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"And from a purely "game" perspective, it feels like you can't "win" the game. No matter what you do, you lose. "
Jinx 01 you are a genius. That is exactly whats wrong with ME3. It is not a movie, a book, or an art gallery. It is a GAME and you cannot beat it. There is no winning at the end of ME3 it is a GAME where you get to the end, and fail to overcome the last challenge.
Jinx 01 you are a genius. That is exactly whats wrong with ME3. It is not a movie, a book, or an art gallery. It is a GAME and you cannot beat it. There is no winning at the end of ME3 it is a GAME where you get to the end, and fail to overcome the last challenge.
Everyone seems to use the term "happy ending" like it's a dirty word that should be reserved only for Asian massage parlors. Well guess what? Maybe the reason there are so many in the gaming medium is because it works better than downer endings. We spent 5 years building up to us destroying the reapers and saving the galaxy-- that's what we were fighting for, and then the game throws us a ridiculous curveball that leaves no-one happy. I know some of you are saying "well you know you're going to win, then what's the point of playing?" to which I say "if you can't win, then what's the point of playing?"
Overcoming adversity is part of what makes games enjoyable, and while downer endings can be integrated well into some games, this pursuit for the "bittersweet ending" has lead to more disappointments than it has successes. Downer endings have become the new cliche, because everyone writing them is convinced that happy endings are a cliche. My vote is that upbeat endings are underrated, and that the reason they're so common is because in a lot of stories (and especially in the medium of games), that's what works, not because people lack the creativity to do anything "edgier."
Mass Effect had a great opportunity to cater to a variety of tastes-- we didn't have to be locked into a "happy" ending or a "downer" or "bittersweet" ending-- the ending could have been whatever was appropriate for how the player was playing. Shepard is a saintly paragon? Let him move back to earth with Ashley, have blue babies with Liara, build a house with Tali on Rannoch, etc. Is your Shepard the most dangerous man in the galaxy, whose sole motivation is his need to finish the mission? Let him lose his life to complete the mission, and finally be at rest from his life of hardship. Is your Shep a conniving manipulator who is OK with using his mission and authority to serve selfish ends on the side? Maybe he becomes a pirate, or a corrupt politician.
There are a lot of directions the ending could potentially go, and sadly, the current ending does not explore anything.
Overcoming adversity is part of what makes games enjoyable, and while downer endings can be integrated well into some games, this pursuit for the "bittersweet ending" has lead to more disappointments than it has successes. Downer endings have become the new cliche, because everyone writing them is convinced that happy endings are a cliche. My vote is that upbeat endings are underrated, and that the reason they're so common is because in a lot of stories (and especially in the medium of games), that's what works, not because people lack the creativity to do anything "edgier."
Mass Effect had a great opportunity to cater to a variety of tastes-- we didn't have to be locked into a "happy" ending or a "downer" or "bittersweet" ending-- the ending could have been whatever was appropriate for how the player was playing. Shepard is a saintly paragon? Let him move back to earth with Ashley, have blue babies with Liara, build a house with Tali on Rannoch, etc. Is your Shepard the most dangerous man in the galaxy, whose sole motivation is his need to finish the mission? Let him lose his life to complete the mission, and finally be at rest from his life of hardship. Is your Shep a conniving manipulator who is OK with using his mission and authority to serve selfish ends on the side? Maybe he becomes a pirate, or a corrupt politician.
There are a lot of directions the ending could potentially go, and sadly, the current ending does not explore anything.
Hey Jim,
Any chance you can do your next Jimquisition in the guise and voice of the psychic woman from Poltergeist? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIJ-Y8OYTEk
-- LordVonPS3.
Any chance you can do your next Jimquisition in the guise and voice of the psychic woman from Poltergeist? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIJ-Y8OYTEk
-- LordVonPS3.
Now I'm suddenly thinking of bioware making a prequel trilogy that fucks up everything the Star Wars prequels did.....
Maybe they just need an Advent Children analogue to make it all better the way the way that Final Fantasy 7 made it up to the fans after going for so long with such a non-ending as that game had?
Bioware already has the character models ready and a voice cast, so they can whip up a 'Find Your Fate Junior' grade piece of interactive fiction to placate the audience already lickety-split.Thinking of lickety-split, they can even throw in a love scene or three with Shepard's love interest(s), maybe even toss in an additional twist while they're at it (then Shepard was a Husk or some such).
Whatever they are going to do, they should do it fast.
Otherwise, just to get people talking about something else, someone(I'm not saying who) might just have to fabricate reports of a game coming out called Conana the banana which is about some female 'barbarianana' who peels herself when the going gets rough, sort of like Veggie Tales for adults.
Bioware already has the character models ready and a voice cast, so they can whip up a 'Find Your Fate Junior' grade piece of interactive fiction to placate the audience already lickety-split.Thinking of lickety-split, they can even throw in a love scene or three with Shepard's love interest(s), maybe even toss in an additional twist while they're at it (then Shepard was a Husk or some such).
Whatever they are going to do, they should do it fast.
Otherwise, just to get people talking about something else, someone(I'm not saying who) might just have to fabricate reports of a game coming out called Conana the banana which is about some female 'barbarianana' who peels herself when the going gets rough, sort of like Veggie Tales for adults.
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Can't understand why destructoid takes such an agressive stance against the ME fans. The day one dlc, the crappy iphone games and multiplayer required for single player progress, the online pass. It's the kind of shit I'd expect destructoid to call bioware on. Instead they are bashing the gamers.
I would wish for Jim Sterling to get a bad case of dick cancer, but it's clear he only has a big gaping twat that takes EA cock all day long.
I would wish for Jim Sterling to get a bad case of dick cancer, but it's clear he only has a big gaping twat that takes EA cock all day long.
I made an account just to post this tidbit that hopefully takes care of both sides of this argument. To start, no, I didn't like the ending. I don't need a happy ending full of butterflies and dance parties with all your best buddies, but I would at least like a coherent finale to a story that I've sunk a lot of time into. Put plainly, nothing about the ending of the game from the time you start the run to the Citadel beam from the time the Stargazer scene ends makes any sense at all. Stark inconsistensies in both narrative and gameplay and gaping-wide holes in the plot mar what was otherwise a very, very good game.
If you haven't seen it yet, I would strong suggest checking out the Indoctrination Theory. In a nutshell, it says that Shepard has been slowly having his mind taken over by Reapers since possibly as far back as the first game and his PTSD and excessive physical and mental trauma is now starting to take its toll in ME3 in the form of nightmares and hallucinations. The "ending" portion of the game, starting at Harbinger's beam attack that actually hits Shepard, is nothing more than the Reapers' final attempts to take control of him while he is at his most vulnerable.
It does sound far-fetched, it does sound ridiculous, until you start to read and watch for yourself. I would call it very convincing grasping at straws if it wasn't supported in the game itself. If your Effective Military Strength is above a certain level and you choose the "Destroy" option (the only option, mind you, that actually defeats the Reapers given your three choices), Shepard is seen taking a breath in an after-credits scene while surrounded by rubble that is very clearly made of concrete and rebar, none of which would be found on the Citadel, but would be plentiful in a heavily-damaged London on Earth. This scene is not seen the other two ending choices and heavily implies that it is, in fact, the "correct" choice to "Take Bath Earth" or "Finish The Fight" or "Fight For the Lost" or whichever sci-fi video game tagline you wish you insert.
Even staunch skeptics should at least read and watch to see the information presented. It certainly makes much more sense than the current endings, and ties up nearly every "Huh?" moment from nearly the entire trilogy. I think you'll be hard-pressed to disagree after being exposed to the evidence.
That all kind of ties back to what was supposed to be my main point: Bioware likely scrambled to change the ending after the leaks those many months back. Hell, they even said as much. But what if, hear me out, what if Bioware made THIS ending just to get something out there and then planned on releasing the REAL ending down the line so they had extra time to tweak and perfect it? Now, I can't comment as to whether or not this is actually the case (or whether or not Bioware/EA would release such a thing for a price point or not), but it would certainly cement Bioware and EA in game storytelling history if this was actually what they had up their sleeve and it would make it memorable to the players who had sunk so much time and effort into their games only to receive only differently-colored light shows and an utterly ruined galactic civilization no matter what they picked. This communication roundabout we're getting now may be for a reason that's not necessarily "PR Face-Saving".
Read/watch the theory thread and videos. See what you think. I would be willing to bet you start to see the endings and indeed the games in a different light.
http://w11.zetaboards.com/Theorycraftng_HUB/topic/7698722/1/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck
If you haven't seen it yet, I would strong suggest checking out the Indoctrination Theory. In a nutshell, it says that Shepard has been slowly having his mind taken over by Reapers since possibly as far back as the first game and his PTSD and excessive physical and mental trauma is now starting to take its toll in ME3 in the form of nightmares and hallucinations. The "ending" portion of the game, starting at Harbinger's beam attack that actually hits Shepard, is nothing more than the Reapers' final attempts to take control of him while he is at his most vulnerable.
It does sound far-fetched, it does sound ridiculous, until you start to read and watch for yourself. I would call it very convincing grasping at straws if it wasn't supported in the game itself. If your Effective Military Strength is above a certain level and you choose the "Destroy" option (the only option, mind you, that actually defeats the Reapers given your three choices), Shepard is seen taking a breath in an after-credits scene while surrounded by rubble that is very clearly made of concrete and rebar, none of which would be found on the Citadel, but would be plentiful in a heavily-damaged London on Earth. This scene is not seen the other two ending choices and heavily implies that it is, in fact, the "correct" choice to "Take Bath Earth" or "Finish The Fight" or "Fight For the Lost" or whichever sci-fi video game tagline you wish you insert.
Even staunch skeptics should at least read and watch to see the information presented. It certainly makes much more sense than the current endings, and ties up nearly every "Huh?" moment from nearly the entire trilogy. I think you'll be hard-pressed to disagree after being exposed to the evidence.
That all kind of ties back to what was supposed to be my main point: Bioware likely scrambled to change the ending after the leaks those many months back. Hell, they even said as much. But what if, hear me out, what if Bioware made THIS ending just to get something out there and then planned on releasing the REAL ending down the line so they had extra time to tweak and perfect it? Now, I can't comment as to whether or not this is actually the case (or whether or not Bioware/EA would release such a thing for a price point or not), but it would certainly cement Bioware and EA in game storytelling history if this was actually what they had up their sleeve and it would make it memorable to the players who had sunk so much time and effort into their games only to receive only differently-colored light shows and an utterly ruined galactic civilization no matter what they picked. This communication roundabout we're getting now may be for a reason that's not necessarily "PR Face-Saving".
Read/watch the theory thread and videos. See what you think. I would be willing to bet you start to see the endings and indeed the games in a different light.
http://w11.zetaboards.com/Theorycraftng_HUB/topic/7698722/1/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck
MA3 is a download stuck at around 99%...you patiently wait for it to finish, but the download never completes. The game to me was great till the end, and bugs aside, that is the only flaw in my eyes. Everything else was acceptable...not perfect, but acceptable. Not looking for a masterpiece, just good entertainment with a proper end.
False advertising is ok! Telling people their choices matter, then giving you a cookie cutter ending so they can sell you dlc is fine! Consumers HAVE no rights!
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