Mass Effect 3 - NOW WITH SPOILERS

[ZeroMark]

So we have a no spoiler thread, I wanted one for spoilers and discussion of the game proper because i'm going to vent some issues I had with it

Keep all spoilers in the spoilers tags please. I know it's a spoilers thread but people will still look and people will be pissed, so would be good if you could just use the tags. If you don't know how, PM me and i'll tell you how to do it.


Ok that said,

Spoiler ->I really liked ME3. At it's core it was a great game, but some of the story let me down quite a bit. One main thing I noticed was that the last two games were all about the Reapers arriving and that when they did all hell would break loose. Then they arrive and ok folk are dying at first, then you go to Mars and find out it takes a few hundred years for them to kill everyone. You go from this grave threat that could just kill everyone to a regular ground war that may take hundreds of years to finish. Suddenly all the urgency is gone and it never picks up again. Every time you see Anderson on Earth he is fine, looks good, no problem.

My other main issue is the endings, ok in all but the very best ending he dies. That's fine happy endings are not required in storytelling but all the other characters who you pick up along the way that meet go to earth as a war asset to help you out, you never find out what happens to them. The Mass Effect relays are destoryed stranding the entire military force of the galaxy in the sol system. The Citadel blows up in one ending, what happens when that lands on earth?

So yeah, my main issue is not the endings, it's that they have left everything so open and with so many questions, something you don't expect at the end of a trilogy, unless its the fucking matrix. Saying that they followed the matrix up with an MMO and that answered most of the questions... now i'm hearing they may be thinking about a Mass Effect MMO, so maybe that's the plan.

/endrant

[Sitoxity]

I hated the endings.

Spoiler ->The fact that the arbitrary choice at the end is completely irrelevant to everything, it just doesn't make sense that Shepard just accepts everything this star child decides to tell him. I mean, what the actual fuck? Some glowing child decided to make synthetics destroy advanced civilisations to stop them making synthetics that will destroy them? Really? That's the reason for the entire Reaper story arc? That's the end of this amazing trilogy? Not to mention the fact all three options seem to just change the colour of an explosion and result in the same damn result every time.

Why must one option also be the destruction of the Reapers and Geth? Can't I argue that the Geth won't rise up and killed anything because I spent not only this game but the last making sure that they'll be peaceful with the Quarians? Nope. They'll die too in the destroy option. Even if everyone survives the Mass Relays exploding (The Arrival DLC for ME2 implies that they probably wouldn't.) my friend made the excellent point that the other races couldn't possibly survive in our solar system because they don't eat the same types of foods. Only Asari would generally be okay, as I remember one mentioning they can eat human food, while Turians definitely cannot.

The build up to the point where Shepard gets iced by the Reaper (Harbinger? I assume...) was excellent. Speaking to all the surviving members from both ME1 and 2 was moving. Especially Jack (my romance option for the final playthrough of 2 and 3) was especially moving. Yet I get absolutely NO closure to this? AT ALL? Just that Shep dies? (Or possibly doesn't for the "Secret" ending with the Destroy option.)

I'm just completely and utterly disappointed. There's too much plot holes and incoherence in these endings to be good. I don't WANT a happy ending, but I want some explanation to what just happened. Especially when it's put my view of the whole franchise out of wack.

[The Rook]

Watched this over on Peoww. I didn't like the ending but this video explains a theory that hadn't even occured to me.

Can't hide a video or url in spolier mode but the url address doesn't spoil anything. It's a good theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbghj...layer_embedded

[Sitoxity]

There's a LOT of theorycrafting and evidence to support that theory. I'm hoping to god that it's true, because if it is, it's some of the BEST storytelling done in a game.

However, if it's not true, then it's the worst.

[UselessJack]

Watched this over on Peoww. I didn't like the ending but this video explains a theory that hadn't even occured to me.

Can't hide a video or url in spolier mode but the url address doesn't spoil anything. It's a good theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbghj...layer_embedded

There's a new version of this video, also looking at the aspect of Saren's indoctrination, making it much more believable.

Spoiler ->I finished the game last night and I'm actually more confused than mad. What happened to my crewmates? Why did I spent 3 games on saving their sorry asses when they... well.. whatever happens to them. I got the "green" ending and even if it was kind of touching and nice to see Joker and EDI on some planet, I would've want to know what happened to the rest. Did Garrus, my best bro and awesome space buddy, die during the attempt to reach the Citadel's beam?
Meh, I don't know what to think, or at least didn't know it. Rook's link seems just too good, I WANT it to be true. And I somehow have the feeling that Bioware/EA will take this video and be all like: "Oh heeeeey, yeah that's... that's EXACTLY what we wanted to say with all this. Hah, we tricked you... aaaanyway, here's the DLC for the better ending that explains it all, only 2400MSP or 24$! kthxbye!"

I'm going to replay the ending and choose the destruction option and hope I feel better then.

[The Rook]

Spoiler ->I made Miranda cry.

[etherfiend]

Ahh now it actually makes sense...

Spoiler ->if the 'best' ending adds that extra bit of a charred Shepard waking up (am still about 90 points from it on my effective war effort) then it does actually support the possibility of the indoctrination theory, or could be an unconcsious dream/vision of what could happen). This is a perfect setup for DLC to actually finish the story, as that 'just one more story...' may be the final ending played out via said DLC.

[Toffer]

I'm not sure how to do spoiler tags but I'm not going to write anything spolier-full.

Loved that video Rook. If that is true then that's some of the most smart and under-handed story telling going. That's an awesome ending.

I'm sure Zero will let me know about the spoiler tags or I'll ask and then I'll give my thoughts.

[The Rook]

Loved that video Rook. If that is true then that's some of the most smart and under-handed story telling going. That's an awesome ending.

That video made me feel better about the ending, however it did take someone to make that video to make me realise... if it were true.

[ZeroMark]

You don't know how spoiler tags work? For shame.

Do you know how the image tags work? It's exactly like that but you put SP and /SP in the [].