Are people putting too much stock in ME 3's ending? (spoiler free)

I'll start off by saying I haven't finished ME 3 yet. I'm about 18 hours in, doing the story level on sanctuary. So far the game has been amazing. The odd line of cheesy dialogue, some janky animations and a few questionable plot points barely take away from the overall quality of the experience.

Even if the ending is as bad as people say, I will give the game a 9+/10. Why? Well, even if the ending is bad, it doesn't erase the enjoyment I got out of playing through the rest of it. The only thing it will affect is my memory of the game - and we don't play games so that we can remember them fondly, we play them for escapism while going through the experience. The ending should be the least important factor of any game, garbage or not.

If an epic 60+ hours of very high quality entertainiment ends with a whimper, that is unfortunate, but it doesn't reverse the fact that you still got a huge amount of enjoyment out of those 60 hours of play.

Saying the ending of the game ruined the series is ludacris.

I enjoyed the game. But i very much disliked the ending, though for different reasons than most people.

Any game, as an interactive medium, is supposed to reflect the player's action in the game. When expectation between the player the game are different, thats generally a bad thing, unless it was deliberately used to create tension or drama. The ending doesn't do that. At all. It's a poorly designed ending no matter what anyone says.

I agree. I gave ME3 a 9.0 even though the last 10 minutes feel like they've been imported from another game.

But it's a shame to go through the game thinking "Oh hell, yes" to finish with "Errr, but I...my Shepard would never..."

I'll start off by saying I haven't finished ME 3 yet. I'm about 18 hours in, doing the story level on sanctuary. So far the game has been amazing. The odd line of cheesy dialogue, some janky animations and a few questionable plot points barely take away from the overall quality of the experience.

Even if the ending is as bad as people say, I will give the game a 9+/10. Why? Well, even if the ending is bad, it doesn't erase the enjoyment I got out of playing through the rest of it. The only thing it will affect is my memory of the game - and we don't play games so that we can remember them fondly, we play them for escapism while going through the experience. The ending should be the least important factor of any game, garbage or not.

If an epic 60+ hours of very high quality entertainiment ends with a whimper, that is unfortunate, but it doesn't reverse the fact that you still got a huge amount of enjoyment out of those 60 hours of play.

Saying the ending of the game ruined the series is ludacris.

with_teeth26

Yes i'm not interested in discussing the specifics of the ending (yet) but rather the importance of the ending in general in relation to the overall quality of the series.

I'm not trying to defend the ending, but some people are acting like it nullifies the quality of the entire series, which I think is absurd.

Although the game is amazing I personally thought the ending made all of your decisions and choices void. Regardless of that it is still an fantastic game and franchise.

I hope people are only complaining because its some truly incredible and opinion splitting ending like Red Dead Redemption, and not because its actually a poopy ending.

Damn, I better beat it before someone spoils it for me.

I hope people are only complaining because its some truly incredible and opinion splitting ending like Red Dead Redemption, and not because its actually a poopy ending.

Damn, I better beat it before someone spoils it for me.

SPYDER0416

Yes i'm not interested in discussing the specifics of the ending (yet) but rather the importance of the ending in general in relation to the overall quality of the series.

I'm not trying to defend the ending, but some people are acting like it nullifies the quality of the entire series, which I think is absurd.

with_teeth26

I hope people are only complaining because its some truly incredible and opinion splitting ending like Red Dead Redemption, and not because its actually a poopy ending.

Damn, I better beat it before someone spoils it for me.

SPYDER0416

This is probably an inappropriate comment but to me this fuss over the ME3 ending is hilarious. I played ME1 and lost total interest in the game after about a week, it played to me like a lame sci-fi version of Fallout3. The fact that some many people loved it and that it's spawned 2 sequels and that now people are ready to kill over the ending of the 2nd sequel is like a skit from SNL. I'm enjoying this geek drama because it's better than anything that's been on tv all year. Please keep it up.

Isn't the variation within the journey as defined by your choices just as important as the final outcome? As I said, the ending doesn't erase the enjoyment you got out of the rest of the series - it might affect how you remember you're enjoyment of them - but it doesn't change the fact that you had fun while going through the games.

Yea its pretty lame that Bioware couldn't fulfill promises made. I loved Mass Effect 2 on my first playthrough, but my second playthrough where my choices were totally opposite revealed to me that the choices you made really didn't have that much of an impact. It played out in almost exactly the same way, but with a few different character interactions.

People who really think they are changing the way the story plays out are a bit deluded. I guess the game is really effective at make you feel like your choices are worth more than they are. I play the ME games because they offer a really immersive and epic science fiction experience, not because I want to play a good RPG where your choices impact the way the game plays out. If you want choices with real consequences, go play the Witcher games or Fallout: New Vegas. Despite what the marketing campaigns of EA have suggested, ME has nevery really been about choice, but rather a well presented story (with an apparently crap ending) and well developed characters.

Of course, my opinion is skewed because I haven't fnished the game yet.

[QUOTE="with_teeth26"]

Yes i'm not interested in discussing the specifics of the ending (yet) but rather the importance of the ending in general in relation to the overall quality of the series.

I'm not trying to defend the ending, but some people are acting like it nullifies the quality of the entire series, which I think is absurd.

kaealy

Well, I can tell you that the ending of any entertainiment medium can't spoil the whole experience. You might disagree, and ok, but If I enjoyed everything up to the ending I won't let the ending erase the fact I still had fun reading/watching/playing or whatever.

Look at Mafia 2. Its great right up to the end, where it leaves the story in unresolved shambles. I still thought it was a great game. Other people thought the game was ruined by that ending, but I didn't.

[QUOTE="kaealy"][QUOTE="with_teeth26"]

Yes i'm not interested in discussing the specifics of the ending (yet) but rather the importance of the ending in general in relation to the overall quality of the series.

I'm not trying to defend the ending, but some people are acting like it nullifies the quality of the entire series, which I think is absurd.

with_teeth26

Well, I can tell you that the ending of any entertainiment medium can't spoil the whole experience. You might disagree, and ok, but If I enjoyed everything up to the ending I won't let the ending erase the fact I still had fun reading/watching/playing or whatever.

Look at Mafia 2. Its great right up to the end, where it leaves the story in unresolved shambles. I still thought it was a great game. Other people thought the game was ruined by that ending, but I didn't.

Isn't the variation within the journey as defined by your choices just as important as the final outcome? As I said, the ending doesn't erase the enjoyment you got out of the rest of the series - it might affect how you remember you're enjoyment of them - but it doesn't change the fact that you had fun while going through the games.

Yea its pretty lame that Bioware couldn't fulfill promises made. I loved Mass Effect 2 on my first playthrough, but my second playthrough where my choices were totally opposite revealed to me that the choices you made really didn't have that much of an impact. It played out in almost exactly the same way, but with a few different character interactions.

People who really think they are changing the way the story plays out are a bit deluded. I guess the game is really effective at make you feel like your choices are worth more than they are. I play the ME games because they offer a really immersive and epic science fiction experience, not because I want to play a good RPG where your choices impact the way the game plays out.

Of course, my opinion is skewed because I haven't fnished the game yet.

with_teeth26

In essence what happens in the ending really is determined by every choice you have ever made. How the outcome plays out may not literally be decided by the choices you made, saving the rachni or killing the collectors wont exactly alter the ending but it will have an effect on your ultimate choice. I think that is the whole point of the ending, that everything you have done is represented in that last moment and which way you decide to go. While literally you won't be making a change but symbolically you will have to take everything into account for the final outcome.

At least thats what I think...

The ending was bad but it didn't ruin the whole game or franchise for me. I really loved ME3 and its still a great game despite its ending.

I'll start off by saying I haven't finished ME 3 yet. I'm about 18 hours in, doing the story level on sanctuary. So far the game has been amazing. The odd line of cheesy dialogue, some janky animations and a few questionable plot points barely take away from the overall quality of the experience.

Even if the ending is as bad as people say, I will give the game a 9+/10. Why? Well, even if the ending is bad, it doesn't erase the enjoyment I got out of playing through the rest of it. The only thing it will affect is my memory of the game - and we don't play games so that we can remember them fondly, we play them for escapism while going through the experience. The ending should be the least important factor of any game, garbage or not.

If an epic 60+ hours of very high quality entertainiment ends with a whimper, that is unfortunate, but it doesn't reverse the fact that you still got a huge amount of enjoyment out of those 60 hours of play.

Saying the ending of the game ruined the series is ludacris.

with_teeth26

I finished the game, I stand by my original statement. Yea it was a confusing, porous and poorly explained ending, but it certainly didn't ruin the series, or the game.

I'm really surprised that some of the more obvious problems with the ending weren't noticed by anyone at Bioware.

Oh man, it gets worse, someone at BSN collected all the Pre-release developer quotes, that if you look at certain angle comes out as false advertising.

Whether or not you enjoyed the conclusion to Mass Effect 3 (personally I feel
it tarnished an otherwise masterful series) please take a look at the
pre-release quotes below from websites and interviews with the game's
developers, writers and producers.

Does all that talk of meaningful player choice, multiple significantly
different endings and closure for the characters and series not seem,
at the very least, strange?

I believe Bioware can be legitimately accused of, at best, fudging the
truth if not outright deceit given the inconsistency between notions
of choice, closure etc. expressed before the game was released and
the ending as it currently stands.

In my opinion Bioware produced a badly written, ill-conceived shambles
of an ending riddled with plot holes and logical inconsistencies but
even if you loved the final moments of this great game do you really
think what was stated in the interviews below has been proved true?

Maybe Walters, Gamble, Hudson et al will be proved right when a decent
ending is released via (presumably free) DLC that explains the
original ending was just some sort of hallucination/indoctrination.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for that though.


Official Mass Effect Website
http://masseffect.com/about/story/

"Experience the beginning, middle, and end of an emotional story unlike any
other, where the decisions you make completely shape your experience
and outcome."

Interview with Mac Walters (Lead Writer)
http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/02/28/mass-effect-3-mac-walters/

"[The presence of the Rachni] has huge consequences in Mass
Effect 3. Even just in the final battle with the Reapers."

Interview with Mac Walters (Lead Writer)
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/05/qa-mass-effect-3s-mac-walters-on-how-the-game-tries-to-reach-all-audiences/

"I'm always leery of saying there are 'optimal' endings, because I think
one of the things we do try to do is make different endings that are
optimal for different people "

Interview with Mike Gamble (Associate Producer)
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/334598/interviews/mass-effect-3-weve-brought-back-a-lot-of-what-was-missing-in-me2/

"And, to be honest, you [the fans] are crafting your Mass Effect story as
much as we are anyway."

Interview with Mike Gamble (Associate Producer)
http://www.360magazine.co.uk/interview/mass-effect-3-has-many-different-endings/

"There are many different endings. We wouldn't do it any other way. How
could you go through all three campaigns playing as your Shepard and
then be forced into a bespoke ending that everyone gets? But I can't
say any more than that…"

Interview with Mike Gamble (Associate Producer)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-02-bioware-mass-effect-3-ending-will-make-some-people-angry

"Every decision you've made will impact how things go. The player's also the
architect of what happens."

"You'll get answers to everything. That was one of the key things. Regardless
of how we did everything, we had to say, yes, we're going to provide
some answers to these people."

"Because a lot of these plot threads are concluding and because it's being
brought to a finale, since you were a part of architecting how they
got to how they were, you will definitely sense how they close was
because of the decisions you made and because of the decisions you
didn't make"

Interview with Casey Hudson (Director)
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/04/28/casey-hudson-interview-mass-effect-3.aspx

"For people who are invested in these characters and the back-story of the
universe and everything, all of these things come to a resolution in
Mass Effect 3. And they are resolved in a way that's very different
based on what you would do in those situations."

Interview with Casey Hudson (Director)
http://venturebeat.com/2012/03/02/casey-hudson-bioware-co-created-mass-effect-3-with-the-sometimes-cranky-fans-interview/

"Fans want to make sure that they see things resolved, they want to get
some closure, a great ending. I think they're going to get that."

"Mass Effect 3 is all about answering all the biggest questions in the
lore, learning about the mysteries and the Protheans and the Reapers,
being able to decide for yourself how all of these things come to an
end."

Interviewer: "So are you guys the creators or the stewards of the franchise?"
Hudson: "Um… You know, at this point, I think we're co-creators with
the fans. We use a lot of feedback."

Interview with Casey Hudson (Director)
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/10/mass1525-effect-3-cas5ey-fdsafdhudson-interviewae.aspx?PostPageIndex=2

Interviewer: [Regarding the numerous possible endings of Mass Effect 2] "Is that
same type of complexity built into the ending of Mass Effect 3?"
Hudson: "Yeah, and I'd say much more so, because we have the ability to
build the endings out in a way that we don't have to worry about
eventually tying them back together somewhere. This story arc is
coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot
more different. At this point we're taking into account so many
decisions that you've made as a player and reflecting a lot of that
stuff. It's not even in any way like the traditional game endings,
where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got
ending A, B, or C.....The endings have a lot more sophistication and
variety in them."

"We have a rule in our franchise that there is no canon. You as a player
decide what your story is."

cato_84