[omeletpercy]

Don't get those who feel they have no choice or their actions didn't matter. It's THE STORY! You never had much choice anyway in all 3 games.. Your actions always were leading up to a slightly different pre done VT.


At least now you can choose to stuff the 3 choices and walk away only to let the Reapers win and get Liara at the end leaving a hologram for future peoples.

The EC is fine... Everything is left just right IMO. Even with room for a new story.

Also just remember there is always a Correct path in ME... For example Shep killed in ME2... Is back alive in ME3. You choose to die fine... But it's wrong.
The correct ending in this game Destroy. Opens the door for the Galaxy to rebuild and a possible return for Shep.

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by omeletpercy

Don't get those who feel they have no choice or their actions didn't matter. It's THE STORY! You never had much choice anyway in all 3 games.. Your actions always were leading up to a slightly different pre done VT.


At least now you can choose to stuff the 3 choices and walk away only to let the Reapers win and get Liara at the end leaving a hologram for future peoples.

The EC is fine... Everything is left just right IMO. Even with room for a new story.

Also just remember there is always a Correct path in ME... For example Shep killed in ME2... Is back alive in ME3. You choose to die fine... But it's wrong.
The correct ending in this game Destroy. Opens the door for the Galaxy to rebuild and a possible return for Shep.

I doubt destroy is the correct ending meaning the Geth missions were all pointless.

[Deserana 12]

Originally Posted by omeletpercy

The Child and Grandfather scene is still there - not shure what its trying to say still.
Before the extended cut that scene felt like everyone was marooned and the story of Shepard was being told.
Now its just a generic tell another story scene.

I'm guessing that the entire Mass Effect trilogy through games 1-3 is a legendary story that has passed down through history and in actual fact what we have been playing is the story the grandad is telling to the child. When he says "Okay one more story" about telling another Shepard story means that there was another story after this Mass Effect trilogy possibly another moment that suggests Shepard is still alive. If that makes sense.

[barracuda91]

Just been watching the endings on Youtube and still disappointed. Okay, they addressed some things but it still felt there was no real effort put into it. What really annoys me is the new ending. Oh yes, great BW, you gave us a new ending to refuse the Starchild! Oh wait, doing that means we all die and the Reapers win! It's like BW is saying "If you don't like our endings and refuse to pick one, it's game over for you." I find it extremely childish on their part. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if they decided to add another ending where you refused but still won, y'know, a happy ending. Just as an option. Ahh well, I've spent too much energy being angry and frustrated with this ending.

[thomas2400]

Originally Posted by barracuda91

Just been watching the endings on Youtube and still disappointed. Okay, they addressed some things but it still felt there was no real effort put into it. What really annoys me is the new ending. Oh yes, great BW, you gave us a new ending to refuse the Starchild! Oh wait, doing that means we all die and the Reapers win! It's like BW is saying "If you don't like our endings and refuse to pick one, it's game over for you." I find it extremely childish on their part. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if they decided to add another ending where you refused but still won, y'know, a happy ending. Just as an option. Ahh well, I've spent too much energy being angry and frustrated with this ending.

My problem with peoples problems with the endings are if these new ending where the original ending there would not of been a shit storm and most people would of liked them, but now since we are moaning about the endings anyway lets still complain about the little things that they never of fully addressed anyway

Also the fourth refusal ending makes 100% sense, it is stated all through the game not using the weapon means the reapers will win, so not using the weapon and losing the war how can anybody have a problem with that

[barracuda91]

Originally Posted by thomas2400

My problem with peoples problems with the endings are if these new ending where the original ending there would not of been a shit storm and most people would of liked them, but now since we are moaning about the endings anyway lets still complain about the little things that they never of fully addressed anyway

Also the fourth refusal ending makes 100% sense, it is stated all through the game not using the weapon means the reapers will win, so not using the weapon and losing the war how can anybody have a problem with that

Well, for me, what was put in the EC should've already been in the original endings in the first place and, although it makes them somewhat better, I still would have been disappointed with them.

As I said, my problem with the refusal ending is more because it seems petty from Bioware that we have to choose their artistic endings if we want to "win". Refusal seems to be an ending that a lot of people are really liking because they feel it's better than the ones we got. I would've liked them to maybe base the EMS/efforts in the game on how the refusal ending could've played out, getting the outright loss for poor EMS, and a win for high EMS, every side-mission done etc, to try and work for the happy ending.

[Matt D]

The Rejection/Refusal ending is a "win"... just not until the next cycle.

I like it simply because it's what my Shepard would have done: told the Catalyst to frak off and then find another way, instead of meekly accepting its BS choices.

I do think it should have been based on EMS, though, like you say.


My "best" ending is Destroy. It's what the whole conflict was about, and it's not out of character for Shepard (unlike IMO Control and Synthesis). It does require sactificing EDI and the geth... but you could always imagine that they could be rebuilt (as surely only their bodies die, if the Crucible destroyed their software too then surely it would also have destroyed all software on all computers, not just intelligent software)... although my "fanon" ending would have it that the Catalyst was lying about the Crucible killing them too anyway, as I still think the Catalyst was presenting choices in a way to assure it and the Reapers' own survival.

[Gormond]

To me the first game still doesn't make much sence, why didn't the reapers just come through then if starchild is the citadel?

Also he says he controls the reapers but in ME1 Sovereign suggests otherwise.

[Deserana 12]

Originally Posted by Gormond

To me the first game still doesn't make much sence, why didn't the reapers just come through then if starchild is the citadel?

Also he says he controls the reapers but in ME1 Sovereign suggests otherwise.

Because the main writer who probably cared about continuity and ya know important stuff like this left after ME2. So we were left with people who wanted to make the game as big and epic (which IMO they did until the REALLY poor whole final battle) and then suddenly said "s**t how do we end this", smoked a few, then wrote whatever came to their mind.

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by Gormond

To me the first game still doesn't make much sence, why didn't the reapers just come through then if starchild is the citadel?

Also he says he controls the reapers but in ME1 Sovereign suggests otherwise.

Yeah, that is one thing still left unexplained.

The whole point of ME1 was that Sovereign needed Saren and the geth (sounds like a good name for a band! "Saren and the geth" ) to take the Citadel and activate the super-relay, because of the Protheans using the Ilos Conduit to sabotage the keepers so the Reapers couldn't use them to activate it anymore.

Yet if the Catalyst controlled the Reapers and lived on the Citadel, why didn't it just activate the super-relay for them?

Only (in game) explanation I can think of is that the Catalyst isn't "awake" between cycles, and is only active once the Reapers have come through from dark space. The additional dialogue in the EC also had the Catalyst mention it was the collective conciousness of all the Reapers, so maybe there is no Catalyst until the Reapers are all present.

[jjesso123]

“You may notice that in the “Shepard lives” ending, the love interest hesitates to place Shepard’s name on the wall, and instead looks up as though deep in thought. This is meant to suggest that the love interest is not ready to believe Shepard is dead, and the final scene reveals they are correct.”


Confirmed Shepard lives obvious but obviously confirmation always good.

[TLC91]

Just finished my official ending (again) after the dlc and watched the other endings on you tube i still chose synthesis because i just felt it was the right one a heroes sacrifice to all live peacefully i think people are really thinking too hard with theory's on the ending , overall still one of the best games i have played i hope there is more from the franchise.

[Pyramidbread]

I noticed they even changed the low readiness destroy ending. Which means yet another completely different ending.

I think the destroy ending is the real one, you may say it made the Geth missions pointless, but it really didn't, Shepard proved that AI and Organics could live in peace, the catalyst was an outdated relic, this cycle was the cycle that proved that the catalyst's ideals were outdated. What's more, it's the only ending where Shepard lives. Notice the love interest doesn't put Shepard's name up like in the other endings (which Bioware said is a sign that the LI believes Shepard is alive, and the Normandy flying away at the end is meant to be going off in search of Shepard.

Source for that last bit: http://www.oxm.co.uk/43334/mass-effe...mass-effect-3/

[biggebruv]

I cant belive BW actually brought an extended ending

We all know this franchise is going to go on and on anyways ME4 will happen

Do you really think the company heads will say " the mass effect trilogy is done the franchise is now over for good"

yeah right while theres money to be made ME will be made.

[barracuda91]

Originally Posted by Pyramidbread

I noticed they even changed the low readiness destroy ending. Which means yet another completely different ending.

I think the destroy ending is the real one, you may say it made the Geth missions pointless, but it really didn't, Shepard proved that AI and Organics could live in peace, the catalyst was an outdated relic, this cycle was the cycle that proved that the catalyst's ideals were outdated. What's more, it's the only ending where Shepard lives. Notice the love interest doesn't put Shepard's name up like in the other endings (which Bioware said is a sign that the LI believes Shepard is alive, and the Normandy flying away at the end is meant to be going off in search of Shepard.

Source for that last bit: http://www.oxm.co.uk/43334/mass-effe...mass-effect-3/

The thing that annoys me about that is that we basically have to imagine what happened to Shepard after that breath scene. A cutscene showing what happened afterwards should've happened. I don't think it's right we have invested so much time with our Shepard only to have to headcanon what happened to her/him.

[Pyramidbread]

Originally Posted by barracuda91

The thing that annoys me about that is that we basically have to imagine what happened to Shepard after that breath scene. A cutscene showing what happened afterwards should've happened. I don't think it's right we have invested so much time with our Shepard only to have to headcanon what happened to her/him.

Maybe, but I don't know, I like to imagine there was a whole adventure based around it (think Star Trek: The Search For Spock) that we didn't see.

[Matt D]

There's no way I could ever choose Synthesis, at all, even with (especially with!) the EC's new "rainbows and cupcakes" epilogue showing how lovely it all is...

It's just...wrong.

The series goes to great lengths to point out the importance of free will, self determination, and diversity... Things that IMO the Synthesis ending goes against. What right does Shep have to force *everyone in the entire galaxy* to undergo the "Synthesis" space magic?


Destroy FTW! Or Reject...although that one is rather bleak. A pity Reject didn't allow a "conventional" win if your EMS was high enough.

I could just about stomach Control, so long as you have a Paragon Shep who will remain incorruptible, but Synthesis? Ugh...

[Pyramidbread]

Destroy is what I go with too, the think I like about the Extended Cut is the explanation of what the Catalyst is, it's basically an AI who is out of control, it made it's creators into the first Reapers because it calculated that that was it's solution, it's worth mentioning that it's creators did not want to be Reapers either. I think the refusal ending is done right, fighting the Reapers is futile, they have superior fire power and suprerior numbers, it's impossible to beat them with conventional means, although, it's worth noting, that if you have a higher EMS, there will be less Reapers when the next cycle arrives.

[Matt D]

Yeah.

Another reason I don't go for Control or Synthesis (especially Synthesis) is because I cannot trust the Catalyst...It is, after all, the creator of the trilogy's enemy!

It went out of its way to make Destroy seem "bad" and Synthesis seem "good", with Control in-between. Why? IMO, because Destroy would mean no Catalyst and no Reapers! If you choose the Reject ending, you even get the Catalyst's real voice... which sounds like Harbinger or another Reaper, and says "SO BE IT" in a rather ominous way.

I also do not believe that the pattern will repeat if Destroy is chosen. That is simply what the Catalyst believes... or, at least, what it tells you it believes. The series makes it quite clear that organics and synthetics can work together, with Shepard managing to bring about peace between the geth and quarians (& of course other enemies and rivals). It also makes a point of showing that the geth were actually the victims in their conflict with the quarians, rather than it being a case of "the inevitability of synthetics rising up against their organic creators". In fact, the only times the geth were actually the aggressors were when they were under Reaper control. Not much of a "solution" there, eh?

So I think the Catalyst is flat-out wrong about the "inevitability"...

[Pyramidbread]

Yep, the catalyst definately had it wrong, it was an outdated AI, that had kinda lost it at somepoint millions of years back, Shepard proved it wrong on a number of points, however he'd have to play it's game in order to win. Control seems like it'd be good for a few thousand years, but eventually, Shepard would go insane, and it's possible he'd create a similar 'solution'.

[PinSarla]

Originally Posted by Matt D

There's no way I could ever choose Synthesis, at all, even with (especially with!) the EC's new "rainbows and cupcakes" epilogue showing how lovely it all is...

It's just...wrong.

The series goes to great lengths to point out the importance of free will, self determination, and diversity... Things that IMO the Synthesis ending goes against. What right does Shep have to force *everyone in the entire galaxy* to undergo the "Synthesis" space magic?


Destroy FTW! Or Reject...although that one is rather bleak. A pity Reject didn't allow a "conventional" win if your EMS was high enough.

I could just about stomach Control, so long as you have a Paragon Shep who will remain incorruptible, but Synthesis? Ugh...

I don't think a conventional win is possible. Afterall Sovereign and the Geth fleet managed to kick the Citadel fleets arse

Still it would have been fun.

[Bester]

Reading comments on the BW forum, 'Synthesis' appears to be the canon ending.

Finally finished the game last night (well, 3am this morning!), and accidentally picked the 'green' ending - although I'd prepared myself for Shepard sacrificing herself, I didn't like the synthesis ending as like others have said, it just didn't seem right, and certainly I don't see my Shepard believing a word that the little brat told her.

Won't go with 'control' as it's what TIM wanted, so that can't be good.

I could live with either 'destroy' or 'reject', although reject seems a little grim, so I suspect that my official ending will be 'destroy'.

As I said earlier, given BW's comments that ME3 is the end of the Shepard story, and it would be a bittersweet end it was almost assured that she would die, and I'd readied myself for that. Ultimately though, I've enjoyed the Shepard character far more in ME3 than I did in either of the first two games. So much so that the thought of more ME without Shepard isn't really something I can get on board with anymore. Shepard and ME are entwined. I don't know that I'd want to play another game without Shepard and co. I really don't see why this has to be the end for Shepard anyway. End of the Reaper storyline sure, but why waste such a great cast of characters? Shepard, Garrus, Tali etc were every bit as good in ME3 as they've been all the way through the series IMO.

I saw yesterday that BW have started talking ME4. I'm going to wait for details before I decide whether I think that's a good thing or not.

Luckily, because it's taken me so long to actually get around to playing the game I missed out on the original endings so I didn't have that frustration. Consequently, I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of ME3. Personally, it's my favourite franchise from this gen, and has given me as much enjoyment in this gen as Final Fantasy did in the last two.

[Daryl Dark]

I've completed ME3 and the game overall was brilliant but the endings (DLC extended ones) were not satisfactory.

- Destroy - the only real ending to choose.

- Synthesis - this is a really disturbing and rather horrible outcome, in Destroy you take the harsh decision to kill all synthetics, in this one you merge all synthetic and organic life? Nasty.

- Control - sounds good but doesn't this entail all the husks regaining sentience? Mass suicide anyone? And after everything the Reapers did we are suddenly expected to live next to them side by side as they now help us rebuild?

- Refusal - yeah as opposed to sacrificing the synthetics, let's let EVERYONE die and let the next cycle deal with it, where no doubt a few more billion are going to die even if they do manager to stop the Reapers. It's complete idiocy.

I think what I wanted after all the horror and destruction unleashed on the galaxy including the abominations like Husks and whatnot was pure unadulterated payback.

I know it's simple but that's what I required, not half assed tough moral choices leaving me in a melancholy pissed off state. I wanted to press a button and watch the Reapers burn. I wanted to have a post war DLC with me settling down with Liara, and poppng off to visit chums like Tali and the Geth.

As far as I was concerned I saw too much horror to be satisfied with anything other than a 100% Reaper exploding happy ending

[thomas2400]

Got the game again on the WiiU and i don't say this lightly, this is my second favorite game of all time and after a few more playthroughs it could seriously have me considering whether it could ever replace FFVII as my fave game

I've done a two full playthroughs (one when the game came out on PS3 and one on the WiiU) with no decisions being made by me regarding the story of mass effect 1 and 2 (though i have played 2 and everyone survived the suicide mission)

Now i'm already planning two more playthoughs at least

1 as a femshep and playing the comic of the first two games
1 as a renegade
and possibly 1 as maleshep with the comic to see how it varies in relationship choices and friendships etc

In terms off endings i'm probably try them all to see how they vary but for me the only real ending is Destroy, i didn't spend 30-40 hours per playthrough to let the reapers like

[barracuda91]

The details of the final single player DLC have been announced.
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/02/2...-dlc-announced

I have to admit, this does sound really great. I've not played Mass Effect since I finished ME3. I'm hoping this will add something that the game was definitely missing. I had no interest in getting the other DLC but I may consider this one.