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[Kybernetes Moros]

For the most part, I found the game excellent; certainly a worthy successor to the prior two games. There were a few parts before the ending that I found a little out of place, though, and the ending itself is something I find myself torn on.

[spoiler]Kai Leng -- I don't get it. There were several times when he seemed to use the sword for the sake of "cool points" rather than any sense; in a series that had, up to then, been fairly sensible about things it established, there were numerous occasions when calmly shooting someone rather than flipping about playing gymnast-ninja with the sword would have saved a lot of trouble. The Salarian Dalatrasse, for instance. Again during the final fight you have with him on Cronos Station.

For the ending, I honestly quite liked that a lot of the decisions made prior to it had no impact on that scene; to try and force what you did on, say, Rannoch into something on that scale would to me seem far more contrived than leaving it out. The Catalyst's explanation was, however, lacklustre and kind of undermined the menace of the Reapers, for me; that they were these Eldritch Abominations with no clear intent but some plan beyond human comprehension was a theme of which I was very fond.

Lots of little plot holes, too. The Citadel suddenly moving seemed very abrupt since it happened entirely off-screen -- and why were the Reapers building that beam to the Citadel long before the Citadel ever moved? It can't have been a quick construction job. Similarly, why on Earth was the Normandy in a mass relay jump when the Crucible activated?

The best way I've managed to try and reconcile it in my head was that Shepard was gradually being indoctrinated over the course of the series, with the Catalyst's ultimate aim being synthesis: an end to the cycle that pisses it off so. Constructing the Crucible according to Catalyst/Reaper specification would undermine the point of creating that combination of organic and synthetic life, so it was necessary to maintain the cycle up until the circumstances were right to allow the Crucible to both be completed and activated. Shepard, being the Big Damn Hero of the series, was ideal for this, and in initiating synthesis brought their machinations to an end. Destruction and control represented a last resistance to the indoctrination.

It's not by any means a perfect explanation, but it seems to me a bit better than "Catalyst AI explains the incomprehensible in minutes and then Shepard makes a big explosion". After all, in this interpretation there's no reason for the Catalyst to tell the truth when Shepard reaches it. Not the best route, but...

All in all, a fantastic game. An ending I'm not completely satisfied with, although I can see what Bioware wanted to do with it, but as much as I would have liked the catharsis of a grand finale tying all loose ends off, I can overlook the flawed ending for the sake of the main body of the game, I think.[/spoiler]

[Louella Dougans]

Blasto the Jellyfish returns, in Blasto 6: Partners in Crime.

also thread is a bit wandered from original intent,

[Caellach Marellus]

[spoiler]So we're left with a Deus Ex Machina ending that largely represents... Deus Ex's ending.

After reading http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/9890470 I'm almost certain that this is a curveball ending for whatever reason, likely to avoid spoilers from data hacking/power gamers so everyone can see the ending at the same time etcetc (you know this game still isn't out in Asia yet?)

So instead they put in a swerve ending that makes no sense, people being on the Normandy who were with you elsewhere, breathing in space without a helmet when the Mass Effect fields only have a 7 meter reach and work in the Wards only, and not to mention how Shepard totally goes along with the whole scenario rather than go "Bullshit, we're winning this war and I'm not playing your game."

So you're left playing Adam Jensen. And suddenly I'm starting to think either game companies based in Montreal suck at writing game endings, or they're taking this opportunity to use the fake ending to parody the good folks over at Eidos for the crappy way DX:HR ended.


Also, consider this. Y'know how Bioware tries to put stuff in now that puts people off buying their games second hand? If the ending is free DLC and requires registration, who the hell would want a pre-owned copy?[/spoiler]

[Morwen Lagann]

Blasto the Jellyfish returns, in Blasto 6: Partners in Crime.

also thread is a bit wandered from original intent,

It's a bit late right now and I'm headed to bed, but if another mod doesn't come along and do it first, I'll split the thread either tomorrow morning before I leave for work, or after I get home. So people don't need to worry about starting a new one for now.

[Lyn Farel]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG0fTKAqZ5g

The reapers are here hrrr

More seriously though, this is damn awesome (courtesy of Nomakai on the AFC forums).

[Kohiko Sun]

Since it's not been split yet, I'll plop this here.

[spoiler]Like some others, I've fallen into the Indoctrination Theory camp.

Remember all the signs and symptoms and consider the last bits:
-All the buzzing when you meet the Illusive Man.
-The black tendrils at the edges of your vision during the same time.
-Anderson being there, and him coming in behind you but getting to the control panel first when there's only one path.
-The Catalyst looks like a "ghostly apparition".
-The part people really fuss about: Shepard just accepts there are only the Catalyst's options without argument. Very "trusting".
-The Catalyst lingers if you pick anything but Destroy. If you choose Destroy, it instantly vanishes.
-The "secret scene", if you pick Destroy, of Shepard breathing under rubble in London as if you never made it to the beam after Harby made the kaboom. It has sounds like Reapers still moving around, too.
-James mentioning he hears humming when he has nothing new to talk about.
-And tweets like:

User 7: "Its not that the ending was taken in the wrong direction its that it makes NO SENSE. Ashley was on the Normandy? she [was] with me."
@masseffect: "Probably a good thing to be cautious of."

This "leak" has an interesting flavor when taken with a grain of salt.[spoiler][/spoiler][/spoiler]

[Kybernetes Moros]

[spoiler]Failing the indoctrination idea -- which, honestly, I like; it seems very in-fitting with the Reapers to have their scheming and machinations so far above Shepard's head that he's convinced he's working against them despite indoctrination -- another route I experimented to try and reconcile it in my head was that when Harbinger hit Shepard, that was it; he was dead, shiny Lazarus implants be damned. The last sequence and all its inconsistencies was an aberration of a dying (potentially indoctrinated; not mutually exclusive) mind.

I would prefer it to be the indoctrination, but again, both appeal to me arguably more than "Shepard is the Big Damn Hero and destroys the Reapers to live happily ever after". Your mileage my vary, and neither's really a perfect fit, but taking the entire post-Harbinger sequence with several pinches of salt seems worthwhile given the inconsistencies and lapses of continuity.[/spoiler]

[Morwen Lagann]

Hokay, thread split. Keep the ME3 stuff - especially the spoilers! - here, and the log-posts and updates from marathon playthroughs to the original thread, please!

[Caellach Marellus]

Do we still need spoiler tags then considering there's a big fat warning?

[Louella Dougans]

Do we still need spoiler tags then considering there's a big fat warning?

[spoiler]
[/spoiler]

probably not, imo.

I said to someone the other day, about how in teh first real mission, poor James Vega

He's all "woo, lets shoot stuff", then p.much before anything much occurs, Shepard goes "Hey, New Guy, keep the shuttle warm, Kaidan, Liara and I have this covered."

rejected


I lol'd at the conversations that Liara and Matriarch Aethya had:
"You're giving me commandos?"
"Well, you're too old for me to buy you a damn pony"

[Morwen Lagann]

I never saw that conversation with Aethyta - when was that? I knew she'd make an appearance after some hints in LotSB and on Illium in ME2, but couldn't find her. oO

[Louella Dougans]

Citadel station, presidium commons, there's a cafe that Liara sits at a table at when you visit the Citadel. (this is early game though, I dunno if it would change later in the game).

the barperson is Aethyta. You can talk to her and stuff. Then talk to Liara. Then Liara stands talking to Aethyta, in one of those conversations you hear when you're passing.

[Morwen Lagann]

Yeah, she (Liara) starts at the Apollo Cafe at the beginning (nearer to the elevator) and then moves to the other end of the Presidium afterward.

I did run into one of Aethyta's commandos, but as a side quest. I'll keep an eye out next time I head to the Citadel on my second play-through - thanks.

[GoGo Yubari]

Loved the ending quite a lot, as opposed to some loud bitchy opinions found here. I would have liked a longer explanation of everything in the closing cutscenes, but all in all I'm quite pleased with the tone of the ending.

Did you know that's Buzz Aldrin talking there at the epilogue?


Interesting to see the writing team take so much from two vastly different sources -

Moore's Battlestar Galactica and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

I'm going to wait a week or so, then start up my second Shepard that I've been building for the last decade. The paths the two Sheps of mine have taken thus far were divergent enough to make it fresh, but the differences this time around will be staggering.

I don't think I've ever enjoyed a series this much in gaming. I hope it's not BioWare's last hurrah, but if it is, it's a damn fine one.

Yeah, loved it as well.

Sure, the ending has been done before in different ways and various esteemed places like Evangelion, Galactica, Matrix... etc. I love the concept though and frankly could see it coming a million miles away (like well in ME2, or even ME1). I am thus a little amazed at the huge negative reaction to it, but I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. That type of ending always gets the fandom's hate. Evangelion is a great example of that, where people went utterly nuts simply because they couldn't totally grasp what the fuck even happened.

The only criticism that I can agree with is that it wasn't terribly original, but this is Mass Effect we're talking about. It is in its entirety a pastiche of pretty much all known scifi cliches, but it works because you get to actually play through that stuff making the hard decisions yourself and because it develops astoundingly great and emotional relationships all the way through it.

Otherwise, I found it a good game and a worthy successor/finale to the series. Too bad there was so little Miranda (who was my romantic interest), though. Ashley was fairly boring too, but I guess she'd have been more meaningful if there had been a rekindling of that relationship (now she was just the mopey, vaguely pathetic ex who just doesn't leave you alove). Also, Garrus and Shepard... man.

In the end, I'm sad because my Shepard promised Miranda he'd be back and that girl's prolly gonna be an emotional wreck after just barely opening up in the end, she gets her emotions squashed like that. Though I guess the ending (with the N7 tag moving) leaves Shepard's return open to interpretation.

So, I guess the inevitable MMO will be set prior to the events of the Mass Effect series or maybe in an alternate reality version with no Shepard, just Goongeth and Band of Krogan to fight the reapers or what not.

[Mizhara]

The anger at the endings isn't that they're dark or anything like that. It's that the "sixteen distinctly different endings" that were promised doesn't exist. It's one single ending with three different colors. There's also the quote that there'd be no A, B or C choose your ending thing, and that was -exactly- what it was. Except it was RGB instead of ABC.

No one minds that there are dark and grim endings, there's just massive disappointment to see that nothing you ever did mattered at all.
Frankly, a franchise such as this deserves better. Deus Ex did this well over a decade ago and did it right. This was just... meh.

In the end, it's simply not up for debate. When you piss off this many people and there's an uproar this big... you done fucked something up.