All things Mass Effect

[DomsBeard]

I thought I'd start a Mass Effect thread as I've noticed they've just announced some new DLC 'Battle For Omega' released 27/28th November.

Mass Effect made me get over my videogame break and get me into this gen. I bought a 360 for this and it didn't let me down. I'll waffle on more later

[Alex79]

It's been almost six months since I finished what I consider probably the best trilogy of games ever made, and occasionally I still think about the ending to the last game.

I don't think I realised they were the greatest trilogy in gaming until about halfway through the last game. There was a specific point where you go shooting cans up on the Citadel roof with Garrus, and it hit me how powerful the emotional connection I had to my Shepherd was. It was just two friends hanging out, doing stuff, but the music and the script and everything about it gave a sense of, finality I guess. People bitched and moaned about the ending not being a fitting finalé to the series, but I propose that the entire third game was an ending. It felt, and it was I guess, like the entire game was 'one final mission', the end of an epic (truly epic) saga, in which we'd made and lost many friends along the way. And the actual ending itself, the final scenes - I loved them. They reminded me of Lost in a way - and I honestly don't have a bad word to say about that. This was a show that completely transcended television in my opinion, and when it finished there was a real sense of loss that I felt inside me, and the same happened when I finished Mass Effect 3. It also reminded me of Lost in the way that it totally divided opinion. People were angry that questions remained unanswered, but like Lost I say so what? And if you look closely, the answers are all there anyway.

On my original playthrough, the ending I chose was (what I later learned from the Mass Effect wiki) the 'perfect destruction' ending. The reapers were destroyed, my squadmates survived and found themselves on a new planet, and Shepherd lived - just about. Everything about the ending, the surroundings all shaking and exploding as Shepherd activated the switch, then the cut scenes that followed and the building music, it was such an epic finish to the greatest space trilogy of all time. Yes. The greatest space trilogy of all time.

I really don't feel like the ending was a cop out, or that Bioware owed fans a different ending, and I genuinely can not see why people felt cheated. And so I ask them - what did you want to happen?

[ratsoalbion]

God I wish I felt that way. For me it was about halfway through ME3 that I knew (rather than feared) that BioWare were no longer the ultra-reliable force they were throughout the 2000's (up to and including my 2010 GOTY, ME2). The lead writer of ME1 & 2 wasn't on ME3 and it shows. Badly. The dampest of squibs with a wet fart of an ending. I didn't want the end sequence changed, I wanted any and all of ME3 to be fit to lace the boots of ME1 & ME2.

[Combine Hunter]

I'm FAR more positive about Mass Effect 3 than Leon, but I still think the ending is hugely problematic. You compare it to Lost, which is a show I have never been a fan of, and I haven't even seen the ending to it. The ending was rushed and badly executed. I don't have a problem with the concept, more the way it was delivered. That said, I think the best moments of Mass Effect 3 are equal to any of the best moments of the previous two games. The stuff with Mordin, Wrex, Tali and Legion particularly stood out. In fact, as time has gone on, my memories of ME3 have grown more and more positive because the bad taste the ending left has now faded. The small moments like drunk Tali, sharp shooting with Garrus and chatting with Wrex on the ship were really heart warming. I think the series peaked with ME2, but ME3 IS a fantastic game, and one of the best games released this year.

[DomsBeard]

God I wish I felt that way. For me it was about halfway through ME3 that I knew (rather than feared) that BioWare were no longer the ultra-reliable force they were throughout the 2000's (up to and including my 2010 GOTY, ME2). The lead writer of ME1 & 2 wasn't on ME3 and it shows. Badly. The dampest of squibs with a wet fart of an ending. I didn't want the end sequence changed, I wanted any and all of ME3 to be fit to lace the boots of ME1 & ME2.

You couldn't have put it better Leon but for me regarding the ending I don't believe it's acceptable to have invested over 100 hours into a fantastic trilogy of games to has stuff left to my imagination. Too many unanswered questions, plus the one thing that got me was me, my wife and my brother in law all finished the game about the same time and we didn't talk about it until we'd all finished. It was brilliant when we discovered that we'd actually picked different endings. I'd picked destroy, my wife coexistence and my brother in law control. To then find out they were exactly the same apart from a colour is a joke!. The new ending did address some issues but I could tell the difference in quality between 1/2 & 3 and I think Bioware sold out when EA got involved but that's a different conversation.

[magicjoef]

I was on board right up until making it to the catalyst thing, then it was all a bit hocus pocus.

I liked how a lot of threads tied up along the way, and just 30 minutes more good writing at the end and I think it could have been okay. Though, I wasn't surprised that it buckled under its own scale at the end.

[mik]

I propose that the entire third game was an ending.

I agree with that--but I feel that the entire third game was an uninspired creatively bankrupt ending that did its only commendable work in showing what an absolutely incredible game Mass Effect 2 was.

[magicjoef]

I propose that the entire third game was an ending.

I agree with that--but I feel that the entire third game was an uninspired creatively bankrupt ending that did its only commendable work in showing what an absolutely incredible game Mass Effect 2 was.

(Disclaimer, I like the ME series, which is why I think it should stand a tough critique!)

Though 2 wasn't without its own narrative problems, I don't think. The rather transparent modular nature of the quests bothered me, and the way they contributed to the outcome felt a little gamey. In 3 they took this and made it even worse by sticking a visible number on it, mental! I also think the problem that 3 has of implied urgency vs. scouring the universe to find someone's lost car keys started in 2. I know restricting people to time limits is probably worse (Dead Rising), but it feels there could be a more elegant way to approach a rather jarring aspect of the game. In the first game I feel like the story was dealt out in a more progressive way and for that reason has always remained my favourite.

[magicjoef]

Also, just another thought. Did anyone manage to play through this before the ending thing blew up on the internet?

It was a really depressing place to start from, almost meaning I never bothered to play it. It is hard for that type of reaction not to put a downer on things, but actually reviews weren't down massively down from 2. I know they are only a small part of the picture, but interesting to note as I guess most reviews are done before a public backlash hits.

I don't believe it's acceptable to have invested over 100 hours into a fantastic trilogy of games to have stuff left to my imagination.

Actually, I disagree with this, I think it was the quality of execution that let it down. Ambiguity, and interpretations could have been a brave and progressive move for a game, couldn't it? Enough threads were tied up with people I had interacted with to feel like there was some resolution, but when a story is handling something so big, I don't always expect a bow on everthing at the end even if I have been contributing to how that story is shaped.

I'm not saying they didn't mess it up. They made a mistake, the public reaction was gross, the EA/Bioware reaction to the reaction made it even worse.

[PressEscToExit]

I don't believe it's acceptable to have invested over 100 hours into a fantastic trilogy of games to have stuff left to my imagination.

Actually, I disagree with this, I think it was the quality of execution that let it down. Ambiguity, and interpretations could have been a brave and progressive move for a game, couldn't it? Enough threads were tied up with people I had interacted with to feel like there was some resolution, but when a story is handling something so big, I don't always expect a bow on everthing at the end even if I have been contributing to how that story is shaped.

I'm not saying they didn't mess it up. They made a mistake, the public reaction was gross, the EA/Bioware reaction to the reaction made it even worse.

I'm with you on this. The ONLY thing I want influencing how that story pans out, for better or for worse, is the developer's creative vision. The fact that they responded to the outcry the way they did only reinforces the idea that you can get what you want as long as you're willing to throw a big enough tantrum to get it. Art (or whatever you want to call it) is not a democracy.

I worry that these sorts of reactions from the community make taking risks and being creative more trouble than it's worth for devs and publishers and then maybe something as ambitious as Mass Effect doesn't even get off the ground in future. Or they put a fucking Werehog in it because a focus group tells them to.

[DomsBeard]

My point is that the ending is in my opinion shit, I didn't expect or want another one making in a million years and all these people who demanded ones are idiots

[Alex79]

I don't know about Bioware bowing to public pressure - I don't think the extended endings added much and they certainly didn't change anything. In reply to an earlier question - I knew a lot of people were annoyed by the ending before I'd completed it, but I had managed to stay 100% spoiler free until finishing it. Maybe I had such low expectations with the ending I was happy with what I got, I don't know, I guess that could be an explanation for why I'm seemingly in a minority of one at the moment!

Does anyone at all think it was a good/satisfying conclusion?

And what of Mass Effect 4? I really hope they wipe the slate completely and set it 500 years in the future / past, as I think Shepherd's story is done. I don't want it forceably resurrected.

[DomsBeard]

I feel about Mass Effect 4 like I did when they announced Halo 4. I felt I was done with the series.

[Xantiriad]

I played ME3 over the launch weekend and completed it at 0300 on the Monday before the hullabaloo.

Having invested over 100s hours, twice - on different characters, I reach the end and sat there in a dazed and tired state (it was 0300am). Unable to move for 20 minutes. Trying to comprehend the thoroughly unsatisfactory conclusion and trying to work out how they managed to fuck it up so much.

A number of things bothered me: the fact the original ending was leaked and then hastily rewritten - I bet you couldn't tell; the fact the series lead writer had no hand in it - I bet you couldn't tell; the fact it threw away the game's mechanical framework for narrative and decisioning in a confused & confusing (for me half arsed too as I only had two options) 10 minutes.

I still bothers me now. In fact it has tainted the entire series in a way it should never have done. On paper, the final act isn't that bad, nor the outcomes. What is unforgivable is the way in which is was done, with little regard to the sensibilities of the player. This wasn't a film or book, but interactive fiction in which the player had the illusion of control. The player is king.

I actually take all the backlash as a fairly positive thing. A lot of players and gaming enthusiast were into the game, story and characters enough that they felt moved to make their complaints. If anything that shows the medium has reached a new level of immersion and achieved many of Mass Effects design goals.

So in summary. A piss poor conclusion in the way it was delivered. Not unusual in video games it has to be said (see Bioshock, Dishonored et al). Left a nasty taste in the mouth when it should have been like steak and lobster (or egg & truffle for veggies).

[countstex]

Just finished ME3 finally. I find it interesting it's getting compared to LOST, when for me the ending made it clear this was the same basic story of The Matrix. The struggle of Organic and Synthetic to co-exist in a peaceful way. In the Matrix the machines had created a prison/farm which kept the humans in state of unaware existence, in Mass Effect organics had created some specific synthetics to eradicate all advanced organics and synthetics and restart the cycle again. The little boy at the end is the Matrix' Architect. An entity whose role it is to balance the equation of organic/synthetic co-existance. The choice at the end even included the option Neo took. To become part of the solution and control the Reapers. As it happens I chose the other and just hoped the next cycle would turn out different, or at least repeat itself into the same end point. Of course most people hated The Matrix sequels, so that they hate the ME3 ending makes sense, personally I have no issue with either.

I loved all of the trilogy, I like the three different aspects each game chose to focus on. It's left me craving other stories set in the same universe, just as Star Wars did back in the day. And that, in the end, is the most important thing.

[Combine Hunter]

I definitely more positive about Mass Effect 3 than most. The best moments in that game are the equal of any of the best moments in the entire trilogy. I didn't like the ending, but the stuff with Mordin, Wrex, Tali and Legion are fantastic.

[DomsBeard]

Reading back what I put in December last year I still feel the same. After playing through the reworked ending I've not tried any of the DLC as I've got little interest in it. Never though I would and still do feel about Mass Effect that way as it made me pick up a 360.

[Electric Crocosaurus]

After playing through the reworked ending I've not tried any of the DLC as I've got little interest in it.

I agree, DLC is such a flawed concept for a series such as this. Once I'd finished ME3 I had no interest in going back to it because my story was done, I'd made the decisions I'd made and that was that.

I played the game a while after the fuss had erupted about the ending, so I had low expectations when I eventually played ME3. I really enjoyed the game, and I'd put it above ME but below ME2 in the series ranking. Yet the end really disappointed me. Story-wise and thematically I didn't have a problem with it, but to reduce my hours and hours of character development to one arbitrary three-way choice at the end seemed a poor way to reward the time I'd put in. What was the point of working hard to get the galaxy ready if it wasn't possible to 'lose' the war?

[countstex]

I've heard the Leviathan DLC adds some more details to the whole thing, but I haven't bought that at this point so it wasn't part of my Shepard's story. I played ME2 long after release and with all DLC in place, that was an amazing experience I will never forget. As always the second act is the strongest I can see myself waiting until I have all of ME3s DLC and then replaying the whole saga again, but it will not me the same deep adventure. My story is done I will just be playing about in the universe.

[countstex]

I definitely more positive about Mass Effect 3 than most. The best moments in that game are the equal of any of the best moments in the entire trilogy. I didn't like the ending, but the stuff with Mordin, Wrex, Tali and Legion are fantastic.

Sadly I lost Mordin and Tali at the end of ME2, I thought the danger was with those with me so I left them behind. Big mistake! I look forward to seeing their stuff next time around. Despite the romantic options in the game, it's always the friendship with Garrus that stands out for me. I guess that is the same for most from general internet reactions.