No, mang. He wuz dreamin'!
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Mass Effect 3 Spoiler Thread |OT2| Taste the Rainbow
- Thread starter Patryn
- Start date
No, mang. He wuz dreamin'!
The most convincing evidence was the trees man! the trees look at them.
It is so easy to think of a good ending it's simply laughable how bad the actual one was.
For example (I am making this up as I go):
1) Show fleet arriving with the different races and war assets you've collected highlighted.
2) Show different results in the battles depending on Galactic Readiness and War Assets.
3) Land in London, fight your way through zones of varying difficulty depending on Galactic Readiness and War Assets.
4) Reach the beam and go up to the Citadel with your team members and without being abruptly injured.
5) Fight your way through the Citadel which should have been the hardest zone in the game. Along the way you lose team members like in the Suicide Mission of ME2.
6) Reach the top of the Citadel. There you meet the Illusive Man who has been turned by the Reapers. You can convince him to help you or not, but in the end the Reapers take control of him and you have a final battle against an Illusive Man-Reaper hybrid.
7) Kill the final boss, let the Crucible into the Citadel.
8) Choose either to take control of the Reapers to rebuild the galaxy (Paragon) or to destroy them entirely (Renegade).
9) End scene with the surviving crew members saying goodbye, kiss with love interest.
THE END
For example (I am making this up as I go):
1) Show fleet arriving with the different races and war assets you've collected highlighted.
2) Show different results in the battles depending on Galactic Readiness and War Assets.
3) Land in London, fight your way through zones of varying difficulty depending on Galactic Readiness and War Assets.
4) Reach the beam and go up to the Citadel with your team members and without being abruptly injured.
5) Fight your way through the Citadel which should have been the hardest zone in the game. Along the way you lose team members like in the Suicide Mission of ME2.
6) Reach the top of the Citadel. There you meet the Illusive Man who has been turned by the Reapers. You can convince him to help you or not, but in the end the Reapers take control of him and you have a final battle against an Illusive Man-Reaper hybrid.
7) Kill the final boss, let the Crucible into the Citadel.
8) Choose either to take control of the Reapers to rebuild the galaxy (Paragon) or to destroy them entirely (Renegade).
9) End scene with the surviving crew members saying goodbye, kiss with love interest.
THE END
^
listen to this man
Also can anyone tell me what REAL effects my renegade decisions in ME2 had?
I sold geth to cerberus and hes a holgram in this game, thats all i noticed.
But i gave cerberus the collector base and it meant nothing. I think it was mentioned once by the illusive man but i didnt notice anything else compared to my paragon run.
listen to this man
Also can anyone tell me what REAL effects my renegade decisions in ME2 had?
I sold geth to cerberus and hes a holgram in this game, thats all i noticed.
But i gave cerberus the collector base and it meant nothing. I think it was mentioned once by the illusive man but i didnt notice anything else compared to my paragon run.
While this would provide a much better ending, the highlighted points are just a copy of ME1's ending which would make the writers look like lazy bums (instead of just shitty writers so I guess it's not that bad)
This is the lazy, vanilla ending I thought of in 5 minutes. I don't think it's particularly good, however it makes sense and provides closure, two things that the actual ending failed to do.
I just wanted to prove how any person with any sort of understanding of the narrative in the Mass Effect franchise can come up with a better ending.
Pass it off as circularity, things end where they begin, yadda yadda. It'd be too close regardless, but the spirit of the idea is right at least. They had a good climax in one, great repercussions for choices in two and then space magic for the last one. Ugh.
Also, the encounter with TIM was already very close to the last confrontation with Saren. You just didn't fight his re-animated robot skeleton...
I still think the craziest thing is that the game has no final confrontation.
At no point does the player understand "THIS IS IT, THE FINAL SHOWDOWN".
You're fighting through London, you're running towards the beam, and boom - basically no more gameplay until the ending.
Isn't it a basic (and justified) video game trope that when you spend an entire three games fighting the Reapers - in the end you should fight... a Reaper? Or to be more exact, the KING of Reapers, or something equivalent?
By following the controversy I knew going in that the ending was going to be disappointing. I was still shocked at just how instantly and abruptly it came. No final confrontation. No final level. No final battle.
At no point does the player understand "THIS IS IT, THE FINAL SHOWDOWN".
You're fighting through London, you're running towards the beam, and boom - basically no more gameplay until the ending.
Isn't it a basic (and justified) video game trope that when you spend an entire three games fighting the Reapers - in the end you should fight... a Reaper? Or to be more exact, the KING of Reapers, or something equivalent?
By following the controversy I knew going in that the ending was going to be disappointing. I was still shocked at just how instantly and abruptly it came. No final confrontation. No final level. No final battle.
I guess i'm in the anger stage now
WrenchNinja
Member
Why actually show the fruits of your labor when we can just create a single generic fmv.
lol?? just a gameplay mechanic.
(or can you explain more?what scene exactly.)
also bioware never confirmed it.
so is not canon.
arrival dlc is canon for example.
that's part of the story.the mass effect story includes it....
indoctrination is the result of a terrible and horrible ending.
its made up. best thing for indoctrination is to be named... speculation
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
Does anyone seriously believe Bioware is even capable of writing something like the Indoctrination Theory into the plot? Even going back to their glory days, the company has never really been known for plots with crazy mindfucks. I think it's a decent attempt by the Mass Effect fans to throw Bioware a slow pitch for a retcon but now that it's been almost two months, I think it's time to accept that Bioware just shat the bed with the ending.
The illusive man-reaper hybrid you speak of actually exists and is in the art book. He was originally intended to be the final boss.
Considering that the ending DLC will supposedly only elaborate on what we see in the ending, I'm pretty sure it will shoot indoc theory in the heart and head and bury it under 6 tons of concrete. Don't get me wrong, I would have preferred it if something like indoc theory could come along and render the ending we got completely null, but Bioware seems to be treating it far too literal for indoc theory to be viable.
Incidentally, I haven't replayed it yet, but it has to be said: Earth is a boring, unfulfilling final mission. I went in expecting that you'd be making selections of where to send people/fleets like the Suicide Mission in ME2, and if you didn't have high EMS/certain assets you'd be locked out of decisions, ultimately leading to a worse ending. Instead we got a few extra seconds of FMV at the start and then it was just Gears of Mass Effect up until Starchild.
Also, this might have been posted here before, but someone summed up the problem with the Reapers pretty well:
"Sovereign, we need you to recruit a synthetic race called the Geth to kill all the organics so that the organics aren't all killed by a synthetic race called the Geth. Starchild out."
A little overgeneralized, but ouch.
Also, this might have been posted here before, but someone summed up the problem with the Reapers pretty well:
"Sovereign, we need you to recruit a synthetic race called the Geth to kill all the organics so that the organics aren't all killed by a synthetic race called the Geth. Starchild out."
A little overgeneralized, but ouch.
Yeah the common defense is that the difference is that reapers only go after the most advanced organics. But they conveniently forget that the Geth actually preferred to mind their own damn business and were not plotting to create a cycle of organic apocalypse...until the reapers themselves f'd it up...then you fix it for good (if you made the right choices)... but the star child still insists otherwise...Yet the defenders still argue that reaper logic is still in tact...I give up...sure let's go ahead and do the rainbow ending instead. Fuck it! We'll do it live!
The Broken Ska Record
Member
I'd be okay with the circular Saren/TIM scenario, but it kinda feels like the final run is going to make the ending that much longer. It was already annoyingly long going from the Cerberus base to Earth to the Citadel.
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
I don't know how I missed that toonami 'reviewed' ME3
Even they called the ending weak
Even they called the ending weak
I actually didn't consider the Cerberus base to be part of the ending proper, and I still feel as if at no point in the game do you feel "THIS IS IT, The Final Battle".
How can you not have a final boss fight in this game?
Three long games about fighting the Reapers. In the end of ME1, you fight a Reaper. In the end of ME2, you fight a meaner Reaper. In the end of ME3, you run, get injured by a laser (which we have already successfully dodged earlier in the game), and then you talk about nonsense for about 10 minutes and GAME OVER.
"Too video gamey."
PinkCrayon
Member
Come on guys... we've been through this many times before. Indoc theory would be an even worse ending than what we got. It would also mean that the "real ending" was planned dlc all along, and no one, not even bioware, is that stupid.
According to the "Final Hours" app, Casey Hudson and Mac Walters wanted to end to be "high-minded". Their exact words.
The Broken Ska Record
Member
Except the game itself recognizes the Cerberus base as the beginning of the end of the game. In fact, when you load your last save, it kicks you back to right before the Cerberus fight. Even outside of that, going to Earth, then to London, then to getting picked up, and then going through that long/annoying "goodbye" sequence, to firing the missles, to going to the lazer to the Illusive Man to Starchild took too damn long. The Suicide Mission was a good length, IMO, because it felt you were actually charging towards something instead of being lead around.
And besides you do fight a Reaper in ME3. :3
Also, what the fuck was with the Human reaper in ME2? How did that make sense? What was that thing's purpose? Gah!
You sure?
I wish they were...I wish they were. Well, maybe not stupid, but definitely greedy.
I think they were high themselves when they wrote the ending.
I didn't feel the ending was too long. The game itself was shorter than the previous two games and had a lot less content, but that makes sense within the context of the war with the Reapers. I would have no problem with the last battle being longer. Did any of you get while playing the last part with the missile that this is the last time you're going to fight an enemy in the Mass Effect franchise (Marauder excluded)?
The plan was to go up the Citadel. I didn't think for a second they meant "going up the Citadel for a prolonged cutscene".
I felt some sort of final battle was necessary, if not a boss then at least a stand-your-ground-tons-of-enemies moment with the Illusive Man laughing maniacally in the background.
The Human Reaper was incredibly stupid, I agree, but hey at least it was a final boss!
I guess we should have known, after the Human Reaper thing, that there is no way they're going to make a reasonable conclusion to this series.
The Broken Ska Record
Member
I think I may have had about an hour or two less in ME3 than ME2. Even with all of the DLC. ME3 does feel shorter, because it doesn't seem like there were very many missions. The ending mission felt longer because it kinda felt like it wanted me to do so many random things before going to the final fight. I'm much more likely to replay the suicide mission in ME2 than the final mission in ME3. I think that's half to do with how slow Shepard walked when he was injured. :/
I agree that a final battle would have been necessary. Even if it was just a mutated Illusive Man, or something. Hell. Maybe even have a fight with Reaper Kid to get him to NOT destroy the fucking Mass Relays.
riceandbeans
Member
The final earth mission did feel a little rushed. You meet meet with all your crew from ME1 and ME2, say your final words, and that's about it. Like you mentioned, I think it would've been a lot more interesting if you were calling orders on where to send crews like Jacobs, commanding the Krogan for reinforcements, and if you didn't have enough EMS, then certain squads would get wiped out, etc.
Then again, you'd be fucked on the GR scale if you didn't play the multiplayer, facebook, or iOS games. Still, I thought the Earth mission was badass and the waves of enemies made everything feel desperate.
RedRedSuit
Member
Personally I enjoyed the Earth mission. There was an appropriate amount of apocalyptic tension. It felt good overall.
Certainly in retrospect I wish it was more dependent on what went before it, like ME2's suicide mission. I wish Harbinger was involved in a personal way. I wish the various cutscenes showed war assets in more than a glancing way. But while I was there, in the moment, I definitely thought it was well done.
Actually a lot of ME3 is like that. I liked most of the experience except the ending, but now that I compare it to ME2 (and in some ways ME1) it's so incredibly lacking.
One hub world. One.
Certainly in retrospect I wish it was more dependent on what went before it, like ME2's suicide mission. I wish Harbinger was involved in a personal way. I wish the various cutscenes showed war assets in more than a glancing way. But while I was there, in the moment, I definitely thought it was well done.
Actually a lot of ME3 is like that. I liked most of the experience except the ending, but now that I compare it to ME2 (and in some ways ME1) it's so incredibly lacking.
One hub world. One.
Jake Tower
Banned
Joe Molotov
Member
The last bit was terrible, so many Banshees, so many Brutes, ugh. Bullet sponge hell.
Yes. The Suicide Mission is one of my all-time favorite sequences, and it seemed like ME3, with its emphasis on gathering War Assets and building alliances, was building to a final mission that followed a similar blueprint. I have to think that something similar was originally in the plans.
I should probably just unsubscribe from this thread so it doesn't keep showing up and reminding me of the unfulfilled potential. Bah.
Strange thing. It was actually supposed to be exactly like that. We have cut dialogue from Jack, Geth Primes and Krogan all taking place during the ending. You were supposed to fight right beside Jack and the students and Geth Primes.
diamondstar
Member
Mega frustrating and one of the most boring missions of the game.
About IT.. I really wish Bioware took that angle. While playing ME3 I was waiting and waiting for some big "twist" to blow me away like Revan in KOTOR. The only thing that blew me away was how terribly bad the final mission was.
IT would have been a great reveal. Especially if Anderson or even a love interest was indoctrinated since ME1. I wouldn't have seen it coming at all. Just goes to show it seems the trilogy was not planned and just put together game by game. What a fucking waste.
So the character that becomes Joker's Eve at the end is based on ending choice or your choice throughout the game???
I romanced that Indian girl and even had crying hug before the final battle about having a house with fence and dogs all while Joker was talking about boning EDI.
When I got the ending(left path), the Indian girl was beside Joker as if she had hots for him since day once and EDI just stepped out afterwards.
I romanced that Indian girl and even had crying hug before the final battle about having a house with fence and dogs all while Joker was talking about boning EDI.
When I got the ending(left path), the Indian girl was beside Joker as if she had hots for him since day once and EDI just stepped out afterwards.
He slept with her and can't remember what planet she's from.
Blue Ninja
Member
I'm not even sure who the fuck he's referring to. :lol
Sure it's not Traynor? Her British accent and skin tone could make people think she's Indian. She makes a point of being from space somewhere though.
Pretty sure Traynor never come out of the Normandy though.
First time i ever see someone calling Tali "Indian girl" if that's really who he is talking about.
Doesn't Traynor take EDI's place animation-for-animation if you choose Destroy?
EmCeeGramr
Member
Traynor comes out under certain conditions.
Not the full extent of indoctrination theory no. But Bioware did state, before the game was released I believe, that they were experimenting with an ending where you got indoctrinated, and they had to take it out at the very last second because it didn't work gameplaywise. Definitely there are hints at being indoctrinated that survived the cut (e.g. the dream sequence trees that suddenly appear after you get hit by Harbinger).
Personally I think the retcon will be that you were under the influence of indoctrination and that only if you chose the red ending were you able to wrestle free from the control, the other choices are playing into the hands of the machines. Not that it was all a dream or anything.
Based on the leaked scripts, I think they dropped every single trace of indoctrination before they finished any part of the game. The beginning and ending were written and produced last, so if any areas were to have any leftovers from that part it would be Rannoch (E3 demo) or something we know was done more early on in the game's production. Because some sort of big reveal of indoctrination doesn't really work in a boss fight or dialogue in the middle of the game, I doubt that too.
riceandbeans
Member
Traynor can come out at the end. I had her, Joker, and Javik step out of the ship. I wouldn't call them love interests, they just looked like they were stepping to see where they were.
If you choose to destroy the Reapers, that means EDI dies though right?
Not exactly. It's more like Bioware couldn't decide where to take the story and they were running out of time with their puppet master EA pulling their strings.
Originally, the whole point of the Reapers was suppose to revolve around stopping Dark Energy that was hinted in ME1 and ME2 but the writers who penned it, ended up leaving.
Plus, there were other changes like the Illusive Man siding with the Reapers, which would've been too similar to Saren, Javik playing a much different role in ME3, etc.
If you choose to destroy the Reapers, that means EDI dies though right?
Not exactly. It's more like Bioware couldn't decide where to take the story and they were running out of time with their puppet master EA pulling their strings.
Originally, the whole point of the Reapers was suppose to revolve around stopping Dark Energy that was hinted in ME1 and ME2 but the writers who penned it, ended up leaving.
Plus, there were other changes like the Illusive Man siding with the Reapers, which would've been too similar to Saren, Javik playing a much different role in ME3, etc.