Mass Effect 3: The Ending(s) [** Spoilers **]

G.J.

Synthesis was basically what Saren said he wanted for the cycle at the end of the first game.

Potential-Monke

Give me Mako over ME2 planet scanning any day.

Dave_The_Sheep

The Mako was a pain in the hole and ME2's planet scanning got old very quickly.

I'd take the planet scanning in ME3 over the Mako/ME2 planet scanning any day. Pity there weren't planet-landing-explore missions in ME3 like the anomalies in ME3. I liked those.

Meesared

Mr Freeze wrote: »

Whoa, I can't let some of this go with out commenting.

1. The combat is still clunky as hell...
3. Gimme back that inventory system any day
4. Remember the old days when you could just throw Omni Gel at everything.
6. Texture pop in, ME2 and ME3 are just as guilty as ME1 for this.
8. Never noticed an infinite spawn in any of the games.

ME1 is a flawed masterpiece, ME2 and ME3 are both great games, but nothing compared to the epicness that was ME1, this is mainly due to the ME2 and ME3 being dumbed down for the masses.

Sorry I just love ME1...

1. Its a hell of a lot tighter than ME 1
3. Youre insane
4. That mechanic made no sense and you know it
6. Its a reduced a hell of a lot
8. I don't remember Infinite spawn in ME2, I remember a good few bits of that happening in ME1 though

Though I will agree on your statement that ME1 is a flawed masterpiece, but I would put forward the same for ME2

pixelburp

Well this is the first time I've come back to a ME3 thread here since the game came out; I wanted to enjoy the experience with as few spoilers as possible - take in every moment as it happens without any foreknowledge. And by and large I managed that; like a great movie or TV show I'm sorry it's all over & sorry to say goodbye to Garrus, Tali et al.

Having said that, bloody hell the internet did its best to spoil the game for me though: nearly every blog, forum and website had something written about the game and more often than not it involved the ending.

This is what annoyed me most, and I include Boards.ie here: simply by having articles & threads on the ending meant that even if I didn't read them & know their details, I realised something was up; that there was something about the ending to be feared. So as the end of the game drew closer I didn't grow excited, I was filled with dread. And in that sense I wasn't disappointed. The ending was awful & sucked all the emotion of the previous 95% of the gamer out the airlock.

It's a complete let-down. I knew the self-sacrifice thing was coming; it's the oldest trick in the heroic-journey script & was telegraphed from the start. I knew in my gut the story would end with Shephard paying the ultimate price - so that was ok, I was allright with that. No, what upset me was that - essentially - the story ends with everything unanswered and / or in ruins, via a plot device was so bloody pat. I got the 'good' ending, but the galaxy's a mess, the relay system gone & whole civilisations cutoff from each other (though I bet if there's a continuation we'll see a handy new invention to by-pass that) , with 90% of the cast are unknown in terms of their whereabouts. The latter is what really sticks in my craw: the Mass Effect universe deserves more than simply having the Normandy stranded on an alien world (oh and why exactly was the ship in hyperspace to begin with - wouldn't it have been still in orbit with the fleet?), not to mention every other civilisation that helped humanity out.

I then sit through the credits, get a fairly naff coda, only to be dumped back on the Normandy bridge? Ah jesus, that blows. Completely bummed about by that ending. Nearly 5 years of pick-your-own adventures, negated by a choice of 3 switches, each one causing different-coloured doom.

*grabs the bottle of whiskey from the shelf*

Shryke

Dumped back and told to pay for dlc!
The relationship I maintained for 2 games was with Jack. You would think that would be important. Zero in the ending, she sure as hell wasn't on the Normandy. ME2 proved that multiple devisive endings was a real possibility for a game. The variation wasn't huge but it mattered and had impact. If it could be achieved in one then it can be achieved in another. You would think more so since the same company is the one that had done it before.
There's something rotten about the ending that isn't an ending.

I like the cupcake idea. If anyone didn't see it, there's a group of people planning on sending a couple of hundred cupcakes to Bioware. 3 different colours but they all taste the same.

Zero-Cool

Shryke wrote: »

I like the cupcake idea. If anyone didn't see it, there's a group of people planning on sending a couple of hundred cupcakes to Bioware. 3 different colours but they all taste the same.

HAHA thats gas out!

Just reading the cupcake thread on the bioware forums, some of them comments being sent with the cupcakes are hillarious

"Choose the red one! You'll get to live
afterwards!...That was a joke. ;-)” – Alex

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/10635792

EDIT: Just read Bioware have sent all cupcakes to poison tasters charity

Shryke

I didn't see this link posted before but it might be somwhat legit in its ramblings. Apparently from one of the game writers and talking about the ending. All the evidence seems to add up to the fact that the lead writer took it upon himself to throw down this starchild rubbish and ignore the input of the rest of the writers, when usually the rest of the writers would all have a say and the thing would be worked on.

http://www.gamefront.com/did-a-mass-effect-3-writer-slam-the-ending/

G.J.

I think this all happened because it wasn't written by Drew Karpyshyn, the entire Mass Effect story was his masterpiece, and it seems sort of sad that he didn't finish it off. I'm sure we'd be discussing a completely different ending if he had written it, an ending to be proud of most likely too.

Kirby

Mr Freeze wrote: »

6. Texture pop in, ME2 and ME3 are just as guilty as ME1 for this.

Not true at all. The pop-in for ME1 was horrendous as during cutscenes, the texture for everything would be reloaded every time the camera angle changed from one person to another. It was so jarring and was fixed for ME2 and 3 where you hardly ever noticed it.

ME1 is pure brilliance but the original xbox version(released a year before the PC version) has the worst pop in of any AAA title ever. You either only played it on PC or have forgotten how bad it was since its been over 4 years since its release.

Gbear

Kirby wrote: »

Not true at all. The pop-in for ME1 was horrendous as during cutscenes, the texture for everything would be reloaded every time the camera angle changed from one person to another. It was so jarring and was fixed for ME2 and 3 where you hardly ever noticed it.

ME1 is pure brilliance but the original xbox version(released a year before the PC version) has the worst pop in of any AAA title ever. You either only played it on PC or have forgotten how bad it was since its been over 4 years since its release.

I think the whole series suffers from the same poor graphics.

If you compare other titles released before each game - Mass Effect and Quake 4 or Doom 3, released 2 years beforehand, Mass Effect 2 and Crysis, released 2 years beforehand and the current one and the likes of Crysis 2, Battlefield, CoD etc; it's obvious that graphics were never the series' strong suit.

Bioware also seem to have form in releasing games "broken". Take KotOR, and KotOR 2 was even worse.
Ordinarily I would've considered their lack of polish unforgivable - both graphically and in terms of gameplay, but I loved all of them because of their storylines.
Luckily that polish has come through trial and error over the course of the series, gameplay wise at least. There was only so much they could do with that engine.

AlmightyCushion

Gbear wrote: »

I think the whole series suffers from the same poor graphics.

If you compare other titles released before each game - Mass Effect and Quake 4 or Doom 3, released 2 years beforehand, Mass Effect 2 and Crysis, released 2 years beforehand and the current one and the likes of Crysis 2, Battlefield, CoD etc; it's obvious that graphics were never the series' strong suit.

Bioware also seem to have form in releasing games "broken". Take KotOR, and KotOR 2 was even worse.
Ordinarily I would've considered their lack of polish unforgivable - both graphically and in terms of gameplay, but I loved all of them because of their storylines.
Luckily that polish has come through trial and error over the course of the series, gameplay wise at least. There was only so much they could do with that engine.

I don't think it's really fair to compare ME2 to Crysis graphically, Crysis completely shít over every game released at the time and a good few years after (graphically speaking of course). Even now it still puts a lot of recent releases to shame.

Kirby

You can't compare a game on the PC with no hardware limits to a game that has to run on the 360......the same 360 with 5 year old technology. It's an awful comparison. You compare Mass effect to everything else on a console.

ME is the Unreal engine. The same engine as Gears of War. Console games like Uncharted are better looking but thats the pinnacle of this console generation. Compare the Crysis console version for a more astute comparison.

Gbear

Kirby wrote: »

You can't compare a game on the PC with no hardware limits to a game that has to run on the 360......the same 360 with 5 year old technology. It's an awful comparison. You compare Mass effect to everything else on a console.

ME is the Unreal engine. The same engine as Gears of War. Console games like Uncharted are better looking but thats the pinnacle of this console generation. Compare the Crysis console version for a more astute comparison.

I suppose I was forgetting that they were created with consoles in mind.

That doesn't explain the awful prerendered scenes in ME2 though.

Gunmonkey

Gbear wrote: »

Bioware also seem to have form in releasing games "broken". Take KotOR, and KotOR 2 was even worse.

Bioware didnt touch KotoR 2, that was Obsidian.

But your right, Bioware release VERY rough games. Lighting on faces is all over place, animation is hit and miss - some of the scenes in ME are very well acted

the Samara vs Morinth biotic fight in ME2 and Shepard dragging Samaras daughter away from her sister in ME3

while others, namely anything where characters stand talking, are messy and stiff.

Kirby

The character movement in ME3 was much improvement during cutscenes. I noticed it very early. The first time you meet Ashley in ME3 she is moving all over the place. There are more "moving" conversations too with people walking while talking which is much more natural.

It's still wooden at times but better than ME1 where they just stood around for 90% of the game.

Shiny Cactus

Everyone is complaining about bioware what about EA who continue to buy up the indie studios and ruin them for quick cash rewards instead of full development time, for example C&C4's campaign being only able to play it online (stupid move). Also placing employees to oversee the games's development midway after buying the studio and I know this has be said before and even studios have complained about companies like EA and Microsoft ruining the games they make.
Everyone was happy with bioware's games before EA, simple reason to me by the endings have plot holes.

Overheal

EA is the Mitt Romney of gaming.

Nobody on this thread will understand what I mean, but I don't care.

Arawn

Overheal wrote: »

EA is the Mitt Romney of gaming.

Nobody on this thread will understand what I mean, but I don't care.

because nobody follows american politics here??

Overheal

Arawn wrote: »

because nobody follows american politics here??

He bought up companies, wrung them dry, and tore them to ribbons.

Shiny Cactus

Overheal wrote: »

EA is the Mitt Romney of gaming.

Nobody on this thread will understand what I mean, but I don't care.

Another capitalist idiot ruining everything he touches, republican party are nuts over in america like Evangelicals (think I got that cult/religion right)

FutureGuy

You gotta be ****ing kidding me. I prayed for them not to mess with the ending just because it's not a happy one. But no. And I'm not ****ing paying for it. From the Bioware feeds.

"We listen to our fans. We listen to our customers. After weeks of feedback from all of you, Bioware and EA are delighted to announce Mass Effect: Omega. This piece of downloadable content tells the incredible story of the retake of the Omega station from the hands of Cerberus. After the destruction of the Reapers, the only cure to save the life of a badly burned N7 soldier lies within the dark corridors of Omega. But the cure will not come without heavy sacrifice.

Play as Liara, Garrus or Joker, each with their unique abilities across three different environments, including Omega and Solof 4

"

Get ready to fight for the lives of those you love this Summer. Be prepared to take the first step into a new reality. Be prepared to say goodbye.
"

Unknown N7 soldier. Whatever-i'm clearly too stupid to know who that is. So have your ****ing happy ever after ending, save Shepard and live happily every after. Fcuk off. :mad:

EDIT: Guys I have been asked to spoiler something that is very very awesome and spoilerish regarding how the game plays out. Fair enough. My apologies. My opinion:

So you play as Liara and Garrus on Omega and Joker on the planet (Solof 1). That's planet is not on the codex...and yes I checked!)

Josey Wales

FutureGuy wrote: »

You gotta be ****ing kidding me. I prayed for them not to mess with the ending just because it's not a happy one. But no. And I'm not ****ing paying for it. From the Bioware feeds.

"We listen to our fans. We listen to our customers. After weeks of feedback from all of you, Bioware and EA are delighted to announce Mass Effect: Omega. This piece of downloadable content tells the incredible story of the retake of the Omega station from the hands of Cerberus. After the destruction of the Reapers, the only cure to save the life of a badly burned N7 soldier lies within the dark corridors of Omega. But the cure will not come without heavy sacrifice.

Play as Liara, Garrus or Joker, each with their unique abilities across three different environments, including Omega and Solof 4

"

Get ready to fight for the lives of those you love this Summer. Be prepared to take the first step into a new reality. Be prepared to say goodbye.
"

Unknown N7 soldier. Whatever-i'm clearly too stupid to know who that is. So have your ****ing happy ever after ending, save Shepard and live happily every after. Fcuk off. :mad:

EDIT: Guys I have been asked to spoiler something that is very very awesome and spoilerish regarding how the game plays out. Fair enough. My apologies. My opinion:

So you play as Liara and Garrus on Omega and Joker on the planet (Solof 1). That's planet is not on the codex...and yes I checked!)

Does this have anything to do with it being April 1st?

Zero-Cool

Ya casey hudson said there will be absolutely no news on april 1st. Haha play as joker! Once will do

FutureGuy

sheehy83 wrote: »

Ya casey hudson said there will be absolutely no news on april 1st. Haha play as joker! Once will do

Gotta get up early to catch ye smart whores! That took me a whole 10 minutes to write while sipping on my tea. Wp guys, wp.

degrassinoel

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/10812276

Ok, I am getting well ahead of this and let me be very clear.

THERE WILL BE NO MASS EFFECT 3 ANNOUNCMENTS MADE ON SUNDAY APRIL 1

It is April Fool's Day on April 1. There will undoubtedly be a number of fake, joke, false, etc comments made about Mass Effect 3. NONE of them are true. It doesn't matter where you see the post or who it claims it is made by. We are NOT announcing anything on Sunday April 1.

As mentioned by Dr Ray Muzyka in his blog post, we will have more Mass Effect 3 information in April, but it will not be made on April 1.

Thanks.

Shryke

Click and drag your mouse pointer over it.

SeantheMan

Question : What effect did lower Galactic readiness have ?

I had over 5000%
Saved basically everybody, quarians, Geths, Krogans etc etc (and had best endings from ME1 and ME2) and mostly was renegade.

But going through the thread, It seems everyone was presented with the 3 choices at the end ... (at which point I actually cursed out loud), wasn't so recently Deus Ex did the same, so what was the point of all the delivery guy missions ?

Just played through all 3, all crap, and this indoctrination sort of makes sense...but don't really care anymore till official word is given on what it all means.
My only argument against the indoctrination, would be that the Prothean VI was able to detect anyone indoctrinated , as it did with Leng ( who was the most nonsensical , random and useless character in the ME universe , why put him in the game ? ) , but it didn't recognise Shepard as being indoctrinated, and I don't believe he would fall under the influence so quickly, between then and the end.

AnCapaillMor

SeantheMan wrote: »

Question : What effect did lower Galactic readiness have ?

I had over 5000%

Readiness as in overall military strength or the galatic readinees thing that shows up as you load up? Because 100% is the max galatic readiness. I'm presuming the 5000% is 5000 military strength, if you didn't play any MP then half your strength.

Pretty sure the level affects speech options in the end game along with your paragon\renegade status. It'll also decide certain people live and will earth survive at the end, ie destroy reapers but earth gets destroyed.

Played through it again with 100% readiness, i think i totalled around 7000 military strength(promoted a few MP characters). Still a crappy\half assed ending.


Found this on gamefaqs.

Rating < 1750 - Earth is destroyed regardless of your choice
Rating 1751-2050 - If Shepard destroys the Reapers, Earth is destroyed.
Rating 2051-2350 - If Shepard becomes a Reaper, Earth is saved.
Rating 2351-2650 - If Shepard destroys the Reapers, Earth is only devastated.
Rating 2651-2800 - If Shepard destroys the Reapers, Earth is saved.
Rating 2801-4000 - Shepard can create a synergy between organics and synthetics.
Rating 4000-5000 - If Shepard destroys the Reapers and "saves" Anderson, Shepard
will also live as Earth is saved.
Rating 5000+ - If Shepard destroys the Reapers and does not "save" Anderson,
Shepard will also live as Earth is saved.



Ok the last 2 annoy me, 2nd highest you can save anderson and shep lives, highest level anderson dies, wtf!!!, can't remember my first playthrough but pretty sure anderson survived, last night the last paragon\renegade options were greyed out when talking to president Bartlett.

Azza

You can't save Anderson, he always dies, "the save Anderson ending" merely means preventing him from being shot a second time and delaying his death by a few minutes

I had pretty much had max war assests and default Galatic readiness. I don't think Galatic readiness has much of an affect on the outcome, war assests seem to the primary factor.

Doesn't effect speech options either as far as I'm aware.