Mass Effect 3 Spoiler Thread [Spoiler tag free, beware]

[Fabricated]

New Synthesis ending gets a boo from me. I wouldn't choose it even if I were actually Shepard and the ME universe actually existed.

[Riggswolfe]

Well I'm downloading it now. My readiness is back down to 50% but it is locked in after the Cerebus mission and I have an auto save right before the end so I'll have to invest like 15 minutes to see how badly they ef'ed up. On the positive side I heard that:

Their announcement said you had to load a game from before the ceberus base and fight through to see the new endings, is that no longer true?

Nope. Your readiness and such is locked in from post-Cerebus base. I just loaded the "Replay Crucible" save and it took me about 30 minutes to see the two endings I cared about. I know this thread is allegedly spoiler-tag free but I'm still going to tag the two I saw. In short: This DLC redeemed the ending and took the ending from utter shite (worse than the Star Wars prequels) to flawed but worth it. (Return of the Jedi)

Short list of non-spoilery stuff

1) Decent length cut-scene after the 3 color choice.
2) 4th Ending added
3) Lots more questioning of the ghost boy possible. You can ask more about him, the crucible, the reapers and each of the ending choices. It makes Sherpard seem much more Shepard-y.



I chose 2 different endings. I chose the new one first. Warning MAJOR spoilers ahead:

[jakonovski]

I never thought I'd say this about a Bioware game, but I don't give a shit about the new endings. I'd rather replay DA2 with Felicia Day DLC.

[tmp]

So worth it.

I guess I'll download this when we get home from NJ tonight.

Not worth it

[Maledict]

I know it sounds sad, but do any of the extended endings have Shepherd alive?

[jakonovski]

Hahaha,

[luckton]

Spoiler tags in a spoiler tag-free thread = 

Now stop it.  I'm tired of clicking   

[Ratman_tf]

Javik voices in on the incoming DLC:

yeah. The new endings are just extra stupid in DLC format.

[rk47]

[Fabricated]

I know it sounds sad, but do any of the extended endings have Shepherd alive?

The short shot of Shepard drawing a breath in the rubble is still in the destroy ending if you have a relatively maxed out save.

I dunno what it means since they still put your name on the memorial at the end. I'm crossing my fingers for destroy being the canon ending since it's the only one that gets a unique scene (the Shepard breathing one). Also there's the mysterious texts from Ashley/Kaiden that people with the official ME3 app thing got after beating the game where they're telling Shepard that they hope he gets better so they can see him presumably in the hospital.

[Rokal]

Alright, I liked the new endings. The biggest improvement they could have made at this point obviously would have been including them in the game when it launched instead of months later. I hope this serves as a very expensive lesson for Bioware's future projects.

[Lantyssa]

I dunno what it means since they still put your name on the memorial at the end.

Garus is holding it, but they don't actually show it put on the memorial in the Destroy ending I saw where Shepard gave a gasp at the end.  Like they're still holding out hope and can't quite bring themselves to do it yet.

The Synthesize ending is a bit sappy, but I've always been a Toaster-lover.

[TripleDES]

The endings still suck, and the new refusal one is a spiteful slap in the face.

But there's been a bunch of small retcons, i.e. the reapers rebuilding the mass relays in two of three endings. It feels like it's been done to enable pulling a Deus Ex 2, for a future game or MMO.

[Ceryse]

The endings sound better, but between Origin and Bioware's recent efforts I just don't see myself buying another one of their games ever again (last one being ME2).

[Fabricated]

If they do anything further with the universe I kinda hope they go for destroy being canon since it allows for galactic politics/new synthetics to be a source of proper drama rather than machine gods from dark space.

Less JRPG, more WRPG thanks.

[Special J]

I stuck with my original choice so only saw destroy ending.  It was better, enough that if had been there in the first place I wouldn't have nerdraged so much.  Still flawed, but I don't see how that changes as long as space-kid is there.  I did really like the expanded ground and space battle cutscenes, they did a good job capturing the whole epic scale.

If you're worried about readiness, don't.  They lowered the requirements.  I had 7k+ assets but I hadn't done multiplayer for a while so I was down to 54%.  Still got the gasp at the end.

[Riggswolfe]

I know it sounds sad, but do any of the extended endings have Shepherd alive?

The short shot of Shepard drawing a breath in the rubble is still in the destroy ending if you have a relatively maxed out save.

I dunno what it means since they still put your name on the memorial at the end. I'm crossing my fingers for destroy being the canon ending since it's the only one that gets a unique scene (the Shepard breathing one). Also there's the mysterious texts from Ashley/Kaiden that people with the official ME3 app thing got after beating the game where they're telling Shepard that they hope he gets better so they can see him presumably in the hospital.

Actually you're wrong. The destroy ending with the breath is the only one where his name is NOT put on the wall. Watch it again. Ashley (in my case) walked up with it then stopped and looked down at it and  then it cut to the next scene. I took it as a hint that they learned Shepard is still alive at the last second.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsgLF3r56vE&feature=related

Edit: One thing I liked about the endings was that, for me, it made the star-child more tolerable. During questioning I got the distinct sense that he was very much a rogue AI. He just flat-out says that the first Reaper was made from his creators and that they weren't pleased by it. So in a way, it made the whole silly "we kill organics to keep sentients from killing organics" thing a bit less silly since it comes across a lot more like this AI went off the rails.

All in all I think these new endings fixed the game enough that I'm now willing to do replays somewhere down the line. The galaxy no longer seems utterly screwed despite my efforts which was all I really wanted. Well that and the new shot of

[tmp]

Edit: One thing I liked about the endings was that, for me, it made the star-child more tolerable. During questioning I got the distinct sense that he was very much a rogue AI. He just flat-out says that the first Reaper was made from his creators and that they weren't pleased by it. So in a way, it made the whole silly "we kill organics to keep sentients from killing organics" thing a bit less silly since it comes across a lot more like this AI went off the rails.

So, the fucking kid is AI Monkey's Paw?

(i don't think it works in making it more tolerable for me -- it's the same crazy scheme run by obvious madman and as long as you're still not allowed to argue that with them, it's just as disappointing/annoying)

[Ratman_tf]

I'd rather they left the ending alone. it either needed a complete rewrite from the moment the magical elevator took Shepard up to choice-land, or nothing. The new endings don't make it more palatable, to me. They just reek of "Don't be mad at us for making a shit ending! Here's a montage to shut you up."
And the refuse ending, while I liked it, does not work with the current end premise. Which is why I think everyone sees it as a slap to the face. Bioware just doesn't get it.

[Ratman_tf]

I'd rather they left the ending alone. it either needed a complete rewrite from the moment the magical elevator took Shepard up to choice-land, or nothing. The new endings don't make it more palatable, to me. They just reek of "Don't be mad at us for making a shit ending! Here's a montage to shut you up."
And the refuse ending, while I liked the idea of it, does not work with the current end premise. Which is why I think everyone sees it as a slap to the face. Bioware just doesn't get it.

[PalmTrees]

I tried all the endings, makes things a little better. I hadn't paid attention to the announcements so the new refusal ending came as a surprise. I was just picking the bottom renegade option on autopilot, and next thing I know, galaxy's been eaten. I did like Liara's VI message.

The Catalyst/ghost ai kid is still dumb as the face of the reaper's control. The whole organic/ai inevitable conflict is still a weak premise. Synthesis still makes no sense at all.

My final run through was control, so now my cyber-ghost is the Empress of the galaxy. A fitting ending for my renegade engineer.

[Sjofn]

Yeah, the whole Reaper reasoning is fucking dumb (I would've prefered "we just do, okay?" which is saying something) but the new stuff makes it go from "what the fucking fuck" to "meh." I tend to agree that if the original endings were like this, there still would've been bitching (star kid sucks no matter what, the transhuman bullshit is still stupid, etc) but probably not as much.

Also I didn't bother to re-up my readiness and a score of 3500 was enough to get the tiny SHEPARD LIVES scene, TOTALLY WORTH MURDERING EDI FOR, SORRY JOKER. AND SORRY, GETH, MY BAD.

[Tebonas]

The Synthesis Ending is just as dumb as before the DLC even if it presented as the optimal ending. I think I will have to kill EDI and the Geth as well, even knowing it makes Joker a sad Panda and we might have the same problem again when somebody develops the next AI. Hell, the Geth were always more reasonable than the Quarians, so Artifical Life can't be all bad.

[Sjofn]

Haha, wow, the synthesis ending is totally silly. All it needed were some robounicorns to ride into the sunset. I mean I guess Shepard is dead in that ending so it isn't 100% uplifting but it's pretty freaking close.

Destroy is pretty much going to be my One True Ending although I think maybe if I ever play through with my renegade FemShep she's going to CONTROL because someone has to, might as well be her.

[Lantyssa]

The one good thing about the Synthesis ending is Joker and EDI babies!

It was pretty silly though.

[Special J]

Unless I missed a dialogue choice, it still pisses me off I can't call out space-kid on his bullshit about synthetics vs. organics.  Considering I just proved him wrong in the Geth/Quarian war.

[Sjofn]

I'm sure the kid would handwave it away that sure they're cooperating now, but a hundred years from now they'll be back at each other's throats or some shit and then organics are doooooooomed.

[Maledict]

Apparently you get different dialogue for the endings depending on whether you were renegade or paragon, which explains why the video I saw for the control ending made it look insanely evil whilst other people view it as the best choice.

Certainly the dialogue for the paragon destroy ending was basically 'everything's cool, we won!' with no dark overtones.

[kaid]

I know it sounds sad, but do any of the extended endings have Shepherd alive?

Technically two. If your war rating is high enough you see shepard take a breath doing the destruction option. In the control option your body is destroyed but you pretty much become the star child controlling all the reapers so shepard is now the eternal watchdog for the galaxy.

[kaid]

I know it sounds sad, but do any of the extended endings have Shepherd alive?

Technically two. If your war rating is high enough you see shepard take a breath doing the destruction option. In the control option your body is destroyed but you pretty much become the star child controlling all the reapers so shepard is now the eternal watchdog for the galaxy.

That is interesting my next play through I am going to have to try to renegade it up. The destruction end I chose was a sad at the losses but overall hopeful ending where the races were still working together to rebuild all that was lost. And the control ending I saw must have been paragon as well because it was pretty impressively positive basically shepard taking her job as the protecter of the universe to its logical conclusion.

[Bunk]

Yay! I can finally read this thread three months later. After all the crying out about the horrid endings, I actually stopped playing about 60% through. Once the new ending DLC hit, I picked it up again and powered through it this weekend.

So yeah. I was pretty happy with the end overall - kid was a dumb, and the dream sequences never really felt paid off, but I thought the Reaper explanation worked well enough. Took the Destruction ending, even though it sucked for the synthetics, because the other two endings felt too much like playing God, which my Shep would never have done.

If the original destruction ending had the Normandy stuck on that planet - yea, that would have pissed me off.

My final scene had Traynor just about to put my plaque on the wall, and then the breath scene.
Am I the only person that ended up taking the shower with Traynor and sticking with her? Thought it was quite funny how much of a cold shoulder I got from Liara after that.

[Sjofn]

I like at least one dick in my Bioware romances, and Traynor isn't interested in dicks at all, so I never did her romance. :P How is it?

[Bunk]

I actually thought it was well done. Played in to her story arc about gaining self confidence - started very casual (sex in the shower) ended up with her providing support and strength for Sheppard. Cute bit at the end about white picket fences, kids and a golden retriever. Was kind of a twist on the standard Bioware romance, in that it started with sex and ended with romance.

Was actually glad they put it in, because the Liara romance just never resonated with me.

[Sjofn]

D'aww, that sounds nice.

Liara's never done it for me either (I have VERY HIGH standards for ladies, romance-wise.  ), although I like her well enough as a friend in ME3.

[Lantyssa]

Ironically I didn't get the Traynor romance because I wasn't going to be so forward with a chick I just met.