Mass Effect 3 Ending(s) - Spoiler Alert

I need to discuss the ending. Just finished the game and I still dont know what the fck just happened. When you guys finish it, someone explain it to me. I never got 3 options. I just got the one and it sucked or at least I think it did. I dont know what the fck it was.

BTW , what the hell was joker doing at the end? Wasnt he in the fight?

What was you war readiness? Did Earth perish?Stevo_the_gamer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZDDC7vhdug&feature=player_embedded

I'd say this cut makes the ending better, more predictable, but less retarded.

There is nothing to explain, it's just stupid.

I would have been perfectly fine if the ending was just [spoiler] Crucible kills reapers, galaxy is saved. Basic, to the point, and we all saw it coming. At worst it would have been underwhelming for a series building up to this moment [/spoiler] Instead we got this **** that had to come along with it. So dumb. jg4xchamp

What was you war readiness? Did Earth perish?Stevo_the_gamer

The whole "good ending" is a farce. It only counts for the destroy one and just gives you a1 sec clip of shephard at the very end. Not very fulfilling for all that work. None of the choices at the end were that palatable.

I would have been perfectly fine if the ending was just [spoiler] Crucible kills reapers, galaxy is saved. Basic, to the point, and we all saw it coming. At worst it would have been underwhelming for a series building up to this moment [/spoiler] Instead we got this **** that had to come along with it. So dumb. jg4xchamp

I don't even think it would've been that underwhelming. I spent so much time worrying about whether or not my choices would get anyone good killed (I flipped my sh*t when I thought I got Garrus and Tali killed in the final battle) that I would've been happy with a "where are they now?" montage of what happened to Character X and Faction Y.

I don't even think it would've been that underwhelming. I spent so much time worrying about whether or not my choices would get anyone good killed (I flipped my sh*t when I thought I got Garrus and Tali killed in the final battle) that I would've been happy with a "where are they now?" montage of what happened to Character X and Faction Y.

Slow_Show

Seriously the rest of the game has you on such a good high, and further cements these characters for you. And then the ending kicks you in the nuts.jg4xchamp

I think it might be the first ending in the history of mankind that provides *zero* closure. It's so awful I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact it even exists (because something that terrible surely violates the fundamental laws of nature).

[QUOTE="jg4xchamp"]I would have been perfectly fine if the ending was just [spoiler] Crucible kills reapers, galaxy is saved. Basic, to the point, and we all saw it coming. At worst it would have been underwhelming for a series building up to this moment [/spoiler] Instead we got this **** that had to come along with it. So dumb. Slow_Show

I don't even think it would've been that underwhelming. I spent so much time worrying about whether or not my choices would get anyone good killed (I flipped my sh*t when I thought I got Garrus and Tali killed in the final battle) that I would've been happy with a "where are they now?" montage of what happened to Character X and Faction Y.

[QUOTE="Slow_Show"]

[QUOTE="jg4xchamp"]I would have been perfectly fine if the ending was just [spoiler] Crucible kills reapers, galaxy is saved. Basic, to the point, and we all saw it coming. At worst it would have been underwhelming for a series building up to this moment [/spoiler] Instead we got this **** that had to come along with it. So dumb. sonicare

I don't even think it would've been that underwhelming. I spent so much time worrying about whether or not my choices would get anyone good killed (I flipped my sh*t when I thought I got Garrus and Tali killed in the final battle) that I would've been happy with a "where are they now?" montage of what happened to Character X and Faction Y.

Agree on no ME4 (save the franchise for the inevitable MMO down the road), but I don't see how they could possibly turn out DLC at this point. Either they'd have to do something that explains the ending (and the only thing worse than the ending is the idea of "pay $10+ for the real ending") or they'd just be re-arranging the deck chairs.

ME4 should exist. My renegade shepard approves it. Also it makes sense anyway since renegade seems the canon. In ME2 the game assumes Shepard followed the renegade path for ME1. In ME3 the game assumes shepard followed the renegade path in ME2. The only part that I don't understand is why is controlling the Repears a paragon choice. If Shepard was truly following the paragon path then the Repears should be destroyed not being controlled. You even get the Repears Heart to lower the requirements needed to destroy the Repears if you destroyed the Collector Base. The post credits also provide proof. Kid asks for one more story about Shepard and the person next to him says "Ok. One more story."

Also it's EA here. We know they want more MEs released.

Reading too much into it, the the next story could very well be some piece of DLC or something even if it was meant as a hint.

Bioware needs to move on.  

Lou Holtz and Dick Vitale talking > Mass Effect 3 ending.

Not looking good for the indoctrination theory: turns out that at the lowest EMS levels, you don't get a choice of endings (only one floor section pops up). Meaning that when faced with a borderline inadequate enemy force (the kind that really should result in the Catalyst being destroyed before ever reaching the Citadel), Harbinger's fiendishly Machiavellian plan is to... force you to choose the "defiance" option. Huh.

Gamespot is all about making things more stupid so people go on to complain and GS gets more views. I mean they made an article on Poison's gender for **** sake.

The ending blows for several reasons. First, it seems like it was just shoehorned into the game. It doesnt fit with the rest of the story and there are obvious discontinuities in it. Two of my squadmates were with me in the final push, then suddenly they are on the Normandy at the end game. Furthermore, what the fck is the Normandy doing? How did it go from being in the final battle to racing through some kind of distant mass effect relay? It just seems like they wanted to have it land on some distant and undeveloped garden planet and cared less how it got there.

What happens to the rest of the mass effect universe? Didnt they say that destroying a mass effect relay would cause tremendous damage to the system it was in? In that case, is the allied fleet also destroyed when the citadel and relays go up? Are the worlds in each system with a relay ravaged?

The "good ending" is worthless. What's the point of that 1 second clip. You blew up every synthetic thing in the galaxy. Doesnt that mean that Shephard would die anyways?

It seems they made the game then just tacked on this ending. Asshats.

http://bumbabroadsides.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/hold-the-line-gamers-organizers-and-a-new-brand-of-protest/

Bioware's starting to feel the pain.

OMG GUYS:

THE FINAL HOURS

:| 

Link Looks like GS is still defending the one thing about the game that doesn't deserve to be defended. I was already going to forgive the DLC and the other gameplay quirks because the story was all that mattered to me. Now even as a hardcore fan (who has yet to play the game for the record), I find this whole thing inexcusable.SpiritOfFire117

They're not defending the quality of the end, but BioWare's right as the creator to follow their creative vision. You can be as critical of their choice as you like, but if that's the way BioWare thought the trilogy should end then that's the way the trilogy should end; trying to petition them to change it after the fact is a special kind of stupid.

That article is a POS. "But...but its art!!!11!! :cry:". And it's the same person who did that article about Helper. It has bad writing and lacks closure.

Not looking good for the indoctrination theory: turns out that at the lowest EMS levels, you don't get a choice of endings (only one floor section pops up). Meaning that when faced with a borderline inadequate enemy force (the kind that really should result in the Catalyst being destroyed before ever reaching the Citadel), Harbinger's fiendishly Machiavellian plan is to... force you to choose the "defiance" option. Huh.

Slow_Show

They're not defending the quality of the end, but BioWare's right as the creator to follow their creative vision. You can be as critical of their choice as you like, but if that's the way BioWare thought the trilogy should end then that's the way the trilogy should end; trying to petition them to change it after the fact is a special kind of stupid.

Slow_Show

[QUOTE="SpiritOfFire117"]Link Looks like GS is still defending the one thing about the game that doesn't deserve to be defended. I was already going to forgive the DLC and the other gameplay quirks because the story was all that mattered to me. Now even as a hardcore fan (who has yet to play the game for the record), I find this whole thing inexcusable.Slow_Show

They're not defending the quality of the end, but BioWare's right as the creator to follow their creative vision. You can be as critical of their choice as you like, but if that's the way BioWare thought the trilogy should end then that's the way the trilogy should end; trying to petition them to change it after the fact is a special kind of stupid.

[QUOTE="Slow_Show"]

[QUOTE="SpiritOfFire117"]Link Looks like GS is still defending the one thing about the game that doesn't deserve to be defended. I was already going to forgive the DLC and the other gameplay quirks because the story was all that mattered to me. Now even as a hardcore fan (who has yet to play the game for the record), I find this whole thing inexcusable.SpiritOfFire117

They're not defending the quality of the end, but BioWare's right as the creator to follow their creative vision. You can be as critical of their choice as you like, but if that's the way BioWare thought the trilogy should end then that's the way the trilogy should end; trying to petition them to change it after the fact is a special kind of stupid.

/conspiracy theory.

Leaked image from the Post ending DLC:

So the Witcher 2 got criticism from the media for the bad ending, but the same people ride Bioware's d**k for the Mass Effect 3 ending? Videogame journalism is a f***ing joke.

So the Witcher 2 got criticism from the media for the bad ending, but the same people ride Bioware's d**k for the Mass Effect 3 ending? Videogame journalism is a f***ing joke.

organic_machine

Well Witcher 2 is a lot more 'now it's time for them to move on to the next chapter of the story' kind of ending, seeing as it isn't the end of a trilogy.  

Apparently the original idea behind the Reapers was this:

The lead writer for ME1, and co-writer for ME2, confirmed that that was going to be the Reaper's motivations. Dark energy was causing the death of the galaxy, so the Reapers would leave dark energy-based tech (mass effect technology) around the galaxy, encourage civilizations to build civilizations around it and use it for a couple thousand years or so, reap them before their usage reached dangerous levels, and then use the harvested minds to add to a massive billions of year old computing system out in dark space trying to figure out new innovative ways to stop it, based on the thinking of countless species.

That would have been 10x better than what we got, especially because the "central theme" that randomly shows up in the last 10 minutes of the the game was only present in the background of the first game and it was never hinted at that that was the idea you were supposed to get out of the games. Although I think there would be some problems with that too. Still doesn't make sense why they brought up "dark energy" so much in 2 and then just completely dropped it.

The problem with dark energy is the first two games kept harping on about how the Reapers are beyond human comprehension, and stopping organic life from annihilating the galaxy sounds pretty reasonable, all things considered.

I agree with AAllxxjjnn, it's more an issue of execution than anything else. All you really have to do is:

-Replace the kid with Anderson, with Shepard somehow responsible for his death. It gives the intro far more punch, lets you do some great stuff with the dream sequences (Anderson questioning Shepard's decisions instead of "follow the goddamn kid around"), and works a hell of a lot better for the Catalyst (Anderson was Shepard's mentor, it helps brings the game and series full circle, and Keith David brings a hell of a lot more gravitas to the table).

-Show the darker side of synthetic life. The Geth and EDI plotlines are all about how great synthetic life is -- it's not blinded by emotion while still being able to feel something equivalent to emotions -- so the destroy ending and Reaper motivation make zero goddamn sense. Have EDI disobey orders due to her sense of self-preservation and the Geth make some cold, calculating decision that boils down to "we're immortal and you're not" and all of a sudden everything is a bit more ambiguous.

-Similarly, the control ending has to be more ambiguous by pointing out that it isn't inherently evil -- the Alliance is going to be virtually destroyed in the final battle, so keeping the Reapers around can be seen as a way to help rebuild civilization and maintain peace.

-Instead of synthesis, the third option is to send out a signal that destroys the Reapers, but also the mass relays, effectively ending conflict between races by fencing them off from eachother (who cares about the Geth turning to the Reapers 2.0 if they can't traverse the galaxy fast enough to actually do their reaping?). The alien races that are now trapped in Sol (which isn't an issue on account of the Citadel and other planets) are kinda pissed, but it's overall a bittersweet ending of "we're all trapped here, but at least we're all here".

-Come up with some unique, coherent ending cinematics.

Boom. Reapers defeated and some nice closure while still keeping things ambiguous and unsettling. Call me, BioWare.

It should have been like this: Paragon ending ~ Reapers eliminated, Shepard walks off into the sunset with his romantic interest, roll credits. Renegade ending ~ Reapers eliminated, Shepard sits down in Illusive Man's chair, lights up a smoke, camera pans back to show Illusive Man's corpse lying on floor, roll credits. It would have been cliche, but it would have been an ending. I would be satisfied with that.foxhound_fox

http://www.gamesradar.com/mass-effect-3-not-happy-ending-choose-one-these-20-alternative-endings-instead/

I still don't get what each ending really means. It seems that they are all so similar in that all the mass relays and the citadel are destroyed. So galactic civilization is massively crippled in that regard. Whatever universe existed before is now extremely cut off from itself regardless of the "choice" you make at the end.

Is the universe massively ravaged by the destruction of the relays? They make mention in the game that destroying a relay is a bad thing and will cause havoc in its local system. So are all the systems with a relay in them massively damaged?

What happened to the alliance and allied fleets that warped in to fight the reapers? Are they still alive or were they annihilated when the relay went up?

What does the control the reapers ending really give you? You control them to what purpose? The relays are down so how does having them really help?

The synthetic ending needs more expounding as well. What does that really mean?

It's like they cut and pasted this ending onto the rest of the mass effect story and it just doesnt fit. That's what I dont like about it - that it's incredibly nebulous and disconnected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_832874&v=vG4EyfXOTJ4&src_vid=L4iNJXrHA_I&feature=iv

Another better ending in a single image:

http://i.imgur.com/D1Bwl.jpg

Just finished. Synthesis ending.

Crap. But I'm realizing that any other ending would have been crap too.

[spoiler] Just saw Joker Edi and Traynor at the end. Good for Joker, trapped with a mech and a lesbian. [/spoiler]

Another better ending in a single image:

http://i.imgur.com/D1Bwl.jpg

110million

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/mass-effect-3-ending-changed-video-gamer-backlash-bioware-announces-article-1.1048196?localLinksEnabled=false We gets teh new endingkage_53

Like that'll stop all the b!tching.