Unfortunately, Mass Effect 3, still being a great game, falls short of delivering the real deal...
The first 2 ME games are real masterpieces of ART. Especially ME 2. Bioware was truly dedicated and lots of effort was involved in creating such an elegant and emotional universe.
Yes, elegant and emotional. The characters are very memorable, the moves are well designed, the voices are emotive, the cinematics are great, the adventures that unfold will make you get emotionally attached, they will leave you with a certain positive nostalgia once the credits get rolled...
That is what games need: Emotion. Personality. That means the best immersion and best spending of free time playing games. Combat and graphics should come second, after Feelings, after Personality, after that special characters' charisma...
It is a realistic, full of life universe, and although affected by its wars, it never loses hope, never falls into morbidness, on the contrary. It is not the grim, bleak, dull and irritating after a while world of Fallout 3 or Skyrim. ME has profound, complexly motivated characters that breathe, feel, reflect both on their own condition and on the universe in general. It is like a great novel, one worthy of a Nobel prize.
Now to ME 3.
I actually liked the first 3 controversial endings, and still consider them very well crafted, making the player reflect, think, interpret, draw their own conclusion to their own adventure.
In a certain sense (and that is my own view, maybe not the writers's :)), Shepard undergoes a spiritual journey. Exploring the galaxy means exploring one's own depth of mind at the same time. Meeting new characters, races, all having their own backgrounds and stories means a meeting of one's own tendencies and desires. Reflecting on the moral choices that have to be made, that helps in shaping one's level of spiritual maturity... And in the end, Shepard has the master choice: evolving to a higher level of conscience, transcending and leaving everything behind: wars, people, the galaxy itself. It is an Enlightenment of a sort. It is Revan's journey, too...
It was never about eliminating the Reapers, it was about finding one's Identity...
For those who can view beyond limitations, the original 3 endings are actually masterpieces! Of course, for the limited views, everything dies, since its only made of atoms and visible stuff! :)
The main problem with ME 3 is not the ending, but the beginning!!! Here's some facts to ponder about:
1. What the hell made Shepard give up Cerberus and resign themselves to going back to be judged by the impotent Alliance??
Why didn't Bioware consider allowing Shepard to choose a faction at ME 3's beginning (affected by ME 2's choices), either the Alliance, or Cerberus, or even going totally independent and ruling the galaxy?...
2. Why every team member from ME 2 suddenly disappears from Shepard's company, only to conveniently be found later on fighting against the same organization they previously admired??
3. How can the Illusive Man fall so far below that he gives up his entire team of experts (ME 2's Normandy), especially when he knew Shepard was his best asset, most prepared to face the Reapers, the only person able to decipher the revived Prothean?? Why give up on the entire team??...
4. Assuming the Reapers indoctrinated the Illusive Man, how could they not use him as the 'devious gentle' type, instead of the barbaric butcher portrayed in ME 3? Is that an easier path to win the war? I don't think so.
5. All of a sudden Aria and all Omega's mercs are nice guys, while the whole Cerberus is a jerk??
6. Why the need for Shepard to play diplomatic 'let's all stand together against the great threat that kills us all' beggar role between races, when it's so darn obvious that without joining forces no race stands the slightest chance alone??...
7. Why are romances so poorly implemented with so little content??...
The above said, that doesn't mean ME 3 is not a good game. It still has plenty of great features, for example: combat difficulty is properly scaled (see the "narrative" level), loadings are short, good cinematics etc. The Bioware team, for now, produces, overall, the best RPGs that are out there. I mean, what kind of competition they have? Fallout 3 vs Mass Effect?? Can't even bring it into discussion, because ME beats Fallout 3 (and New Vegas, and Skyrim and etc.) on every level: story, atmosphere, combat, characters personality, characters interaction etc. Other shooters? None can come into comparison, since they focus only on combat and they lack MEMORABLE CHARACTERS!
With the exception of Dragon Age Origins (whose combat difficulty was horrible) and the expansions of NWN2 (again horrible), Bioware shined at each title, every one a masterpiece: KOTOR, Jade Empire, even Dragon Age 2 (which actually was much, much better than DAO).
ME 2 had such a depth of character psychology, interaction, dialogues, philosophy, romance, motivation etc. no other game had! Other games may have better combat (take Amalur for example) or other aspects, but none, and I am repeating: NONE has the character depth ME 2 has.
If we only bring romance into discussion, in ME 1 and 2 you carefully build a relation (sustained by interesting, intelectually&morally stimulating dialogues) with potential love partners, which grows gradually, based on respect, cooperation, reflection... What kind of romance we have in other games? Either none at all, or lifeless puppet-sim-like romances (see Skyrim and Fable), or bang-them-all-wenches (see Witcher series)... Bioware is definitely superior on this plane, compared to all other games.
In any case, so far nobody, not any other game developer created such complex universes, with such deep characters, dialogues, choices and interactions such as KOTOR series and ME series. So far, nobody. There are not even decent clones out there.