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    Mass Effect 3

    Game » consists of 19 releases. Released Mar 06, 2012

    When Earth begins to fall in an ancient cycle of destruction, Commander Shepard must unite the forces of the galaxy to stop the Reapers in the final chapter of the original Mass Effect trilogy.

    I liked the ending

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    TheHumanDove

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    #51  Edited By TheHumanDove

    People love plot holes and nonsense. Seems legit.

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    lavaman77

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    #52  Edited By lavaman77

    @MoseSSesoM said:

    So did I, but seems alot of people didn't....yep.

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    kermoosh

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    #53  Edited By kermoosh

    if they go with the indoctrination theory then i love it. otherwise i was not pleased, if fact disappointed. i would explain but i'm sure everyone has already heard of the complaints

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    big_jon

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    #54  Edited By big_jon

    Opinions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    pacmanlh

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    #55  Edited By pacmanlh

    The ending was ok, but their lazy explanation for dlc soured my feelings on the end of the game.

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    BlatantNinja23

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    #56  Edited By BlatantNinja23

    I was perfectly fine with it as well...

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    deactivated-5985ee6460d86

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    I felt mad n frustration when I saw the ending n then I replayed my save n saw again n again n again n I started to feel that this is something special something that might have more than what is showing, there is something else here I just couldent pin point it but I just felt that way. I read all the theories a lot of them made sense n I just found the ending fascinating. I understand most of the hate tho I really do I felt the same way actually all those plot holes at the end joker coming out of the ship felt silly but the end conversations with the illusive man , Anderson n yes even the star boy or whatever felt so dream like n the voice actors delivered thier lines perfectly especially the illusive mans line where he says the earth is perfect n where Anderson dies that conversation just felt classic. well I understand the compliants n I dig the theories but I just found the game, the series as something that will be remembered n the ending was something to talk about in my case intresting n fascinating

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    TooSweet

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    #58  Edited By TooSweet

    Just beat the game 2 1/2 hour ago. Watched the synthesis ending. For a moment I was okay with it. Joker trying to outrun the crazy green light and then coming out different in a new world seemed cool. Then I started thinking about the details and felt a bit let down. Aspects of the end seemed okay, but then thinking of why did the AI look like the boy Shepard saw die, why did Shepard have to sacrifice himself at all, and why only those three choices as solutions for the end? The fact that the AI was in charge seemed weak. Does this mean the catalyst was compromised from the get go? I still wonder what happened to everyone else. We saw three people come out of the Normandy, so I'm not going to assume everyone else was in that ship. Garrus and James were with me on the battlefield. I'm guessing they died or were severely hurt. The game was great until the ending bit. While I don't hate the ending I think it could have been handled much better. For future DLC I hope they don't plan to charge for whatever they add to the ending. Tomorrow I'll try for the red ending. Either way I'm relieved to be done.

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    EXTomar

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    #59  Edited By EXTomar

    It is fine you like (or dislike) the ending to Mass Effect 3. Not seeing "what the hooplah is all about" is a bit obtuse.

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    Bourbon_Warrior

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    #60  Edited By Bourbon_Warrior

    @Pinworm45: Shepard got transported up to the Citadel, its only logical Joker and the rest of the team went to get him. The explosion happens Joker trys to escape and they crash land on earth. At what point are they retreating in panic?

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    SeriouslyNow

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    #61  Edited By SeriouslyNow

    I though I liked the ending of Lost too until I watched my GF watching the entire series over a week.  It really clarified just how poorly that show ended when you get to see the whole thing as a conclusive show.

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    Tarsier

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    #62  Edited By Tarsier

    some things are vague at the ending and it led stupid people who watch transformers and need everything to be put in front of their faces to throw fits

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    Jost1

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    #63  Edited By Jost1

    @easthill said:

    I hated the ending, and this guy explains why so much better than I ever could.

    Was actually just about to link to this!

    This ending...and note that I say ending SINGULAR not plural, is one of the worst fictional resolutions to a story I've ever had the misfortune of experiencing. It's like the end of Matrix: Reloaded but somehow making even less sense. It has no resolution whatsoever for the characters, it comes out of nowhere, and it slaps a big "fuck you" on right at the end in the form of a pop up window telling us to buy DLC.

    I would have preferred it if it closed on Anderson and Shepard a few minutes earlier, it would have been sad but in a good way. Their "explanation" for everything is so confoundingly stupid that I refuse to believe they thought about it for more than 5 minutes. I'm sure most of the writing team is embarrassed about how it turned out.

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    EXTomar

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    #64  Edited By EXTomar

    I just have a hard time seeing the team that wrote out the Geth Story would "approve" the ending. That team might not have had the power to make much of a difference but sure it would have been discussed at that level or higher that "Hey...two of our endings don't make sense with the big finale. Isn't that a problem?"

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    MideonNViscera

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    #65  Edited By MideonNViscera

    I didn`t really mind the ending. It had some cool moments. The only problem for me was the lack of clarity. WTF was the Illusive Man even doing there, why did it seem like I was indoctrinated or something, etc. I mean the real problem with the game is the same problem X-Men 3 had, in that it didn`t follow through on a lot of things foreshadowed in the previous 2. In both cases that was due to a change in the creative team, and in both cases the quality of the overall trilogy suffered.

    Basically, I thought it was an acceptable ending to Mass Effect 3, but not to the Mass Effect Trilogy, and I know I did a shitty job at explaining my thoughts.

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    Vorbis

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    #66  Edited By Vorbis

    I was expecting much worse after all this shit storm, I don't think it was bad, just a little "open ended" for an ending to a trilogy. Would of liked to know what happened to everyone, but I guess that's what DLC is for.

    At least it wasn't ME2, seriously, fuck that terminator reaper thing.

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    NakAttack

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    #67  Edited By NakAttack

    I liked it too.

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    GrandMarshal

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    #68  Edited By GrandMarshal

    @Bourbon_Warrior: same here! lets be friends!

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    Commisar123

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    #69  Edited By Commisar123

    I'm glad you did, I did not

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    AlexanderSheen

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    #70  Edited By AlexanderSheen

    Good for you.

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    fusrodah

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    #71  Edited By fusrodah

    It was really far superior to the ending of Mass Effect 2

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    Pinworm45

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    #72  Edited By Pinworm45

    @Bourbon_Warrior said:

    @Vorbis said:

    I was expecting much worse after all this shit storm, I don't think it was bad, just a little "open ended" for an ending to a trilogy. Would of liked to know what happened to everyone, but I guess that's what DLC is for.

    At least it wasn't ME2, seriously, fuck that terminator reaper thing.

    Would you rather a Return of the King ending that goes 40 minutes longer than it should, showing what everyone is doing. Or a ending like this which makes you think about it long after youve finished it.

    The former.

    Also, most people are thinking about is how it makes no sense and is full of plot holes, is terribly written and horrendously executed. That's not a point in it's favor. Obviously Bioware agrees, since they said they're going to do something about the ending.

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    Pinworm45

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    #73  Edited By Pinworm45

    @Bourbon_Warrior said:

    @Pinworm45 said:

    @Bourbon_Warrior said:

    @Vorbis said:

    I was expecting much worse after all this shit storm, I don't think it was bad, just a little "open ended" for an ending to a trilogy. Would of liked to know what happened to everyone, but I guess that's what DLC is for.

    At least it wasn't ME2, seriously, fuck that terminator reaper thing.

    Would you rather a Return of the King ending that goes 40 minutes longer than it should, showing what everyone is doing. Or a ending like this which makes you think about it long after youve finished it.

    The former.

    Also, most people are thinking about is how it makes no sense and is full of plot holes, is terribly written and horrendously executed. That's not a point in it's favor. Obviously Bioware agrees, since they said they're going to do something about the ending.

    Its fine its no happy go lucky everythings fine and dandy type of ending, like every other video game out there. At the end of the day were talking about a video game ending, how we even got to this point shows how far games have come this generation. I have never heard so much debate from a game story and interpretations of what happened. Like Gary Whitta said this actually leaves a good setup for ME4 with all these species stuck on Earth with no way to get back to there planets. This could create a really interesting story for the next game or maybe DLC. And what is terribly written about it, the bit of dialoge between Shepard, Illusive man and Captain Anderson is some of the best dialoge\voice acting i've heard in a game, Martin Sheen is brilliant.

    Who wanted a "happy go lucky everything's fine" ending? I don't think I've seen a single person say that. We wanted an ending that made sense, fit the context of the game, and wasn't riddled with so many plotholes (why was joker fleeing like a traitorous coward in the middle of the most important battle in galactic history? Why did my squadmates magically teleport onto his sheep to also flee when Hacket ordered them to "charge the beam until you're on the citadel or dead"?). We also wanted an ending where our choices mattered, and not an ending that ended with 3 arbitrary choices - which is EXACTLY what they promised the end would not have - and what it had - before release. I don't think anyone expected Shepard to live or for there to not be billions of deaths. No one cares about that.

    Also, it doesn't set up anything at all. All of the fleets are stuck on Earth, and there's no relays so you can't explore the galaxy. At the very best you'll explore up to maybe 3 liveable planets near Sol. Or if you aren't near there, there won't be anything interesting going on because every fleet is there. A game set entirely on Earth sounds really, really boring to me.

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    Sooty

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    #74  Edited By Sooty
    @fusrodah said:

    It was really far superior to the ending of Mass Effect 2

    Nothing about Mass Effect 3 is superior to 2. Nothing.
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    Pinworm45

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    #75  Edited By Pinworm45

    @Bourbon_Warrior said:

    @Pinworm45: Yeah your right. They could of putted more into it, like all the variables in the ME2 suicide mission. But its a good ending to me and a bad one to you. Its like the Sopranos and Lost ending wide open to interpretation, was Shepard indoctrinated at the end of that game? Alot of it points to yes.Was Shepard already dead (which makes alot of sense as he was hit dead on with a reaper beam)? Heaps of opinions. So good to see people taking game stories so seriously.

    As far as I'm concerned, my Shepard is stuck under rubble, barely able to breathe, after finishing his mental battle against Harbinger's Indoctrination.

    However, this 'belief' is tainted by the knowledge that that wasn't their intention, and that it isn't actually true.

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    Bourbon_Warrior

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    #76  Edited By Bourbon_Warrior

    @Pinworm45: It doesnt matter what their intention was (unless they patch it into the game). What matters is what they presented to you with in the 3 games. I really thought about the ending since I finished it and watched the indoctrination theory video. It goes into so much depth that I think someone from bioware let someone know about this. I dont know if its been posted but ill embed it.

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    matiaz_tapia

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    #77  Edited By matiaz_tapia

    @Bourbon_Warrior said:

    Im hoping for some DLC with Joker and the rest of the crew on that planet they crash landed on. I am angry now that Bioware are considering changing it as it is a really good ending IMO.

    ME Gilligan's Island is not going to happen and Bioware is not "changing" the ending. So you can get rid of both your hope and anger at the same time.

    I should add...Your "Hope" for DLC is kinda the same thing people where asking for. Believe it or not. Only in your case, you know is coming in some shape or form. So now you can fantasize and enjoy. Which is great.! Good for you.

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    Bourbon_Warrior

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    #78  Edited By Bourbon_Warrior

    @Matiaz_Tapia: Oh man Gilligans Island ME, days before jumping through the galaxy through Mass Relays now rubbing two sticks together so you can get fire to cook some dead bugs.

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    BrockNRolla

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    #79  Edited By BrockNRolla

    @Bourbon_Warrior said:

    @Pinworm45: It doesnt matter what their intention was (unless they patch it into the game). What matters is what they presented to you with in the 3 games. I really thought about the ending since I finished it and watched the indoctrination theory video. It goes into so much depth that I think someone from bioware let someone know about this. I dont know if its been posted but ill embed it.

    I would love it if it were real, but I doubt it. I don't think we can give them that much credit.

    If it is real, I'll do you one better than "liked" and say I "loved" the ending. (Assuming of course some kind of closure is still coming). But it just won't be so.

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    Pinworm45

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    #80  Edited By Pinworm45

    @Bourbon_Warrior: Even if the Indoctrination ending WAS the real ending (and it's not - it's merely fans filling in the holes and nonsense they put with something that actually does make sense), that means that Earth is still burning and the battle is still waging, and NOTHING was resolved. That's still not satisfactory to me, even if I think the ending is clever (if the Indoctrination theory is true). Therefor the ending is still bad, and additionally, the only way they can resolve that is by continuing it and admitting it's true. So the entire idea that it's open ended is out the window.

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    loppys9

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    #81  Edited By loppys9

    Finished it last night. Spent a lot thinking and reading about it. First the indoctrination theory is not an ending, it's how to justify the lack-luster ending we were given. If it was the ending at one point the final three "choices" would have been different. If you're indoctrinated you don't control your choices. You do what you're told. If there were an indoctrinated ending it would still be bad since the whole series was about Shepard's choices. Not the reapers.

    If you were paragon you had to control, if you were renegade destroy. That's the character of Shepard. The ending shouldn't have been a choice. It should have been based on previous choices. That would have made the ending better. Not good but better.

    A good ending would have been one that wasn't partially finished/entirely money driven. This ending was fine for a game, not a series that could have been the greatest trilogy of games every created. After much thought I find myself frustrated and very sad. I wanted to like this game more than any game ever. Too bad.

    For all game developers out there killing the main first person character doesn't work. Not if the player is invested and is supposed to feel what the character is experiencing. We can't experience death. Stop trying to make us feel something about it. It is a causes a major disconnect with the game. If we knew anything about our own death there wouldn't be so many religions.

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    moondogger

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    #82  Edited By moondogger

    I very much enjoyed the ending.

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    Jimbo

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    #83  Edited By Jimbo
    @loppys9: The choice is supposed to represent whether Shep gives in to the indoctrination or not.  He's not indoctrinated prior to the choice being made (according to the theory at least)
     
    I agree that this wouldn't really be an ending to the franchise. I disagree that killing the protagonist doesn't work - it can work if it's done well (Mafia being a good example).
     
    Hopefully in time we can remember Mass Effect 'for what it was meant to be'.
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    Pinworm45

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    #84  Edited By Pinworm45

    @moondogger said:

    I very much enjoyed the ending.

    Did you like the part where Joker fled the most important battle in galactic history like a traitorous coward, along with your crew mates that magically teleported up there, also fleeing in terror rather than following Hackets order to "charge the beam until you're dead or on the citadel"?

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    Hector

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    #85  Edited By Hector

    So IGN posted up the new ending...haha

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    moondogger

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    #86  Edited By moondogger

    @Pinworm45: Yes.

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    Pinworm45

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    #87  Edited By Pinworm45

    @moondogger said:

    @Pinworm45: Yes.

    Can I ask why?

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    fusrodah

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    #88  Edited By fusrodah

    @Sooty said:

    @fusrodah said:

    It was really far superior to the ending of Mass Effect 2

    Nothing about Mass Effect 3 is superior to 2. Nothing.

    Mordin's genophage cure and Tali's last words to Legion were 2 of the 3 best moments in the entire series. Only the initial conversation with Sovereign on Virmire in the original game comes close.

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    onan

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    #89  Edited By onan

    @StarvingGamer said:

    @FluxWaveZ: At the end of Mass Effect 3 you have the Mass Relay technology interfacing directly with the Crucible to achieve a function. In Arrival you have someone beating on the Mass Relay technology with a giant rock. There are plenty of modern examples of technology that does one thing when used properly and something very destructively different when used improperly.

    Mass Effect has a lot of parallels in sci-fi, but the easiest is probably Stargate. In Stargate/Mass Effect, they also have an incredible mineral named Naquadah / Element Zero (Eezo) that reacts to electrical impulses to generate power / affect gravitational fields, and that material when included in the construction of incredibly complicated devices can allow for instantaneous intergalactic travel. People with this mineral in their bloodstream are able to, with electronic devices designed to enhance the effect, fling people around the room, etc. They also end the 8th season and primary story arc by (spoilers) sending a coded energy pulse throughout the galaxy via the stargates that wipes out an overwhelming synthetic enemy of all life by making modifications to a flawed and incomplete device designed by a prior and more advanced race (who also had to contend with sythentics that attempted to destroy them).

    A LOT of parallels.

    Similarly to the Arrival, when one of the Stargates/Relays is damaged to the point of destruction, they explode with the force of a supernova, or at least create an explosion large enough to destroy a planet.

    In one of the only times a stargate was destroyed by an advanced race to achieve an impossible goal using a very carefully-designed method, it resulted in the formation of an artificial black hole.

    This isn't just Stargate. I can't think of any other example in Sci-fi where the destruction of the delivery mechanism for Space Magic has resulted in anything less than something catastrophic. Is there a tiny way to overload a warp reactor on Star Trek? These things never just fizzle out. Reality! This has a basis in reality. Let's say we want to do something unprecedented with a nuclear reactor. Turn that knob up to 11, generate an uncontrolled reaction releasing impossible amounts of energy, but in the process destroy the reactor. There is no way that turns out well. Even if they don't wipe out an entire system, the citadel is a giant relay that generates incredible amounts of power, essentially being a floating city in space with hundreds of thousands of people living on it, if not millions. the cutscene starts to show THAT blowing up, and it's only a few miles from earth and all of the ships in the allied fleet. The destruction of the Citadel, no matter how contained, would almost certainly destroy Earth and everything orbiting it.

    Also, if it was just burning out the relays instead of destroying them, they wouldn't have started exploding like in the cutscenes, unless they have had explosive charges waiting inside of them for hundreds of thousands of years just waiting for a chance to break the relays harmlessly. Things when "used properly" as you say don't start exploding.

    There's also the issue where yes, sufficiently advanced beings could probably design a way around destroying the relays when passing along the Red/Green/Blue pulse, but that would invalidate the whole "multiple cycles contributed to its creation" aspect of the Crucible when none of them knew the true nature of the Catalyst (or even what exactly they were designing!). Instead they designed a device that reprogrammed a computer they didn't know existed that created an enemy they couldn't figure out how to stop.

    ...Actually, I'll just end this post now because I hadn't even considered that aspect of the endings, and coming to that realization has just makes the final minutes leagues more ridiculous.

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    tescovee

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    #90  Edited By tescovee

    @Bourbon_Warrior: I felt like I was the only one who dug the ending. Sort of reminded me of 'Reservoir Dogs' I really liked ME3 and am enjoying my insane run more so then ME2 (which I never finished)

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    StarvingGamer

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    #91  Edited By StarvingGamer

    @onan: It's crazy future science man, unfathomably more advanced than even the Asari who have been bumping around space for a long ass time. Imagine people from only 200 years ago trying to comprehend some of our modern technology. It's incredibly presumptive to assume that we can reach any sort of conclusion about a technology thousands or even millions of years more advanced than anything we could even begin to imagine.

    Who cares what happens in other sci-fi universes? That shit is all made up. You can't use fake science from one fictional universe to prove your hypothesis about a different fake science in another fictional universe. It would be like me trying to prove that Biotics are made possible because of microscopic bacteria that are in all living things then citing Star Wars as a reference.

    As far as the Crucible is concerned, there could easily have been a race at some point that divined the true natures of the Citadel and the Catalyst and began formulating a plan to stop the Reapers. They started the work and managed to pass down their plans to one of the following cycles, but at that point they were playing a game of scientific telephone. The cycle has been going on for millions of years so that's at least 40 cycles but likely many more. It's easy to imagine that over the course of multiple cycles some of the key details, like what the Crucible does and how it interfaces with the Catalyst, could have been lost.

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    Seppli

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    #92  Edited By Seppli

    @Bourbon_Warrior:

    Obviously the current ending is and always has been a 'faux-ending'. A mindfuck of Orwellian proportions. 'The Truth' is indoctrination. It happend. One day soon, we will snap out of it.

    Just you wait and see!

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    EXTomar

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    #93  Edited By EXTomar

    ...that sounds pretentious.

    Which reminds me that a friend pointed out a fun little tidbit: If this was a popular Japanese game with this ending, people would be quick to ridicule saying that it is another game that ended in nonsense but since its a Western game its serious business. I don't think he is really correct but there are some elements of truth: A highly stylized, highly narrative driven game with an ending that is based upon a lot of pseudo-philosophy instead of closure. We've seen this happen a bunch before.

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    Pinworm45

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    #94  Edited By Pinworm45

    @Bourbon_Warrior: Where did I say that? Are you even reading my replies? Why would I continue to reply when you don't even bother reading my response?

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    onan

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    #95  Edited By onan

    @StarvingGamer said:

    @onan: It's crazy future science man, unfathomably more advanced than even the Asari who have been bumping around space for a long ass time. Imagine people from only 200 years ago trying to comprehend some of our modern technology. It's incredibly presumptive to assume that we can reach any sort of conclusion about a technology thousands or even millions of years more advanced than anything we could even begin to imagine.

    Who cares what happens in other sci-fi universes? That shit is all made up. You can't use fake science from one fictional universe to prove your hypothesis about a different fake science in another fictional universe. It would be like me trying to prove that Biotics are made possible because of microscopic bacteria that are in all living things then citing Star Wars as a reference.

    As far as the Crucible is concerned, there could easily have been a race at some point that divined the true natures of the Citadel and the Catalyst and began formulating a plan to stop the Reapers. They started the work and managed to pass down their plans to one of the following cycles, but at that point they were playing a game of scientific telephone. The cycle has been going on for millions of years so that's at least 40 cycles but likely many more. It's easy to imagine that over the course of multiple cycles some of the key details, like what the Crucible does and how it interfaces with the Catalyst, could have been lost.

    So, unfathomably more complex, yet somehow humanity and a coalition of other races were able to not only complete it, but make adjustments and improvements to it without even knowing what it was supposed to do?

    I'm not using other sci-fi series to justify my viewpoints, I'm saying that it's pretty much an unwritten rule in sci-fi, if your space-magic generator explodes, it tends to be a pretty big explosion. So far, the destruction of the relays has been pretty big, and to be sure, the Catalyst did say your decision would "destroy" the Mass Relays. Not "burn out," not "deactivate." "Destroy." Exact quote: "Releasing the energy of the Crucible will end the cycle, but it will also destroy the mass relays."

    There's something that needs to be done in sci-fi that Mass Effect has been pretty good about, and that's explaining away all of these niggling details made possible by magical future technology. The usual example given is how, on Star Trek, there's usually a throwaway line about why the teleporters won't work in this situation because of "ionic interference in the atmosphere," or some other nonsense. If they don't say that, you're left wondering, "Wait, but why did they have to do all that? Why not just teleport them back to the ship?" The Mass Effect series has been great about this *up until this point* and even in this same game. Take a look at the sequences in the battle of Rannoch where you have to open the bay doors. They mention it would take sustained fire from the Normandy for several hours or days (I forget which) to break through, which is why you have to approach from the surface. Similarly, during the battle to take the Beam in London, the reason you have to hold the line and protect the missiles is because EDI is trying to figure out a firing solution which is much harder due to interference from the beam. Literally right up until the end, they make sure to spell out why things are the way they are. Not so with the ending.

    Plug as many plotholes as you'd like, but it really shouldn't be necessary, not for this series. The ending is just so completely out of step with the existing fiction that the majority of gamers are rejecting it, and a ridiculous number have been moved to actively complain, raise money, send cupcakes, etc.

    Another thing that bothers me now is that the Catalyst claims they're just killing all sufficiently advanced species so they won't cause the death of organics by designing AIs that would eventually rebel and kill organics (which is the mother of all circular logic in and of itself), however by their actions they're speeding along the development of countless species by leaving the citadel and the mass relays. Most knowledge in the galaxy is based off of "found" knowledge that springboards species to new heights beyond what their natural development would be. The most disturbing example here is the Krogan. Without the Salarians "uplifting" them, the Krogan would just be in conflict on their own planet, oblivious to the rest of the galaxy. Even now, most of the Krogan reject technology, preferring to live in squalor on their little radioactive dustbowl of a planet. They don't even have their own spaceflight capability. Instead, because a few hitched a ride with the Salarians and became mercenaries, the species is now a target for the Reapers, and being used to create Brutes.

    Seriously, this could have been avoided with a few throwaway lines. Shepard could have said "Can you listen to yourself for a moment? You're insane. All of these eons by yourself have resulted in some illogical loop you're stuck in. That can't have been your original purpose because it makes NO SENSE." and then the Catalyst could have said "We don't understand, but no matter. You have 3 choices..." Suddenly the Reapers go back to being terrifying illogical killing machines (although way less terrifying because now they're officially just full of damaged AI routines).

    Even with enough closure, all of the bad writing would have been fine. All that would have been needed would have been Shepard's love interest (or without one, whoever he spent the most time with) to somehow make it to the beam in a second push, and help him to his feet when it came time to open the arms and get levitated up to the platform. Unable to walk and leaning on their shoulder, he'd still be the only one the Catalyst acknowledges and has to take all of the final actions himself, but they'd have a final, tearful goodbye right before the final (fatal) action. That person could discuss the impact Shepard has had on the galaxy over the course of these games, and each one a fairly unique speech, resulting in the multiple ending permutations everyone was expecting. Emotional closure, even if his/her presence made things even more illogical. That goes a long way toward spackling over plotholes with emotional resonance, that's for sure.

    Plus, it wouldn't interfere with indoctrination theory, it would probably enhance it. If they wanted to put out a second ending after most people were semi-satisfied with the first ending based on ID, it would be the ultimate coup in storytelling, forcing players everywhere to accept an unreliable narrator, as others have said, and then getting surprised by a more awesome ending. As it stands, Bioware seems to just be backpedaling.

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    pyrodactyl

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    #96  Edited By pyrodactyl

    @Pinworm45 said:

    @Bourbon_Warrior: Where did I say that? Are you even reading my replies? Why would I continue to reply when you don't even bother reading my response?

    the thing with people who like the ending (see: all goddamn reviewers and editors on videogames web sites http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/3/26/2898253/mass-effect-3-ending-talk) is that they ignore half the stuff that actually happens at the end of the game.

    They gloss over the plot holes, the inconsistencies, the weird out of character stuff and forget that this ending isn't about any core Mass Effect theme...

    You can like the ending, you can dislike it, you can argue that Bioware shouldn't change it since it's their game but you can't say it's a good ending.

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    pyrodactyl

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    #97  Edited By pyrodactyl

    @Bourbon_Warrior: about your first post: the ending of mass effect 3 isn't like lost or sopranos since those endings were consistent with previous theme of the series. Also, ME3 didn't leave anything to interpretation. Plot holes don't count as ''left to interpretation''.

    Further explanation:

    The obvious objective of the writers with the ending was making the player speculate as to what happens next. To do that, you have to think real hard on what happened at the end and speculate from there. When you do that you quickly realize that there is several major plot holes in the ending cinematic. Characters aren't where they're suppose to be, make stupid out of character decisions. Previously established facts about the universe are ignored(mass relay explosion).

    Not to mention the fact that it completely misses the point of the whole series. Mass effect has always been about uniting a bunch of different people together towards a common goal. All these people bringing something different and interesting to the table. Their difference was what made them interesting. In the end, the best/hardest to unlock, choice is about making everyone the same and signing koumbaya together.

    Sure the ending is weird and full of religious analogies. That's great. But it doesn't excuse the total lack of coherent narrative or the fact that they completely abandon core mass effect themes

    So can you give me 1 more reason as to why you love the ending?

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    Bourbon_Warrior

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    #98  Edited By Bourbon_Warrior

    @pyrodactyl said:

    @Bourbon_Warrior: about your first post: the ending of mass effect 3 isn't like lost or sopranos since those endings were consistent with previous theme of the series. Also, they didn't leave anything to interpretation. Plot holes don't count as ''left to interpretation''.

    Further explanation:

    The obvious objective of the writers with the ending was making the player speculate as to what happens next. To do that, you have to think real hard on what happened at the end and speculate from there. When you do that you quickly realize that there is several major plot holes in the ending cinematic. Characters aren't where they're suppose to be, make stupid out of character decisions. Previously established facts about the universe are ignored(mass relay explosion).

    Not to mention the fact that it completely misses the point of the whole series. Mass effect has always been about uniting a bunch of different people together towards a common goal. All these people bringing something different and interesting to the table. Their difference was what made them interesting. In the end, the best/hardest to unlock, choice is about making everyone the same and signing koumbaya together.

    Sure the ending is weird and full of religious analogies. That's great. But it doesn't excuse the total lack of coherent narrative or the fact that they completely abandon core mass effect themes

    So can you give me 1 more reason as to why you love the ending?

    Well you obviously havent seen the Sopranos ending as it is all left up to the viewer. Dont care liked the ending big space battle, fighting through London, the epic scene between Anderson, Illusive Man and Shepard and his talk with The Catalyst, you dont like it thats cool but dont quote someone elses opinion to prove my opinion wrong. I loved ME from the start of 1 to the end credits of 3.

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    pyrodactyl

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    #99  Edited By pyrodactyl

    @Bourbon_Warrior: small syntax mistake in my post, it's fixed now. And I was just quoting one of my previous post so I didn't have to write the whole thing again.

    Yeah, all those things are great (you could argue agains the god child talk but I'm tired and it's one of the least offensivelly bad moment of the last 5 to 10 minutes anyway so I wont) but what about the stuff everyone is actually talking about when they say mass effect 3's ending: the last choice en the ending cinematics?

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    Bourbon_Warrior

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    #100  Edited By Bourbon_Warrior

    @pyrodactyl: like what? Im not talking about the multiple endings im talking about my ending. I jumped into the beam by the way.

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