ME3: Endings Are Hard
When writing a big story, it's surely a challenge to get things started. But it's even harder to make a "good" ending to a series that's been building up for a while. Even just a trilogy can have a lot of threads and a good ending seeks to tie up loose ends, to provide closure. It can be brutally difficult to live up to expectations. And then there endings that may mean something to someone, but are a big WTF?! to everyone else (see Evangelion).
So how'd Bioware do with the Mass Effect trilogy? Eh...
ME3's been stated as the final chapter, and it looks it. The beginning sets up the Reaper invasion of Earth, which I had doubts about, but that wasn't as bad as I thought. It's pointed out that the last Reaper harvest took something like 300 years to finally wipe out the Protheans, and the Reapers aren't simply killing everyone, so building up while a resistance force holds out makes a certain amount of sense. Putting most of the galaxy's hope in a mysterious device deemed a weapon passed on from the last cycle is sketchy... and foreshadows a rather abrupt deus ex machina ending.
So, as a closing chaper, the game then proceeds to do a lot of things right. The Genophage is addressed directly and either cured or not. Admittedly, the long-term results of curing it aren't delved into, but it's something. We learn why the asari are so advanced. The quarian-geth conflict comes to resolution one way or another. The storyline of Cerberus and the Illusive man is.. a little weak in my mind, but it reaches a conclusion. I'm even pleased to see Shepard's scientific resurrection is addressed more this time around. It feels very satisfying to rally the various races after a while. The only real thread I can think of that was missed outright was the quarian's research in ME2 about prematurely dying stars - that held the implication that there was some greater reason for it, but I didn't see about it since.
And then we reach the endgame (some of which may vary depending on choices and EMS rating). All those ships and volunteers, scattered races brought together to fight for a common goal. And they get to act as a distraction and screen for the superweapon that others designed and everyone expects to defeat the Reapers even though they have no idea what to actually do with it once they complete it. I mean, there's desperation and then there's foolishness, but... okay...
The assault on London to get in behind enemy lines as it were is a little contrived, but generally pretty well done. It conveys Earth's situation well enough though a few of the fights can be a little ridiculous.
Then things go bad, but Shepard struggles his way through. The conversation is okay, though I still think the Illusive Man deserved better. Edit: And it looks like my pushing paragon options may have made a difference in how things go down with him. Shepard reaches the Crucible "core" and... Bioware goes and Deus Ex's the player. There's some last-minute explanation that, while not exactly contrary to information provided before, comes across as remarkably weak. The whole argument that organic and synthetic life will constantly be in conflict rings hollow to someone who actually brought the geth and quarians together. "Dude, didn't I just prove that wrong?"
And then the player gets three choices:
- Control the Reapers. This is probably the cleanest in theory. It doesn't reall solve the "problem" they were meant to solve, but it ends the war immediately. It means Shepard dies, though.
- Synthesis. Join organic and synthetic life throughout the galaxy into a new hybrid of the two. Uhh... that sounds like the "good" evolutionary path, but it also sounds real close to what the Reapers already are, and having been fighting them this whole time it doesn't really seem right. Plus Shepard dies.
- Destroy all synthetic life. This wins the war, but unfortunately includes taking out the geth. It really wasn't something I wanted to do, especially after what the geth went through, but if felt like the only choice that attained the goal of the events of the game. And it seemed the only path with any chance of Shepard's survival (as it in was the only one where it wasn't said 'and Shepard dies' in the explanation offered). And if you do things right, it's hinted that Shepard indeed survives.
None of those choices are what I consider "good" or fitting of my Paragon playthrough. But... I can accept them as valid choices and outcomes. I don't need a happy-cheery-rainbows ending. Left at that, I guess I would consider the ending to be a bit disappointing, but okay.
But... no matter which ending you choose, the mass relays are destroyed by process (something that previously was believed to destroy the systems they were in, but apparently not through this method unless a few other things are irrelevent). Okay, there's other (slower) FTL and the possibility that galactic society could rebuild. And then the Normandy is shown fleeing a wave of... uhh... I don't know if it's supposed to be the Crucible "effect wave" or the explosion of one of the mass relays, but it's caught up and disabled and crashes. On some habitable world that isn't Earth (as proven by the planet/moons in the skyline). Joker and some of the crew are shown getting out. And therein lies the WTF?! moment. ... The Normandy was part of the battle for Earth, so why would it be in any other system with a lush planet like that? Why would it be outrunning some shockwave alone? Is this meant to imply other ships crash too or only the Normandy escaped? The scene feels so... out of place.
And then there's a post-credit epilogue scene from that same world that indicates Shepard's struggle against the Reapers has become legend at some future point in time. And there's a little bit about how the galaxy is full of wonders and variety to be seen. So... I guess humanity (?) continues, though there's not much about how any of the characters fare beyond those few shown getting off the Normandy.
And if you played your cards like I did and chose to destroy the Reapers (and synthetics), there's a brief, brief scene just before the credits showing a torso in charred N7 armor taking a breath - hinting that Shepard could have survived the destruction. But... does that mean he's on Earth? While his crew is off somewhere else? Do they ever meet up again? Lots of unknowns there...
Overall, the ending(s) seem disappointing to me. But to make things better, from my perspective, probably would have meant rebuilding the plot of the game - specifically the whole bit about the Crucible. It's too simple a solution, honestly, and it makes you feel as if everything you've done to build up a defense really didn't have any meaning (even if a low EMS score might result in failure before even reaching it or something). Even at that, I'm not sure anything would have completely lived up to all the buildup, but it could have been better. ME2 had it relatively easy as they could just pile on the action and awesome without actually having to wrap up the big plotlines that had been woven.
Edit: A couple additional things...
- Some have floated the theory that the glimpse of Shepard's survival hints that the whole deal with the Crucible was a hallucination of some sort, and Shepard didn't truly make it to the Citadel after the Reaper blast. While that's an interesting excuse/possibility, it sort of means the game simply ends with Shepard in the rubble of London and that's not much better.
- While the suggestions that Bioware redo the ending are sort of silly, one theoretical ending that I've seen put forth sounds a lot more satisfying to me. Instead of taking one of the magical fix-but-screws-things-up options, Shepard waves off the use of the Crucible and relies on the forces that were actually built up in the game to win the day against the Reapers. It promises a costly battle, but to actually see all those alliances and gathered assets do something would be more gratifying than the ending we got where suddenly only Shepard's single choice of the moment has any real impact on the outcome of possibly the greatest galactic battle ever.
So how'd Bioware do with the Mass Effect trilogy? Eh...
ME3's been stated as the final chapter, and it looks it. The beginning sets up the Reaper invasion of Earth, which I had doubts about, but that wasn't as bad as I thought. It's pointed out that the last Reaper harvest took something like 300 years to finally wipe out the Protheans, and the Reapers aren't simply killing everyone, so building up while a resistance force holds out makes a certain amount of sense. Putting most of the galaxy's hope in a mysterious device deemed a weapon passed on from the last cycle is sketchy... and foreshadows a rather abrupt deus ex machina ending.
So, as a closing chaper, the game then proceeds to do a lot of things right. The Genophage is addressed directly and either cured or not. Admittedly, the long-term results of curing it aren't delved into, but it's something. We learn why the asari are so advanced. The quarian-geth conflict comes to resolution one way or another. The storyline of Cerberus and the Illusive man is.. a little weak in my mind, but it reaches a conclusion. I'm even pleased to see Shepard's scientific resurrection is addressed more this time around. It feels very satisfying to rally the various races after a while. The only real thread I can think of that was missed outright was the quarian's research in ME2 about prematurely dying stars - that held the implication that there was some greater reason for it, but I didn't see about it since.
And then we reach the endgame (some of which may vary depending on choices and EMS rating). All those ships and volunteers, scattered races brought together to fight for a common goal. And they get to act as a distraction and screen for the superweapon that others designed and everyone expects to defeat the Reapers even though they have no idea what to actually do with it once they complete it. I mean, there's desperation and then there's foolishness, but... okay...
The assault on London to get in behind enemy lines as it were is a little contrived, but generally pretty well done. It conveys Earth's situation well enough though a few of the fights can be a little ridiculous.
Then things go bad, but Shepard struggles his way through. The conversation is okay, though I still think the Illusive Man deserved better. Edit: And it looks like my pushing paragon options may have made a difference in how things go down with him. Shepard reaches the Crucible "core" and... Bioware goes and Deus Ex's the player. There's some last-minute explanation that, while not exactly contrary to information provided before, comes across as remarkably weak. The whole argument that organic and synthetic life will constantly be in conflict rings hollow to someone who actually brought the geth and quarians together. "Dude, didn't I just prove that wrong?"
And then the player gets three choices:
- Control the Reapers. This is probably the cleanest in theory. It doesn't reall solve the "problem" they were meant to solve, but it ends the war immediately. It means Shepard dies, though.
- Synthesis. Join organic and synthetic life throughout the galaxy into a new hybrid of the two. Uhh... that sounds like the "good" evolutionary path, but it also sounds real close to what the Reapers already are, and having been fighting them this whole time it doesn't really seem right. Plus Shepard dies.
- Destroy all synthetic life. This wins the war, but unfortunately includes taking out the geth. It really wasn't something I wanted to do, especially after what the geth went through, but if felt like the only choice that attained the goal of the events of the game. And it seemed the only path with any chance of Shepard's survival (as it in was the only one where it wasn't said 'and Shepard dies' in the explanation offered). And if you do things right, it's hinted that Shepard indeed survives.
None of those choices are what I consider "good" or fitting of my Paragon playthrough. But... I can accept them as valid choices and outcomes. I don't need a happy-cheery-rainbows ending. Left at that, I guess I would consider the ending to be a bit disappointing, but okay.
But... no matter which ending you choose, the mass relays are destroyed by process (something that previously was believed to destroy the systems they were in, but apparently not through this method unless a few other things are irrelevent). Okay, there's other (slower) FTL and the possibility that galactic society could rebuild. And then the Normandy is shown fleeing a wave of... uhh... I don't know if it's supposed to be the Crucible "effect wave" or the explosion of one of the mass relays, but it's caught up and disabled and crashes. On some habitable world that isn't Earth (as proven by the planet/moons in the skyline). Joker and some of the crew are shown getting out. And therein lies the WTF?! moment. ... The Normandy was part of the battle for Earth, so why would it be in any other system with a lush planet like that? Why would it be outrunning some shockwave alone? Is this meant to imply other ships crash too or only the Normandy escaped? The scene feels so... out of place.
And then there's a post-credit epilogue scene from that same world that indicates Shepard's struggle against the Reapers has become legend at some future point in time. And there's a little bit about how the galaxy is full of wonders and variety to be seen. So... I guess humanity (?) continues, though there's not much about how any of the characters fare beyond those few shown getting off the Normandy.
And if you played your cards like I did and chose to destroy the Reapers (and synthetics), there's a brief, brief scene just before the credits showing a torso in charred N7 armor taking a breath - hinting that Shepard could have survived the destruction. But... does that mean he's on Earth? While his crew is off somewhere else? Do they ever meet up again? Lots of unknowns there...
Overall, the ending(s) seem disappointing to me. But to make things better, from my perspective, probably would have meant rebuilding the plot of the game - specifically the whole bit about the Crucible. It's too simple a solution, honestly, and it makes you feel as if everything you've done to build up a defense really didn't have any meaning (even if a low EMS score might result in failure before even reaching it or something). Even at that, I'm not sure anything would have completely lived up to all the buildup, but it could have been better. ME2 had it relatively easy as they could just pile on the action and awesome without actually having to wrap up the big plotlines that had been woven.
Edit: A couple additional things...
- Some have floated the theory that the glimpse of Shepard's survival hints that the whole deal with the Crucible was a hallucination of some sort, and Shepard didn't truly make it to the Citadel after the Reaper blast. While that's an interesting excuse/possibility, it sort of means the game simply ends with Shepard in the rubble of London and that's not much better.
- While the suggestions that Bioware redo the ending are sort of silly, one theoretical ending that I've seen put forth sounds a lot more satisfying to me. Instead of taking one of the magical fix-but-screws-things-up options, Shepard waves off the use of the Crucible and relies on the forces that were actually built up in the game to win the day against the Reapers. It promises a costly battle, but to actually see all those alliances and gathered assets do something would be more gratifying than the ending we got where suddenly only Shepard's single choice of the moment has any real impact on the outcome of possibly the greatest galactic battle ever.
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