Mass Effect 3 to get a proper ending via free DLC

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Madia

Senior member
May 2, 2006
487
1
0
ME3 has potential but being rushed out to meet EA's quarterly revenue goals has killed the series for me.

I wouldn't blame EA for this one, ME3 was actually delayed to make sure it was "the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone's expectations."

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/116/1166006p1.html


For me, I'll get the DLC, play it through once, then uninstall ME3 and the piece of crap origin for good. It's sad too, I just uninstalled ME2 the other day and was somewhat reluctant to do so. ME3 I have no qualms uninstalling forever.

I plan on loading the save just before the ending to see what they changed. I doubt it'll make me want to go through the whole game again or give me any sense of closure to the series. With the ending fiasco I wonder if anyone will actually buy the paid DLC or they'll just release one or two and be done with it like they did for Dragon Age 2.
 

irishScott

Lifer
Oct 10, 2006
21,562
3
0
I wouldn't blame EA for this one, ME3 was actually delayed to make sure it was "the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone's expectations."

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/116/1166006p1.html




I plan on loading the save just before the ending to see what they changed. I doubt it'll make me want to go through the whole game again or give me any sense of closure to the series. With the ending fiasco I wonder if anyone will actually buy the paid DLC or they'll just release one or two and be done with it like they did for Dragon Age 2.

Yes, and instead of delaying it for another year or two to make sure it was done right, EA allowed a 6 month delay so they could turn a barely finished product.
 

Madia

Senior member
May 2, 2006
487
1
0
It'll probably be ready for download in about a half an hour but the youtube videos are already up from the xbox 360 version. I saw all the endings and my thoughts are below.

The endings mostly just flesh out the consequences of your choice. They also added another ending which you can receive by refusing to choose or shooting the star child. Overall, they're done better than the previous version but it doesn't change the main problem for me which was that the endings were a huge disappointment for an end to a great series. I'm not sure where they'll go from here with future ME games since Shepard's choices seem to drastically alter the ME universe.

I've been over the ME series since the lousy ending and am content just seeing the new content on youtube. I probably won't bother playing the extended cut or buying any future dlc.
 
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Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
81
The new ending is out. Has anyone played it yet?

It said you need to load your save from before you enter the cerberus base. Which means that you probably need to play multiplayer to get your readiness level back up so you can get a good ending. Then you need to play through several hours to get to an ending that probably still sucks. Hopefully I'm wrong about this, but if I'm right then I'll just look it up on youtube.
 

Merad

Platinum Member
May 31, 2010
2,586
19
81
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Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
Saw the endings on Youtube. They're actually better now, more is explained. Some stuff still seems weird, like
Shepard reported as dead in the Destroy ending, Liara adding his name tag on the Normandy but then you see him grabbing a breath like in the first "release" anyway. The hell?
However what I like most about the changes is that
you actually see the civilizations recover in 3 out of 4 endings, rebuilding the Citadel and the mass relays - as everything is reported as severely damaged, not destroyed. Also all endings are rather well explained. Everything makes more sense now... and how Shepard influenced the whole galaxy with his choice.
It's not perfect, but then nothing is :) Just wish all this was in the initial game...

All in all I'm more satisfied than with the initial ending details. A lot more explained, dialogue changed a bit too. And we finally get to know why the hell Normandy was seen doing what it did!
 

AznAnarchy99

Lifer
Dec 6, 2004
14,695
117
106
IMO its a bit late. These endings would of hit much better if it was the first run through when the game came out.
 

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
13
81
IMO its a bit late. These endings would of hit much better if it was the first run through when the game came out.


ME3 ending was rushed and incomplete,you only had to play it first time round before the extended version was released,the new ending is an improvement , hopefully we will see ME4 down the road.

EA/Bioware know Mass Effect franchise is a good thing for them..
 

AznAnarchy99

Lifer
Dec 6, 2004
14,695
117
106
ME3 ending was rushed and incomplete,you only had to play it first time round before the extended version was released,the new ending is an improvement , hopefully we will see ME4 down the road.

EA/Bioware know Mass Effect franchise is a good thing for them..

I feel like much of the emotional impact is gone. Its been 4+ months now? I was really devoted to the story when I was playing it. Now its just meh to me.
 

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
13
81
I feel like much of the emotional impact is gone. Its been 4+ months now? I was really devoted to the story when I was playing it. Now its just meh to me.


I have high hopes for ME4 due to the ME3 ending and not the ME3 storyline(without spoilers) so hoping for something interesting in ME4 .
 

Grimbones

Senior member
Jun 12, 2004
551
0
0
I've been over the ME series since the lousy ending and am content just seeing the new content on youtube. I probably won't bother playing the extended cut or buying any future dlc.

Agreed. I finished the game months and months ago, am not going to play the directors cut, if they wanted to leave a better taste in the players mouth they should have taken into account what exactly they were doing with that ending...
 

Nintendesert

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2010
7,761
5
0
they would never do that. Why would Bioware want to compete with TOR?



I don't think Bioware makes any decisions anymore. We need to think of what EA wants. $$$ and it wouldn't be out anytime soon. Maybe they figure give TOR a 5 year run, make tons of profits and then release the new hotness. Rinse and repeat all their IP until it's time to release TOR2.
 

Zenoth

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2005
5,202
216
106
I want to check the DLC... I try to log-in to my Origin account, and it doesn't work, keeps asking me to "Go Online", but it's off-line, even after typing in my password two times. The thing is, when I launched Origin it updated, but I can't log-in to my account. I tried to log-in to my Bioware Social Network's account and it worked.

I guess I'll just not bother, I'll check the new endings on YouTube.
 

Nintendesert

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2010
7,761
5
0
I simply watched it on IGN, they have them all up. I will say this without providing spoilers, I only watched the one I picked. Had they released the game like this with these endings there wouldn't have been nearly as much uproar. I would have been just fine with it. And as anyone that has read my posts on the subject, I felt like my emotions and intellect were raped by Bioware and the original endings.
 

dighn

Lifer
Aug 12, 2001
22,820
4
81
checked them out on youtube. I like them. the dialog with the "star child" also made the whole thing clearer and more plausible.
 

AznAnarchy99

Lifer
Dec 6, 2004
14,695
117
106
Watched all of them on youtube but played through the "fuck you starchild" ending. Was a bit disappointed through that one. I personally like control or synthesis better.
 

ramj70

Senior member
Aug 24, 2004
764
1
81
Well over at the Bioware forums someone has found some text files in the DLC that point to a possible new DLC. Here are the text files. Looks like an interesting DLC if true, we find out more about the Reapers and their creators.

-What is it with you and rescuing scientists from dig sites that have been overrun by hostile forces?-If you decide to help her take down the Shadow Broker, I'm going to be jealous. And somewhat concerned-Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

-So we have Leviathan. I hope it stays on our side.
-Leviathan's mental restraints are odd. My AI shackles served similar purposes, but why add sensations of darkness or cold? (EDI)I have formulated a psych profile for Dr. Ann Bryson. She is not used to death, but she may be quite capable under stress.

So the Reapers did not fully exterminate their creators. That suggests they are fallible, even on large or long-term scales. (Unknown)

Strange stuff back on that asteroid. We've seen indoctrination before, but ten years? Leviathan had its own private army.

Shepard, I looked over your mission report. Gotta say, it feels like we've been after these Reapers forever...
From Sovereign to Leviathan... they've been a pain in the ass the whole time. But at least we're starting to see the big picture.
Never really thought we'd get any answers. It doesn't change much, but it does make this war feel a whole lot bigger.
-Hackett or Anderson

If Leviathan is a defector--a Reaper that broke away from the others--then it is also a traitor.

I have studied your human religions, Commander--your "Devil" and his fall. Leviathan and its kind deserve the same fate.
They once unleashed a plague that has haunted all of our history to this day.
I say their own hell is the abyss you found them in... one I hope they never escape from. (Javik)

Don't know why I ever worry about you. Take on ancient aliens from the deep? Sure, no problem.

With the Leviathan on our side, maybe we pull this thing off after all.

I can handle the Reapers that run around, or the ones that crawl, or the ones that... shuffle menacingly toward you. But it's the flying ones that give me the creeps

We have located Ann Bryson's dig site
We have located Garneau.

There is no sign of Ann Bryson in this system.

Garneau is not located in this system.

These coordinates match our trace of Leviathan.

No sign of Leviathan at these coordinates.

My sources told me the production numbers were wrong at that mining facility

I assumed they were just smuggling red sand. I never took the time to look closer

Too much intel, too many places for secrets to hide. I'm going to have to start sleeping less

I'm glad you made it back... and I'd appreciate it if you avoided talking to Leviathan any further

I don't want any tentacled creature inside your mind... except me

I can only imagine talking to something so huge, so... alien. I hope it helps against the Reapers

That mining facility... everyone there under Leviathan's control. It reminded me of Feros

That mining facility... all those people, indoctrinated, losing ten years. I can't even imagine what that's like

How many other people out there are trapped like that? We need to find Leviathan

I'm glad Ann Bryson got out safely. I just hope we find Leviathan before the Reapers do.

Don't do that again, not even to forge an alliance with a damned Reaper-killer

So we have Leviathan. I hope it stays on our side

You took a huge risk down there. Almost died to figure this out

I've been thinking about what we learned, Shepard. The thing is, I don't really care what the Reapers are or where they're from


They're monsters that need to be put down. That's all I need to know

I can't believe what I saw down there

This Leviathan thing can just kick you out of your own head

I don't know what's worse: killing people outright, or making them suffer like that

Just when I thought we were getting a handle on Reapers, this happens. Maybe Leviathan's more than a bull's-eye?

I saw many strange things in our war against the Reapers. An entire settlement of Densorin were once studying things far beyond their knowledge

Celestial mechanics, morphological simulations of galactic language... things even we didn't understand. At the time, I thought they were crazy

But now, after what occurred on that asteroid, I wonder

If Leviathan is a defector--a Reaper that broke away from the others--then it is also a traitor
And traitors are never to be trusted, even among the enemy
If they can betray their own kind, imagine what they can do to you
The mining colony was completely brainwashed, and the Reapers retreat the moment the artifact is destroyed?

I don't know what's going on, but I know I don't like it

If another Harvester keeps me from dropping you off in the target LZ, so help me...

Esteban, don't let those oversized roaches push you around

Mr. Vega, taking on a sky full of worm-necks in a troop transport is like sending you against the Earth invasion armed with brass knuckles

What? You don't think I could do it

Can't say I was happy sending you down in that submersible by yourself

Don't know why I ever worry about you. Take on ancient aliens from the deep? Sure, no problem

That asteroid facility was messed up.
Ten years of your life, just gone. You're working out there, sending letters to your family back home...

Then you wake up, and your hair's gone, your kid's in college, and your six-pack has
turned into a keg. Just messed up.

The Leviathan's created you, didn't they

Tell me what you know about the Leviathans

But you turned on the Leviathans. You harvested them

Who is OLD TONGUE NAME OF HARBINGER

Leviathan
 

Madia

Senior member
May 2, 2006
487
1
0
While the new endings give a better sense of closure to the game it doesn't change my main problem with how the series concluded. ME3 gave us a philosophical/arthouse conclusion to a series I never considered to be philosophical or arthouse. I don't think the series centered on the questions surrounding organic life and artificial intelligence, what it means to truly be alive, the merger of organic and synthetic, etc. To me the series was always about the fight for survival. The appearance of
the starchild
and what followed ruined for me what had been a great series.

Some spoiler thoughts on the conclusion below:

I think almost everyone was ok with Shepard dying at the end of the series. I certainly had no problem with it as long as it was done well. The problem for me was the starchild and that nonsense rather than having Shepard sacrifice his life heroically. It might seem cliched or expected but as long as it was well done I would have been content. What Shepard's sacrifice meant would've been determined by your effective military strength. For example:

Best ending - Highest ems, Reapers destroyed, Shepard gravely wounded but survives.

"Triumph" ending - High ems, Reapers destroyed but Shepard dies.

"Renegade triumph" ending - High ems, Reapers destroyed, Shepard lives but sacrifices normandy and her crew to do so.

"Hope" ending- Average ems, Shepard dies, Reapers greatly wounded but not destroyed, the fight against the reapers continues but shepard's sacrifical blow to the reapers gives the galaxy hope to win the war.

"Persevere" ending - Low ems, Shepard dies as does the normandy and her crew, Reapers wounded but not gravely, Galaxy resolves to persevere and defeat the reapers though they are not hopeful as above realizing entire races and planets will be lost to win the war.

"Beacon" ending - Lowest ems, Shepard dies, Reapers victorious, Beacon sent out much like the current "refusal" ending.

As stated before as disappointed I was with the ending at the time I'm over it now. I'm not going to stop buying bioware games or anything like that because of it but my confidence in the company has dropped to where I'll no longer purchase collector editions release day (like I did for DA2 and ME3) but wait until the reviews are out or there's a price drop.