Topic: Mass Effect 3

[The GrimSqueaker]

I just say, I have been loving it so far. Seen how some of my decisions in the past two games may have been short term "yay" but now "oh no" as well as seeing long term effects.

Question -  I told Odina to go beslubber himself in the first game yet he's the Human Councilor in the third. Bug or did I miss something when drunk playing? 

[Lachdonin]

Question -  I told Odina to go beslubber himself in the first game yet he's the Human Councilor in the third. Bug or did I miss something when drunk playing? 

It's my impression that Anderson passes the job to Odina in order to deal with the whole Reaper invasion thing. Anderson is a soldier first, and it just seems like something he'd do, so i didn't get too suspicious.

All of that said, i'm loving the game too. Overall, i'd say it combines the best from both the first and second games. Though i miss my hacking...

[The GrimSqueaker]

It's my impression that Anderson passes the job to Odina in order to deal with the whole Reaper invasion thing.

Impression as in pure opinion or was  there an actual statement? I can see how it happened yet I also know I deliberately went other ways.

[DeadDuck1015]

As I recall, someone mentions it at some point that Anderson did actually pass the job along. I forget where, but I seem to recall hearing it from someone.

[The GrimSqueaker]

Well, that's that then. Picked the one ending I thought fit my Shep the best (answer below in small print as a spoiler warning). Of the two remaining the more destructive option didn't seem to fit and the remaining choice I was contemplating so will probably go for in a replay. Accomplished the majority of the feel good goals greatly aided by what I consider to have been the correct choices in the past two games. Which now means trying to play the previous two games wrong to get the different plot options. We shall see. Need to do a FemShep so that'll help making the replays different enough to be novel rather than tedious.





Command. "Get the HELL out of my galaxy!"

[Kaminari]

It's my impression that Anderson passes the job to Odina in order to deal with the whole Reaper invasion thing.

Impression as in pure opinion or was  there an actual statement? I can see how it happened yet I also know I deliberately went other ways.

Actual statement. Please see the Codex entries for Udina and Anderson.
Luckily I have a whole bunch of ME1/2 characters and decisions to choose from. I am looking forward to the different outcomes.

[Lachdonin]

Actual statement. Please see the Codex entries for Udina and Anderson.
Luckily I have a whole bunch of ME1/2 characters and decisions to choose from. I am looking forward to the different outcomes.

I'm hearing alot of chatter on the interwebs that the 'different outcomes' is entirely an illusion, and the game ends in pretty much the same way regardless of what choices you made previously.

[The GrimSqueaker]

Has anyone tried going through the game with the default start rather than loading a ME/ME2 character? That would be at least a beginning experiment to see if prior choices make any real difference. I'd presume that the three ending options are going to stay the same no matter what (same as ME2 with either keeping/destroying the Collector base) but it's how you get there that'll be significantly different. From reading through TVTropes there's a whole series of encounters I avoided purely based on long ago decisions. For example - recruiting the Suspiciously Similar Substitute Rachni Queen supposedly goes pear shaped if you let the original die in ME.

[DeadDuck1015]

I haven't beat it more than once, but I can tell you that there absolutely are more than one outcome (sixteen variations in total, from what I've heard), talking about it with my friends, all of whom have played the entire series, at this point, we're not even playing the same game anymore. Most of the complaints I've heard so far make it seem like folks are kind of grasping for something to complain about, sorta nit-picky.

[Fealhach]

I've just finished it now and the end was pretty grim despite having the green war assets bar maxed out even when on 50% readiness (thanks temperamental internet). I stuck 99% to the Paragon options and completed everyone's story, so I can't imagine getting a better outcome storywise.

I think I chose the lesser of three evils, the S******** option, but think after all the effort we'd been through there could have been a happy-ever-after. 

[The GrimSqueaker]

The extended cut DLC further explaining the endings is due out for download on June 26. It's decently large at 1.9 gigs so there should be some new content in there to see.

[Rakuall]

Most of the complaints I've heard so far make it seem like folks are kind of grasping for something to complain about, sorta nit-picky.

(Spoilers Linked.) Not so Nit-Picky. Most of the complaints aren't about the quality of the ending, it's a great ending, it just makes relatively little sense in context. It's almost the ending of another story, so much canon is ignored. Most of the complainers I've seen were fine with the bleakness, the just were disappointed with how it was handled.
Personally, the ending I'd have like to see was one where no matter what you had done, the reapers won. The current civilization is wiped out. But, depending on your EMS, [spoiler]

Liara's Dataase

[/spoiler] is either useless to the next cycle, varying through to it providing them with enough intelligence on Reapers for a near-total victory. Sort of a 'You can't always win, but you can make a difference' moral.

[Andro Ist Keine Schwedischen]

The extended cut DLC further explaining the endings is due out for download on June 26. It's decently large at 1.9 gigs so there should be some new content in there to see.

There's a fair amount of debate about what the EC could possibly contain.  1.9GB is about 20% of the total game files in size, implying it might be pretty big.

However, someone also checked the movie files, and they are about 3GB alone - and not especially long, due to the high quality of the movies.

So either its 30-40 minutes of FMV cutscenes (split between each of the endings), or considerably more content, dialogue and in-game cutscenes.

Mind you, considering all the hints that what Shepard experienced might not be exactly what is going on...  Brace for impact.

I think I chose the lesser of three evils, the S******** option, but think after all the effort we'd been through there could have been a happy-ever-after. 

Sorry, but that's possibly the WORST of the options.  You're making a choice that effects every single being in the Galaxy, regardless of choice.  You're also essentially doing what the Reapers want - to 'uplift' Organics to a 'state of evolutionary perfection' - i.e. turn them into Reaper-like creatures.

Destroy is the most moral.  Ignore what Starbinger (sorry, the 'Star Child') says, EDI and the Geth won't die.  How do I know?  Because he also says Shepard will die, because he's part synthetic.  And Destroy is the only choice that can result in Shepard being alive (you need more EMS/Galactic Readiness for it, Bioware were lying when they said you didn't need to do Multiplayer).

Control is also bad, you're justifying the Reapers' actions and becoming one of them.  Its...  Hard to understand why anyone would pick it.

But yeah, if you take the endings literally you'll get a headache very quickly.  I suspect its rather more abstract and surreal then that.

[Fealhach]

I agree!

I put in my comment minutes after completing ME3 while I was still numb with shock at the bizarre ending. It took me a couple of days to get out the biggest 'WTF?!!' I've ever shrieked. Yes shrieked - I'd temporarily lost the emotional control to merely shout.

I'm not going to spoil anything for someone who may have been hiding in a cave and not heard of them, but the THREE choices you get are equally monstrous and not fitting for my Paragon Shepard's morality.

BLUE - The Illusive Man
GREEN - Saren
RED - Hitler

[Lachdonin]

Destroy is the most moral.  Ignore what Starbinger (sorry, the 'Star Child') says, EDI and the Geth won't die.  How do I know?  Because he also says Shepard will die, because he's part synthetic.  And Destroy is the only choice that can result in Shepard being alive (you need more EMS/Galactic Readiness for it, Bioware were lying when they said you didn't need to do Multiplayer).

Ok, this kinda needs some public addressing...

There is alot of speculation surrounding the ending of Mass Effect 3, from those who are deeply familiar with the background. The pervasive one is that the entire end sequence is indoctrination.

Lets face it, Shepard has been around more Reaper Tech, longer, than most people in the galaxy, assuming he'd get of scott free is absurd. One of the first signs of Indoctrination is hallucinations. The fact that, at no point throughout the starting sequence does anyone but Shepard interact with the child has led some to argue that he is part of this hallucination effect. The various dream sequences throughout the game are a continuation of this.

Finally, when presented with the 'end game' you are not really even conscious. It is (according to this argument) part of the indoctrination process. 2 of the 3 options serve the Reaper's goals. The third is made so undesirable that you'd have to be totally immoral to pick it. It's a relatively easy choice for a Renegade Shepard, but for a Paragon it's a grueling decision.

You only get the bonus ending scene if you pick the option which is blatantly designed to be the least desirable. This has led some to argue that, by picking said option, you resist the indoctrination, and wake up after Harbinger's attack during the Battle for Earth.

This of course simply means that the end of Mass Effect 3 is not, in fact the end, and the real ending is going to have everyone shelling out extra cash just to see it. Thank you, EA...

[Faeluchu]

Well, the Extended Cut is on, just finished playing it and I have to say that I both am and am not disappointed. I'm not disappointed because I never expected it to really fix things up, and the letdown is because, after all, I had some slight hope of improvement.

[Spoilers]
Extended Cut doesn't follow the so-called indoctrination theory (which, let's face it, is the most sensible way of explaining ME3 ending), it basically just provided some additional scenes like snapshots from asari and krogan homeworlds after you disable the Reapers and such. While you can see that Bioware tried to fix some more obvious plotholes, like the radio conversation of "everyone being wiped out" or Anderson reaching the control room before you, their way of repairing the damage is very, well, superficial: they explained the fact that Hackett contacted you onboard the Citadel by showing a short scene when one of his officers brings him a mysterious report and he says something like "Sweet hell, he did it", not to mention that Anderson still beats you to the control room, only now there is more dialogue emphasis on things like "we must have been teleported to different rooms" and the timing is changed a bit, making him say things like "I see the chasm" before Shepard does. Also now "Destroy" shows more clearly and the Geth (best race ever!), EDI and all other synthetics died as a result. And you get the "Breathing in the rubble" short scene even without 100% Galactic Readiness.
 There are also some additional lines of dialogue with the Star Child, which, despite clearly being intended as an explanation of sorts, actually make things a bit more confusing (for example the you learn that the Child is, in fact, an AI of sorts and that it's creators decided to become first Reapers..  ) and there is one additional ending (apart from the RGB ones), triggered by shooting the Star Child or having the 'refusal' conversation ( "I won't make that decision" and so on), which makes the cycle go on, the Reapers aren't stopped and the civilization is wiped out; afterwards there is a little cutscene with Liara speaking from a beacon like the ones Protheans left, saying that they've failed and all that positive jazz.
[/Spoilers]

All in all I am disappointed - for an almost 2 gB download it added really little and didn't help with fixing most of the obvious plot holes- it's basically a collection of short scenes that serve to expand the existing ending, not to fix it. The only good thing about it is, sadly, that it's free.

[Koval, Master Verispex]

For what it's worth, I'm still more than willing to treat the ending for what it is, and focus on the rest of the game being bloody amazing instead of zooming in on one little thing.

Looking forward to actually seeing the expanded endings and judging them properly, but every time I download something, my house's internet connection decides to amphetamine its parrot and nobody can get online, so that'll have to wait until I go to bed

[Rakuall]

it's free.

Woah, Full stop, It's actually free? Free DLC from Bioware/EA? I'm sure we were promised free DLC, but we were also promised certain things about the ending (I'm sure you've all see the 'It's not like it will be A B C type of ending' pictures)

For what it's worth, I'm still more than willing to treat the ending for what it is, and focus on the rest of the game being bloody amazing instead of zooming in on one little thing.

Me too. Just because you're served a turd after the other 5 gourmet courses doesn't mean you have to swallow it.

[The GrimSqueaker]

For those who can't be beslubbered going to the ending again, here are the extended ending videos
Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut | New Refusal Ending

[Rakuall]

Having watched Synthesis (extd), which was my original choice, I have to say it's better, but it would have been hard to make it any worse. One thing I noticed was During the 'wall of the dead' bit, the plaque reads 'Commander Shephard.' Really DLCware? What the hell. The only place in the entire series where you can use Shephard's real name, (a simple variable text field probably could have done it, and just have the first name out-of-shot/covered-by-hand until it's sitting still,) and you drop the ball. Just once it would have been cool to see 'Rakuall Shephard' somewhere other than the file management screens.