I'm sure by now most people have beaten the game, and i'm sure about 1 in 1000 people who beat the game actually LIKE the ending. Myself, the last 10 minutes truly killed the series for me (i'm in the process of replaying ME1 and 2 now just to gain up my sanity again lol).
Now for those of you who haven't beaten the game, keep hearing about how bad it is and think we are way over-exaggerating? Well i thought the exact same way until i got to the ending of this game... It's not good, really really not good. It's a shame too because the rest of the game was spot-on in my opinion (as was the rest of the series)
That being said there are ways you (the angry player) can get your opinions out:
Please take a minute to vote on those polls and feel free to post your thoughts on this thread:
(you may need to register your EA account with ME3 before you can post there. There will probably be spoilers there so be careful)
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I'd also like to briefly address the people who believe in the 'hallucination' theory: You're deriving a conclusion from the LACK of information (as opposed to the normal way of finding a conclusion FROM information). Yes some of your points do make sense, but as i just stated, there is nothing to back it up because you're concluding from the holes left in the plot. It's wishful thinking in my opinion.
Also i would like to state that i'm not angry about Shep dying, it was kind of obvious he was going to. My gripe is the fact that there is NO 'good' ending, they didn't even try. And if you've beaten the game you know what happens... Every ending is depressing beyond all belief, not to mention so surreal in who you talk to at the end.
And one more thing: None of the choices you made in the last two games (plus ME3 leading up to the ending) even mattered, you could've done nothing and got the same ending... way to go.
I've been avoiding any ME related news or forums since I don't have the game yet, I'm surprised to read that the ending is bad.
I was going to write a long reply with how I agree with you and how bad the ending made me feel but to be honest I just can't be bothered...
This ending killed my love for the series and I'm only going to play a Mass Effect game again if they really do fix the ending with a FREE DLC. (not much chance of that though)
Game play wise ME3 is great(best so far), story is awesome but the ending is so bad i cried :(. If only i knew the ending was going to be like that i would have never read any Mass Effect books let alone played any games. Now i wish i never even heard of Mass Effect universe, because this ending just killed it for me. And because it ended like it did, the story can never be resurrected. **** you Bioware/EA/Casey Hudson.
Bioware was indoctrinated by the EA reaper (after every 'game cycle' they come and collect your money leaving nothing behind). Unfortunately there is little we can do to save EAware now...
Amen Admiral. Don't feel bad Sanguinius, I cried too.
All I can suggest to people who havent yet bought/got to ending, DONT do the last mission, 99% it wont be what you are waiting for, just imagine the end.
I too was dissapointed.
Also agree on Αdmiral Skeybar.
Dont read further my post if you havent played.
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Also the relays got aced, but it didnt even explain what the hell was the result, we remember what happened with Batarians. The ending felt rushed as ****. 3 choices all lead to somewhat distruction. Btw if you play your cards right Shepard "kinda" survives but still, cant see that clearly.
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Hey guys, if you have a BSN account, check out this blog Social.bioware.com
It is really far fetched, but it is a possible explanation of the many plot holes (i.e. dead members appearing on the mystery planet, anderson's arrival, shepard's dreams, ME relays' destruction, etc.) and why Bioware (which has been a great gaming company in my opinion) slaughtered their greatest game series ever, a series picked up as Legendary as a movie franchise.
What that guy in your link said is exactly what I was thinking while playing the last part.
I really hope that is it or else it'd be a bad ending imo.
After destroying the reapers, I found myself gasping for breath after being hit by that beam back on the ground. I immediately knew I most likely was indoctrinated and that my choice indeed freed me from it.
(I however reloaded and tried Synthesis because I was kinda hoping it'd result in some scary reaper/geth/human mix universe :P)
Yeah, I agree. I am currently doing another playthrough (the first one was a 15hr blitz to get to the ending) just to check this theory out.
*SPOILERS*
A few things I have discovered are interesting. For instance, the child wasn't seen by Anderson. Also, when it ran up to the shuttle, none of the npcs responded to it, which is strange since they helped others, like women and wounded men, so you would think a child would be a priority, right? Furthermore, in the first dream, the child's burning is not only figurative but also demoralizing, which is what indoctrination does (break down defenses and then control). Anyways, continuing playthrough.
The first encounter with the child (in those vents) didn't struck me as weird yet. I assumed it just crawled further into the vent shaft.
However, as you said, I thought the NPCs where acting as if the child didn't exist aswell. Didn't think much of it back then though.
To add to the demorilizing dreams, the shuttle where the kid was in got blown to bits was in my view the first crack in Shepards 'defence' because this was more real then the dreams to him, allowing the reapers' indoctrination to proceed through dreams.
To make a metafore: see it as pinching a hole in a piece of wood. You need a big hit to break through but once you have the hole, you can easily fit in the nail.
I agree completely. I believe seeing the shuttles get destroyed was the first time that shepard's armor cracked. I just think the child was still part of his indoctrination, the destruction of the shuttles being the hammer to drive that "stake" in.
You know, this level of insight we gamers are giving this game is only a further testament to the greatness of the ME series.
Here is another blog that I thought was spot on, especially his quote from IGN. What he describes is what I expected to see from what Bioware had done with ME1/2 and the 99% of ME3 leading up to the final mission. Spoilers, so beware. Social.bioware.com
The ending was actually good, just badly executed. They should have avoided the cliffhanger and the plot holes and weird stuff like garrus being on the normandy and crashing but he was on earth at the final battle so it makes no sense. The kid is also very disturbing, the catalyst being this kid and him not proper explaining the reapers and the logic behind them.
I am writing my own custom ending to ME3 which will be in my blog, I also sent a pm to Intense about a Ending Competition like we had it for The Witcher 2, the reply was that the devs would have to sponsor it but he would like to do one.
I would like to see some custom endings and especially epilogues like Youtube.com
I was dissapointed in the ending...
Who cares if the ending was bad? There will never be another Mass Effect game anyway.
Just to reply to a couple points here: I've heard the indoctrination theory before and TBH it's like the hallucination one. Yeah it may make sense, it certainly has more proof than the hallucination one since it says in the codex in the game the products of indoctrination.
But my problem isn't with that at all, my problem is that i could replay ME1, ME2 and ME3, do absolutely NOTHING besides the main missions, and get the same ending every time. Oh i forgot if you played the multiplayer you get a 5 second clip of Shepard breathing at the end... seriously WTF.
To put it plainly my problem is that NOTHING i did in the series had any impact at the end of the story, whether it was real, hallucination, or indoctrination, it doesn't matter to me. Also there is no happy ending, which IMO there should be (at least one, but make it hard to get.)
I also partially agree with OrangeNero... in theory they're okay, just executed very very badly. That being said i still think there could've and should've been more variety with the endings...
Hey,OP.THe ending is not depressing,its demeaning.
Basically,it does not make sense.The end came out of the blue and is not logical. THe indoctrination theory does not work because of the one solution ending with no assets.
Well what i mean is that it made me depressed :P but yeah, it's demeaning. Everything you did has no effect whatsoever... You could go back and do just the main quests for all three games and get the same ending. it's shite.
Honestly i've been torn with the indoctrination theory, there's some compelling stuff for it and against it. But i only ever think about it for one second before coming back to the conclusion that the ending is absolute crap anyways, if you believe in the theory then all it means is that nothing you did had any effect and Shepard was passed in in rubble (as opposed to just the former if you don't believe in the theory)
This afternoon, a little while after I completed the game, I laid on my bed for a half hour depressed because of how terrible the ending was. I have never experienced a better game/story in my life, but then the last 10 minutes ruined the entire series for me.
Not to mention, they ruined the ending of my favorite character in the Star Wars universe a couple of months ago.
So, In the grand old tradition of George Carlin, I'm not even going to capitalize the company's name anymore. **** bioware.
Well, I send you my condolences my friend. We all felt the same way after the end. And, personally, I like your succint/simple way of expressing your feelings.
Isn't it funny how the entire game can pump you up so much and then destroy you in the span of 10 minutes? This was probably the game i had been most excited for ever, I can't honestly think of another game which matches it (which i've played). And in the end after all the **** you went through, you get the ending...
you see, what happened to Bioware was that, as they were digging the foundation for their company, they found an ancient 'beacon' of sorts. They kept it locked away in the basement of their building unaware of the indoctrinating effects that this artifact would have...
This artifact belonged to the rEApers... I know a lot of people think their myths but they are actually the ones behind the destruction of many good game series... lol