Why do people completely ignore how great 98% of Mass Effect 3 was and just focus on the ending?

[crazyrabbits]

I would hypothesize that many of the people who claim that "98% of the game was great" are hardcore fans trying to convince themselves that they didn't waste their money, and are using the whole "only the ending was bad" argument to (a) save face and (b) still feel like they have safety in numbers.

I've known about the narrative problems of the series beginning with 2 - I bought that game and all its associated DLC in spite of it. Narratively, ME2 was a mess - the Reapers were sidelined for a B-plot that had no relation to anything that happened in the prior or following game. The whole "Shepard dies" plotline was a hollow attempt at shock value that had no real relevance to the storyline. The supporting character arcs and the breadth of alternate dialogue is what made the game so enjoyable to me, in spite of those aforementioned problems, and I still consider the Suicide Mission to be one of the best ending setpieces in any video game, ever.

3 is weird and rushed from the get-go, and it shows. To a new player, it's practically incomprehensible, a cardinal sin for a company that publicly stated that it was the best point for new players to jump on. Characters get introduced with no explanation or exposition whatsoever, the initial Reaper invasion is relegated to a tutorial with a handful of enemies, the plot suddenly introduces a Deus Ex Machina/McGuffin (take your pick) with no prior warning, and the whole experience takes on this weird, stilted feeling that never goes away throughout the game. Yes, there are legitimately great parts - the entirety of Tuchanka and, to an extent, Rannoch. The rest of it is either filled with retcons, unanswered questions, illogical plot developments, the character assassination of practically everyone from the previous game and a reliance on the multiplayer horde mode concept.

The real test for the Bioware fans will be the release of DAIII. If that fails...well, I know in my case, I've already written off the company.

 

[Link Kadeshi]

Let me attempt to reconstruct your argument from ME3, into something else. Forgive the crudeness of this, but I wanted to keep your basic thought-pattern in this.

TITLE: Why do people completely ignore how great 98% of the Swiss Roll was and just focus on the Bone Fragments in the last bite?

Yeah I was let down, and even hated, the original Swiss Roll, but does that mean Little Debbie is now the worst snack developer in the world and I will never buy any Snack they make ever again? HECK NO! Am I going to ignore the rest of the SOTY*-potential Snack that had points that literally made me Salavate with Hunger and cry tears of sadness for the Last Bites? Hell no! Snack Developers sometimes trip and make mistakes, and just because you didn't like the ending to the Snack doesn't mean that Little Debbie will never make any decent Snack again.

That is just how I feel about the whole cluster-f. Just my opinion on the matter and I hope at least 2% of the raging escapist community agrees with me.

I would also like to state that Bioware blatantly lied to us, with full knowledge that what they said was patently untrue. We did not get the endings that would be drastically different, nor the failure of a A, B, or C ending. Then, in defense, we were pretty much called idiots. In defense of Chris' (Was that the guy's name? I'm so bad at names) story rewrite, and it was rewritten late in the game(So to speak) by two people of the writing team only, we were told that he thinks higher, and expects others to have his same knowledge and thinking. Oh, I see, it's not that the ending made no sense, ignored previous story elements, or came, not out of left field, but from behind the catcher completely... It's that we're idiots. Gotcha. Perhaps that's how I read the statement, though.

-

* Snack of the Year

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

1) The ending was one of the main reasons for getting the game.

The ending was one of the main selling points for ME3, a final chapter to cap off an epic trilogy. People didn't buy the game for its combat and gameplay, (in fact those two points tended to be mediocre) they bought the game for the story.


2) Expectations of Excellence

If ME3 was a company's first game then yes there wouldn't have been nearly as much bile thrown at it but it wasn't. Bioware has (or had in my personal opinion) a reputation for creating engaging worlds and amazing stories.


3) The 'WTF is this?' Ending

The Starchild came completely out of the blue, it didn't help that its logic was trollworthy at best and pants on head retarded at worst.

 

[Olas]

I guess it's like MovieBob's review of the Dark Knight Rises. He liked the movie but he was already expecting it to be good so the good parts didn't stand out as much as the bad parts. Thus his review seemed negative despite the movie being pretty good overall.

Though I actually liked the ending to that game so I'm probably not the best person to try and explain this to you. Honestly it gets annoying hearing people go off on the exact same thing again and again; nobody talks about any other parts of the game. Remember when the Thresher Maw took down the reaper on Tachunka? How awesome was that?

 

[Nomanslander]

I thought most of ME3 was a let down. It only had a few moments of genuine goodness: Tuchanka, Javik. And as for the rest... well... there was nothing worth mentioning.

 

[MortisLegio]

I liked parts of the game (Tuchanka in particular) but most of it was not very good (mediocre to down right awful). There are many missteps in the story, Kai Leng wasn't very threatening (in my opinion) and came off more as an annoyance than an Anti-Shepard. Some of the players choices were pretty much retconned (Anderson) or just didn't matter (Rachni Queen/Destroying the Collector Base). It seemed like someone (I wont point fingers) wanted a story and took out alot of player choice to keep the story he/she/they wanted. The side missions were boring and repetitive and many game mechanics were just lack luster (Military readiness/ Weapon Customization). The story overall could have been significantly improved upon like getting rid of the Crucible and instead had Shepard just unite the galaxy. The ending is what had originally set me off but when I looked back I saw so many glaring flaws that I can't really enjoy the game.

Spoiler: For those who say = You try and write a better story.

The game starts with Shepard being led to his/her trial by Vega in a player controlled scene (this allows for a simple walking tutorial for new/returning players). Anderson meets you outside the trial and tells you that he is knows why Shepard did it and believes it was the right thing. He also tells Shepard that he can't go in because (He's too close to Shepard or he has Council Business to attend to). Shepard enters the trial and the cut scene starts with the Judges receiving word about the reapers and asks Shepard what to do. Shepard gets a dialog option and the reapers attack. Combat tutorial as Shepard makes his/her way to the Normandy. During this time Shepard rescues Anderson who tells you that he is taking charge of the Alliance forces and asks you to warn the council (differing dialog depending on if he was/wasn't on the council). Shepard then precedes to his base of either the Citadel (Destroyed Collector base) or the Collector base (saved it). After setting up base (the different bases give Shepard different benefits), Shepard proceeds to contact retrieve Liara to help gather information (since she is the shadow broker). After that Shepard can pick up his other teammates in almost any order. Tuchanka would remain mostly unchanged (just a few small tweaks to help the story), as well as, Garrus' and Tali's/Legion's mission. Kai Leng and Cerberus would be hunting Shepard and trying to stop certain events from happening but with a few more dialog moments between Shepard and the Illusive Man. Kia Leng would also have a few more fights with Shepard in the game. Depending upon Shepard's choices, Shepard could take control of Cerberus and use them in the final battle (also you could kill or save the Illusive Man; it your choice). Finally, Shepard goes to Earth with the massive fleet and attacks the Reapers (The Citadel wasn't moved to the Earth in my story). When Shepard lands, he/she chooses different groups to do different jobs (Krogans,Turians,or Rachni to assault the front lines/ Asari, Quarians, or Salarians to cover a group of people Ect.). At the End it is Shepard versus Harbinger. Depending on Shepard's choices depends on how the final battle goes down (Total Defeat - Reapers Win, Massive losses- Shepard and Characters die, Small losses - Shepard and character could die, Shepard lives but some characters die, All characters live but Shepard dies, and All Characters live including Shepard). Final video of what happens with all that Shepard had chosen to do; roll credits. There would be no Crucible, no god-kid, no Reaper reasoning (leave that a mystery; believe me it's better that way) and have endings that most people will actually like.

Mass Effect 3 was good at times and awful at others. Personally, I think alot of the bad design choices came down as an EA mandate or something, but in the end it all depends on taste and if you personally like it than that's fine with me.

 

[bafrali]

I got this vibe from the OP.

It is time to let the time heal the wounds of our butts. Long story short, let it go.

 

[Reaper195]

Because a majority of gamers seem to be cynical dicks. Seriously. There is no logical reason to not enjoy a majority of something just because a tiny bit sucked. Personally, I liked the ending. The ending of a game I hated was Fallout 3. I thought the ending was the biggest "Oh, and now the game ends" ever. Never played the DLC after the end, since I never finished the ending. But I didn't let the last half hour ruin the seventy plus hours I put into the game. In fact, with as much as time I put into the game, I can barely even remember the ending.

I also refuse to let something small ruin something so large.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Because it wasn't that great. It had a lot of problems. It's just that the ending is so terrible, it overshadows all the other problems. But they exist. The broken quest tracking system, no holstering, terrible FOV on PC, ugly textures, ugly animations, numerous bugs and glitches, war assets, lack of real side quests etc.

 

[Harb]

Why do people completely ignore how great 98% of Mass Effect 3 was and just focus on the ending?

I'm pretty sure if you ordered another cake in your favourite restaurant and the final centre piece was nothing but poo, you would be talking to the chef exactly about that centre piece and nothing else.

 

[King of Asgaard]

As many, many, MANY people have said in this thread and others, the ending is what leaves the greatest impression on you.
That's why games like Red Dead Redemption and Final Fantasy X are two of my favourites, because their endings were amazing, and the bits that fell a bit short were something in the middle that held little importance. In ME3, it was the ending that fell short, and it paid the price.

 

[Joccaren]

Don't know what you're talking about, most people I've seen recognize that the 98% is awesome, even under the long shadow cast by the 2%.

Most people I've talked to and met recognize the 98% as being average to below average with a couple of highlights.
Things such as the autodialogue, intense linearisation, complete disregard for choices, the lack of polish due to rush, the lack of substance in sidequests and the majority of the game and a lot more generally pull the quality of the game down. Its like Bioware got to ME3 as part of a distance race, a ME marathon if you will, and tried sprinting to the end. They made it there, but they didn't talk to any fans along the way, didn't drink any water, and when they crossed the finish they were all but dead. The sprint they made was some of the worst running they'd done, even if it was about on par with everyone elses.


OT: A few things to point out;
1. As I've said above, the 98% of the game wasn't necessarily awesome. If it were I'd be able to play through that then save and quit before hitting the end. Thing is it feels like more of a grind than Runescape to play. Its more like watching a movie than playing a game IMO. A movie with occasional controlled shooter bits that aren't up to scratch with what everyone else is putting out. I never played Mass Effect for its shooting. I'll acknowledge that it was crap in both the previous games, if workable crap. I played it for its only semi-linearity, the dialogue, and the choices that would eventually pay of. ME3 comes around and its got better shooting, but its now 100% linear for the main story, there's less choices in dialogue before - and even being able to get a choice is a fairly rare occurrence, and choices amount to bugger all. My reasons for playing ME are gone, and then they kill its one other redeeming feature - its story - with the ending, so I've got no reason to like it.
2. The ending was that bad. It really, really was. They built it up to be so much, and it delivered so little, that its as if I told you I was getting you a gold plated Ferrari for your upcoming birthday, and I've gotten you some pretty awesome cars on your previous birthdays, so you're inclined to believe me, but instead I get you a plastic spray painted gold 'Ferrari' hotwheels model. Hell, not even that's as disappointing as you can at least sell your other cars and buy that Ferrari yourself. Even if we know how to code and make a game, ME is copyright, so we couldn't make our own ME3, or even the ending. It overshadows the rest of the game, and makes the rest of the story somewhat redundant, removing most of the ME appeal in one swift blow.
3. ME3 was made up to be the EPIC CONCLUSION. When its not, I'm going to be disappointed.

Also, whats with all the ME3 threads recently? Something I've missed?

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

My Theory: The whole game was just so bloody dissapointing and the ending was the cherry made of feces on-top a barf trifle. And subconciously, fanboys are reasoning thinking that if the ending was just a little bit better they could ignore the massive step down in quality and appreciate a good series.

Again: Just a hunch.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

The first 98% were also pretty shit, to be fair to the game. It's a bit silly that the last 2 percent overshadows that.

 

[FeloniousMonk]

It wasn't great.

Fragments of the plot held ransom to DLC, that ridiculous vega bloke, killing off a child we have no connection to as a cheap way to make gamers feel 'omg so sad ima cry' without actual characterisation when hundreds of thousands of off-screen characters die, both child and adult.

Forcing people to play through multiplayer to increase readiness or whatever it was, the attempt to appeal to juvenile minds, the abandonment of any sort of consequence resultant from previous choices. I could go on.

However, it's perfectly legitimate to trash it on its ending.

The first two games made so much fuss over how you'd influence the fate of the galaxy, which was a bunch of bullshit. In effect, the game is a con job.

Thank fuck I didn't pay for it (I got it as a gift from a friend, I haven't pirated anything, for clarity.)

 

[CAPTCHA]

I swear, all this focus on the ending make it seem like people forgot the real low point of the series - the ending of ME2. That shit was 9001% more stupid than the ending of the third.

I would say that the only part of ME3 that worked for me was the conclusion to the Genophage storyline. I liked the music as well - not just the theme, but the ambience pieces too.

However...

*I was never invested in the Geth plot as I've heard that story over and over.
*The romance plot felt like a chose your own virtual girlfriend gimmick.
*The whole Creberus plot had potential to be an interesting shade of grey, but they went the route of 'obviously evil and corrupt'.
*The world lore was overall memetic and stale.
*Gameplay was dull and done better in just about every TPS to come before it.
*Renegade Shepard's actions are not renegade but dumb and psychotic.
*The Paragon/Renegade system is one of the worst morality system to be implemented in a game.
*The ending was shit.
*The whole game is overhyped and was overmarketed, which might not be a fault of the game itself, but it puts me in a poor frame of mind when shit is forced on me.

I think that's it you know. The game was so hyped that everyone expected something great, but all these people played the game and it wasn't living up to their expectations so they placed all their hopes on the ending to blow them out of the water, but instead they were left dissapointed.

DISSAPOINTED

Mix that with a hefty dose of entitlement and you've got the Mass Effect legecy.

 

[Fappy]

(a) Some folks don't consider the 98% to be great. (EDIT: See above.)

(b) The ending is the final impression, the taste that lingers on your tongue so to speak.

(c) The climax and the ending of a story are what everything before it leads up to. If those parts suck then I can't blame people for no longer being enthusiastic about the lead-up parts.

This. I enjoyed the game, but that doesn't mean I was disappointed in more than just the ending.

And also, how the eff are we STILL talking about Mass Effect 3? It's almost September people!

 

[Casual Shinji]

There were plenty of problems besides the ending, some small (Diana Allers) and some big (ME2 adding nothing to the overall plot).