The Ending to Mass Effect 3

by **pimpdave** on Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:49 am

John Shepard waited. The ships above him blinked and sparked out of the air. There were reapers in the base. He didn't see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Citidel consol were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway. John was a alliance marine for fourteen years. When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad "I want to be on the ships daddy." Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY REAPERS" There was a time when he believed him. Then as he got oldered he stopped. But now in the reaper base of the citidel he knew there were reapers. "This is Hackett" the radio crackered. "You must fight the reapers!" So John gotted his palsma rifle and blew up the wall. "HE GOING TO KILL US" said the reapers "I will shoot at him" said harbenger and he fired the rocket missiles. John plasmaed at him and tried to blew him up. But then the beam fell and they were trapped and not able to kill. "No! I must kill the reapers" he shouted The radio said "No, John. You are the reapers" And then John was a zombie.

by **pimpdave** on Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:59 am

For real though:

http://w11.zetaboards.com/Theorycraftng ... 7688087/1/

I think people who are bitching about the ending are dumb. I usually want to respond to complaints with "go read a book you complete fucking waste". If you wanted a Return of the Jedi ecstatic ending, you're stupid. There's a pretty thorough literary tradition supporting how it all ends, regardless of the plot devices or the specifics. I liked the ending. Yeah, I said it. Fight me.

Everyone who likes BioWare games should play it. It's super fun and although it's not the most amazing story ever, it's entertaining and carries enough references (one crucial space station is named Cronos, a key enemy organization is named Cerberus, for example) to remind you of what it's really inspired by.

by **MeDeFe** on Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:54 am

From what I've heard about the ending, it sucks.

by **Ray Rider** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:17 pm

I just finished the game and was fairly satisfied with the ending, although the reason I liked it was mainly just because of the epic proportions of the finale. I had heard some hints that the ending wouldn't be happy so I wasn't expecting it to be. I agonized more over the decision between the Geth & the Quarians than I did about the final decision, to tell you the truth.

How did your game end, Dave? In mine, Anderson died, the synthetics and mass relays were destroyed, Shep died, the Normandy crash landed on a lush planet, and after the credits a grandfather told his grandson the legend of Shepherd.

All in all, I would highly recommend ME3 to anyone interested in the series. It's an improvement on ME2 in almost every respect, although there was a couple things I didn't like: less depth of conversation/relationships (but some may like the shorter conversations and more action) and the inability to prevent the destruction of an entire civilization based on your actions in ME2 (which I couldn't do in ME2 either because my paragon rating wasn't high enough).

by **Sniper08** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:30 pm

Ray Rider wrote:
How did your game end, Dave? In mine, Anderson died, the synthetics and mass relays were destroyed, Shep died, the Normandy crash landed on a lush planet, and after the credits a grandfather told his grandson the legend of Shepherd.

that happened in every game outcome except a few where shepard lived , many people are pissed as the choices you have made over the course of the series had no effect on the outcome of the game but rather whether the explosions where green, red or blue.

look it up on youtube and you'll see almost all endings are the same.

by **pancakemix** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:32 pm

Ray Rider wrote:I just finished the game and was fairly satisfied with the ending, although the reason I liked it was mainly just because of the epic proportions of the finale. I had heard some hints that the ending wouldn't be happy so I wasn't expecting it to be. I agonized more over the decision between the Geth & the Quarians than I did about the final decision, to tell you the truth.

How did your game end, Dave? In mine, Anderson died, the synthetics and mass relays were destroyed, Shep died, the Normandy crash landed on a lush planet, and after the credits a grandfather told his grandson the legend of Shepherd.

All in all, I would highly recommend ME3 to anyone interested in the series. It's an improvement on ME2 in almost every respect, although there was a couple things I didn't like: less depth of conversation/relationships (but some may like the shorter conversations and more action) and the inability to prevent the destruction of an entire civilization based on your actions in ME2 (which I couldn't do in ME2 either because my paragon rating wasn't high enough).

All the endings are like that. THAT'S why people are bitching, not because there was no happy ending. At least that's part of it.

I'd respond to Dave if he wasn't so obviously trolling, but I'll say I loved every minute of it up until the very last part, and that just tore my heart out.

EDIT: Fastposted.

Have a look.

by **pancakemix** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:32 pm

Also, here be spoilers if that wasn't obvious.

by **pimpdave** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:52 pm

Okay well I'm not trolling. I also agonized more over choosing the Geth or the Quarians. I chose the Geth, and although I was sad at first that Tali committed suicide, I quickly thought, "yeah well you're stupid and genocidal". Besides, I never romanced her anyway (I went Liara, Miranda, Liara -- obviously Liara because she's the best opportunity to form a power couple and diplomatic influence on the Council -- I still kind of wish that kind of dynamic presented itself instead of the romance part ultimately being completely superfluous).

As for the ending, there really is a literary tradition backing up how it turns out. How many stories are about a protagonist who sets out on a quest to change his destiny (revealed in the beginning -- in this case Sovereign saying that fighting the Reapers meant Shepard's destruction) only to find out that in doing so, he actually fulfills his destiny? (ahem, Oedipus Rex, ahem).

As for my ending, hell yeah I went to destroy the Reapers. I figured I was bleeding out anyway and at least I can take those damned synthetic bastards with me, and maybe this way the Quarians will forgive me for choosing the Geth over them.

Oh, also, there's other stuff to consider about the Krogan, and how maybe I shouldn't have ended the Genophage, actually, but whatever, I can only hope they chill out and don't give in to the Tea Party Death Squads rhetoric.

Lastly, none of the endings actually explicitly show Shepard living, but the one I chose did have an anonymous guy with N7 tags take a sharp breath. And I loved the part with Buzz Aldrin telling the little kid the story of The Shepard, showing how it became the basis for a new creation story and a new religion.

by **Ray Rider** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:58 pm

pancakemix wrote:All the endings are like that. THAT'S why people are bitching, not because there was no happy ending. At least that's part of it.

I'd respond to Dave if he wasn't so obviously trolling, but I'll say I loved every minute of it up until the very last part, and that just tore my heart out.

EDIT: Fastposted.

Have a look.

Ahhh, I see why people are complaining. That's stupid! Yeah, I was told there was 17 endings and such, but if that video shows all the variation, it's pretty lame. That was supposed to be the climax of the movie, and yes it was epic, but if your decisions basically only affect the color of the finale, what's the point eh?

by **Ray Rider** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:19 pm

pimpdave wrote:Okay well I'm not trolling. I also agonized more over choosing the Geth or the Quarians. I chose the Geth, and although I was sad at first that Tali committed suicide, I quickly thought, "yeah well you're stupid and genocidal".

Yeah, I chose the Geth too, but I really liked Tali's abilities (the drones) which is why she was one of my favorite squad members, so I was pretty annoyed that she killed herself. And to top it off, Legion died too! But to a certain extent, the Quarians deserved it for first attacking Geth ship while Shep was still on it and then attacking the Geth again later even after the Geth were disabled. The Geth never did anything wrong--they only defended themselves.

pimpdave wrote:Oh, also, there's other stuff to consider about the Krogan, and how maybe I shouldn't have ended the Genophage, actually, but whatever, I can only hope they chill out and don't give in to the Tea Party Death Squads rhetoric.

lol

by **army of nobunaga** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:23 pm

i know mass effect.. played the first two.. have not seen third yet...

but the journey really does equal the experience in my mind... even in the red dog redemption... The ending was vilified.. but the journey was epic (though me playing a crappy red dead revolver precursor helped).

I think when you start an epic game (like they all are now) your fallacy is in expecting a hugely awesome ending...

the fun is in the journey guys and just saying "I beat xxxxx on xxx difficulty setting"(( though do not say this in a bar trying to pick up chicks)god help you all nerds)))

and to be honest the game ending complaints and praises says a lot how times have changed... not for worse or bad.. just how they have changed.. If I had complained about a Nintendo game ending to my parent, they would have kicked my ass and tld me to go out and run some and play... times are different. But I can shed some advise to you I did not make up on my own.. "The adventure is in the journey, not the ending"

by **Ray Rider** on Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:48 pm

army of nobunaga wrote:i know mass effect.. played the first two.. have not seen third yet...

but the journey really does equal the experience in my mind... even in the red dog redemption... The ending was vilified.. but the journey was epic (though me playing a crappy red dead revolver precursor helped).

I think when you start an epic game (like they all are now) your fallacy is in expecting a hugely awesome ending...

the fun is in the journey guys and just saying "I beat xxxxx on xxx difficulty setting"(( though do not say this in a bar trying to pick up chicks)god help you all nerds)))

and to be honest the game ending complaints and praises says a lot how times have changed... not for worse or bad.. just how they have changed.. If I had complained about a Nintendo game ending to my parent, they would have kicked my ass and tld me to go out and run some and play... times are different. But I can shed some advise to you I did not make up on my own.. "The adventure is in the journey, not the ending"

True, I'd prefer a game with awesome journey and poor ending (ME3) than one with a poor journey and awesome ending (not sure of an example). However ideally a game should have an epic finale to match an epic journey; that is what video gamers should be pushing for and video game developers should be striving towards.

Speaking of epic finales, a great example is the end of Fallout 3 when the Cold War mech revives and you can fight alongside it right into the enemy compound, launching nukes all the way along. That was so fun I played it over and over again, back in the day.

by **Nendreel** on Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:41 am

I got the Synergy ending (green explosion) and had been doing the multiplayer to get a better ending, which apparently would be a red explosion. That's really disappointing. Multiplayer is pretty fun though, so it isn't a complete loss.

Also it seems I was the only one here who was able to recruit both the Geth and the Quarians.

by **pancakemix** on Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:13 pm

pimpdave wrote:Okay well I'm not trolling. I also agonized more over choosing the Geth or the Quarians. I chose the Geth, and although I was sad at first that Tali committed suicide, I quickly thought, "yeah well you're stupid and genocidal". Besides, I never romanced her anyway

Persuasive options, man. Quarians back off of the attack and Geth become a superrace to help the Quarians rebuild.

As for the ending, there really is a literary tradition backing up how it turns out. How many stories are about a protagonist who sets out on a quest to change his destiny (revealed in the beginning -- in this case Sovereign saying that fighting the Reapers meant Shepard's destruction) only to find out that in doing so, he actually fulfills his destiny? (ahem, Oedipus Rex, ahem).

See, I wholeheartedly agree with that. The problem for me isn't with Shepard's death, it's that many questions which require answers didn't get them or got piss-poor answers, new questions were raised, logic was defied (The Catayst sends synthetics to kill organics to stop synthetics from killing organics? What?) and probably more that I'm forgetting.

I don't want to believe the Indoctrination Theory either, because that just means even less got answered. The rug is pulled out from under us before the hero can deliver the final blow. That's just bad writing. Either way, it's a complete genre shift, and if you go and do that you should expect people to be pissed with you for throwing them a curveball.

by **everywhere116** on Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:22 pm

People were more upset about the fact that the ending was illogical, contradicted canon, was the same in all scenarios and completely disregarded all of your choices except for which color the explosion would be, and that choice happened right at the end.

by **pimpdave** on Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:26 pm

I mean, obviously they're trying to leave it open for DLC. It's 2012, that's just how it goes at this point.

I probably won't be buying any of it though. I seldom think DLC is worth it except for multiplayer games.

by **safariguy5** on Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:38 pm

I really liked the ending to ME2, and I really would have thought that whether or not you chose to save the Human Reaper would have made a difference in ME3.

by **pancakemix** on Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:32 am

pimpdave wrote:I mean, obviously they're trying to leave it open for DLC. It's 2012, that's just how it goes at this point.

I probably won't be buying any of it though. I seldom think DLC is worth it except for multiplayer games.

That's just an asshole move, though. You can't jerk people's chains like that and hope to get away with it.

At least, I'd hope not.

by **pimpdave** on Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:59 am

But I was satisfied enough with the ending because I don't give a shit. All the ending really means to me is that I can't go around using my awesome biotic and tech powers to wreck hordes of evil minions. They could have done it better, like how Rockstar enddd things in Red Dead Redemption.

I'm just going to go back and try to beat it on Insanity now.

by **pimpdave** on Tue Mar 20, 2012 11:01 am

And speaking of which, I think I have a pretty good technique figured out for taking on Insanity, let me know if anyone's interested and I'll write it all out.

by **pimpdave** on Tue Mar 20, 2012 11:26 am

Actually, what the hell, I'll just put it out there.

You have to choose Sentinel class. I had to start completely over with my ME2 class import because if you use an ME3 import it'll be the same class you chose the first time around, and for this method, my Adept would be no good.

So, take Sentinel and for your bonus power either Fortification or Defense Matrix. They're both basically the same thing, just one's for armor and the other for shields. I took DM because I prefer to fire weapons and use abilities, not charge in berzerker style and try to punch everyone in the face. With my existing skill points, I immediately maxed out Tech Armor and DM, always taking defense upgrades when given the choice.

At rank 5 of the Throw power I took the option to reset recharge times after the detonation of a Biotic Combo. Upgrade Liara's Singularity to give it a 100% recharge speed and dump all the rest of her points into health and shield bonuses. (I'm upping Stasis too). She's always going to go on missions with me because of the biotic combos, and I need that to get around the huge power cool down handicap I get by running both Tech Armor and Defensive Matrix.

Your other squadmate should be someone with Overload, because everything else you have so far is great against armor and health, you need something for barriers and shields. I prefer Garrus. Max out his Overload power (obv) and start upping his Armor Piercing rounds. When given the choice, be sure to take the option to give AP ammo to the whole squad. It makes a huge difference.

Now, if you bought the DLC and have the Prothean character, take his Assault rifle. It never really runs out of ammo! Attach the Piercing Mod (way better than you might think and is totally devastating against Guardians) and whatever else you want (I'm using extended mag, just because if you do use up an entire magazine, the thing cools down for a few deadly seconds, time I usually can't spare in a firefight).

I'm thinking about cycling in James instead of either Liara or Garrus, just because of how awesome squad Incendiary ammo would be, and his grenades and Carnage power are both really great against organic enemies, but I haven't made it very far yet in this playthrough.

by **pancakemix** on Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:20 pm

Gah, if I play Insanity, I'm going with Vanguard. Did that for ME2 and had a blast.

by **Sniper08** on Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:46 pm

looks like the ending might be changed

Mass Effect 3 ending

by **Juan_Bottom** on Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:13 pm

pimpdave wrote:Oh, also, there's other stuff to consider about the Krogan, and how maybe I shouldn't have ended the Genophage, actually, but whatever, I can only hope they chill out and don't give in to the Tea Party Death Squads rhetoric.

I bought the first game *used* and played a few hours of it. But I couldn't get into it at all. I just can't enjoy any third person games at all. My library is basically all 1st person shooters and a few random other ones mixed in.