the last couple of minutes.

 

[Saulkar]

Here, you want an objective analysis that smartassery cannot disarm? (rhetorical question)

Oh come on linking YouTube videos, that's just lazy. Why don't you write your own analysis if you really can't stand that someone likes what you don't like? Even glancing those long posts years after ME3 came out is quite entertaining.

Why? Because it would be an essay. There is no summery, only dozens of points that invite being contested unless both the macro and the micro are taken into pedantic detail!

Furthermore I did not even remotely imply that I was irked by your enjoyment of the game. You can enjoy it and the ending all you want and it will not change how I think of you. None the less your interpretation of my previous reply has me wary of any further interaction as I implied nothing more than consternation over your sarcastic rebuttal of the other person. I finished by presenting you with an objective analysis of the plot holes of the game that empirically damage the plot of the series as a whole; In direct response to your sarcastic accusations that the person you were initially engaged in conversation with was not being objective enough.

Given the baiting nature of your first post you put me in a position to assume that you had no real intention of opening up a genuine dialogue in the first place. Granted, my barrage of videos are not anymore so but they do establish my position and reasoning. If this is interpreted as passive aggressive then put those feelings aside as that is not the intent and prove my observation of your overall objective wrong.

 

[Saulkar]

Besides, claiming that some critique of art is pretty much an objective, irrefutable analysis that leaves nothing open to interpretation... well, the only thing you'll achieve is make me laugh.

Oi.

I am talking about the actual logical flow of the story, plot points, literary tools, and general writing etiquette. Not a person's enjoyment of the series, ending, or the overall game itself. That is another thing entirely and I have no beef with anyone who enjoys it. My reaction was a frivolous retort against the other persons sarcasm that I hoped could also lead to more serious discussion had he glanced over one of the videos or agreed to part ways if he'd neither the time nor interest.

P.S. I really hate sarcasm.

 

[Vargras]

It's been almost two years since ME3 released, and people are still complaining about the ending.

Seriously?

 

[Pr0]

It's been almost two years since ME3 released, and people are still complaining about the ending.

Seriously?

Actually the inverse thing to consider here is that its been almost two years since ME3 released and people are still having to be told how good the ending supposedly was, and/or be told "dude its been almost two years, you should let it go."

I'm afraid that either way....its crap.

 

[Alarien]

The original ending was, as another said, underwhelming and had a few really bad ideas in it (destruction of the mass relays). The extended ending was fine. It wasn't fantastic, no, but there had already been so much else resolved in ME3 that I felt that it was fine, and that most of my expectations for player driven story endings (i.e. Genophage, Geth/Quarian war, etc) had been suitably met.

I do think that, kinda unforgivably, the "real" endings require you to have Javik and Leviathan, both paid DLC's, as well as the extended edition patch.

Still, ME3 ranks as my favorite game of all time. My wife's as well, and between us we probably have around 43 years of active gaming.

Edit: To PrO: Or "how bad it was." The people who really hated the ending REALLY still feel the need to point out everything they hate about the ending and call everyone who disagrees wrong. The best part is that they think there is "truth" in their statement. "Because I said, and so did this youtube guy" does not make something "truth" any more than me saying "I felt it was fine" makes it truth.

 

[Seracen]

More power to the creator of this opus (which I intend to read), but how is this any different from the myriad of fanfics that came out after ME3 (which all sought to do the same thing)?

Hell, I rewrote "Priority: Earth," posted the damn thing, and got several thousand hits in a week, and that was just me. I am certain there are larger and more widely viewed works out there.

Let's not even get started on the Marauder Shields Comic, and all the various mod/video edits.

Like I said, I am looking forward to the read, but it's just one more addition to my compendium of "possible endings," which isn't a bad thing, I just question the need for an article about it.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Besides, claiming that some critique of art is pretty much an objective, irrefutable analysis that leaves nothing open to interpretation... well, the only thing you'll achieve is make me laugh.

Oi.

I am talking about the actual logical flow of the story, plot points, literary tools, and general writing etiquette. Not a person's enjoyment of the series, ending, or the overall game itself. That is another thing entirely and I have no beef with anyone who enjoys it. My reaction was a frivolous retort against the other persons sarcasm that I hoped could also lead to more serious discussion had he glanced over one of the videos or agreed to part ways if he'd neither the time nor interest.

P.S. I really hate sarcasm.

Are you implying that someone was only able to enjoy it because she is ignorant of the rules of storytelling? That if only she was more critical she would not like the ending as well?

Did you miss the part where I said that people wrote analyses just as elaborate as the one you linked, explicitly addressing all these criticisms yet still arrive at a different conclusion?

 

[Saulkar]

Furthermore I did not even remotely imply that I was irked by your enjoyment of the game. You can enjoy it and the ending all you want and it will not change how I think of you.

Okay, sorry. I'm sure I've seen those video you linked when I played the whole ME trilogy almost a year ago and then tried to look up everything there is plus discuss the ending with other people.

Unfortunately as a general rule, people who dare to claim the ending is fine tend to be attacked quite horribly (well relatively to other game-related on the internet) simply for liking something. Hence my original post which was a bit of a trolling on my side. But honestly I'd really be amused if some of those people who get into red rage when the ME3 ending is mentioned would catch on and write another essay.

Regardless, appreciating anything artistic or entertaining is subjective by principle. If I tell a joke and you don't like it, you can talk as much as you want why the joke is bad and there will still be people who like the joke and will laugh at it.

As for the ME3 ending, I played the games too long ago to discuss anything (I made a topic here on Escapist back then but in no way in hell am I going to look it up) and it's rather forgettable anyway, but long story short, the trilogy had too many flaws, shortcomings and just general stuff stuff for me to fall in love with it. The (extended) ending of ME3 was one of the definite high points though. The lowest point was the human reaper in ME2. Now that's something that gives me a gag reflex even now so I can sort of understand why the ME3 ending can have this affect on those who didn't like it. But still.

I am extremely pleased with your articulate response. I understand your reasoning and while I do not feel I have anything more to add I will say, looking back on my original response, that I was quite passionate and apologise if I seemed dickish.

 

[Agent 45]

Here, you want an objective analysis that smartassery cannot disarm? (rhetorical question)

Spoiler: Then pull up a chair, grab a drink, and turn your brain on...

This will be a long one.
Mind you, there is very little open to interpretation when you break the ME3 ending(s) down.

Do you realize that there are also a lot of people who wrote equally detailed analyses in defense of the ending as a reaction to all the critique? Just linking to a number of one select series of videos arguing in one direction does not proves you right, as much as me linking to one of those defenses would prove you wrong.

Besides, claiming that some critique of art is pretty much an objective, irrefutable analysis that leaves nothing open to interpretation... well, the only thing you'll achieve is make me laugh.

The few analyses that I've read that defend the ending seem to make a lot of mistakes as to why ME3's ending is bad. For one thing, they assume that people found it too dark and wanted a happy ending. Some people are fine with a dark ending, some are not, but that's not what matters. It's bad because of a ton of other reasons, which many people have made those lenghty videos about. I highly recommend MrBtongue's videos in this regard. Second, those articles that defend the ending also state that many people are upset over the lack of choice and consequence, while the final choice results in massive consequences. In the original ending, one could not have possibly understood what kind of effects the choices would have, the mechanics behind those consequences (how does synthesis even happen, for example) and so on.

So people were making a choice they did not understand, which is not something in the ending's favor. The extended cut did fix some issues, but most of them were still there. These are some of the reasons why I would argue that the ending was in fact, bad by some objective measure. Not completely of course, whether you found the manner in which the character's arcs were wrapped up satisfyingly is up to you, amongst some other things. But I would hesitate to call ME3's ending art. There is art in the Mass Effect series, but it wasn't in the ending. EDIT: That last part is a quote by MrBtongue, just for disclaimer's sake. Also I don't think that anyone who likes the ending is stupid or anything. Just something I felt needed to be said