I just finished watching from Cerberus all the way to the Destroy ending. I didn't care for the choice (was watching the stream and I would have gone synthesis), but all the stuff that happened before you decide the color was a great improvement in regards to filling in plot holes and giving more explanations. What do you guys say?

From what I saw on a stream I really think Bioware's lost it.

Did rainbows explode from Shepard's nipples as a disco ball lowered from the ceiling and a crowd of dancing Elcor emerged from the shadows? If not, worst ending of all time.

Guess we probably watched the same stream. They've done a decent job at plugging holes, although it's not very hard when you have thousands of people pointing them out to you :P The ending(s) seems fine for what they are, but they still don't address the main issue of the end of the game being completely disjointed from the rest of the game. It's hard to tell when you just come back to the game and play the ending again after this long but it doesn't improve on the overall story of the game, all it does is appease the fans so they will be ready to get hyped again for whatever next release we'll see from the franchise.

Preferred the ambiguity of the original ending

I'll just repost what I said in another thread: 

 

It basically, if kind of in a not entirely qualitative way, patched up every story problem people had. It outright denied the indoctrination theory. I believe the Illusive Man at the end conversation said one other thing, and awkwardly, for some very odd reason, I didn't get to choose between a red or blue choice which would have saved Anderson, but no, Illusive Man shoots him. I could have shot him but I had to press the right trigger which I didn't want to do, but then he was going to shoot me after so I'd have to reload the save, so I shot him.

That was a different thing that I didn't have to have happen on my last play through’s since I could choose blue, and that was disappointing. The change happened right when you started running down and dodging the Harbinger fire, the next cutscene was new, it showed Liara and Garrus running behind Shepard, there's an explosion and they all get behind some cover as Liara is somewhat hurt, Shepard calls down for Joker for a pick up, that's where it shows how they got on the Normandy, Liara says "I'm fine" as in, I can still fight Shepard, but Shepard won't have it, and the Normandy leaves with Garrus and Liara on it.

It then takes control in cutscene format of what you would have done; running down the rest of the area and it shows the Normandy fly off just over the right of Shepard. And then the Mauder Shields thing happens. Once you get into the ship, it actually shows Shepard get throw up into it and down onto the ground instead of him waking up from it like it's in his thoughts and been out for a while. Some stuff, though I can't be sure, seems different. I think some of the stuff was different, like the Shadow Broker resemblance, Shepard never even mentions it which I believe he did before, and it kind of moved differently.

Once you get to the Illusive man conversation, the one different thing is that at the beginning he says "I can take control of you" or something. After that conversation, Shepard goes up on the elevator and talks to the child, and there's a bit more choices you can have so you get more information about what will happen when you choose the stuff, and I have a feeling they were different. Anyways, I for the first time out of three playthrough’s take the synthesis choice, Shepard dies, but everyone else is saved and the crucible worked as Hackett then mentions.

Humans become more advanced; I think they become part synthetic, while the synthetics understand the organics. There's a bit more to the endings to showing exactly what's happened to them. The green stuff goes all over, a husk jumps on a human, but then they both become infected (for the better), and the thing jumps off of the human and it is then good. Then it shows a cutscene where Ashley's standing behind Joker and says they have to go, and Joker says "dammit" 'cause he couldn't save Shepard, and they fly off. Then it's to the cutscene where it's on the planet the Normandy crash lands on.

And then it goes to this slide show-like cutscene where it's EDI talking about what the thing did. The Reapers and the rest of the synthetics are helping rebuild what they destroyed (showing Earth and the Reapers walking around in the background), and she also talks about how organics have all-knowing knowledge and they've basically become everything they wanted to be. Humans have green eyes and some type of algorithmic green glow around their bodies. Next it shows the wall of people that died, on the Normandy and the crew, Liara is holding a plaque for Shepard, and she puts it on the wall.

She turns around, and hugs EDI, then it finally shows the Normandy take off from that planet and go somewhere (presumably home). And that was it, the credits roll, and the ending message isn't the same, it basically just says thanks for playing devoted fans, hope you'll join us on the next adventure for Mass Effect. Alright, so this is a wall of fucking text and I'm sure people will hate me for it, but for now, I'm keeping it. I'll change it later, but right now I'm going to take a shower. I don't really know whether to think the ending was good or bad, but it was something else.

Personally, I thought the ending was fine.

Edit - Well, it was a big wall that I just fixed. Anyways, it's still kind of hurried up and so I'm sorry about that.

So they didn't just turn it into Indoctrination Theory being true? That's a little disappointing, but expected. I'll have to try to watch some of this stuff, even though I probably won't like it much better based on what little I've read about it.

@mutha3 said:

I'll just repost what I said in another thread:

I watched the new Destroy and Reject endings on a stream:

Destroy is hilarious. Seriously. The cheesy FO3 slides aside, they pretty much backtracked on all of the consequences the Destroy ending was supposed to have. The galaxy is fine, rebuilds without a cinch, there is no genocide of an entire species and the ORGANICVSSYNTHETIC BS no longer matters.

Reject would have been my preferred ending if Destroy actually did what it was supposed to do. I like the concept of resisting the reapers' BS, allowing future generations to live outside of their control......buuuuuuttt they retconned Destroy, so there's no reason not to.

A big "meh" all-around. I didn't even care going in and I still don't now. Had Reject been more expanded/emotionally engaging and included in the original game, I would have been satisfied. Too little, too late.

I'm just going to quote this because it's easier than typing out my nearly identical thoughts. Still interested in seeing the other two endings, though only for completeness's sake as I doubt either of them will be worth the wait.

EDIT: Ok, I watched the other two endings. Control is like destroy in like Destroy in that it erases the consequences of the decision, which sucks, but the the original consequences weren't as harsh to begin with, so I guess it sucks less. And Synthesis is still a bunch of nonsense space magic, so it's still dumb, but that comes at no surprise. Seriously, I've gotten over my personal disappointment with ME3, but I could still write a fucking essay on how much sense that ending doesn't make on every level.

Overall, I think they did alright with what they were working with, but what they were working with was so misguided on a fundamental level, it's a bit of a lost cause. I'll give them credit for filling in some blanks and making it easier to swallow, but it doesn't help the game's broad narrative problems.

Just watched the "Reject" ending on youtube and loved it. I am actually tempted to go back and experience myself.

Bioware provided closure and a proper send off to the series. If people are bitching about the themes of Mass Effect (unity, co-operation, optimism, etc) shining through in the extended cut endings, then whatever. For me, this is the end that Mass Effect deserved. A proper farewell.

Bioware made good, in my opinion.

Edit: I stayed true to my original choice and went with the Destroy ending. Goddamn right I fucking ended those Reaper fucks.

Also, Shepard lives like the true pimp of the galaxy that he is. =D

@MooseyMcMan: The end originally felt like it was missing scenes left and right, and with this dlc, Bioware essentially added in those missing scenes, making for a much smoother and more cohesive experience. There is also additional dialogue and scenes towards the end, and a bunch more of exposition from Starchild, (who's actually the collective of the Reapers), that just makes everything make sense.

This is as good as it's going to get in terms of an ending, and I'm pretty happy with it.

@Napalm said:

@MooseyMcMan: The end originally felt like it was missing scenes left and right, and with this dlc, Bioware essentially added in those missing scenes, making for a much smoother and more cohesive experience. There is also additional dialogue and scenes towards the end, and a bunch more of exposition from Starchild, (who's actually the collective of the Reapers), that just makes everything make sense.

This is as good as it's going to get in terms of an ending, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Yes.

Reaper Spacegod Sheperd! I think Bioware has read to many Fanfics

yea just watched the synthesis ending on youtube, looks like they done good,

here are the endings if anyone else is interested,

personally was disappointed in the reject ending, that could have been the real fan pleaser, but that one turned out to be the real fuck you ending

I think there better, not amazing, but better and I really enjoying seeing my ending.

Wait, a Reject ending?

I thought Bioware specifically said that there wouldn't be any new endings.

i can't help but feel, that these are even more re-hashier as there's more pictures that are rehashed. though, i'm not mad, just disappointed that bioware hasn't really pushed the boat out.

it literally is just an extended cut as everything you see in it was implied from the originals.

oh and i did the reject ending too; weird.

I just finished watching all 4 endings and I am happy with my original choice of Synthesis. Civilization survives and gets an upgrade via the green powers ability to alter the structure of DNA into a synthetic hybrid. The Reapers share the knowledge of the cultures that came before it and the galaxy flourishes.

The Refuse ending was pretty interesting since people complained there was no ending that said "fuck you" to the choices provided. However, I don't believe people can complain that the only result from that action would be the loss of the current cycle. There was simply no way to win. The Liara VI helping the next cycle finally win was a great touch and the new Stargazer proved that all their efforts were not in vain.

@Hailinel: It's not really an ending so much as a "You didn't choose to pick any of our options, so everyone dies."

Which is fine. They wrote themselves into a corner that basically required a dues ex machina. Mass Effect always stumbled on the big story moments; it was the little ones that made it enjoyable to me.

@NTM said:

It basically, if kind of in a not entirely qualitative way, patched up every story problem people had. It outright denied the indoctrination theory. I believe the Illusive Man at the end conversation said one other thing, and awkwardly, for some very odd reason, I didn't get to choose between a red or blue choice which would have saved Anderson, but no, Illusive Man shoots him. I could have shot him but I had to press the right trigger which I didn't want to do, but then he was going to shoot me after so I'd have to reload the save, so I shot him.

I was playing the day before yesterday (pre-patch obviously) and had that happen to me too, even though on that same save I got him to suicide. Could be I just made different dialogue choices on the way, but I'm pretty damn sure I maxed out my Paragon before even doing Cerberus HQ. Weird.

Are the changes only at the beacon onwards, or is there any reason to play from the Cerberus HQ assault?

The Reject ending looks great. Don't like these options? Oki doke. The cycle continues and everyone dies slow. Good job Commander!

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

@Hailinel: It's not really an ending so much as a "You didn't choose to pick any of our options, so everyone dies."

Which is fine. They wrote themselves into a corner that basically required a dues ex machina. Mass Effect always stumbled on the big story moments; it was the little ones that made it enjoyable to me.

Everyone dies because they had everything riding on the Crucible, which you choose not to use. However, the next cycle wins so that's your resolution. This cycle was doomed without the Crucible.

ghost kid harbinger

I write good

Edit: Also is Shepard's death really so important? Is this death so different to that of DragonBall Z where they just wish people back. Rebuild Shepard again if you really miss him/her. Mass Effect 2 opening death removes any sting from a narrative death

@mrfluke: Wow, that first one. That was pretty cool, I didn't even know the Stargazer could be different. I personally went with synthesis. I'll watch the other three now.

They explain what's going on a little better, which is good.

But they don't address the problem most had with the ending to begin with, in that it feels like one big disjointed deus ex machina.

Edit: Reject is pretty awesome. That really should have been there to begin with, it would have undoubtedly been my choice, even if it doesn't exactly go well.

@golguin: Right, that's what I'm saying. In a way it's kind of a fuck you to the people wanting another option but it's a necessary and realistic one because of the way they've constructed the fiction. For them to not use some kind of dues ex machina and make it feel earned, they would've needed something towards the beginning of the series that built towards defeating the Reapers which could've been the main crux of the entire series (eg, the destroying of the Ring in Lord of the Rings is built up over the entire series as the way to destroy Sauron). Since we had no such thing in the series, we were going to need something a la the Crucible to save things last minute. I like that the ending holds to the established fiction even if I still find the endings themselves a little wonky. A victory without the Crucible just isn't really possible without overhauling the games themselves.

Was really hoping this would all put an end to the Indoctrination Theory, though.

I feel more at ease with this one to be honest. I know what happened with my crew. I know what happened with the rest of the species and the whole fleet on earth business. It was a tad cheesy, but still. The since of relief from saving the galaxy and actually KNOWING what happened to everyone else feels great.

I think I can rest a little easier with these endings. There not the greatest by any stretch but it was enough to make me smile.

Well, it's not worse, I'll give 'em that. They patch up many of the continuity errors, if not in the most elegant of ways, and also soften some of the carelessly nihilistic stuff like the relays exploding into smithereens.

For those who rejected the very concept of the endings, like myself, it's not really a home run, but then it was never going to be. At least I have the option to shoot the fucking kid and die on my own terms. That's the real best ending.

I like the new endings, but I never really had that much of a problem with the old ones anyway.

Having finished it and watched the available endings, I'd say they shored up some of the plot holes that existed. In a sense, they get overly verbose and leave almost nothing to the imagination now. They explicitly explain answers to questions people had previously and even changed certain things such as the Mass Effect relays no longer being completely destroyed.

People are still going to think what they want and many will have their opinions unchanged regardless of what the dlc delivered, but in all it wasn't bad for a free dlc. I like most of the changes they made and I feel like most people would be happy with the destroy ending now (and the fact that certain things can be seen with the possible single player only ems rating).

@Whitestripes09 said:

I feel more at ease with this one to be honest. I know what happened with my crew. I know what happened with the rest of the species and the whole fleet on earth business. It was a tad cheesy, but still. The since of relief from saving the galaxy and actually KNOWING what happened to everyone else feels great.

Yea, I couldn't have put it better myself. Actually seeing (even if it was just some still shots) what my sacrifice did for the galaxy was far better than the original ending, and makes it even more puzzling as to why they left this kind of closure out of the original.

I just don't even care anymore

@NTM said:

@Napalm said:

@MooseyMcMan: The end originally felt like it was missing scenes left and right, and with this dlc, Bioware essentially added in those missing scenes, making for a much smoother and more cohesive experience. There is also additional dialogue and scenes towards the end, and a bunch more of exposition from Starchild, (who's actually the collective of the Reapers), that just makes everything make sense.

This is as good as it's going to get in terms of an ending, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Yes.

I'll play through it this afternoon. Then I'll probably complain about it regardless.

Yuck....

@TheHT: No, it's awkward, I did everything the same. And seeing as the DLC was supposed to make it even easier to get the best ending (I think?) I don't see how this could have happened. I was thinking "this better not be because I didn't play multiplayer." I explained in what I wrote where the changes happen. It's right during the part where you and your squad are running down dodging the reapers fire. Also, awkward thing that I'm not sure anyone else noticed, but part of the theory people had was that the reaper purposely didn't shoot at Shepard during that, and if you notice when you actually play it, the reaper shoots right at him. It seems to me Bioware made it perfectly clear that the indoctrination theory isn't correct, which I found weird. I mean, the original ending just seems much worse than it actually was now.

@WinterSnowblind said:

They explain what's going on a little better, which is good.

But they don't address the problem most had with the ending to begin with, in that it feels like one big disjointed deus ex machina.

Edit: Reject is pretty awesome. That really should have been there to begin with, it would have undoubtedly been my choice, even if it doesn't exactly go well.

Yeah. After watching that ending, it's a shame that it wasn't an option from the start. Is it a "good" ending? Well, not for the player's characters or anyone else in that cycle. But being able to tell the Catalyst to go fuck himself and his deus ex machina would have definitely improved things vastly.

@NTM said:

@TheHT: No, it's awkward, I did everything the same. And seeing as the DLC was supposed to make it even easier to get the best ending (I think?) I don't see how this could have happened. I was thinking "this better not be because I didn't play multiplayer." I explained in what I wrote where the changes happen. It's right during the part where you and your squad are running down dodging the reapers fire. Also, awkward thing that I'm not sure anyone else noticed, but part of the theory people had was that the reaper purposely didn't shoot at Shepard during that, and if you notice when you actually play it, the reaper shoots right at him. It seems to me Bioware made it perfectly clear that the indoctrination theory isn't correct, which I found weird. I mean, the original ending just seems much worse than it actually was now.

well fuck, it might totally have to do with multiplayer then, since i went into the save way back when with 100% and the other day was back at 50% and couldn't talk him down.

@MooseyMcMan said:

@NTM said:

@Napalm said:

@MooseyMcMan: The end originally felt like it was missing scenes left and right, and with this dlc, Bioware essentially added in those missing scenes, making for a much smoother and more cohesive experience. There is also additional dialogue and scenes towards the end, and a bunch more of exposition from Starchild, (who's actually the collective of the Reapers), that just makes everything make sense.

This is as good as it's going to get in terms of an ending, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Yes.

I'll play through it this afternoon. Then I'll probably complain about it regardless.

The only thing to really complain about is how it all just seems kind of tacked on. I mean, it gets the job done perfectly, and that's fantastic, but it still feels tacked on. Also, everything is cleared up, so you pretty much won't have any questions, and if you like questions, too bad. Also, before, when it wasn't quite as clear what would happen, it seemed like some choices were worse than others, but this just makes it seem like no matter what, all of them are good with a few exceptions, like Synthetics dying, or the all out bad ending where life dies. My only problem with it was just the fact that some of it felt tacked on and how it kind of bothers me what Bioware was thinking, but otherwise I'm happy with it.

@TheHT: I don't know why that would happen though for me. I mean, I originally could choose on both of my initial playthrough's and it made him suicide, but not this time. I have a feeling it's multiplayer, but I find that really ironic. Plus, I got an achievement Master and Commander which I didn't before, which is where you get all of the assets, and that just weird-ed me out. Both the first and second time I went through the game, I had the best you can have without playing single player, this was supposed to make it easier... yeah, just ironic. I guess in the end it doesn't really matter though 'cause he was going to die anyways.

The new endings are huge improvements in my opinion. I can be perfectly happy with the new Control or Destroy endings. Synthesis is still a bit weird for my tastes, but it doesn't matter. I feel like Mass Effect has been given back to me. I can't wait to do another playthrough!

@Yalbit said:

@Whitestripes09 said:

I feel more at ease with this one to be honest. I know what happened with my crew. I know what happened with the rest of the species and the whole fleet on earth business. It was a tad cheesy, but still. The since of relief from saving the galaxy and actually KNOWING what happened to everyone else feels great.

Yea, I couldn't have put it better myself. Actually seeing (even if it was just some still shots) what my sacrifice did for the galaxy was far better than the original ending, and makes it even more puzzling as to why they left this kind of closure out of the original.

I can take a guess

EA: "Hey, Bioware, think you can get this game out by the end of the quarter?"

Bioware: "Well, we don't really know, we'd like to do some more work especially filling out the ending."

EA: "Get out by the end of the quarter, we'll fix whatever screws up later."

Bioware: "But ummm-"

EA: "NOW GODDAMNIT!"

Bioware: "Yes, sir."

I'm happy with the control ending, out of all of them I hope it is the one they choose to be canon. Synthesis still seems really creepy and destroy is pointless.

The new refusal ending was interesting and I wouldn't be disappointed if this was the one they chose to be canon.

Overall thought still completely bummed out that your decisions throughout the series seem to have 0 impact other than small 20 second scenes scattered throughout the endings. Fallout 3 style.

hey can i get help, can anyone tell me where to start to view the entire new cinematics. do i start where the ending is about to start or where I fight the illusive mans right hand man?

You can start on Earth. There is stuff before the beam. All starting before the Cerberus Base does is allow you to get the best endings with 3100 EMS rather than 5000 (no multiplayer required!).

@KittenTactics: thxs much appreciated

Watching the extended Synthesis ending makes that choice extra weird, opposed to just ambiguous and kinda weird. So everybody in the known galaxy is totally cool with being transformed against their will into weird techno-organic hybrids? Alright then let's go with that...

Better, but not by much. There was no way they could have pleased everyone - and frankly, the new endings appear to be more of an attempt to bow and scrape to fan demands.... so it just feels condescending. I appreciate that they tried, and I was no fan of the original endings.... but this almost feels like a parent telling a child "No, no, it's okay, those relays weren't that important and they can be rebuilt - so wipe those tears away!". I know it wasn't their intention, but it does feel condescending. But this is what the fans wanted, more or less.

Better, but not that much better. It feels..... artificial.

Hmm... they're not worse, but they're not much better. However, they do finally provide closer, so I guess that's a big plus.