I think I'm close to the end of my first playthrough as well. I ended shortly after you meet up with Anderson back on earth. Is it just me or is this game significantly shorter than the first two in terms of play-time? I think I didn't miss any of the side-quests yet I'm still well under 30 hours playtime.
Okay finished the game. I understand the commotion over the ending, but was there really a good way for them to wrap it up and still please everyone? I suppose most people had expected something more of an epilogue, but what more could they have possibly shown that would have been more satisfying?
Warning: Long post. It just seems to me that through three games they keep telling you your choices matter and then you get to the end...and all they care about is war assets. What's worse, you basically get the same ending regardless of what you choose, except in one the explosions are red, another green, another blue. That’s it. [result]But looking beyond that, if you know anything about the universe, you realize how screwed up you left everything to be. Everyone is cut off from everything. At best, the Turians and Quarians still alive around Earth are going to die of starvation, since they can’t eat human food. At worst, Shepherd did more damage than the Reapers ever would have done. In Arrival it’s established that when a mass relay is destroyed, the resulting energy release is akin to a supernova, destroying everything in that system. Using that logic, every species in Citadel space is wiped from existence. This would even include species that the Reapers would have spared, since even though they may contain species that aren't advanced to warrent destruction, those systems would have had mass relays in them as well. Perhaps the relays being destroyed by Crucible doesn’t cause the shockwave, but that’s never explained. We’re left to assume. And why the hell is Joker flying the Normandy through a mass relay anyway? Did he leave his post? I would have been ok with an ending that required Shepherd sacrificing him/herself to save the galaxy. I would have been ok with an ending that shows it would take generations before the galaxy returned to something resembling normal. But I want to be told that. I spent 100+ hours getting to know the people and places of this universe. I want to know what happened to them after the battle to save Earth. All we can do is assume. And with no information to indicate otherwise, using what we know of the ME universe…I assume Commander Shepherd basically destroyed the galaxy.[/result]
[result]I chose the synthesis solution. In that scenario, the alien races stuck in the Sol system might very well survive because they are no longer truly Quarian/Asari/Turian/whatever. They have become a half-synthetic hybrid, so anything that might have applied to their organic form no longer does. As for the Mass Relay destruction scenario, wouldn't that half left earth destroyed as well? We do not see this is the end-game imagery. I'm not saying that this ending was by any means perfect, just that any ending after so much time would probably have fallen short of our expectations. [/result]
The best analogy I heard for the ending is they stuck a 2001 ending onto Star wars. both good science fiction, but they aren't really compatible. I wouldn't be so annoyed if the devs didn't repeatedly state that the ending was NOT going to be door 1,2 or 3.
For those who like the multiplayer portion of the game, BioWare has put out some sort of challenge this weekend. Beat a map with Reapers in it on at least the Silver level, and you'll get a Commendation Pack sometime next week that will give you one N7 weapon. All you need is one person to get extracted, then everyone gets the pack. You can only win one pack, though. By far I find the Reapers the toughest of the three groups to fight (as much as I hate the turrets and Phantoms, the Banshees are the toughest by far), so this should be an interesting challenge.
Doing a lot of reaper silver runs. I can't say I'm really great at MP, but I do enjoy it. I'm mustering the courage to start ME1 again (knowing what awaits me at the end) I've yet to do a femshep playthrough, and want to have a romance instead of a bromance with Garrus. I might play through to the end and let MARAUDER SHIELDS! Kill me
He needs help from the... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgd5S-X-_dQ"]Please Please Please Get a Life Foundation - YouTube[/ame]
Ray Muzyka, BioWare co-founder, has put up a letter regarding the ending to ME3. Basically stating their surprise on how the ending has been received, and to expect some sort of DLC in the future. They want to find the "right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback" they got, so that tells me don't expect a completely different ending than what's already in there. Which is fine with me. While there's a part of me that would have liked a super happy ending, just making the ending less ambiguous would get rid of most of my complaints.
Haven't reached the end yet but I think this is terrible. I don't care how bad the ending is you don't change it cause people are upset. It would be laughable if this ever happened with a movie, book, comic, or tv show. I have lost a lot of respect for Bioware after this decision. The Annie Wilkes of the video game world won today
This happens constantly in TV and movies. Never heard of focus groups and test screenings? Basically the difference here is that they will (might) do it after the product has officially been released already. Having given it some more thought, I have gone the other way. Where I was initially not terribly disappointed with the ending, I am now left feeling a little disillusioned. In the end, only the amount of forces you amass have any real influence on the number of options you get at the end. So that means - unless I missed something - countless of your choices have no real effect beyond adding troops and resources for your final confrontation. I don't know, I thought there would be more significance to decisions like - to name but one - sparing the Rachni queen.
Interesting video on a theory about the ending. I've decided to believe this is what happened. Whether it's what BioWare actually intended, well... It's around 20 minutes, and there's spoilers galore, so you have been warned... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck&list=UUecc5aSzaHp_NNauglFlzcw&feature=plcp"]Shepard's Indoctrination[/ame]
As much as I want to believe indoctrination theory, I can't anymore. This was simply a case of two writers way to into their own heads, and I think they honestly thought it was good. Still have no interest in playing Mass Effect. I was all set to make a few new Sheps (A fem shep romancing Garrus, another broshep romancing Liara, and a renagade shep) up until the last five minutes of the game. I AM THE CATALYST. And since Bioware is so for artistic integrity yada yada, I'm amazed that they are changing that "Deception" novel because it was so awful.
All the good/bad Shepard has done in the last three games is rendered moot by the destruction of the Mass Relays and the impossibility of interstellar travel. Ex: So you softened relations between the Krogan and the Turians. Who gives a ********, they're never going to see each other again. I feel like the writers for ME3 were watching the Battlestar Galactica finale, and were like, yeah, something like that oughta work.
Can someone explain why Joker and the Normandy were flying through the Mass Relay at the end? I thought he was in the middle of the battle with the Reapers orbiting Earth? Did your companions in the final battle with Harbinger get fried?
The only explanation I can think of was, as soon as Joker drops off Shepard on Earth he chucked deuce and got the hell out of there. COWARD!!!!
As a fan of the indoctrination theory, the best explanation I can come up with is the last 5 minutes is all in Shepard’s head. So what you see is kind of his way of making peace with whatever “decision” you make, imagining his friends survive to live on so it was worth it. Because otherwise, yeah, makes no sense at all.
Let the debates begin. I'm two minds about this release. On one hand, it's free! On the other, the way their release is worded, it makes it sound like they really did have no initial plans to expand on the ending. I figured this may have just been an EA ploy to get some extra cash from ME3. So either the PR hit was enough to force them to release at no cost, or BioWare truly did intend that to be the end of Shepard's story. Found out something interesting the other day. Now I know why the voice actor for Stargazer wasn't very good. It's Buzz Aldrin. Yeah....I think he gets a pass.
I'm not really interested in this alternate ending if it came about through BioWare **********ing out after the fan reaction. They should have the courage to stand by their own vision.
All I read when I read "clarify" is "I guess the fans were to stupid to understand our high art the first time"
I don't think its a alternate ending at all. Sounds like its a director's cut ending, so more details but nothing really changes. Although if they can explain why Joker, EDI (and one of the guys who probably died when Harbinger attacked), was Mass Relaying away from Earth at the time, that would be nice.