(ME3) Revisionist History (or Future)

So... I addressed (with spoilers) the ending of Mass Effect 3 before. It created a big stir among the vocal players. Frankly, I don't even like the deus ex machina path Bioware took to the end of the trilogy, but the Crucible is so woven into ME3 that there's no taking it out without redoing the entire game. I wasn't looking for or expecting a perfect "and we baked you a cake" ending. Given that, I think my main problems with the ending were:
1) Several large, unexplained gaps that made me wonder what the heck I missed
2) No sense of achievements along the way (fate of the krograns and geth/quarians mainly) having any impact

EA/Bioware released the "extended cut" endings for Mass Effect 3 in response (presumably) to all the fan outcry. We've known it was coming for a while and wondered if it could fix the problems (complaints were widespread enough that I think that's not too subjective to say) with the original. Throughout it all, I just can't help but wonder how I would have felt if I had completed the game the first time and seen these instead of what I did...

So what are the changes and are they improvements?


The lead in...
They say to experience the added content, load a save game from before the assault on the Cerberus base. That's sort of convenient, as it's the autosave you get bounced to after completing the game. It's a little inconvenient because it's still an hour or more of gameplay away from the actual ending(s). And I didn't notice much in the way of changes prior to the assault on Earth. So, before you get to the final choice, what is changed?

Well, the Cerberus base assault ran pretty much exactly as I remember - right down to a glitch in the fight with Kai Leng where killing him before finishing off adds can leave you unable to proceed. I noticed some audible/subtitled whispers in the final dream sequence before/during the jump to Sol, but they were minor and it's possible I just forgot about them.

The attack on the Reapers plays out pretty much how I remembered. If there are new scenes prior to the "final" fight with the destroyer, they weren't major enough for me to notice. After that, though, the changes do start to kick in.

During the run to the teleporter, there's a new scene with your chosen squadmates being injured and Shepard calling in the Normandy to pick them up. On the down side, it seems questionable that the Normandy could break away from the battle to pull up just for that - and yet not have the ability to zip Shepard a few hundred yard to hop directly into the beam. On the up side, the scene makes it apparent that you did not condemn your squadmates to anonymous death and explains how they can be in later scenes without having made that final run for the Citadel. Verdict: Mixed, but my suspension of disbelief allows this to be a net positive.

The final approach to the beam and teleportation to the Citadel plays out the same - and I might note that the graphics and feel for that little stretch strongly imply to me wounded/bloody Shepard not hazy/indoctrinated Shepard.

Then there's an additional little scene where Admiral Hackett gets a message aboard his ship and comments something like "Holy shit, he did it," before announcing to the fleet that a report has come in someone reached the Citadel and to press the attack to give them time to open it. Verdict: Good. For better or worse, it weakens the Indoctination Theory, but it makes more sense to me.

The confrontation with the Illusive Man plays out the same as I recall, and then there's the Catalyst. I still don't like that plot element at all, but okay. As the child-avatar explains the choices, you're given more explanation. The descriptions of each path are less vague in general and I consider that a good thing. The synthesis "DNA" thing is still a litlte strange, but the interweaving of organic and synthetic is explained such that I can take it as not complete crap.
The explanation of the destruction ending is changed subtly in a couple ways. For one, you're told something like "a lot of technology you rely on will be destroyed too, but it will be rebuilt." And two... the geth are not explicitly mentioned at all. Previously, that was stated - the geth are synthetic, if you do this they will die. Now there's ambiguity because that isn't stated. It can still be assumed, perhaps, but it seems strange to omit that when most of the edits are making this less vague. Is the player meant to assume this or is this change meant to allow a trace of hope that the geth might survive? It's like a puzzle answer that cannot be unseen - I'm left wondering how I would have interpretted that if I had not seen the pre-edit version.
Verdict: Good overall. The choices are less mystifying at least.

So there you are, faced with the endgame choice options. Red: destroy the Reapers. Blue: sacrifice self and control the Reapers. Green: sacrifice self and merge synthetic and organic life...



Red Destroy Path
My gut led this way, sacrifices and all, the first time I played. So I had to see this first. You make your choice, shoot the cabling, and watch a buildup of red energy meant to destroy the Reapers and expected to incidentally damage much other technology along the way...

There's a new scene with Admiral Hackett calling for the retreat of the fleet to a rendezvous point. Joker is reluctant to leave, thus putting the Normandy behind the bulk of the remaining fleet. This mostly seems to be there to explain why that one ship is seen struggling to outrun the "blast wave" of the effect, though the Normandy is still caught and crashes on some mysterious world as before. I think they may have added to the scenes where the wave is shown deactivating Reapers in the middle of battle on various worlds, but I'm not sure.

There's a new scene with Hackett voicing a "this was costly, but a victory - now we must rebuild" speech. I believe he even gave indication the mass relays would be repaired. We see the assault fleet flying undamaged through space (presumably not starving to death in the Sol system). We see stills of some of the former crew doing okay - Jacob looking like he's perhaps teaching, Zaeed lounging in a beach chair, etc. We see portaits of those fallen along the way - Mordin, Legion, and such. We see still scenes of the various races, including one of the krogan rebuilding with children at hand (presumably omitted or more bleak if you didn't save them). I seem to recall the Citadel as being shown destroyed and falling to Earth, but there's indications in the scenes here of it remaining in orbit and being repaired.
The one thing I found missing from this was the geth - again the ambiguity over whether any survived. Now I wouldn't mind that so much except that I fought over the course of two games to reconcile them with the quarians. And having finally done so, it'd be nice to know I didn't immediately wipe them all out. If quarian suits survived, did even the geth that bonded with those get wiped out? I think it's strongly implied they perished, perhaps, but not stated...
And for all the mention that technology would take a hit, there's little sign of it. The Normandy crashes and the mass relay breaks, but other ships are still flying and nothing else is shown as inoperative, even in the short term.

Then there's a new scene aboard the Normandy with the crew gathered before the memorial wall. EDI is listed with the other dead, which probably further implies the geth are all gone. Tali (well, probably whoever's closest to Shepard's romantic interest) hesitates, but finally places a final name plate reading "Commander Shepard" just above "Admiral Anderson." Then the Normandy, repaired, is shown lifting off from the planet and flying off into the sky.

The brief scene of the breath drawn in by a rubble-obscured figure in N7 armor remains. Though its new placement after all the epilogue scenes (including scenes of rebuilt settings) is awkward. This "secret, good" ending tidbit still isn't expanded on at all, which I'm actualy okay with. It's the sort of open question that I actually respond positively to.

Roll credits.

In my head, I still see Shepard clawing his way out of the rubble, surviving perhaps due to his Project Lazarus implants as much as anything. I see him retiring, no longer using his last name, and settling with Tali (and possibly Garrus in a sense). A home on Rannoch, with possible low-key travel here and there. While I had pictured him struggling to find a way to reunite with the Normandy crew, this ending presents the probability that the ship would be back to Earth in a relatively short time anyway.


The other two main endings play out in the same pttern, though with different specifics.


Green Synthesis Path
I understand a low EMS score did and still does rule this ending out. Jumping into the Crucible beam happens the same with the green pulse. Everyone from then on is shown with green eyes and circuit-like overlays.
I have the same issue with this ending as the Deus Ex 2 "nano-infuse everyone into a collective" ending. While it leads to a sort of utopia, it does it by forcing everyone to conform. I seem to value individuality too highly to like that idea.

The new call to rendezvous scene happens the same, though there's still question why Joker is struggling so hard to escape the green wave of magical synthesis and why it leaves the Normandy crashing.

The extended combat-ending scenes show husks stopping their attack and Reapers pulling off with a tone of "everybody's friends now." EDI is the one to make the speech about the bonding of synthetic and organic life and how "we" rebuild and surpass where we were with the knowledge of the Reapers at hand. The slideshow scenes show not only repaired cities, but what appear to be advanced cities above the clouds. Geth and quarians are shown interacting. Unity, cooperation, and ascension into something more all seem to be the themes.

The new memorial scene plays out much the same, though it's still EDI doing narration and she gives thanks to Shepard for making her truly alive.

So... more expansion and explanation, but no much real change. I felt that pretty much everything that was shown here was implied before. It's the closest to a "happily ever after" ending there is, though it's without Shepard.



Blue Control Path
Shepard is disintegrated in the process of taking over the Reapers...

Same new scene of Normandy pulling back, same old scene of it trying to outrace the wave and being shown crashed. Why? Still no idea on that one. Random EMP overload by the signal? Whatever.

The extended combat scenes show husks suddenly withdrawing in a sort of subservient sense. And the epilogue speech is given by... Shepard. He talks about the sacrifice of the man he was, and how he only now fully understands things like immortality. Shepard has become a consciousness that controls the Reapers, using them to aid in rebuilding and to become the protector of the many. It's interesting to consider what the galaxy might be like with a force of incorruptible, unified, ridiculously-powerful "police." The long-term implications of having one man's morality guiding such a force, though, isn't really explored.

The new memorial scene plays out as with the red ending, as Shepard is "dead" to his companions.


Overall Verdicts: It still has a few issues (mainly why all three effect waves cause the Normandy to crash), but this is much better than what I originally saw. The added ambiguity in one area seems odd, but pretty much everything else is better. There is some sense of closure. There is a feel for what happens in the galaxy immediately after and there is at least some reflection of previous choices made, even if the results are only shown in a narrated slideshow. The choices are better explained and telegraphed by the dialogue, though honestly I didn't find that part lacking before.
It isn't sunshine and rainbows - and it shouldn't necessarily be such - but there is hope without having to create it out of nothing. And best of all, there's a whole lot less "WTF?!" feeling to the entire thing. I might not bump it up to some favorite ending ever or anything, but it's reasonably satisfying. That's a good thing.
So... yes, it's better than the original ending in my opinion. I sort of think if these endings had been there originally, I would have been very mildly disappointed, but that's a huge improvement over what I did feel.

Side Note: Current games are practically forcing me to adopt "WTF?!" as a noun, short hand for "events, scenes, or gameplay that leave me utterly clueless as to what the heck is going on."

Then there's an additional ending option...


Refusal Path
One of my favorite fan-made endings involved Shepard refusing to make a choice and relying on the galaxy he brought together to win. Well, obviously Bioware saw that. Some describe this ending as a "huge middle-finger to fans," but I actually find it appropriate...

If Shepard refuses the three options (or, I'm given to understand, shoots the Catalyst), a new dialogue path is open in which Shepard essentially declares that taking any of the offered paths is depriving people of their freedom or somesuch. The logic does actually make a reasonable amount of sense. The Catalyst declares the cycle will continue, but leaves in a huff of something like "so be it!" And the scene... fades... out...

Then there's a scene of machines hooked up and playing back one of the beacons Liara left, a hologram of her explaining how the galaxy pulled together, made the Crucible, and it still wasn't enough to defeat the Reapers. She says basically: "we went down fighting in our cycle, but we fell - may all this information save you a similar fate." There's no sign of who is watching the recording, that detail really isn't important.

And in the post-credits scene, there's the distant sillhouette of the child on some world again, but talking to a female stargazer this time. She credits Shepard as saving their people from falling to the Reapers, though this could be one cycle later or many.