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Mass Effect 3 SPOILERS THREAD
- Thread starter TheOneKnownAsMe
- Start date
After reading that link about the behind the scenes stuff, I fear that BioWare intentionally made the ending confusing so that it could sell more DLC. The new DLC wont change anything, but it will make clear what happened (I wonder if we haven't already largely figured out what happened, thanks to fans. WhoTF needs to pay for DLC , then?).
The main thing that makes me sad about it all is that BioWare created this amazing universe with all these fascinating species and characters, and then basically blew it all up at the end.
After a few days I can finally see why people are so pissy about it. I'm pissy about it.
It's awful.
The main thing that makes me sad about it all is that BioWare created this amazing universe with all these fascinating species and characters, and then basically blew it all up at the end.
After a few days I can finally see why people are so pissy about it. I'm pissy about it.
and
It's awful.
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Very much a let down and I agree, after a day I feel more so that it was craptacular.
I have to admit that I saw this coming as soon as they announced ME3 so soon after ME2... and how bad DA2 was compared to DA1, again a similar rushed sequel.
One thing that may have been brought up on the ending so sorry if reposted, the gut shot that Sheppard is forced to make on Anderson during the TIM conversation actually appears on Sheppard shortly after... so if he's having a mental battle with himself/the reapers it's them forcing him to shoot himself...
Just another thing that stood out then made no sense as the scenes play out... very bloody hands/arms when he walks over to start the device... then dried/not as much blood when he's up top and talking to the kid.
If this is/was the ending, it was poor in many, many ways. Scenes using the wrong gear, mixed bag of characters suddenly in places there weren't before...
Oh well, we just got dumped on like the Lost series ending.
I have to admit that I saw this coming as soon as they announced ME3 so soon after ME2... and how bad DA2 was compared to DA1, again a similar rushed sequel.
One thing that may have been brought up on the ending so sorry if reposted, the gut shot that Sheppard is forced to make on Anderson during the TIM conversation actually appears on Sheppard shortly after... so if he's having a mental battle with himself/the reapers it's them forcing him to shoot himself...
Just another thing that stood out then made no sense as the scenes play out... very bloody hands/arms when he walks over to start the device... then dried/not as much blood when he's up top and talking to the kid.
If this is/was the ending, it was poor in many, many ways. Scenes using the wrong gear, mixed bag of characters suddenly in places there weren't before...
Oh well, we just got dumped on like the Lost series ending.
Well the wrong gear is an issue in tons of Mass Effect sequences. You see the M8 Avenger and the M3 Predator pistol a lot in the game's cut scenes and I never use either of those shitty guns. Ever unless the game forces me to do so like it does at the beginning of ME2 and ME3.
Those 3 are my favorites as well. Tali and Liara are both cute and smart and Garrus is the "bro" anyone would love to have in real life. I'd trust him to guard my back without a second thought.
I miss them already.
Mordin was my 4th favorite character. I was thinking about replaying the entire series and keeping him alive, but I am finding the series too depressing to want to play any more.
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so... the storyteller telling the kid the story at the end.
he definatley told the kid that my Shepard-Commander sexed up miranda and diana back to back.
also, i'm pretty sure two people aren't able to repopulate all humans; if they did, we would have all kinds of problems
but overall, despite all the plot holes, it was almost bearable.
he definatley told the kid that my Shepard-Commander sexed up miranda and diana back to back.
also, i'm pretty sure two people aren't able to repopulate all humans; if they did, we would have all kinds of problems
but overall, despite all the plot holes, it was almost bearable.
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The thing that bugs me the most goes back to the first game. If the Catalyst lives on the Citadel (or something *is* the Citadel) and has total control over it, how did he not open the relay for Saren at the end of the first game.
We're told that the Protheans figured out a way to modify the Keepers to block the signal (or something along those lines), but surely something as powerful as the "star child" would've known about that and been able to override it.
We're told that the Protheans figured out a way to modify the Keepers to block the signal (or something along those lines), but surely something as powerful as the "star child" would've known about that and been able to override it.
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More tweets from a Bioware employee (https://twitter.com/#!/JessicaMerizan)
Mentions people shouldn't be discouraged by the app. And the most convincing...
not the first time a Bioware employee linked someone to the hallucination thread to explain the ending.
I'm 100% convinced at this point that the ending is indoctrination, now to see if Bioware releases anything else to finish the ending...
Mentions people shouldn't be discouraged by the app. And the most convincing...
not the first time a Bioware employee linked someone to the hallucination thread to explain the ending.
I'm 100% convinced at this point that the ending is indoctrination, now to see if Bioware releases anything else to finish the ending...
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At this point, I think Bioware simply made a really shitty ending at are randomly pointing at popular theories to try and generate interest/excuse. All of it's just a way of selling more DLC. Honestly? I wish I had not bought the game. It was a GREAT game, and I even tolerated the ending. But this money grabbing bullshit has been taken too far. I will watch the DLC cutscenes on Youtube. I won't be spending any more money with them.
RogerTheEngineer
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He probably was. That was Buzz Aldrin. Cool enough that I don't care.
Obviously at this point we can't believe anything BioWare says on the subject. At best they provide half truths. They said our choices mattered. Our 16 endings are all variations of the same crap and the choices make some difference in getting them, but barely. They said we'd be able to keep all of our stuff from ME2. Well that turned out to be true in a way. We have to find it all or re-buy it in the game, but all the weapons and armor from ME2 are present in this game. (Excluding the Collector Assault rifle which is still no where to be found.) They said we'd get richer character interactions, well that's true. Right up until the end, this is true. Then we get nonsensical garbage that's left up to far more interpretation than is necessary. And the ending in which Shepard wakes up is bullshit. Mission failure? What happened to the team mates? Was this shit even real? WTF? You just get questions. No closure.
We were also lied to concerning the DLC. If you can really change an .ini file and get all the content, then the 600MB download is a lie and that content was cut for grabbing more money. Simple as that. So right now anything BioWare says is highly suspect. This is what happens when EA buys companies. They buy them, then indoctrinate them in the ways of coporate greed and money grabbing. Not that BioWare didn't exist to make money, but they didn't succumb to tactics like this.
We were also lied to concerning the DLC. If you can really change an .ini file and get all the content, then the 600MB download is a lie and that content was cut for grabbing more money. Simple as that. So right now anything BioWare says is highly suspect. This is what happens when EA buys companies. They buy them, then indoctrinate them in the ways of coporate greed and money grabbing. Not that BioWare didn't exist to make money, but they didn't succumb to tactics like this.
If you are talking about the Day-1 DLC, the Prothean character apparently is already on the disc with all his voices and all and you can enable him whenever you wish. However his mission is not, hence the 600mb download. Or thats atleast what I read.
Could be, I don't know the specifics. But I doubt that one mission alone is 600MB given that most if not all the assets are found everywhere else in the game aside from the dir, grass, etc. which would have to be added in if they weren't originally.
Here's what I feel I know.
Shep gets knocked the hell out on earth by the big red beam.
He makes an end game decision.
He appears to wake up in rubble on earth after that decision.
Did most of the ending only occur in his head? Was the choice solely about resisting or embracing indoctrination? I don't know.
Did the events that unfold after his choice literally occur outside his mind in the universe after said choice? I don't know.
Is it a hybrid of the two? I don't know.
If everything occurred at face value how did he end up back on earth in the rubble?
The kid said the destroy option would also take out Shep but he appears to wake up in the rubble.
Shep gets knocked the hell out on earth by the big red beam.
He makes an end game decision.
He appears to wake up in rubble on earth after that decision.
Did most of the ending only occur in his head? Was the choice solely about resisting or embracing indoctrination? I don't know.
Did the events that unfold after his choice literally occur outside his mind in the universe after said choice? I don't know.
Is it a hybrid of the two? I don't know.
If everything occurred at face value how did he end up back on earth in the rubble?
The kid said the destroy option would also take out Shep but he appears to wake up in the rubble.
Exactly. Dream, hallucination or possible indoctrination. That's really the only explanation for it. It is obvious that they intended to bridge into DLC content with that. The question becomes, when will it behave and how much will they charge for it?
Same goes for 90% of the dialogue throughout the game, unfortunately.
But then I'm sure if you gave a talented voice actor like Hale the sort of stilted, ham-fisted writing that BioWare wrung out of the first draft of the novel their teenage daughter's been scribbling down, as they apparently did, there's only so much good acting can do with it. They were all probably wincing as they read through it.
That is pretty cool. I didn't know that.
Still doesn't sound very interested in it, though.
I don't know why people say shit like this. Could you point us toward some good voice acting then? I've watched a lot of animated shows over the years and played more games than I could easily recount and I've been listening to voice acting since I was a child. I was born in the late 70's and did most of my growing up in the 1980's. Voltron, Speed Racer, and Thundercats are an example of horrendous voice acting and even worse dialog. Even the worst aspects of Mass Effect's dialog and voice actors aren't remotely that bad.
In fact for the most part I think voice acting is generally solid in the entire series. There are some individual lines that could have been delivered differently or some specific voice actors that weren't as good as I'd have liked, but overall the series is pretty solid in this regard. Especially from the main characters. Granted there are some flaws, mainly the voice actor who voices Mordin being sub-par in this one. Especially earlier on when you first encounter him. But his performance also struck me as being more difficult due to the fact that he was trying to emulate the voice acting of the guy in ME2. Which he pulls it off fairly well at times, and other times it's just bad.
And I thought that dialog in this game was more natural than it was in the previous games.
I was bothered by Buzz's lines at the end because I was so used to great voice acting from the rest of the cast. But it's cool that they got somebody of some actual significance to voice the end.
I think Liara, Tali, Garrus, Ashley, and most all of them are great. Mordin was awesome in ME2. Male Shepard is goofy sometimes, but not awful.
I think Liara, Tali, Garrus, Ashley, and most all of them are great. Mordin was awesome in ME2. Male Shepard is goofy sometimes, but not awful.
TwistedAegis
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The Collector Assault rifle from ME2? That's the Revenant, that's in the game.
And I agree, the voice acting seemed pretty damn good to me. Even side characters in this game, like Major Kirahee (sp?), are well done.
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Completely different gun.
Revenant & Collector Assault Rifle were both in ME2. Now, only the Revenant is in ME3 (of those 2) for single player.
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Collector_Assault_Rifle
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/M-76_Revenant
TwistedAegis
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Ah, excuse my ignorance I just looked it up. I didn't have the collector's edition, so I didn't even know that was in the game.
Correct. Furthermore the M-76 Revenent was not a DLC gun, nor was it part of any special editions. The Collector Assault rifle came with the Collector's Edition of ME2 or the Digital Deluxe editions of the game. The M-76 Revenant was acquired only on the Collector's ship mission and only usable by classes who could carry the assault rifle without needing to select special training to use weapons in that class. You had three weapon choices which were the M-76 Revenant, M-98 Widow or the M-300 Claymore shotgun. It was a one time choice and it even affected subsequent playthroughs in which the ME2 character was imported into the game to play through again as your imported ME2 Shepard retained all the weapons from their first playthrough. And out of the three, the M-76 Revenant was the only weapon only usable by Shepard in any way shape or form. The M-300 Claymore was an upgrade for Grunt. The M-98 Widow was an upgrade for Legion. The M-76 Revenant was also sometimes carried by bad guys, especially bosses in the game. The warden of Purgatory carried one of these weapons for example.
And while the M-76 Revenant was certainly not the most accurate gun, with careful burst firing and the assault rifle stability upgrades it was probably the single best weapon in Mass Effect 2 overall. The M-98 Widow has serious drawbacks, namely ammunition capacity and firing rate. The M-300 Claymore did as much or more damage than the M-98 Widow, but it's reload time and short range made it a high risk / high reward type of weapon. Great when you land the hit, a huge liability if you didn't. The M76 is nerfed a bit in this game. Damage is still high, but it's accuracy issues are more diffiicult to mitigate and it's not the most damaging assault rifle in the game anymore. The M-99 Saber and M-37 Falcon fill that role. Though the M-76 Revenant is still the most versatile of the three in a lot of ways. It has by far the largest ammunition capacity and can be used for supressive fire. The others can not. It works really well with Ashley as her marksman power and damage bonuses negate the Revenant's shortcomings all together.
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I used the Revenant until the end of ME2 but looking back I really enjoyed using the Collector Assault Rifle despite its drawbacks.
That one was pretty cool because it had almost zero recoil. It was so precise and delivered a ton of fire down range. It made it quite a bit of fun to use. Overall I still stuck with the Revenant once I got it, but the Collector assault rifle was pretty cool. I also enjoyed the Geth plasma rifle a lot. But unless you are fighting Geth and have armor piercing ammunition, I wouldn't recommend using it.
Getting the Geth plasma rifle was also somewhat challenging as you had to do Tali's recruitment mission on "Hardcore." The difficulty had to be set before starting the mission and couldn't be changed until you actually picked up the gun. Which was at the very end of the level when you go to talk to Tali in person. That mission is easy depending on what your character class is and depending on who you took with you. I also wouldn't attempt it without some decent upgrades on all your weapons chosen for the mission. (Which BTW, Soldier class Shepard, Zaeed and Garrus make the mission a cake walk. Equip Garrus and Zaeed with the M-29 Incisor for dealing with Geth shields and to capitalize on the AI bug which makes them unusually accurate with the weapon, and then give Garrus and Zaeed the M-15 Vindicator (or on subsequent playthroughs of the mission and Zaeed the Geth Pulse rifle if Garrus has squad armor piercing ammunition.) It takes quite a bit of manually ordering your squad mates around and selecting the right weapon for the right ranges, but trust me, it's EASY.)
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equinox654
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So, If you chose to control the reapers. Couldn't you just have them rebuild the mass relays and the citidel?
Monkey God
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Based on current working theories, choosing anything except destroying the reapers means you were indoctrinated and you are now the reapers bitch.
Pretty much. Earlier in the thread I posted my own analysis of the choices. Even on their own, aside from the popular indoctrination theory, none of them seem right for Shepard, renegade or paragon and actually the renegade choice seems like the most paragon option given the structure of how the endings are presented and in light of the fact that the renegade ending is the only one which seems to allow some chance for Shepard to still be alive.
Yup, after you and Elios and some others dropped me some hints I figured it out.
I'm here at last.
I avoided this thread like the plague until I beat the game which I just did.I'll apologize in advance for me repeating a bunch of points but I want to say one thing:
This thing was better than I was bracing myself for based on the outpouring of anger I've seen here and abroad.
To me this was more of a lay up then a "That's all folks!" since we all know there's going to be DLC and I can't believe a series that makes good money like this one won't see a fourth installment of some form or another down the road.
That being said:
As best I can tell, I got the absolute "best" ending you can get. TMS was 6996 and my EMS was over 5000. My Shepherd was big time paragon with some renegade but basically Saint Shephard. I'd opted to destroy the collectors' base in 2.
Long/short: I bet on red.
I listened carefully to the three choices and I wasn't sure until I had forum members drop me some hints about who benefits on the other choices and then I quickly realized this vision of the boy was probably a Reaper deception. For me, destruction was the only logical choice after I cleared the haze and thought it through.If I read around right, can you save Anderson? I didn't see an opportunity otherwise I would have loved to during that dialog with the Illusive Man.
My Shepherd lived.
I honestly let out a whoop of joy when I saw that shoulder, the dog collar and then the intake of breath before hitting the credits. I stayed through the end of the credits and got the "bonus scene" at the end where an unidentifed old man and a boy are out and the old man talks about different lives out in the stars and the boy asks to be told another tale about "The Shepherd" which clearly suggests whatever happens, Shepherd is this all time galactic legend for all time.
Then to my surprise I'm back on the bridge and am able to keep playing. So that's it.
For ME, this wasn't the complete disaster I was bracing for. Sure, I would have liked to have seen some more payoff although I felt like I got that to some degree during the time where you're walking in London to meet Anderson and you have this dialog with each character in the game either in person or over com. I'd made a point throughout these games of taking the time for characters so I personally feel fairly satisfied, especially since I know there's DLC coming and I'll bet good money a fourth game comes out down the road.
I love this game and I love all the game in the series and others have said it and I'll say it too: The characters each shine in their own way and are quite well realized and frankly, these are amongst a number of videogames that I feel are more rewarding, entertaining, and satisfying than any number of books and movies.
Those 3 are my favorites as well. Tali and Liara are both cute and smart and Garrus is the "bro" anyone would love to have in real life. I'd trust him to guard my back without a second thought.
I miss them already.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels "emotionally involved" with the characters in this game. Those are my favorite characters as well although ED-E and her character evolution really blew me away in this thing, too.
It sounds corny but when I finished 2 and now this I feel melancholy. It's crazy to say that about a videogame and fictional characters but...yeah. I don't think I need to explain that to anyone here.
Dan said something earlier in the thread I agree with: Hereos dying Greek Tragedy is BS and not a prerequisite. Actually that's a tired cliche and in videogames about choice should be something that can be avoided if the right choices are made.
*knocks on wood* I think I pulled it off. Whew!
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you kinda can save him ether way he dies
ether TIM shoots him or he bleeds out
you CAN talk the TIM in to shooting him self if your paragon / renegade is VERY high and have lots of EMS
or you can take the renegade trigger just after and kill him your self
after then credits it puts you back right be for you attack TIMs space station
ether TIM shoots him or he bleeds out
you CAN talk the TIM in to shooting him self if your paragon / renegade is VERY high and have lots of EMS
or you can take the renegade trigger just after and kill him your self
after then credits it puts you back right be for you attack TIMs space station
I'd like to be able to flip that star kid the bird, grab him by the scruff of his neck and boot his glowie ass into space. Of course if they inserted a "Son, I am disappoint." into the whole affair, that would be nice too.
I loved most all of the missions and the game save the end.
I loved most all of the missions and the game save the end.
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EDI grew on me a little, but not as much as the others did. Blame the outstanding voice acting and script writing for them over 3 games.
My Femshep went for Liara and Garrus on various playthroughs, my Maleshep went for Tali every time. Miranda may have "dat ass", but for attitude and personality, Tali beats her every time. Her little "induction port" bit with the straw was priceless and played out so well and the voice acting nailed it.
I may, just may do one more run of ME3 on insanity just to do it, but other than that, I see no reason to, and have no real interest in any more playthroughs of ME3 ever. There's just nothing to look forward to like there was at the end of ME1 or ME2.
ME3 is pretty much a one timer in my mind. Such a waste.
This is exactly how I feel about a second playthrough. I've grown to dislike the ending not because of its quality, but because of how the whole series makes me feel now. I hope they do something to rectify it, so I can happily replay 1, 2, and 3.
And that Tali scene was one of the best of the series, I think.
I'm with you on this now after a couple days after finishing it.
I was hyped as I was playing 3, to go back and try 1 and 2 and replay 3... now after this "Lost" inspired ending... I just don't care.
Choices... kill all synthetics, EDI, Legion/Geth, destroy the life of my friends Tali, etc... Merge everyone into mind meld controlled hell... join them TIM style and die... awesome...
Yeah, the writers seemed to have some ideas above their station a little with that call. It can be affecting to pull something like that, but this isn't Sophie's Choice. It's just an averagely-written video game, I think if it's not a conventional "happy ending" then either the writers fancy themselves a bit too much or people are right about there being something to carry it on coming later.
Agreed and on that same note: It isn't over yet. We still have DLC coming and I'm pretty sure this series is not being shut down after that's all said and done.
Well based on what everyone has said here I've done the "best" I can for myself so it's time for me to go play some other games now. I'm still feeling a little melancholy.
Tali (also my romantic interest in 2 and 3), Garrus, and Liara are definitely my "close inner circle" of friends but each character in the game...even secondary ones like Joker...all were given moments to shine and standout and I think that's impressive. A lot of book authors and Hollywood writers really should hang their heads.
I've slept on it and basically what this all comes down to for me is: It's like Star Trek or Star Wars. You're in outer space which means you have an insane amount of potential for future stories and ideas even if the "Shepherd character" is no longer at the center of them.
What I saw and heard in that ending before making my choice and IMO and it's my theory only although maybe others agree: That image of the boy talking to you and referring to how the Reapers were created (obviously)...created by whom and what? And how the Crucible was this cycles and cycles long cumaltive project that goes probably equally as far back in time?....All of that suggests the backdrop of something much larger and even more important in the long run. It's a concept that shows up in a lot of science fiction. In Star Trek, they were called the Precursors.
I state again that I'm a benificary of having played the game slower than a lot of people who somehow finished this game 2-3 days after it came out so I was able to head off a number of things at the pass and be better prepared going into the ending vs some of those folks.
To me, there's no question that destroy is the only "real" choice and that the other two choices are deceptive BS and misdirection by this Reaper boy image that's talking to you.
I can see where if I'd come into the game with NO warnings and picked one of those other choices I'd be pissed. I
The other detail that people didn't find out until well after the fact that should have been telegraphed better was how important and what levels both TMS and especially EMS had to be at to get the job done right. This is another area where I was clearly the beneficiary of having moved through the game slower than a lot of other people.
No question if I'd beaten this game and had never played MP I'd be angry as well. The MP is fun to play but that's kind of annoying that they'd make strings attached to the SP like they did with this. Somewhat manipulative and needless at that.
Overall, I simply can't see the suits at EA looking at the ME franchise and how well it sells and kissing it all goodbye when ME3 and its DLC have sold and run their course. Unless I'm sorely mistaken, I'm pretty sure these games sell like hotcakes do they not? If so then I think that guarantees the series will continue on.
I can guarantee you there will be more games in this series even if "Shepherd" is no longer at the center of them.
http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/...effect-3-sheds-light-on-controversial-ending/
WOW so many lies from Bioware they can suck a cock now never buying any more games from them
and
WOW so many lies from Bioware they can suck a cock now never buying any more games from them