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

_CreeD_

Mod Warning

This thread contains spoilers about the ending of Mass Effect 3. Continue reading at your own peril....

I really think people are focusing too much on getting a 'perfect' ending. It's a role playing game! Play Shephard as you would like your character to be not always worrying about what cut scene you're going to have at the end. The beauty of this game ultimately has been that you will have an experience all the way through that reflects your personality as you played (whether what was really yours or one you decided to be). Don't get pissed off that you made X decision in ME1/2 that led to Y dying, or not helping you etc. just live with it and move on knowing that the universe you are in now actually does a great job of reflecting everything you have done so far. It's yours

, I don't know of any other RPG that has taken this aspect so far, the fact that it's stressing so many people out is testament to this. Basically you can't get it wrong, you can have different outcomes but they will reflect your in game persona from all 3 amazingly well.

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[Deleted User]

I feel like the Citadel has to be one of the most unsafe places to live in the entire Universe. Over the 3 games, how many times was it attacked?

degrassinoel

i felt exactly like that about the citadel too

Bubblefett

Just finished, doesn't seem worth staying up this late
Yeah, I saved the galaxy and destroyed the reapers and EDI and Joker are going to have squishy terminator babies but now all the races are stuck on earth, I wasted time getting the quarians a homeworld they can't travel back to, I'm dead, I don't know how curing the genophage will turn out, I've no idea who survived back on earth, me and Garrus will never adopt our krogan babies, what was the point in doing all those missions to strenghtening the citadel if it's just going to be nicked and encased in a metal tampon and I've lost my space hamster.

I just feel unfullfilled and not impressed. After 3 games the endings should have been much more epic and most of all, different from one another

I'm a huge fan of Bioware, KOTOR is my favourite game of all time. Why did EA have to buy them?? They're a poison, only concerned with money and churning out titles. It's okay though, EA have Bioware working on Command and Conquer next- cause that's what you want the leading rpg developers working on, real time statagies.

I am also against DLC with another ending because it's a really sh*tty thing to do to your fans, even if you're trying to correct the last sh*tty thing you did to them. However if it's free DLC i'm for it, at least then they're trying to do right by the fans. But that won't happen. It's EA.

/rant
(also appologies for poor spelling/wandering rambles and rants. It's late and I've been playing for 5 hours without blinking)

[Deleted User]

The cutscene of them about to attack Earth reminded me of a similar scene from Serenity, when the Firefly flies through the cloud, followed by a horde of Reavers.

I've been thinking about the ending now and the fact you don't see much of the armies you've amassed - somewhat this was the right thing to do. You're playing as Shepard, you see what he/she sees and hear what he/she hears, so there was realistically no way for you to see the whole war as Shepard wouldn't have seen this. What you would get is tidbits, like Jack informing about their progress over the vidlink, or the marines listening to the killrates, or the different companies announcing how they're doing.

However, what I would love to see is how your choices have impacted the game - how the Krogan are doing, if you've cured the genophage, how the Geth and the Quarians are coping living on the same planet, if this is what you've done and how some races are doing without their homeworld, like the Hanar, if you that's how the sidemission went.

Herrick

Well I just finished it. Have to say the game was brilliant, just the plot holes at the end that soured it.

Hopefully they will release some decent DLC to tie up the loose ends and give a good epilogue.

There's a bug at the end when Shepard is having flashbacks of the crew and others after he chooses what to do with the reapers. You get flashback images of Joker, Anderson and Liara/Kaiden/Ashely, the last one being your love interest.

Anyone that romanced anyone else bar those three gets a flashback of Liara instead. Thanks to the Bioware forums I was able to put in Miranda (Note: Miranda seems to be the only other LI that there has been a working flashback created for) instead

Now I just need to hope Bioware will let me go and find Miranda after all this, seeing as Shepard promised her like :pac:

danthefan

Question, I haven't finished the game yet so please don't spoil anything beyond what I ask.

Just killed Kai Lang (I think that's his name). There's a renegade QTE thingy when the whole party ridiculously turns their back on seemingly without checking he's dead, resulting in Shepard killing Kai Lang. If you don't hit the mouse button here can Shepard die? I'm assuming the answer is no considering there's plenty of game left after that point but what happens if I don't do anything?

Anyway I've reached

Earth

now, thought the cutscene was awesome. Will finish the game tomorrow most likely.

blatantrereg

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

It's so obvious whats going to happen, there'll be loads of strange goings on in that planet, eventually they'll come across a door\viewport deep in the ground that they can't open and spend a few dlc's on trying to open it and discover that there's another mysterious bunch of people on the planet that keeps trying to attack and kidnap them. It'll be the greatest dlc ever.

People won't be any happier about the ending though.

AnCapaillMor

Viral Vector wrote: »

One of the things players on the Bioware forum are annoyed about is the Normandy being stranded on that planet...it's just makes no sense!

It's so obvious whats going to happen, there'll be loads of strange goings on in that planet, eventually they'll come across a door\viewport deep in the ground that they can't open and spend a few dlc's on trying to open it and discover that there's another mysterious bunch of people on the planet that keeps trying to attack and kidnap them. It'll be the greatest dlc ever.

Mr Freeze

Viral Vector wrote: »

One of the things players on the Bioware forum are annoyed about is the Normandy being stranded on that planet...it's just makes no sense!

Well it does make no sense in fairness.

It's so disjointed from the whole end game cinematic, that it is just an utter useless scene.

Viral Vector

Yeah the ending is fine but there are a few plot holes that need to be addressed (off the top of my head):

- What happened to the people on the Citadel and why wasn't there any warning about the Reapers at the Citadel?
- Why was the Normandy leaving the final battle? Surely Hackett would know it's missing!
- Why are the two characters you brought to London back on the Normandy after it crash lands on that planet?
- Why didn't Harbinger troll Shepard as usual and why didn't he check if they were all dead before flying off?
- In Arrival when the Mass Relay blows up it wipes out an entire system, we see them blow up in all three endings!
- Why don't the Reapers just exterminate synthetics if they are going to exterminate organics?

One of the things players on the Bioware forum are annoyed about is the Normandy being stranded on that planet...it's just makes no sense!

Mr Freeze

I am fairly happy with the current ending, I don't mind whether they explain what happened from the Harbinger blast to the Reaper Child thing. I don't care if that's what really happened, or if its indoctination or just the last dream of a dying Shepard.

I definitely do not want to see an all american happy ending, flying the flag in the background and high fiving our squad mates.

I never expected Shepard to survive anyways, It would be too much to ask, and it makes for a better ending that he dies beating the reapers or is tainted in some way by the whole ordeal.

But what I would like to explained is why the Normandy was in a jump away from earth. And maybe seeing some of the war assets in action during the final battle in London, and especially seeing the other squad mates in action and whether they live or die.

I was fully expecting to be torn apart watching Garrus getting killed during the final battle and a few other squad mates, and from the last chat with my squad mates, it was clear that Shepard was never coming back.

I think the ending just needs a bit more padding, change nothing with Shepard, just give us some closure on some of the other characters, and explain why the Normandy had jumped away, that made no sense, unless they were somehow trying to out run the blast.

BlitzKrieg

@Futureguy

personally I dont see the indoctination theory as a cry out for the all american happy ending. Actually I am hoping if they did go down such a route that it'll be darker ending.

I actually think the ending right now is too neat, that not enough of your actions affect the ending.

What it actually reminds me of is Jak and Dexter and a fair few other platformers, but J&D stuck out as one of the few where I actually made the effort.

those had endings and then they had that extra ending if you completed some arbitrary 100% collection system and that extra ending was also something like a 10-20 second longer cutscene at the end or something.

And honestly when I look at the ME3 ending and ME2 ending that is the problem. Both had the same arbitrary 100% system that directly affected its ending, but ME2 stretched its payoff out over the whole mission. So the consequences of your actions come bit by bit like a twisting knife if you did an awful job. ME3 as far as I know has 2-3 of these dependent on how much you interacted with secondary characters (Carlos) and your paragon/renegade score (Anderson) and an extra clip or two in the space battle depending on who you saved (geth etc) but that war assets score is directly tied to one neat point, when you come up that lift you are given 3 choices if you have 100% and 2 if you have 50% and 1 if you have 30%. Thats far too neat for my liking, I was hoping for something on par with ME2's suicide mission.

I too would have enjoyed an ending where shepherd sacrificed himself for the greater good, but I wanted it to be a decision, not a choice. That when shepherd had his back to the wall he made the decision to give his life for the universe. Not a matter of pick a door.

Which is why the indoctrination theory appeals to me, cause its a chance for that real final level, where it is like ME2, except we are pushing through the citadel and my war asset score and my relation with those affect how much of a slog it is.

More so on top of that I like the idea of a DLC that runs directly off a choice a player made at the end. that if you picked control or unify that you start in a harder position. That choosing destroy has you waking up in london and having to survive a reaper onslaught until Garrus or someone shows up and pulls your ass out of the fire where you are badly injured and need to rest up a bit, while with the other two you start it trapped in some dream state instead and have to break its hold on you (with the help of Liala remember she mentally bonded with you at the end of 3 before you went on the last mission) where you wake up hours/days after the initial battle and then the combination of your war assets and the choice you made at the end of ME3 directly affects the state of things.

Choosing destroy the mission failed but shepard survive moral is still up so while **** has gone bad people are holding together the fleet have held together and the majority of the fleet have bugged out but are still in touch with earth, the normandy is hiding in the sol system (cloak remember) and your crew have joined the resistance

Choosing unify the mission not only failed but it looked like shepard had fallen and has been under some coma for the past month, moral had fallen and Anderson died holding the line but most of the above is still the same, except Liala in bonding with you is killed inside your head by harbinger but manages to wake you.

Choosing control the mission not only failed but shepard goes rogue actually joining and leading Reaper forces and the resistance openly breaks. Wrex and XXX teammate gave their lives trying to take you down long enough for Liala to bond with you and she brings you back. But now there is distrust and really all that is left of the resistance is you + your crew.

All 3 lead to the same DLC mission which is a long dungeon crawl through the citadel where you activate the catalyst for real and hell I wouldn't complain if the 3 choices were still the same just now with a much stronger context, we know starchild is harbinger, shepard is much more argumentative about the choices and we are given but he still has to make one and they are not sugar coated up this time, whichever one he picks we are told people will have to go through hell to recover, but they will survive (if destroy).

And that is enough fantasizing by me for now.

Viral Vector

degrassinoel wrote: »

yeah, for ME3, not Deus Ex. Luckily i've completed both

Deus Ex was spoiled for me too!

Sorry blatantrereg!

Shryke wrote: »

April for DLC. Bah!

...well an announcement on what they are doing / going to do about it!

degrassinoel

Viral Vector wrote: »

When you see [**Spoilers**] in the title, there will be spoilers in the thread! :rolleyes:

yeah, for ME3, not Deus Ex. Luckily i've completed both

Viral Vector

blatantrereg wrote: »

actually no I'm not thanking you for a massive deus ex spoiler

The worst thing about the tali pic is that they didn't even remove the extra knuckle and tendon on her hand.

When you see [**Spoilers**] in the title, there will be spoilers in the thread! :rolleyes:

Zillah

Maximilian wrote: »

don't tell me or anyone else that any other interpretation of it is impossible.

lol, not impossible, just ridiculous. The faith of those who cannot accept the unhappy truth.

FutureGuy

I welcome any addition to the game that expands on some points of the ending, so long as they do not change the events of the ending.

Now, onto the rant portion of this evening’s entertainment...

There will be no indoctrination ending. There will be no "ha-ha you didn't realize you just saved the reapers lolol" retraction. The ending will stay the same, but with some extra padding in the form of DLC.

I'm laughing at people on other forums, especially Bioware’s, who are crying out for a happy ending where Shepard lives, meets up with crew and love interests. Again, get over it.

In a poll on the Bioware forum, 82% of people want the ending to be changed so that Shepard can live and reunite with this squad/love interest. People are crying out for a happy every after bullsh!t ending. What an utter load of crap. Absolutely ridiculous. Go watch the Smurfs film if you want a happy ending where you don't have to make tough decisions.

This game franchise was based on making the hard decisions.

I was hoping, praying even, that the Mass Effect team would have the balls to give me an ending where I am left with the toughest choice possible. I had hoped that perhaps you'd be given the decision to destroy Earth to completely destroy the Reaper threat or save Earth but it meant the Reapers getting away. Something that would mean I would have to consider sending the characters I loved to their deaths.

When Shepard started to rise up on that platform to the Catalyst, I said "Yes, it's going to happen". I'm going to be given the big choice.

What they gave me was much much more than I expected. An ending where there was no perfect finish. An ending that transcends the relationships of you and your crew. No easy way out unless massive sacrifices were made. The Reapers have essentially won, and no amount of ships, troops, races, bullets or luck is going to change it.

You are left with one hope to end the war, and at that late stage, no other options are available to you. Just like in real life, sometimes you fail no matter how hard you try (you certainly don't b!tch and moan and cry expecting it to be magically changed for you).

How many epic sci-fi movies have been ruined by giving the audience the happy Americana bullsh!t ending where the good guys win. They always repel the alien threat, huzzah for the good guys. In effect, that is the ending I was hoping the game would avoid and yet is the ending many are now campaigning for.

Kudos to the Bioware team for having the stones to force the player into making that choice in the end. But life will go on.

-The survivors are all stranded at Earth. They will eventually get home.
-The Mass Effect Relays are destroyed. They will be recreated.
-Planets have been decimated. They will be rebuilt.

Is the ending perfect? Hell no. I have no idea wtf is going on with Joker and the Normandy. I cannot explain why Shepard lives only in the "Renegade" ending, and appears to be on the ground in London. I wish they showed all my individual war assets helping to delay the Reapers. I hope the DLC will clear this up. Just no unicorn and fluffy bunny happy endings please.

If the ending of this game is changed to show that Shepard lives after the control and synthesis endings, it will go down in my book as one of the darkest days in the history of gaming.

Rant over - positive cap on.

IMHO, where they game is right now, they have a perfect platform to launch a MMORPG. You only have to look at the first community event to see the love for such a game. Kill 1 million brutes, we'll kill 3 million.

What if the MMORPG sets you as a member of one of the races post-ME3. Asari, Turian, Krogan, Human...it doesn't matter. Your home is burned, the relays are gone...it's time to rebuild (and for us as players to rebuild the universe we have come to love).

I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Potential-Monke

Shryke wrote: »

April for DLC. Bah!

Should we be expecting an Aprils fools thing maybe...

And i don't need to play Deus Ex now.

And Tali would most certainly get it (even before the pic!). I hope that model knows she's been used...

Shryke

April for DLC. Bah!

blatantrereg

Viral Vector wrote: »

Pure laziness:

actually no I'm not thanking you for a massive deus ex spoiler

The worst thing about the tali pic is that they didn't even remove the extra knuckle and tendon on her hand.

Overheal

For several years, a growing number of people have enjoyed beating the hell out of Geth, mastering head-shots on husks and trying to save the entire, expanding universe as Commander Shepherd in the Mass Effect series of video games. But without giving too much away, a lot of those same fans are not pleased with how the series finally wrapped up in Mass Effect 3.

There have been online petitions calling for new endings, at least one complaint to the FTC, and seemingly endless stories about whether or not the game's maker, BioWare (owned by current WCIA contender Electronic Arts), should give into fan pressure, especially considering the huge cost and time it would take to get it right — and the risk that whatever BioWare comes up with might still not please everyone.

Now the founder of BioWare has hinted that maybe the angry mob might get some sort of more satisfying with upcoming add-on content for the game.

Here's the statement from BioWare's Ray Muzyka, as quoted on cnet:

“
"We're working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we've received. This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue."

Muzyka suggested that BioWare will release new "content initiatives" that will "help answer [fans'] questions" sometime in April. But first, he asked the game's community to continue playing, and providing feedback. "I'd ask that you help us...by supporting what I truly believe is the best game BioWare has yet crafted. I urge you to do your own research: play the game, finish it, and tell us what you think. Tell your friends if you feel it's a good game as a whole. Trust that we are doing our damnedest, as always, to address your feedback."
”

So... this appears to be a non-committal commitment to doing something in response to fan feedback.

What is for certain is if BioWare and EA truly want the entire gaming world to hate them, they will create satisfying endings — and then charge a pile of cash to download it.

http://consumerist.com/2012/03/peeved-mass-effect-3-fans-might-actually-get-the-ending-they-want.html

Shryke

This guy's giving me a headache.

Maximilian

Zillah wrote: »

They said "further closure", not "massive revelations". How anyone could still be clinging to the conspiracy explanation at this stage is beyond me.

It's like you're wearing blinkers. You have taken a completely literal interpretation to the ending ie. Shepard met spacebaby, died, made everyone half machine or whatever (how could that even happen if the laws of physics are obeyed?).

There are plenty of reasons to suggest that you shouldn't take it literally, yet you do. What's more you absolutely refuse to concede the possibility that the literal ending may not be the whole story or the truth. It's rather amusing. By all means take the view that the ending was unsatisfactory but don't tell me or anyone else that any other interpretation of it is impossible.

And incidentally, if Shepard was indoctrinated for example, I doubt it would come as a massive revelation to anyone other than you, as you sheepishly consider whether to publicly admit you were wrong (which you won't).

wes

Wow, that is some really bad rip offs by Bioware.

Viral Vector

Pure laziness:

downloader.php?file=Big_list_of_copy.jpg

[Deleted User]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYOeaV0Daic

Potential-Monke

Deleted User wrote: »

What they really should have done is not shown Tali's face at all. Have her take off the mask as she did, but leave it at that. I think nothing would have seemed satisfactory.

I thought they done this. I was happily frustrated when they didn't show her face. I really wanted to see, but was happy to leave it at the tease.

I had a quick google search, so i don't know if i saw what was supposed to be in the game. I reckon i'll leave it to my imagination/DLC that shows them on the home planet.

AnCapaillMor

InvisibleBadger wrote: »

It's a photo on the normandy if she
kills herself
.
Google image search it and you will probably skip past the actual one because it's so amateurish(it's a photoshopped stock image). It's amazing they thought it was good enough for a popular character.

Also

if you romance her, has to be carried over from ME2

. I still reckon they were at the celebration party for a job well done and someone said christ!!! we forget to let them know what tali looks like and the pic was the reason the release was pushed back, it took them 3 months to come up with it.

[Deleted User]

What they really should have done is not shown Tali's face at all. Have her take off the mask as she did, but leave it at that. I think nothing would have seemed satisfactory.

G.J.