[bmqib]

Hey I just got mass effect 3, but haven't played the previous games, will this ruin the experience? and why does everyone say mass effect 3 has a bad ending? isn't it the final game in the series?

[zKlown]

(Original post by bmqib)
Hey I just got mass effect 3, but haven't played the previous games, will this ruin the experience? and why does everyone say mass effect 3 has a bad ending? isn't it the final game in the series?

Yes, it will ruin the experience dramatically

Play 1 and 2 first, I very strongly recommend it

And the ending is terrible, if you play the first two, you'll understand why.

[bmqib]

(Original post by zKlown)
Yes, it will ruin the experience dramatically

Play 1 and 2 first, I very strongly recommend it

And the ending is terrible, if you play the first two, you'll understand why.

already saved the krogans from the genophase

[Hylean]

(Original post by zKlown)
Yes, it will ruin the experience dramatically

Play 1 and 2 first, I very strongly recommend it

And the ending is terrible, if you play the first two, you'll understand why.

I disagree. Even without playing the new version of the ending, I enjoyed the ending. It clearly takes into account your previous game experiences and gives you different choices which have widely different outcomes for the universe. Even with the gaps which made it seem a bit off, it was still a good ending to a brilliant series.

[NathanW18]

I did not think the pre-EC ending was good. We were given very little closure. The EC ending made things a bit better. It wasn't perfect, but it was better.

Even though the ending isn't fantastic, it takes very little away from this great series for me.

[zKlown]

(Original post by NathanW18)
I did not think the pre-EC ending was good. We were given very little closure. The EC ending made things a bit better. It wasn't perfect, but it was better.

Even though the ending isn't fantastic, it takes very little away from this great series for me.

Yeah I agree.

I just thought the 3rd one got too spiritual though tbh.

The 2nd one was by far the best IMO, very deep and dark atmosphere. Not to mention the one where you actually work for the Illusive man

[zKlown]

(Original post by Hylean)
I disagree. Even without playing the new version of the ending, I enjoyed the ending. It clearly takes into account your previous game experiences and gives you different choices which have widely different outcomes for the universe. Even with the gaps which made it seem a bit off, it was still a good ending to a brilliant series.

Really? Think about it...

- You have 6 possible endings, 3 red explosions, 2 blue explosions, 1 green explosion.
- The end is the same, Shepard makes his/her choice, the reapers go away in some form, the mass relays explode, the normandy is seen running away from the explosion, the normandy crash lands on some planet. That happens no matter what ending you "choose".

I ain't one of these people that will sit on YouTube channels posting negative feedback and sign petitions to get things changed or anything. But I was pretty disappointed with the ending. Didn't take away from a brilliant series, but still could have been alot better!

(However the extended cut, did make it kinda better)

Watch this for a bit of a review of why the ending is bad, I happen to agree with most his points.

[Aust1n]

I'm seriously dissapointed with the lack of Elcor and Hanar in this game.

[G8D]

(Original post by Aust1n)
I'm seriously dissapointed with the lack of Elcor and Hanar in this game.

I was quite annoyed that, after that one Elcor described how they fight etc, all we got to do was scan an Elcor planet.

[NathanW18]

(Original post by zKlown)
The 2nd one was by far the best IMO, very deep and dark atmosphere. Not to mention the one where you actually work for the Illusive man

I completely agree. I absolutely love ME2. Played it all the way through 8 times!

ME3's combat style is better, though. I love the new roll we have and that they've sped the combat up.

[Hylean]

(Original post by zKlown)
Really? Think about it...

- You have 6 possible endings, 3 red explosions, 2 blue explosions, 1 green explosion.
- The end is the same, Shepard makes his/her choice, the reapers go away in some form, the mass relays explode, the normandy is seen running away from the explosion, the normandy crash lands on some planet. That happens no matter what ending you "choose".

I ain't one of these people that will sit on YouTube channels posting negative feedback and sign petitions to get things changed or anything. But I was pretty disappointed with the ending. Didn't take away from a brilliant series, but still could have been alot better!

(However the extended cut, did make it kinda better)

Watch this for a bit of a review of why the ending is bad, I happen to agree with most his points.

And yet, all the choices you've made throughout the three games have an effect on whether you are able to synthesise and the state of the Earth after the explosion. All three endings have hugely different consequences, which anyone with a mind would be able to imagine, and I don't really care that the explosions were different colours? So what? So what if the Normandy runs away in every ending? The true strength in the endings lie in what they don't show you: the consequences of the explosions. Each gamer creates his own unique universe and chooses and ending which affects that universe, and he or she can then go on to imagine what happens.

If they choose destroy, how badly was the Earth ****ed up? Did Shepherd survive? What happens to the galaxy now? What about that "inevitable" war?
If they choose synthesise, what exactly does that mean? What becomes of the races if they are all part machine? What about the reapers, are they suddenly good guys?
If they choose control, does Shepherd remain in control of them forever, keeping them at bay, or does she choose to send them in after an undetermined amount of time because she realises the catalyst was right?

So many things that could happen. Some really big, ethical questions to be answered as well.

Sure, I was unhappy, because the ending wasn't told fully in regards to my friends and the Normandy, but that was a rather minor issue really.

[G8D]

Did keeping or destroying the collector base have any impact whatever on the ending or even the gameplay of ME3?

[rich2606]

(Original post by G8D)
Did keeping or destroying the collector base have any impact whatever on the ending or even the gameplay of ME3?

If you saved the collector base you would need an extra 200 EMS to unlock the "better" tiers of endings compared to if you destroyed it.

Also, those who saved (like I did), would have the feeling of guilt nagging at us throughout the game knowing that we inadvertently helped the Illusive Man who did eventually turn out to be the bad guy.

[Psyk]

I've just completed ME3 and I don't understand why people thought the ending was so terrible. Admittedly I did have the extended cut. I'm glad I waited for that before completing it.

So what if the actual cinematics for the different endings are largely the same? The implied outcome of each choice is clearly different.

I thought the ending was fine. Maybe some people that didn't like it didn't have a high enough EMS to get the best versions.

[zKlown]

(Original post by Psyk)
I've just completed ME3 and I don't understand why people thought the ending was so terrible. Admittedly I did have the extended cut. I'm glad I waited for that before completing it.

So what if the actual cinematics for the different endings are largely the same? The implied outcome of each choice is clearly different.

I thought the ending was fine. Maybe some people that didn't like it didn't have a high enough EMS to get the best versions.

Even the best versions are kinda bad IMO but I've ranted enough about the endings. I am at peace now.

I have a 2nd hand copy so I can't access the Galaxy map and I'm therefore stuck with 50% readiness rating, but meh...

[Psyk]

(Original post by zKlown)
Even the best versions are kinda bad IMO but I've ranted enough about the endings. I am at peace now.

I have a 2nd hand copy so I can't access the Galaxy map and I'm therefore stuck with 50% readiness rating, but meh...

Did you see the extended cut version of the endings? From what I've read without the extended cut bits of the ending didn't make sense. But it makes perfect sense with it. Or at least there aren't any glaring inconsistencies.

I suppose the main criticism that still stands is that the actual ending cinematics are largely the same whichever option you choose. But I don't care about that because I only watched the one I picked

[zKlown]

(Original post by Psyk)
Did you see the extended cut version of the endings? From what I've read without the extended cut bits of the ending didn't make sense. But it makes perfect sense with it. Or at least there aren't any glaring inconsistencies.

I suppose the main criticism that still stands is that the actual ending cinematics are largely the same whichever option you choose. But I don't care about that because I only watched the one I picked

Yeah the extended cut improved the ending alot.

In the extended cut you see Joker reluctant to abandon Shepard and Garrus has to persuade him to drive off. Before that, you just see Joker driving off, fighting the energy behind him. The main criticism fans had with that was that Joker would never abandon Shepard like that, so yeah the Extended cut went over things like that.

Also when you're speaking to the God child, there is far more dialogue which explains the situation and why you have these choices in the extended cut.

I chose the ending where you reject all options and the cycle continues lol, that's silly though, never do that!

[Aust1n]

(Original post by zKlown)
Even the best versions are kinda bad IMO but I've ranted enough about the endings. I am at peace now.

I have a 2nd hand copy so I can't access the Galaxy map and I'm therefore stuck with 50% readiness rating, but meh...

You don't need any higher than 50% to get the other endings. The readiness rating is only changeable by playing online and makes no real difference to the game play.

[Psyk]

(Original post by Aust1n)
You don't need any higher than 50% to get the other endings. The readiness rating is only changeable by playing online and makes no real difference to the game play.

It's pretty much impossible to get your EMS over 4000 (which gets you the best versions of the endings) just by playing single player. I did every sidequest in all 3 games, generally had things turn out well (e.g. no one died in the suicide mission), and I still didn't have enough. You can only get that much by making a specific set of choices throughout the whole series, and which aren't obvious as "good" choices.

[zKlown]

(Original post by Psyk)
It's pretty much impossible to get your EMS over 4000 (which gets you the best versions of the endings) just by playing single player. I did every sidequest in all 3 games, generally had things turn out well (e.g. no one died in the suicide mission), and I still didn't have enough. You can only get that much by making a specific set of choices throughout the whole series, and which aren't obvious as "good" choices.

Yeah, if you can get a certain EMS (I think it's around 5000), and choose the destroy ending, then Shepard lives.

It's kinda annoying as Mass Effect has being primarily a single player game but in order to get the best outcome, you have to do multiplayer.