I've been hearing a lot of hate to how ME3 ends for days, but never dug in dig until I experienced it for myself. I finally did beat it and honestly, I didn't think the ending (or at least the one I picked) was so bad.

Now I didn't think it was the greatest ending ever and I wasn't like standing up and applauding it either. I guess I had no real expectations as to how it would end. I figured I'd at least stop the Reapers, which I did. So at the basic level the ending delivered for me. I also hear everyone saying that the choices were completely thrown away at the end. While none of them seemed to really surface in the final assault, I didn't feel it was lacking as a lot of those choices would have little relevance to a large scale military strike. I dealt with the conclusion to issues that have been around since ME1, and made those conclusions to gain support for the final push against the Reapers. The fact I wasn't reminded about them all as I fought hordes of husks didn't really bother me.

I guess I'm mostly confused on how so very many are demanding a rewrite and basically saying the game was garbage just because of the last ten or so minutes. I for one had a great time playing through the 30+ hours. Lots of great character moments, acknowledgement of where I started and what I'd been through (Or rather my Shepard but you get the idea). Plus there were a lot of epic, heartfelt and sheer badass moments sprinkled through the game. So given all that content I'm just baffled how so many can claim it for terrible because a small portion, granted a key plot moment none the less, wasn't what they expected.

(( 3-19-2012: After giving the endings more thought and cooling off after the whole "I beat it" feeling I'm starting to side more with those who are upset over this conclusion. I'm still not enraged as the fun experience up to the final moment was awesome but I am more disappointed now at the real lack of, and confusing closure. It is a pity it had to end like this but I'll still regard the series highly as few other games have gotten me as invested as Mass Effect. ))

I'm not a huge fan of the ending. I felt like they were rushed, they didn't give enough time to explain what was going on, and the conclusion left most players feeling like they wanted more. I for one would've loved to have seen what happened to the Krogan, Quarians/Geth and all the other races in a post-ME3 world. We were never given that, and that's a shame.

The ending themselves, eh, they are ok. Again, they feel rushed, and if you look at them critically, you'll realize a lot of it makes very little sense.

I'm not demanding my money back or anything.

You are not alone.

I'm not enraged but feel a bit let down. The ending was just confusing and unsatisfying. There were parts of it that didn't make any sense to me (the landing on planet part) and I felt like my decisions throughout the 3 games didn't play into it as much as I would have liked. That said I don't think Bioware should rewrite the ending. As someone said in a different thread "I can't play ME3 for the first time again" ... this is the ending of ME3 and the trilogie for me now.

And yeah, people should remember that the game was great up to that last part. ME3 had me tear up at least twice and laugh several times. And as much as I love games thats a rare thing for me to happen.

 While none of them seemed to really surface in the final assault, I didn't feel it was lacking as a lot of those choices would have little relevance to a large scale military strike. 

Have you been on GIantbomb lately? It's what people are still talking about. In any case, I'm with you.

Plenty of people aren't completely enraged by the ending.

It's just, these well-adjusted human beings don't often feel the need to rant and rave about whether they liked it. There are also many that are disappointed with the ending who realize that there are far bigger things to be angry about in the world, and they can accept a game as it is. Anger is a lot bigger motivator for posting on forums and writing long manifestos. Modern gamers often fault companies for DLC, saying that we should be paying for complete products which just stand on their own without the need for add-ons, but then, when we get something which the developer considers a complete package with no plans for revisionist DLC, people freak out and demand that they use the same avenues for providing evil DLC that changes or adds-on to a game to change the base product which they bought.

People should judge Mass Effect 3 as it is. As a complete game. If they don't like it, that's fine, and if they do like it, that's great. It should be judged on what it is, not just on what people expected it to be or what they now want it to be. The developer shouldn't have its arm twisted to change the story in their own game. If there are mechanical glitches, those should be fixed, but if the story just isn't to your liking, the story just isn't to your liking.

Many are with you in thinking it was fine, and you're not odd to feel that way. I'm glad you enjoyed the game.

I agree, because Sci-Fi.

The ME3 ending pales in comparison to the crazy mindfuck that was the ending of the Dune saga.

Honestly I thought the ending was out of character for the series. The entire series has been pretty straight forward and then they decide to go all sort of meta and philosophical in the last one, not to mention the concept of chaos and order (which was never really explained all that well IMO) was only really brought up in the later half of the game (unless I'm mistaken) and that to me seems cheap.

Honestly though here is my biggest gripe with the endings, lack of closure. For a series that prided itself on building character relationships it seems stupid that they kind of just abandon that in the end of a trilogy for an artsy pull out. What the fuck? My Shepard had all these friendships and romances and shit, i want to see how people got on after I was gone. I wanted to see my true impact in the galaxy (which was kind of the fucking point of the game, right?)

My other beef is that for having 3 endings, they're all kind of the same. I mean sure they're different, but nah, not really. Again elaboration could have aided this. Show me the consequences of my choice. Rather than the old the old "Use your imagination..." cop out (which honestly is an old writers trick to get out of something when you've written yourself into a corner in terms of creativity) I would have loved to see the true effects of what I did.

I'm just bummed that I spend 5 years building my Shep, crafting his universe, forging relationships, and then I'm left with this kind of artsy ending. I mean I fancy myself somewhat of a writer, so I appreciate what they attempted. That said, I think writing in games isn't close to what you can get away in TV, movies, or books. For this game you've had some people invest over 5 years and hundreds of hours of playing. They've become engrossed in the series, I don't think that you can get away with thought pondering cliff hanger ending in a game. I think when you ask an audience to put that much effort and time into something they're going to want real closure. You've made your audience work for the story in a game, they've also forged their own tale in some cases (definitely in this one) at that point it's more on the developer to stay consistent with the style being used than to try and serve up some sort of thinker of an ending. Provide closure to everything the gamer has deemed important in his universe, if there are greater issues that over hang the game world, perhaps allow those to carry on and let them ponder that. But in terms of characters and the world? I guess I feel like games should always provide a firm ending.

@allworkandlowpay said:

I'm not a huge fan of the ending. I felt like they were rushed, they didn't give enough time to explain what was going on, and the conclusion left most players feeling like they wanted more. I for one would've loved to have seen what happened to the Krogan, Quarians/Geth and all the other races in a post-ME3 world. We were never given that, and that's a shame.

The ending themselves, eh, they are ok. Again, they feel rushed, and if you look at them critically, you'll realize a lot of it makes very little sense.

I'm not demanding my money back or anything.

This is all they needed?

The ending was fine.

When I finished it, I knew the ending were pretty bad, but it was not till I read this how baffling awful these were. Really, just go look at that, at the very least gloss over it. Nothing makes any sense, and as someone who really loved this trilogy I'm really disappointed in the way it all wrapped up.

I liked the ending....

YA i said it! I thought the ending was good.

also fuck it. its a god damn video game. People need to get on with their lives. Like not trying to be an asshole but like its been a week and a half. I'm tired of people complaining and I'm sure some of you agree with me.

@AndrewB said:

@allworkandlowpay said:

I'm not a huge fan of the ending. I felt like they were rushed, they didn't give enough time to explain what was going on, and the conclusion left most players feeling like they wanted more. I for one would've loved to have seen what happened to the Krogan, Quarians/Geth and all the other races in a post-ME3 world. We were never given that, and that's a shame.

The ending themselves, eh, they are ok. Again, they feel rushed, and if you look at them critically, you'll realize a lot of it makes very little sense.

I'm not demanding my money back or anything.

This is all they needed?

For me? yeah. Just about. Maybe something a bit more cinematic. But yeah. The ending itself was fine, disregarding minor plot holes and such.

I thought the ending was amazing! Couldn't have been better. Extremely grateful just to have video game's that look and play like ME3. Plus that finale was just so damn well done. Going to play through again with 1 and 2 and all DLC really soon.

My only criticism would be about the similarities it had with MGS4. But that game was great two and it probably just influenced the devs. Figured all the angry posts were trolls just attacking Mass Effect fan boys. Feel bad for fans that didn't like that ending. I loved it. It's real sci-fi.

Dark Sci-Fi movies and books are always filled with deep conclusions that encourage inner thought. Like what happened to Neo, was Rick Deckard a robot. I would have been disappointed if Shepard sat on a beach and took is dew rag off.

@Tyashki said:

You are not alone.

I am here with you.

People usually have to really love or hate something to yell at people about it over the internet, and since there's really nobody coming out saying the ending was amazing (which it certainly was not), you're only hearing from the many that absolutely hate it. With a game like this, it's understandable. I didn't think the ending was great, and I thought the Mass Effect universe deserved better, but I just bitched internally the night I finished it then moved on.

@Tearhead said:

People usually have to really love or hate something to yell at people about it over the internet, and since there's really nobody coming out saying the ending was amazing (which it certainly was not), you're only hearing from the many that absolutely hate it. With a game like this, it's understandable. I didn't think the ending was great, and I thought the Mass Effect universe deserved better, but I just bitched internally the night I finished it then moved on.

To be fair though, with something so hyped up, no ending would've been satisfying anyways

I thought the endings Synthesis and Control were fitting end for the trilogy. I was satisfied. I was sad because it... ended. *tears up* Goodbye Femshep <3

P.S. - Destroy with Shepard alive is NOT the best ending. IT SUCKS IMO! Just think about what you are doing.

I'm not enraged - I'm disappointed, I'm a little shocked that the ending was the best they could do, but I'm not enraged. I'm not demanding a new ending, I'm not petitioning for DLC that changes the ending, I haven't filed reports with the goddamn FTC over "false-advertising" as some of the crazy fans are asking.

I consider myself a fan of Mass Effect - I played through the first game 6 times. I played through the 2nd one 5 and a half times. I'm struggling to bring myself to play through the third one even a second time. No, the ending wasn't the worst in the world - I don't necessarily mind a "down-beat" ending either. It's just so.... short. Lacking in quality and quantity. It just sorta... ends and you never find out anything more about what happens to all the people and races and species. It also kinda came out of left-field.

Still, ME3 was a good game. I had fun playing it - not nearly as much fun as I had with ME2, but I still had fun and that's what counts. Yes, even if the last 20 minutes was pretty bad, it doesn't erase the fact that the preceding 29.5 hours were pretty awesome.

The Wachowskis could have written a better ending to this trilogy than Mac Walters.

I really liked the idea of the ending, the center one aka good(?) ending.

I just think the exocution was a bit crappy, star child in particular was awful and didnt fit with the universe. If it was a Prothean remnent maybe? The could've played back to the original ME when shep got lifted by the beacon, finally getting up close to the catalyst could have awoken something planted in his/her mind to explain the choices. Thats still dumb, but I would have bought that more than some ghost kid.

They also should have spent more money on the end sequence in general, cut together more shots of specific/important armies fighting just to make your choices worthwhile. In particular, i'd like to see those characters fighting hard, but inevitably being overwhelmed and then lead to shep making th hard choice.

I am glad they didnt go with the micheal bay, america fuck yeah, win by splosion endind though. Which i'm sure lots of people would prefer.

The ending was horrible. I was disappointed just because the rest of the game was great. All my choices getting funelled into a "SuperAI-child" telling me that "this does this and that does that and then you die" and my Shep just saying "MHMMMM" and accepting whatever the evil AI-dude just told him. The whole sequence after you sit down with Anderson is just not written like it was a part of the Mass Effect I am familiar with. Not like I wanted a regular "He Goes home and lives happily ever after with Ashley"-ending, I would have liked it, but I dont demand it. Something in the styles of Baldurs Gate or Fallout would have done it for me, some rundown on what your impact on various people and places actually was. Instead I get a long incomprehensible cinematic in various color followed by the fact that Earth is pretty much screwed and my crew deserted me while I was down on the planet fighting my ass off, and ended up smiling to eachother on some alien planet, either with or without circuits running over their bodies... how anyone can find this an acceptable ending for a otherwise superb game like Mass Effect is really beyond me.

The only thing that really annoyed me was the fact every option destroyed the mass relays, instead of just synthesis like the 'catalyst' said. I guess Bioware had to make the ME universe totally un-returnable, that's not to say there won't be DLC, but there definitely won't be a major title as a true sequel to the game. Maybe some spin-offs, but not a real sequel.

@Jason_Bourne said:

When I finished it, I knew the ending were pretty bad, but it was not till I read this how baffling awful these were. Really, just go look at that, at the very least gloss over it. Nothing makes any sense, and as someone who really loved this trilogy I'm really disappointed in the way it all wrapped up.

Quoting for emphasis.

I can only assume those who aren't enraged/disappointed either didn't particularly care about the story in the first place, or just haven't really thought about it. The fact your crew ups and abandons you to the reapers is the absolute most disgraceful thing they could have done, even playing as a renegade Shepard, where you're a complete jerk to everyone, can you honestly believe the rest of the crew would just say "fuck it!" and leave you for dead in the middle of the battle? People aren't angry because it wasn't a happy ending or because it didn't end the way they wanted it to, but because nothing about it makes sense.

I wouldn't use the word "enraged" so much as "confused." And not necessarily confused as to what happened in the game, but confused as to why Bioware, a company that has been so good at telling clear, logical stories, allowed the most important moment of the franchise to also be the most incomprehensible one.

The story kicked ass until the last 20 minutes. Then, it got really abs@WVUEers said:

Honestly I thought the ending was out of character for the series. The entire series has been pretty straight forward and then they decide to go all sort of meta and philosophical in the last one, not to mention the concept of chaos and order (which was never really explained all that well IMO) was only really brought up in the later half of the game (unless I'm mistaken) and that to me seems cheap.

Honestly though here is my biggest gripe with the endings, lack of closure. For a series that prided itself on building character relationships it seems stupid that they kind of just abandon that in the end of a trilogy for an artsy pull out. What the fuck? My Shepard had all these friendships and romances and shit, i want to see how people got on after I was gone. I wanted to see my true impact in the galaxy (which was kind of the fucking point of the game, right?)

My other beef is that for having 3 endings, they're all kind of the same. I mean sure they're different, but nah, not really. Again elaboration could have aided this. Show me the consequences of my choice. Rather than the old the old "Use your imagination..." cop out (which honestly is an old writers trick to get out of something when you've written yourself into a corner in terms of creativity) I would have loved to see the true effects of what I did.

I'm just bummed that I spend 5 years building my Shep, crafting his universe, forging relationships, and then I'm left with this kind of artsy ending. I mean I fancy myself somewhat of a writer, so I appreciate what they attempted. That said, I think writing in games isn't close to what you can get away in TV, movies, or books. For this game you've had some people invest over 5 years and hundreds of hours of playing. They've become engrossed in the series, I don't think that you can get away with thought pondering cliff hanger ending in a game. I think when you ask an audience to put that much effort and time into something they're going to want real closure. You've made your audience work for the story in a game, they've also forged their own tale in some cases (definitely in this one) at that point it's more on the developer to stay consistent with the style being used than to try and serve up some sort of thinker of an ending. Provide closure to everything the gamer has deemed important in his universe, if there are greater issues that over hang the game world, perhaps allow those to carry on and let them ponder that. But in terms of characters and the world? I guess I feel like games should always provide a firm ending.

YES YES YES THIS.

It's pretty typical for Sci-fi novels to turn philosophical and abstract towards the end (ENDER'S GAME), and I tend to like that, but what ME needed was a heroic, straightforward ending were bitterness came because you lost many good people, and not because of some high-concept left turn that disregarded everything else.

Closure is indeed the key word here. I got none of it. I carefully picked Tali and Garrus, my favorite characters, for the final battle because I wanted to see them take part in the ultimate moments of the story. So I was very bitter when they suddenly disappear (die? probably, I dunno) in the sprint to the laser-portal, and neither them nor any of my other squad members play any role at all, save for a short wordless cutscene at the end.

I'm fine with the ending. I'm not sure why people are bothered so much by it, but given the scope of the game there is no way they could have ended that game in a way that would have made everyone happy. Did I like the way things got wrapped up? Not really. But I can't think of many things that had as much anticipation ending in a satisfactory way. Our own expectations ruined the ability for it to be concluded satisfactorily

I'm with you bro!

I liked the ending.

For me: extremely disappointed, not enraged. Endings sucked; (remote) possibility that it was some sort of weird business decision sucks more; prospect that this was the result of a complete creative bankruptcy (as mentioned by someone earlier - "use your imagination...") towards the end of the process is perhaps the most disappointing aspect.

The people who hated the ending are the ones talking about it. People (like me) who are fine with the ending seem quieter about what they think instead of crying like entitled drama queens. Not saying that every one that disliked the ending is an entitled prick, but they are the most prominent ones with that opinion.

Not angry just severely disappointed. Not because it's a bleak ending (although a nice ending would be appreciated) but mainly because it doesn't give any resolution or explanation to anything. Granted there's a lot of choices that were made throughout the three games so writing an ending would be a little tricky but they should at least pan out the endings Fallout style.

Do we really need 100 different threads for this stuff?

It isn't nearly as bad as people are making it out to be, but it was definitely disappointing since the series has had very good story up until the end. I also would have liked to know what happened to all the characters I cared about in the aftermath of the ending.

I'm certainly not best pleased with the ending but I'm not about to file a complaint or anything. Some people are taking this whole thing a bit too far.

No you're not alone, since I thought the ending was pretty "meh". It was bad, but I rarely get enraged by games these days.

Some people will be fine with it. Because of how the ending doesn't mesh tonally, factually or in any way shape or form with the game, and makes no sense when you stop to analyse for more than a second, but on face value is pretty and 'sad' it works like this: the more invested you are in the universe, the more you will hate the ending. Casual Mass Effect players will probably shrug it off and go 'that was odd but fine' but the more invested you are, the deeper your love for the series, universe and characters runs, the stronger the negative reaction will be.

@Swoxx said:

Do we really need 100 different threads for this stuff?

Yes.

I think ME1 was the only game in the series with an almost perfectly paced, scripted and written story. The main story in ME2 was pretty weak, but the character-stories made up for it. The ME3 story was up-in-the-air until the ending, which defines it. Sadly, the ending was no good.

Funnily, the first game's writer, Drew Karpyshyn, left Bioware halfway through 2. Allegedly, his original ending focused on Dark Energy, which would eventually consume the galaxy, which the Reapers were trying to stop. In that ending, Shepard would be given a choice between helping the reapers stop the dark energy or destroying them, trusting the current galactic civilization to find a way to stop the dark energy with the little time they had left. That sounds way better than ME3.

I was with you...until I tried another ending, just to see. It was disappointing :(

I know people are taking it too far by asking to change it....But in the other hand, personally I'm not sure I would buy another bioware game. This is not out of spite, I simply find myself saying loosing all interest.

Funny how 10 minutes can do that. Before that I was already planning a paragon run or playing the multiplayer some more to see if I can get the thing to 100%...after that I realized it kinda does't matter. But that's video games I suppose.

I've calmed down a bit from when I first beat it. I still don't like it, I'm just not as angry as I was before.

I'm just sad because its a rushed ending that feels out of place. An awesome franchise like Mass Effect deserves better.

I am just disappointed that after 5 years of this epic space trilogy, that the only difference among the endings is green/blue/red.

It is cheap as shit.

The endings were terrible, had massive plot holes, and had all the variety of adjusting the tint of your television. They can do better.

It may not be "creative" but I honestly think if the three endings had instead been the following 5 that not only would no one be complaining but people would be satisfied.

Ending A). Shepard succeeds, the crucible turns on and stops all of the Reapers. No one from his party dies, we get to see how they all live out the rest of their lives.

Ending B). Shepard succeeds, but certain members of his party die, we get to see how the world plays out without them and with those who lived.

Ending C) Shepard succeeds, but he dies. Again we see the aftermath.

Ending D). Shepard dies, and fails. We see the aftermath of that.

Ending E). Shepard joins the Illusive man upon realizing he was "right".

Or something along those lines. I think each of those endings provides an angle that the player maybe was steering their character. Are they straight forward and uncreative? Yes, but that is what makes sense in this world, that is what is the natural course of the story would be. I hate the notion that an ending needs to be a wild left turn. An ending should only be a left turn if you're building your story in that manner, Mass Effect was a straight up story, it deserves closure and a strong conclusion. The endings of the previous 2 games delivered in terms of what was expected while still maintaining a huge cliff hanger aspect. I think the only expectation the player had at this point was a similar ending with actual finality to it. It's kind of like if I was watching Star Wars, and I saw A New Hope and was like "Fuck yes". Then I watched Empire and was so fucking hyped. Then I'm watching Jedi and it's pretty good until about the 85th minute when it suddenly becomes a David Cronenberg movie. I mean seriously though, you've fucking set a tone for 2 and 3/4's games, why the fuck change that at the very end? People wanted more of the same, they wanted to see what they knew was coming, this is why they've bought your game. We want to see Darth die and the Jedi prevail, we don't want to see Luke become suddenly aware that he has an erotic attraction to car crashes and then be left with the stupid metaphor that is.

(Wow that analogy went off on a tangent rather quickly.)

@Ketchupp said:

The ending was fine.

I absolutely loved the ending...until you meet the Catalyst.

@Dany said:

I am just disappointed that after 5 years of this epic space trilogy, that the only difference among the endings is green/blue/red.

It is cheap as shit.

Exactly.

I dont mind the color swaps as much as: 
you commit genocide on the citadel even on "best ending"
mass relays explode for no reason, and the way they explode doesnt match with the Arrival DLC where they should take out entire solar systems
Normandy and your crew are fleeing like chickenshits when 5mins ago everyone was on earth 
what is the importance of the planet the crew lands on, is this BSG season 4 finale basically?
space child gibberish
entire game dedicated to saving earth, condition of earth, or just London, shown in 5 second cinematic 
what is the aftermath on the races, NPCs, fleets, after your ending 
 
Im sure a lot of these get answered in DLC later, but thats not the point

The ending was fine

I'm not enraged, just to take the words from a certain someone - "Mass Effect deserves better".

I didn't like the endings because I like Mass Effect, and they seem to set it up so that there can't be another game. Like Bioware intentionally didn't want to make any more games called Mass Effect ever. Blowing up the mass relays, different endings in which either all synthetics are destroyed or all organics and synthetics are some ill-explained mishmash. Things they would either have to undo or pick as the true canon ending.