Judging by the achievements, I'm probably a little over halfway done with the single player campaign of Mass Effect 3 and all I can say is, man, the ending must really suck. I'm not there yet, I've more or less not had the ending spoiled, but for the amount of hate syrup being poured on the Mass Effect 3 pancake (with vitriol butter) the ending has got to just be the worst thing ever in the history of story telling to offset how much fun it's been thus far.

There are some odd animation glitches, sure, but I just played a bit where you are dropped off on a planet directly into a Normandy (the beach, not the ship) style battle that was straight up awesome. I like the improved shooting, Shepard seems to handle better, and I really, honestly, truly love the multiplayer. It's not the most original thing in the world, sure, but fighting off the horde in the science fictional lens-flared future is great. I'm having a blast with it. It even cribs some good things from Borderlands and Diablo that trigger my ever present loot lust. I've got numbers, sure, but I could always have *better* numbers. That's why they're numbers.

I liked the crew you ran with better in ME2, I think Edie's hair looks stupid in 3, some aspects of the development feel rushed, and sometimes Shepard's head is twisted 90 degrees away from the person I think he's supposed to be looking at, but I reckon he gets shy. There are problems, but so far I love it to death.

I can't WAIT to get so foot stompingly angry at the ending. I bet I'll hate it so much it'll be a contender for game of the year. Hell, I bet I'll love it because I'm perverse like that. I bet I even can guess what it is.

So excited.

Judging by the achievements, I'm probably a little over halfway done with the single player campaign of Mass Effect 3 and all I can say is, man, the ending must really suck. I'm not there yet, I've more or less not had the ending spoiled, but for the amount of hate syrup being poured on the Mass Effect 3 pancake (with vitriol butter) the ending has got to just be the worst thing ever in the history of story telling to offset how much fun it's been thus far.

There are some odd animation glitches, sure, but I just played a bit where you are dropped off on a planet directly into a Normandy (the beach, not the ship) style battle that was straight up awesome. I like the improved shooting, Shepard seems to handle better, and I really, honestly, truly love the multiplayer. It's not the most original thing in the world, sure, but fighting off the horde in the science fictional lens-flared future is great. I'm having a blast with it. It even cribs some good things from Borderlands and Diablo that trigger my ever present loot lust. I've got numbers, sure, but I could always have *better* numbers. That's why they're numbers.

I liked the crew you ran with better in ME2, I think Edie's hair looks stupid in 3, some aspects of the development feel rushed, and sometimes Shepard's head is twisted 90 degrees away from the person I think he's supposed to be looking at, but I reckon he gets shy. There are problems, but so far I love it to death.

I can't WAIT to get so foot stompingly angry at the ending. I bet I'll hate it so much it'll be a contender for game of the year. Hell, I bet I'll love it because I'm perverse like that. I bet I even can guess what it is.

So excited.

I had the same feeling as I was working my way through the game. I was expecting to be blindsided with something horrible that would make me want to throw my controller or something.

But what happened was I got there, stuff happened, and I just went ".......huh."

It was a slow realization of what I had seen as I tried to make sense of it all afterwards, and that was when I was convinced that it was kinda unfulfilling. I never the joined the mob with my pitchfork, though. I just let it be, because even if the DLC coming up in Summer is awesome and really helps with a few of the problems people had, my first play through with my Shepard is done. You can't recreate the feeling of being really immersed in a story a second time.

Really? I thought we where done with these.

Obligatory Comment; go add this to the 10K other ME 3 ending threads.

@punisherkaos said:

Really? I thought we where done with these.

Naa. It's like VD's. You might keep it under control but you still get outbreaks every once in a while.

I'm actually thankful for the community making the ending out to be so terrible. When I finally did complete the game, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be...

@Alphazero: Well definitely keep playing, there are still a lot of amazing moments to be had.

But yeah, I think we are all a little tired of talking about the ending, even if exactly what you are saying is something new and interesting. The subject has pretty much been exhausted.

I thought it was consistently bad far before the ending. That being said the tuchanka mission was one of the best experiences I have ever had gaming. The way things played out for me was moving and meaningful. But as great as that was I thought just about every other part of the game was kinda bad.

I always keep forgetting this game came out until someone makes a topic about the ending.

I beat the game the day before yesterday. After the ending, I was initially just confused. Then, once I read a bit about what people believe it all meant, I really enjoyed it. Then I did some research on the variations between all the different endings and I was pretty bummed out. Meh. I enjoyed the time I spent with it and the other games. It's not often that I spend 150 hours on a video game series, good or bad.

@punisherkaos said:

Really? I thought we where done with these.

Blog posts? No, they still exist.

It's not a horrible ending, and if you're not satisfied then read about the Indoctrination Theory and it'll all be fine.

"Astoundingly bad" isn't the right phrase. The ending of Mass Effect 3 just doesn't work because it seems contradictory and strangely presented which leads to confusion instead of "awe".

The ending is Bioware flippin' you the bird... kind of.

I just finished it last week, and the ending didn't bother me because I felt like most of the ME3 story was absurd anyway. The problem with "choose your own dialogue/make your own choices" type of games is if you're paragon all the way, then Shepard is pretty much god-like and saves the world several times over even before he was officially supposed to save the world.

Sure, in most games, the main character is usually a one-man army anyway, but it felt like Shepard was never in trouble the entire game; it seemed like everything was easily solved by himself and his crew. The dream-sequences were terrible, too, and wasted on a character that was never that fleshed-out to begin with. Dude's an avatar.

Now I just want pancakes.

Yup. I had the same feeling right up until the last hour, and then...

I think "astoundingly bad" is an accurate description.

Just to chime in as well.. I felt exactly the same. Pretty much loved every aspect of the game and assumed the people making a fuss online were the typical trolls who complain about everything, but no, the ending is far worse than you can probably imagine. It doesn't just ruin the game, it pretty much destroyed any interest I ever had in the series.

I'm just mad that the game was obviously rushed, but they didn't do shit to cover that up. That ending has it the most - if they had the time and cash to elaborate on it, it would've been bearable. Still bad, but probably it would make some twisted sense.

And that's probably the biggest problem with that ending, it's just awfully lazy in every way. Including the pathetic final mission. They hyped the shit out of that assault and it's simply terrible.

haha. I haven't been on the site much the past few weeks. This thread makes me feel like I never left.

Ohhh just you wait ... Im not an ultra hater of it ... but I get pissed off at all the possibilities that it could´ve had .... heck even a series of epilogues cards would´ve been nice but no , the had to make it "memorable" sigh -_-

@WinterSnowblind said:

Just to chime in as well.. I felt exactly the same. Pretty much loved every aspect of the game and assumed the people making a fuss online were the typical trolls who complain about everything, but no, the ending is far worse than you can probably imagine. It doesn't just ruin the game, it pretty much destroyed any interest I ever had in the series.

So excited. The more people describe it that more I think I'll like it, but then I watch movies like Birdemic on purpose.

@morrelloman said:

haha. I haven't been on the site much the past few weeks. This thread makes me feel like I never left.

The perfect forum is one in which nothing is said, but those that know, know.

From the reactions on the internet, I was expecting the ending to reach through the screen and pound my gentleman's area with a mallet.

Maybe it was the negative hype, but the ending never shocked me. It was more like, "Huh...... well, that's that."

Honestly, people complaining about the "palette swap" ending need to go back and watch the endings for the first two games. The ending cinematics for those were pretty much exactly the same too. The differences were in what happened on the way to the ending. Which is pretty much the same story with ME 3.

@WinterSnowblind said:

Just to chime in as well.. I felt exactly the same. Pretty much loved every aspect of the game and assumed the people making a fuss online were the typical trolls who complain about everything, but no, the ending is far worse than you can probably imagine. It doesn't just ruin the game, it pretty much destroyed any interest I ever had in the series.

Pretty much this. If you don't mumble "What. the. fuck..?" at least once during the ending, I'd be really surprised. The ending itself happens so quickly, you don't have time to hate it, it's done quick like pulling off a bandaid, and that's coming off of what's probably one of the most overwhelming sequences in the series so the adrenaline is still pumping and you're still a bit dazed and confused and unable to think straight. After the credits run (and there's a post credit scene, FYI), within 10 minutes to 2-3 hours, the fridge logic will kick in. Then you'll think, "nah, I must have missed something. Let's check with the internet," and then you'll realize it was actually worse than what you were thinking and you'll be introduced to even more issues you have with it that you didn't realize you had with it because you were so focused on the more glaring issues.

I think the moral here is to enjoy the journey, not the destination.

@punisherkaos said:

Really? I thought we where done with these.

In 10 years, someone, somewhere will create another thread focused at the ME3 ending...we'll never be done with 'em. Never.

It's not amazing, but chances are you'll just say "ah, all right" and then pop a different game in.

Well, that's exactly what I did anyway. Finished the game, played some Skyrim, then played ME3's multiplayer.

@onan said:

I think the moral here is to enjoy the journey, not the destination.

I tried holding on to that. But the more I thinked about it, the more the ending retroactively sullied my fond memories through my Mass Effect playthrough.

It's like looking back at your cool uncle who would take you fishing and teach you how to hunt only to realize he actually molested you on those trips

/offensive and tasteless hyperbole

Honestly, people complaining about the "palette swap" ending need to go back and watch the endings for the first two games. The ending cinematics for those were pretty much exactly the same too. The differences were in what happened on the way to the ending. Which is pretty much the same story with ME 3.

Sure, but BioWare themselves admitted that they were happy it's the final game in a trilogy, because they can go crazy with it. They didn't. It's essentially a case of false advertising and bad project direction - the focus of the game was supposed to be its climax, the assault on Earth with all the forces you have, etc. Instead, the game peaks at Tuchanka, after which it's painfully obvious they ran out of cash/time or only realized then that they're not going to make that assault memorable, unlike the Suicide Mission.

That's the biggest problem, they couldn't make a good ending, so they didn't even try to hide it.

I was more confused about the ending than anything else after reading some stuff I end up feeling ok with it , it wasn't great but I didn't feel like it was the biggest disgrace agaisnt gamers or many other things people call it and even if the ending does turn out to be "astoundingly bad" the rest of the game is really good at least to me it was the ending didn't ruin the game for me , it might help that I didn't have any insane expectations about the game it was almost everything that I thought it would be.

Just Going to leave this here.

You're in for a real treat.

@TeflonBilly said:

@onan said:

I think the moral here is to enjoy the journey, not the destination.

I tried holding on to that. But the more I thinked about it, the more the ending retroactively sullied my fond memories through my Mass Effect playthrough.

It's like looking back at your cool uncle who would take you fishing and teach you how to hunt only to realize he actually molested you on those trips

/offensive and tasteless hyperbole

Yeah, so you can whine to your therapist and be all butthurt about it, or you can acknowledge it happened and at least appreciate the fact that you now know how to fish. It's all a matter of what kind of perspective you're willing to let yourself have.

That said, I probably wouldn't go fishing with your uncle again, just like I have zero interest in restarting from the first game like I had every intention of doing up until the last few moments.

I still loved the game overall, even if the ending was not what I expected/liked.

@onan: He he, I liked that. ;)

But you're right, I have no interest at all in playing my two other playthroughs from ME1 & 2 because of the ending

@cmpLtNOOb said:

I had the same feeling as I was working my way through the game. I was expecting to be blindsided with something horrible that would make me want to throw my controller or something.

But what happened was I got there, stuff happened, and I just went ".......huh."

It was a slow realization of what I had seen as I tried to make sense of it all afterwards, and that was when I was convinced that it was kinda unfulfilling. I never the joined the mob with my pitchfork, though. I just let it be, because even if the DLC coming up in Summer is awesome and really helps with a few of the problems people had, my first play through with my Shepard is done. You can't recreate the feeling of being really immersed in a story a second time.

My thoughts exactly, I had the same reaction to the ending - not really angry but just slightly disappointed.

To be fair, my criticisms of the endings does not mean I busted out the pitchfork either. I do however get confused when someone does pop up and go "Wow that totally made sense!" which makes it look like I hate it much more.

I have always looked at the discussion like this as you need to identify what went right before you can look at what went wrong. There are plenty of things that went right which makes when it go wrong such a disaster.

@Pacmanlh: I watched the youtube vid that explained it, and thought that fit amazingly well. And it still pissed me off a little. For that to be true, which it think it is, it means...

No, it's not that bad.

It's dumb. But the internet's response and reaction to it were also stupid. So it cancels out.  
 
Mass Effect 3 is a great game. 

It's terrible. As a die hard fan who ENJOYED Dragon Age II, it's terrible. Take that for what it's worth. By the way, I love everything about it before the last few minutes.

Watched the ending before I even bought the game and it ended up being even worse than I thought I knew it was.

The more you think about it, or try to get it to fit in with the rest of the story, the less sense it makes. So that kinda sucks. As does the lack of variety.

In another way I'm happy they ended the way they did, because I just don't want them to make more Mass Effect games. I almost wonder if they threw in that last part so they wouldn't have to and could just put the series to rest. It won't rest, naturally, but at like the Harry Potter ending it makes it more difficult to try and add more to the story.

@WinterSnowblind said:

Just to chime in as well.. I felt exactly the same. Pretty much loved every aspect of the game and assumed the people making a fuss online were the typical trolls who complain about everything, but no, the ending is far worse than you can probably imagine. It doesn't just ruin the game, it pretty much destroyed any interest I ever had in the series.

This.

The ending to Mass Effect 3 made me dislike that universe and lose all interest that I had build up playing countless hours of ME1 and 2.

It's basically Bioware saying: "Hey, you like Mass Effect huh? Well fuck you"

@Firethorne I'm still mad about it too but it is what it is. Not all great games have great endings and hopefully that dlc won't make it worse.

It's pretty bad. I've managed to come to terms with it, and don't feel an overpowering and crushing dissapointment every time I think about it any more, but I can't enjoy it on any level. The last few minutes feel completely divorced from the rest of it.

The ending is pretty bad but I never felt any anger because of it...

It really left me with a "meh" feeling and I kinda lost interest in any continuation of the story.

Though at the same time it does leave an interesting starting point for a Mass Effect 4 (or whatever that would be called) with a large force of different species trapped in the Sol system.

It's terrible. As a die hard fan who ENJOYED Dragon Age II, it's terrible.