After reading all of the press regarding how *bad* the ending to ME:3 is I was honestly really scared to find out how the game ended. I'm one of those people that gets fully invested into a game and its storyline, so much so that I truly care for the characters in said game and always hope for a good conclusion.
Mass Effect is a unique series in that after three games you can get fully immersed in the back story, more so than other titles. Your decisions tend to make a big impact contained within the game in the series you are playing. I do think that bringing in-game decisions from game to game proved to be trivial as no decisions truly impacted the story in any measurable fashion. I am OK with that because although choice is great I appreciate seeing what the developers and writers intended.
So ME:3 ended the way I wanted it to, the Reapers were defeated. I was playing so late I was initially frustrated with the ending only because I didn't notice I was presented with a choice. I remember reading that there were three choices to be made and somehow I missed that part of the in-game presentation showing me to take one of three paths to make my choice. I found myself "heading into the light" and started off with the Synthesis ending, which turned to be not such a bad ending to the story.
I was definitely confused by a few things presented in this ending (and all of the endings actually). Why was the Normandy making a Mass Relay jump to another system? I thought the Normandy was part of the final assault on the Reapers? What truly didn't make sense is how a few of my team members got back on the Normandy. I used James and Javik for my final assault yet somehow James appears exiting the Normandy after it crash lands on whatever planet it landed on. In this ending EDI steps out as well and all of these characters were in London, the only member not present was Joker.
So after watching this ending I did a little bit of searching and I figured out that I totally glanced over the three choices. I went back and played the ending scene again and it make perfect sense, I think I was up to late to think straight because it was painfully obvious that I was given a choice. This time I chose the ending I wanted from the beginning, the utter destruction of the Reapers. I was saddened that EDI had to perish because she had done so much to make this mission successful but I was unwilling to let those murderous bastards go on living any longer. I wasn't as concerned about the Geth since they had been enemies for so long.
I thought it was intriguing that the Catalyst mentioned that Shepard had synthetic parts and I initially wondered if that mean Shepard would perish as well. My thoughts are even though he has some synthetic parts he is not a synthetic life form. The Reapers were fully synthetic as are the Geth and EDI.. with the added bonus that EDI and the Geth fully incorporate Reaper technology. Given this fact it makes perfect sense to me that they would all perish with this ending choice.
I liked this ending much better. What excited me was at the end seeing Shepard breathe but I was immediately curious and optimistic regarding this revelation. It appeared that the Citadel was destroyed in the final blast, how in the world is Shepard breathing?
As I searched for answers I happened upon this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck&feature=player_embedded
First off let me say this video is pure perfection. It makes total sense too and actually gives Bioware even more credit for putting together a fantastic ending if the theory proves to be true. To weave that into the story is awesome writing although you would have to really study the footage, the codex entries and dialog choices to figure this out. As the author of the above video mentions he was able to make this video due to the collaboration of the rest of the Mass Effect fandom and it was not a solitary effort but the way this was put together makes a concrete argument for Shepard's entry into possible indoctrination.
There are few key points I picked up on in the video:
1. No one notices the boy getting into the shuttle. I remember watching this scene and wondering why in the world no one is helping the kid out!
2. The Rachni Queen mentions oily shadows in its conversation with Shepard in ME:1. I didn't understand what that meant during the conversation in the first game and I just gathered it was a jumbled mess of words from a non-native English speaker. Seeing the dreams Shepard was having in ME:3 directly answers what he was seeing. It makes total sense!
3. The Catalyst's use of Blue/Red coloring definitely seems to guide you in the direction of a certain choice. Bioware has groomed us to choose Blue or Red depending on whether or not you choose to be a Paragon or Renegade. Even though I try to be 100% Paragon it is easy to choose a Renegade option. I am sure this tripped up some people but I was set in my personal choice to destroy the Reapers.
There are a lot of things that were not explained that I hope get a proper explanation in the future. Tops in my mind are:
1. Why was Joker and the Normandy using a Mass Relay? I refuse to believe he the other crew members were running away but there is clearly something missing here
2. Was Shepard indoctrinated, at least partially? My guess is no but depending on his choices he could have eventually broken down.
I ended up trying out the third ending, the control ending as well. I didn't care for this one at all because it falls right in line with what the Illusive Man wanted and I wanted him dead almost as bad as I wanted Kai Leng dead (Which BTW his death scene was awesome! As as a side note, I play 100% Paragon but I instinctively hit the renegade choice when he tried to stab me in the back). I called it from the beginning, that the Illusive Man was indoctrinated... why else would he have been so heavily modified with what turned out to be Reaper tech and not listen to reason?
Part of me is not totally disappointed things were left out because hopefully that means more DLC. I truly did not want this to be the final game, I firmly believe with any rich universe if the writers can continue to push out well thought through content they should. Mass Effect is my favorite Sci-fi series of all time so I truly hope it continues past this game.
I am very excited to see if the rumors of Bioware creating more free content to supplement the ending is true or not. At a minimum I would like to see them confirm or deny the indoctrination theory.
Here are some pics of where I had my Galaxy map and were I was with my Total Military and Effective Military strength. I completed Mass Effect: Infiltrator, fully utilized ME
atapad and I played a lot of multiplayer to help insure I had all of the possible ending choices.
Mass Effect is a unique series in that after three games you can get fully immersed in the back story, more so than other titles. Your decisions tend to make a big impact contained within the game in the series you are playing. I do think that bringing in-game decisions from game to game proved to be trivial as no decisions truly impacted the story in any measurable fashion. I am OK with that because although choice is great I appreciate seeing what the developers and writers intended.
So ME:3 ended the way I wanted it to, the Reapers were defeated. I was playing so late I was initially frustrated with the ending only because I didn't notice I was presented with a choice. I remember reading that there were three choices to be made and somehow I missed that part of the in-game presentation showing me to take one of three paths to make my choice. I found myself "heading into the light" and started off with the Synthesis ending, which turned to be not such a bad ending to the story.
I was definitely confused by a few things presented in this ending (and all of the endings actually). Why was the Normandy making a Mass Relay jump to another system? I thought the Normandy was part of the final assault on the Reapers? What truly didn't make sense is how a few of my team members got back on the Normandy. I used James and Javik for my final assault yet somehow James appears exiting the Normandy after it crash lands on whatever planet it landed on. In this ending EDI steps out as well and all of these characters were in London, the only member not present was Joker.
So after watching this ending I did a little bit of searching and I figured out that I totally glanced over the three choices. I went back and played the ending scene again and it make perfect sense, I think I was up to late to think straight because it was painfully obvious that I was given a choice. This time I chose the ending I wanted from the beginning, the utter destruction of the Reapers. I was saddened that EDI had to perish because she had done so much to make this mission successful but I was unwilling to let those murderous bastards go on living any longer. I wasn't as concerned about the Geth since they had been enemies for so long.
I thought it was intriguing that the Catalyst mentioned that Shepard had synthetic parts and I initially wondered if that mean Shepard would perish as well. My thoughts are even though he has some synthetic parts he is not a synthetic life form. The Reapers were fully synthetic as are the Geth and EDI.. with the added bonus that EDI and the Geth fully incorporate Reaper technology. Given this fact it makes perfect sense to me that they would all perish with this ending choice.
I liked this ending much better. What excited me was at the end seeing Shepard breathe but I was immediately curious and optimistic regarding this revelation. It appeared that the Citadel was destroyed in the final blast, how in the world is Shepard breathing?
As I searched for answers I happened upon this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck&feature=player_embedded
First off let me say this video is pure perfection. It makes total sense too and actually gives Bioware even more credit for putting together a fantastic ending if the theory proves to be true. To weave that into the story is awesome writing although you would have to really study the footage, the codex entries and dialog choices to figure this out. As the author of the above video mentions he was able to make this video due to the collaboration of the rest of the Mass Effect fandom and it was not a solitary effort but the way this was put together makes a concrete argument for Shepard's entry into possible indoctrination.
There are few key points I picked up on in the video:
1. No one notices the boy getting into the shuttle. I remember watching this scene and wondering why in the world no one is helping the kid out!
2. The Rachni Queen mentions oily shadows in its conversation with Shepard in ME:1. I didn't understand what that meant during the conversation in the first game and I just gathered it was a jumbled mess of words from a non-native English speaker. Seeing the dreams Shepard was having in ME:3 directly answers what he was seeing. It makes total sense!
3. The Catalyst's use of Blue/Red coloring definitely seems to guide you in the direction of a certain choice. Bioware has groomed us to choose Blue or Red depending on whether or not you choose to be a Paragon or Renegade. Even though I try to be 100% Paragon it is easy to choose a Renegade option. I am sure this tripped up some people but I was set in my personal choice to destroy the Reapers.
There are a lot of things that were not explained that I hope get a proper explanation in the future. Tops in my mind are:
1. Why was Joker and the Normandy using a Mass Relay? I refuse to believe he the other crew members were running away but there is clearly something missing here
2. Was Shepard indoctrinated, at least partially? My guess is no but depending on his choices he could have eventually broken down.
I ended up trying out the third ending, the control ending as well. I didn't care for this one at all because it falls right in line with what the Illusive Man wanted and I wanted him dead almost as bad as I wanted Kai Leng dead (Which BTW his death scene was awesome! As as a side note, I play 100% Paragon but I instinctively hit the renegade choice when he tried to stab me in the back). I called it from the beginning, that the Illusive Man was indoctrinated... why else would he have been so heavily modified with what turned out to be Reaper tech and not listen to reason?
Part of me is not totally disappointed things were left out because hopefully that means more DLC. I truly did not want this to be the final game, I firmly believe with any rich universe if the writers can continue to push out well thought through content they should. Mass Effect is my favorite Sci-fi series of all time so I truly hope it continues past this game.
I am very excited to see if the rumors of Bioware creating more free content to supplement the ending is true or not. At a minimum I would like to see them confirm or deny the indoctrination theory.
Here are some pics of where I had my Galaxy map and were I was with my Total Military and Effective Military strength. I completed Mass Effect: Infiltrator, fully utilized ME
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