Mass Effect 3

[bkilian]

I take it you actually never read any science fiction?

Secondly, the complaints don't stem for "oh where my happy ending" it stems for "oh you left major plot holes you can drive a reaper through patch work job of an ending".

Actually, I read dozens of science fiction books a year. books like Stranger in a strange land (spoiler: he dies), Podkayne of Mars (spoiler: she dies, at least in the original ending) anything by Philip K Dick (spoiler: They all die). Science fiction and Fantasy is full of stories where the main character makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to save others. Often they won't actually have any epilogue more revealing than the epilogue in the game.

Also, I did not see any plot holes of consequence. All the ones I've seen from whiners: How did Anderson arrive before Shepherd -- He didn't, he arrived somewhere else, closer than Shepherd, it's even called out specifically. Where did the illusive man come from? On the attack on the Cerberus base, they specifically say the Illusive man went to the Citadel and warned the Reapers, so of course he's there. I can see the explosions in the galaxy map, so why didn't they destroy their solar systems? Those aren't the explosions, you're seeing the wave front of the energy wave that's changing things, and besides, it's just a representation of what's happening, you're not looking at a camera placed outside the galaxy. Why did the Normandy leave? They may have been included in the general order to pull back that happened when they thought no one had reached the citadel. We don't know the amount of time that passed after passing into the beam, or the amount of time you were unconscious before the AI boy finds you.

Anything else?

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Thing is, the game was interactive not a book with a fixed ending. Players got to choose whether to be good or whether to be bad. To save this person or let them die. To help that race or to lie to them. People wanted a choice of endings, including the Hollywood "happy ever after" ending. They wanted the choice they'd had all the way through the ME games to wrap up the series they way they wanted it to end.

 

[Ghostz]

Actually, I read dozens of science fiction books a year. books like Stranger in a strange land (spoiler: he dies), Podkayne of Mars (spoiler: she dies, at least in the original ending) anything by Philip K Dick (spoiler: They all die). Science fiction and Fantasy is full of stories where the main character makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to save others. Often they won't actually have any epilogue more revealing than the epilogue in the game.

Congratulations, you only help prove my point: Mass Effect isn't doing any thing out side the box. It's nothing but in the box of genre cliches. You remember Neo, from The Matrix? He died too and in similar fashion no less but hell at least that ending fight scene was epic, Mass Effect ends up a dud. There's no player's choice with Mass Effect's ending, it's the writer's ending forced on the player, they gave the player no "agency" that would have been out side the box, ground breaking if you will.

 

[dobwal]

Thing is, the game was interactive not a book with a fixed ending. Players got to choose whether to be good or whether to be bad. To save this person or let them die. To help that race or to lie to them. People wanted a choice of endings, including the Hollywood "happy ever after" ending. They wanted the choice they'd had all the way through the ME games to wrap up the series they way they wanted it to end.

Even if ME was a triology of books, it would still be a crappy ending. ME is so character driven its insane that the game ends with no resolution of stories of the characters' themselves outside the characters whose storyline are resolved prior to the ending.

You don't see any outcry surrounding the story line of

Spoiler

Thane, Mordin or Legion

even though those character's stories aren't resolved with a rainbow and unicorn ending. But they are resolved.

The saving of the galaxy is the premise of the ME games but the games themselves revolve around a bunch of alien characters and their relationship with your Shepard. The vast majority of ME missions throughout the franchise serves as character introductions, character reintroductions, character loyalty missions and other missions that revolve around the storyline of individuals who serve under you.

ME is similarly structured like the film version of the Lord of Rings, the ending of the films doesn't revolve around what happens to middle earth after the ring is destroyed, it revolves around what happens to Frodo and the other characters after they complete their task. This is the reason a lot of people are dissatisfied with the ending of ME3, the resolution of the premise is the least relevant part of the game which is built around characters' stories.

If the game revolved around Shepard and a bunch of masked Normandy shipmates with little or no backstory who served mostly as cannon fodder, the ending of ME3 would have been sufficient.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Also, I did not see any plot holes of consequence. All the ones I've seen from whiners: How did Anderson arrive before Shepherd -- He didn't, he arrived somewhere else, closer than Shepherd, it's even called out specifically. Where did the illusive man come from? On the attack on the Cerberus base, they specifically say the Illusive man went to the Citadel and warned the Reapers, so of course he's there. I can see the explosions in the galaxy map, so why didn't they destroy their solar systems? Those aren't the explosions, you're seeing the wave front of the energy wave that's changing things, and besides, it's just a representation of what's happening, you're not looking at a camera placed outside the galaxy. Why did the Normandy leave? They may have been included in the general order to pull back that happened when they thought no one had reached the citadel. We don't know the amount of time that passed after passing into the beam, or the amount of time you were unconscious before the AI boy finds you.

Anything else?

Contains spoilers!

I would have to check few of those, but seemed like there was only one route to the control panel. Anderson being there and being there first is odd, unless he was only imagined being there, when Shepard shot him, Shepard also made an anguished sound at the exact moment Anderson did and later on Shepard was shown bleeding from the exact same spot Anderson got hit. Perhaps he was battling inside his head and shot himself? How did Shepard suddenly have unlimited ammo BTW?

The battle was still raging outside the Citadel when Shepard was talking to the AI boy so a general order to pull back sounds unlikely and the energy balls were pretty fast so no time to run away from it after it was deployed. Apparently the voice of the AI boy was combined from a child voice AND fem shep+male shep in one. Child voice comes from both channels, fem shep from left and male from right. Fem shep is really easy to hear if you only listen to the left channel with good head phones or stick your ear next to speaker, been there done that, sounds like her voice is slightly delayed from the child's voice. The voice thing and the shape of the AI boy makes it seem like it's all in Shepard's head imo or pulled from there. It seemed like nobody else was even paying attention to the kid in the beginning except Shepard, was the kid even there?

The dreams Shepard had where that kid was also had those oily looking shadows, I mean look at em shadows and tell me those don't look oily . The Rachni queen said in ME 1 that when they were controlled by the reapers that they didn't know what was going on and that "We only heard discordance. Songs the color of oily shadows" There is also oily looking stuff in the screen when Illusive man is in the screen with Shepard, how does he control Shepard BTW, if it's not Shepard's imagination in the first place? If you choose the destroy ending and have high EMS it seems like it's Shepard who wakes up next to a pilar made from Reaper tech and imo it doesn't look like the place he just was at the Citadel.

There is little bit too much stuff for me to ignore the indoctrination theory ( a lot more than I wrote) even if I feel slightly crazy talking about it Indoctrination was also pretty big theme in the series. The whole end sequence just feels out of sync with the rest of the game, like a dream. Bioware has done some great twists in the past so maybe...

 

[Scott_Arm]

Thing is, the game was interactive not a book with a fixed ending. Players got to choose whether to be good or whether to be bad. To save this person or let them die. To help that race or to lie to them. People wanted a choice of endings, including the Hollywood "happy ever after" ending. They wanted the choice they'd had all the way through the ME games to wrap up the series they way they wanted it to end.

You actually get to choose your ending, and they're all different, with some degree of variation. I've heard various numbers thrown around, but there are three distinctly different ending. Regardless of how it ends, the choices you make do matter. The people you save, the people you kill, how you treat people are all important, unless you believe the ends are all that's important. You can't pick up a book, read the last chapter and think you know all there is to know about that book. You can't watch the last 15 minutes of a movie, or play the last couple of hours of a video game and get everything you could have gotten out of it.

If the gaming industry wants to attract good writers, then they need to stay away from "designed by the community" initiatives. Let the creatives do what they do best.

Even if ME was a triology of books, it would still be a crappy ending. ME is so character driven its insane that the game ends with no resolution of stories of the characters' themselves outside the characters whose storyline are resolved prior to the ending.

You don't see any outcry surrounding the story line of

Spoiler

Thane, Mordin or Legion

even though those character's stories aren't resolved with a rainbow and unicorn ending. But they are resolved.

Which character stories are not resolved? What is left to be told about the lives of those characters?

Spoiler

Most of them explicitly tell you what their plans are when you have your final conversations with them on Earth. They all ask for you to come visit them at home etc. Their story arc is over. Their narrative is over. Other than a body count, I don't see what else they could have told you.

As far as I can tell, there weren't any loose ends.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

As far as I can tell, there weren't any loose ends.

Well the moment those plans were told was somewhat premature, considering that the end changes quite a few things, more so for few of them.

Just found out that

Spoiler

Grandpa was Buzz Aldrin

a proper stargazer!

 

[Onkl Bjorni]

Just wanted to chime in and say I really enjoy the multiplayer part of the game.

Haven't started the singelplayer yet, lost my ME1&2 saves in a hard drive crash
Contemplating wether to replay 1 and 2 first..

 

[Scott_Arm]

Yeah, multi is surprisingly good. There enough different characters to create interesting parties that require different strategies. Bronze you can mostly run around, but silver requires more teamwork. Haven't tried gold yet.

 

[AlNom]

Shepard is a Jerk:

spoilers, obviously. It's not the same guy who put together the two videos for the other games, but hey, I'll take it. There's a few scenes there I haven't seen, even on my Renegade runthrough:

Spoiler

Targeting the Reaper at the end of the conversation on Rannoch

The latter half is more serious. I await a better compilation.

 

[Ghostz]

Come on Bioware where's my female space cat suit? I'm tired of lugging this ugly armor around.

 

[Kyyla]

Shepard is a Jerk:

spoilers, obviously. It's not the same guy who put together the two videos for the other games, but hey, I'll take it. There's a few scenes there I haven't seen, even on my Renegade runthrough:

Spoiler

Targeting the Reaper at the end of the conversation on Rannoch

The latter half is more serious. I await a better compilation.

Wow I see you can be a real monster. I could never play like that, I'm just too nice a guy. Loved the conversation with the reaper though

 

[Ghostz]

Did I mention how hard it is to get through the male-shep dialogue in this game? I think maybe I mentioned it once or twice before. I just want to bang Ashley and Miranda again.

 

[Kyyla]

http://www.themetagames.com/2012/03/why-you-enjoy-art-and-one-problem-with.html

It's a long wall of text but it touches a nerve on why I felt (and somewhat still feel) so emotionally crushed after finishing ME3.

Also: http://jmstevenson.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/all-that-matters-is-the-ending-part-2-mass-effect-3/

 

[Ghostz]

On a happier note are there people doing mods for the Pc? I figured out how to move my Me3 360 file and bought the game AGAIN over the pc. I just wish there was pad support, TPSs are the only kind of shooter that are better with a controller.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

http://www.themetagames.com/2012/03/why-you-enjoy-art-and-one-problem-with.html

It's a long wall of text but it touches a nerve on why I felt (and somewhat still feel) so emotionally crushed after finishing ME3.

Also: http://jmstevenson.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/all-that-matters-is-the-ending-part-2-mass-effect-3/

I think I'm more or less in the same boat with you on this one. Thanks for those links, it was nice to read someone's text, who knows how to write, to somewhat accurately represent my feelings as well. I tried to cling on to the indoctrination theory, because I had difficulties accepting the atrocious out of place ending, but I'm pretty sure that's a no go. I wonder if we get to ever hear if that was the plan? There is certainly strong hints for it. What greatness that would have been...

Man I think the game broke my heart a bit and insulted my brain, like some carefully crafted emotional poison. I don't need stuff like that from a game, so not worth my time. Perhaps this serves as a good reminder to 1. not take fiction so seriously and 2. go out more... I know that might sound a bit pathetic, but I don't care.

 

[Kyyla]

I think I'm more or less in the same boat with you on this one. Thanks for those links, it was nice to read someone's text, who knows how to write, to somewhat accurately represent my feelings as well. I tried to cling on to the indoctrination theory, because I had difficulties accepting the atrocious out of place ending, but I'm pretty sure that's a no go. I wonder if we get to ever hear if that was the plan? There is certainly strong hints for it. What greatness that would have been...

Man I think the game broke my heart a bit and insulted my brain, like some carefully crafted emotional poison. I don't need stuff like that from a game, so not worth my time. Perhaps this serves as a good reminder to 1. not take fiction so seriously and 2. go out more... I know that might sound a bit pathetic, but I don't care.

Exactly my feelings and the reason I shared them too. These guys have the talent and education to put in writing why I feel like I do.

I think Bioware unintentionally achieved the world record of negative emotions inflicted on a population through a work of fiction. That's a testament to all that preceded the ending.

 

[dragonelite]

I think I'm more or less in the same boat with you on this one. Thanks for those links, it was nice to read someone's text, who knows how to write, to somewhat accurately represent my feelings as well. I tried to cling on to the indoctrination theory, because I had difficulties accepting the atrocious out of place ending, but I'm pretty sure that's a no go. I wonder if we get to ever hear if that was the plan? There is certainly strong hints for it. What greatness that would have been...

Man I think the game broke my heart a bit and insulted my brain, like some carefully crafted emotional poison. I don't need stuff like that from a game, so not worth my time. Perhaps this serves as a good reminder to 1. not take fiction so seriously and 2. go out more... I know that might sound a bit pathetic, but I don't care.

I know that feel bro..

I never had a ending in something effect me like that before this i thought people that had something happen to them were to invested. This experience has changed my view on those kind of situations.

Playing ME1 and ME2 non stop before release i mean like 12 hours a day. Then playing ME3 for 2 days non stop again 15 hours/day probably made this ending effect me so much i wanted that full paragon everybody made it ending a bit to much i was living and breathing ME for 10 days or so. Most other games im done in 1 hour sessions and want to do something else.

good thing i worked ahead with school and a vacation before release of ME3 also helped.

 

[BoardBonobo]

Exactly my feelings and the reason I shared them too. These guys have the talent and education to put in writing why I feel like I do.

I think Bioware unintentionally achieved the world record of negative emotions inflicted on a population through a work of fiction. That's a testament to all that preceded the ending.

I think it's more a testament to how far reaching and immersive games have become over the last decade. The fact that a complete work of fiction, one that uses our natural urge to anthropomorphize rather than rely on real people or pure imagination, has elicited such a depth of feeling over it's perceived failure is amazing.

If Bioware get smart and realise what they have achieved, in terms of emotional attachment as shown by the reaction they have created, and they can work a formula that generates similar levels in new franchises then they will be riding and endless wave of permanently addicted followers!

 

[MfA]

If they keep leading people on just to kick them in the balls their only followers will be masochists ...

They are already taking the wrong turn in DA3 by not bringing back the Warden (or at least progress the story elements they introduced in there, lets go to the golden city already and end the blights once and for all). It's strange, in Dragon Age they screw it up by not wanting to progress the universe and tell epic stories ... in Mass Effect they screw it up by progressing the universe into oblivion.