I don't deserve a happy Mass Effect 3 ending
Posted on 27th Mar 2012 at 08:44 by Paul Goodhead with 43 comments
My Mass Effect 3 play through started off so well - so promising, so full of hope. I was going to get the best ending possible, the one where everyone lives happily ever after and nothing was going to stop me. Yes, OK, the reapers were here and they were tearing the earth a new one, but I was confident I had the friends and the ballsy get-it-done attitude to sort them out one way or another. They were messing with the wrong galaxy this time.
My confidence was partly down to the fact that I was coming off the back of a perfect ending to Mass Effect 2. Everyone had lived, I’d had a bit of a fling with Miranda, and I’d given a firm two fingers to Cerberus by blowing up the collector base - all in all a solid play through by all accounts. I was even allowing myself to feel a little smug for setting up the finale so well for myself - how could I not breeze through Mass Effect 3 with such a good save game as a basis?
How wrong I was.
The hope I had at the start of the campaign is now nothing more than a distant memory - I’ve done things, horrible horrible things, to characters that I cared about, that I still care about. It’s been for the greater good each time but that’s scant consolation. That doesn’t help me sleep at night.
How many will survive my mission to save earth?
I’ve played god with entire races in my bid to save my own. I made myself a promise that I’d do whatever it took to save earth, but the cost of this promise seems to keep rising by the hour. What will happen when I’m asked to choose between my race and one of the hard core of friends I’ve developed? It’s one thing drawing a gun on Kaiden, but what if that was Garrus, Wrex or even Miranda?
I’m now a broken husk of a man, attempting to forget the things I’ve done by dedicating myself solely to the eradication of the reapers. I used to think I’d get to live in this better future I was creating for the galaxy but the further I go on the more I realize there isn’t a place in it for people like me. As soon as I stop, as soon as things are over, I don’t know how I’ll live with myself.
The worst thing is that it’s not even over yet, I’ve got more of these horrendous decisions to make where I’m asked to choose between one good friend or a billion unknown faces. It’s incredibly cruel of Bioware to put me in this position, but it’s making for one of the best, most involving gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
I’ve no idea what ending I’ll get now, but I can say for certain that it won’t be the one I wanted when I started - too many other characters’ endings have already been and gone for that to happen, some by my own hand.
My name is Commander Shepard, and I don’t deserve a happy ending.
My confidence was partly down to the fact that I was coming off the back of a perfect ending to Mass Effect 2. Everyone had lived, I’d had a bit of a fling with Miranda, and I’d given a firm two fingers to Cerberus by blowing up the collector base - all in all a solid play through by all accounts. I was even allowing myself to feel a little smug for setting up the finale so well for myself - how could I not breeze through Mass Effect 3 with such a good save game as a basis?
How wrong I was.
The hope I had at the start of the campaign is now nothing more than a distant memory - I’ve done things, horrible horrible things, to characters that I cared about, that I still care about. It’s been for the greater good each time but that’s scant consolation. That doesn’t help me sleep at night.
How many will survive my mission to save earth?
I’ve played god with entire races in my bid to save my own. I made myself a promise that I’d do whatever it took to save earth, but the cost of this promise seems to keep rising by the hour. What will happen when I’m asked to choose between my race and one of the hard core of friends I’ve developed? It’s one thing drawing a gun on Kaiden, but what if that was Garrus, Wrex or even Miranda?
I’m now a broken husk of a man, attempting to forget the things I’ve done by dedicating myself solely to the eradication of the reapers. I used to think I’d get to live in this better future I was creating for the galaxy but the further I go on the more I realize there isn’t a place in it for people like me. As soon as I stop, as soon as things are over, I don’t know how I’ll live with myself.
The worst thing is that it’s not even over yet, I’ve got more of these horrendous decisions to make where I’m asked to choose between one good friend or a billion unknown faces. It’s incredibly cruel of Bioware to put me in this position, but it’s making for one of the best, most involving gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
I’ve no idea what ending I’ll get now, but I can say for certain that it won’t be the one I wanted when I started - too many other characters’ endings have already been and gone for that to happen, some by my own hand.
My name is Commander Shepard, and I don’t deserve a happy ending.
43 Comments
Discuss in the forums Replyhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/03/21/did-the-real-mass-effect-3-ending-go-over-everyones-heads/
The video is over 20 mins but if you have time to watch it I think it explains allot and makes a disappointing ending very very clever
My biggest worry was that with the lead up to ME3 it didn't feel like the Reapers were much of a threat. My impression at the end of the first game was that preventing their invasion was the only thing that mattered, if they made it into our galaxy then they would win no matter what. The Arrival DLC made it clear that an invasion was going to occur, followed by E3 presentations of Shepherd using a gun turret to shoot directly at one like it was just some regular boss fight...
It turns out that the Reapers DO mess everything up when they arrive, and even when you gather all the races together into one giant army, you have to rely on a deus ex machina super weapon to have any chance. To me this ends up satisfying the original games premise, that the reapers spell humaities doom. As far as I am concerned the "ending" after you get hit by that beam is entirely a hallucination as you're dying. It doesn't matter how hard you tried, the reapers could not be beaten and the cycle of harvesting will continue. I don't care if Bioware releases DLC to fix it, my Shepherd is dead to me, and the ending couldn't have delivered on the Reaper threat any better.
I reckon I stayed as a model of compassionate leadership and avoided, killing any of my friends, although I allowed one to sacrifice himself for the cause.
Die anyway.
Happened in Halo, now in Mass Effect.
For some that's intersting or exciting, an involving a tragic game proving that gaming is a relevant and important storytelling medium.
For me that's 100 quid wasted.
I was trying not to die.
involving and*
My old keyb' is on it's last legs, bless it xD
I'm not vitriolic at the ME3 ending (I won't dignify it by using the plural). I'm just disappointed. It didn't meet my expectations, and not just because I'm a whiny fanboy (although I might be one), but because BioWare specifically led us to expect something better. In particular, they promised that it would be a proper conclusion to Shepard's story, that they would not pull a "Lost" and leave us with lots of unanswered questions, and that a player's choices would affect the ending.
But however you interpret the ending, it's fails by those measures.
- If you take the ending literally, at face value, then it leaves you with lots of questions unanswered (including several new questions that arise in the ending sequence).
- If you believe the Indoctrination Theory, then you have the pleasure of an ending that makes some kind of logical sense, but must assume that Shepard's story is not truly finished.
- Whichever interpretation you choose to follow, when you enter the final sequence all your previous choices are disregarded and your single final choice has little effect on the outcome.
A lot of people are talking about "artistic integrity", but when your artistic output specifically contradicts its stated aims, then there is no integrity, only artistic opportunism.
That said, nearly everything in the game before the ending sequence is fantastic, and I'll certainly be playing through it all multiple times. I'll just have to imagine a different ending in my mind. After all, BioWare has invited ME players to be co-authors of the story, so I feel perfectly entitled to write my own ending, if only in my perfect imagination.
In my best attempt to avoid spoilers - I've shot him, meaning I'm currently lying to him and her.
Nice spot too.
I don't understand everyone's complaints about how the ending disregards all your previous decisions. They decide directly whether Anderson & Shepard survive. And they serve to weight your final decision to encourage you in different directions to different degrees.
Having three wildly divergent ending was never going to happen because that would make Mass Effect 4 (or whatever the next one ends up being called) ridiculously complicated to make. And they were never going to dead end their franchise.
I'm surprised so many people seemed to expect that.
The ending was always going to be the same thing, but the difference is in what it means, based on your decisions.
I'm not saying it was a great ending, but it was serviceable.
My only question is why the Normandy & your team were fleeing to hyperspace at the end. If they release a quick bit of free DLC that explains that then I'll be chuffed. I'm quite happy for everything else to remain a mystery. Knowing that the Universe goes on, damaged, changed, mysteries & all is much more satisfying to me than "And they all lived happily ever after".
Apparently nobody does. I got a "good ending" and that was garbage let me tell you.
The ending we got was so far removed for what IS Mass Effect, that the internet exploded. And the ending is lame. Make no mistake. It makes little sense and uses the cheap, cheap Deus ex machina way of explaining things.
Rumours are rife, from potential comments from one of the writers claiming that the end sequence was not what was planned, and that it had ONLY been written by Casey Hudson and the lead writer Mac Walters. To suggestions from the fans that Shepard had been indoctrinated.
And then there is the old chestnut that they are leaving the real ending for DLC..but since Ray Muzyka (co-founder of Bioware) felt the need to comment on this catastrophe personally, I think they just thought that the bullshit ending we were given was supposed to be good.
Although the plot holes are the biggest disappointment for me. It would have been nice if they had a few ending cut scenes similar to ME2 where upgrading certain parts of the ship gave different outcomes. Only this time you would be able to see say an army of krogan taking on some reaper husks if you recruited them or the same husks overrunning an allied position if you didn't.
The series was ALWAYS slated as being a Trilogy. There should be no Mass Effect 4.
They promised us endings that would reflect our decisions, they promised us...oh hell with it..I'd be here ALL day saying this. Let me just link you to another post from one of the persons with the time and effort to collate it all together.
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10405204
I've seen better posts on the subject, but I really can't be arsed to spend longer than i already have looking for them.
I didn't like the deceit and wouldn't keep the secret, and so I shared the secret with the affected parties at the earliest opportunity. I also reckon I got the better army behind me, and the other side came crawling back somewhat later. The big plus side was no lost friends.
After investing god knows how many hours in this trilogy I literally could not believe how awful it was.
When you experience the biggest anti climax in the galaxy you will realise how meaningless your article is.
This video sums it up perfectly *spoilers*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M0Cf864P7E
Your word in George Lucas's ear :D
*minor spoilers*
EDI. Yay.
You don't even get Miranda, the hardest character to kill. Not to mention the numerous graphical bugs like the random guns Bioware decides to equip you and your companions with every cut scene, the disappearing rock with Tali, various clipping issues and getting stuck after talking to Joker for no apparent reason. Also, was I the only one who felt a bit cheap after getting the paramour achievement with Miranda?
I think the really sad thing is we were all expecting so much more and ME3, while a good game, just didn't deliver. ME2 is still my favourite from the series which a clear objective from start to finish with nice "logical" twists along the say and what I felt was some real character development.
Urgh the Star Wars prequel thing (+additional changes for..well coz he 'felt like it').. don't, just don't. There is only so much failure one person can swallow.
No, you were trying to stop the Reapers, at any cost. None of the ME games have been about trying to protect your own life: the fact you willingly fling yourself into repeated suicidal missions is testament to that. The fact you die at the end is immaterial next to the fact you successfully save the galaxy, which is the one and only priority across the three games.
I don't have any problem with Shepard dying at the end of ME3 (if that is really what happens - it's hard to tell). I actually expected it. The problem isn't that a sad ending is making people descend into a gibbering mess, it's that an ending that descended into a gibbering mess is making people sad.
Hmm, I'm not so sure the galaxy was saved, all 3 endings result in all races being stranded (wherever they are) with the destruction of the gates (in the rainbow coloured explosion of your choice).
Earth is also pretty much fubar, with very few resources left to rebuild (not to mention several surviving alien fleets in orbit, which we would be unable to support and who now cannot get home unless they're willing to travel using FTL drives, which (I assume) would still take lifetimes).
*Note, I haven't played ME3 myself yet. I was waiting for the inevitable complete edition with all the DLC, but after the ending fallout....
Not to mention that one, possibly two [depending on your choices] of those fleets can't eat any of the 'local' food [Turians/Quarians].
WALL OF TEXT incoming: Spoiler-tagged as much of it as I thought was needed...
http://doycetesterman.com/index.php/2012/03/mass-effect-tolkein-and-your-bullshit-artistic-process/
Fav quote:
Also, throughout the first two games, every time you ask a reaper why they are doing this they tell you it is beyond your understanding yet God-Child does it in 3 minutes... Sounds like the real reason the reapers never answered in the first two games was that the writers hadn't thought of a reason yet!!
This clip about sums it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b33tJx8iy0A
Yes it left loose ends and yes it wasn't a happy ending but it made me think about many of the decisions I made along the way. A lot of the choices made through the 3 games were tied off nicely before the last hour and, as such, should also be considered to be part of the ending
I cannot think of any game series that has provoked as much thought about the decisions made than the Mass Effect series and that's a good thing.
First the Childs Play charity drive and now this...Cupcake protest.
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/10635792/1
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/9811/cupcakesir.jpg
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/10635792/88#10776876 lol..
Bro, Shepard was trying to stop the Reapers and making the actions you describe, *I* was trying not to die. :)
Peace on your sentiment, tho. :)
*AHEM* MC isn't dead ;)
Fortress world anyone?
I did play as a woman though. I prefer to look at pretty things rather than some hairy bobbin' man-ass.
And that end is coherent. Don't believe the people who just don't get it. It's a lot more subtle than the vast majority of games. But then its nice to be finally treated with some intelligence. :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b33tJx8iy0A
I was wondering how long it would take before someone did that.
It was amusing up until the bit about closure, how much closure do people need need?
Yep, I've got that. I'm bitterly disappointed with the ending - until the last moments the game was living up to my every hope - brutal choices that you're forced to make for the survival of the species... Then it's all just pointless, and we get some hand-wavy ending that may or may not be all a dream because Shepard's dead.
Not good enough Bioware, get back in there and try again.
Haven't played any of the ME games yet, but they are on my list of things to do :P