Okay, just did the extended cut for Synthesis. Spoilers:
Well, I was glad that they showed Joker coming to pick up my team-mates.
I just played that extended cut and now I hate EA even more. Eh, I probably picked a "wrong" ending.
The Normandy landing RIGHT IN FRONT of the teleport to the Citadel is the greatest crap. If they could do that, why the fuck have foot soldiers running into their death against it!??!!???!
And then I did the only reasonable thing, shot the annoying AI kid in the face. Resulting in a cheap thirty second Shepard sighs/ Liara beacon ending.
Yeah, it's widely regarded as a great big middle finger to anyone who wanted a wildly different ending.
Well it's what the Shepard a lot of people played would have done. That was one of the major complaints about the original ending: Why can't Shepard just do that.
Because that would have required a hell of a lot of work on Bioware's part, creating a completely new ending that effectively undoes the design choice that they decided on before the game was shipped.
No 'new' ending would has satisfied everyone, so they create a quick little "fuck you" to shut up everyone who didn't like the extended endings that they did (and which I think work, more or less).
Or, they could have just gone on Twitter and go like, sure, the Indoctrination Theory is true, and just go on and build a Mass Effect 4 around that. Heck, they could make the main protagonist be not-Shepard and make the protagonist hunt down Shepard. Depending on whether Shepard was indoctrinated, Shepard would or would not be the real antagonist of that game, and you had a choice of executing Shepard or not.
You hear what I'm hearing? It's a truckload of fictional cash that may or may have not existed on EA's bank account.
For boycotting Origin, you DO deserve a medal. I hate that one with a passion, and I will never ever buy another game on that platform.
Still, I had fun with ME3.
Some of the dialogue is the best in the series, particularly involving everything concerning
Eve and Mordin
. Although anything but my favorite character in ME2,
Mordin Solus
had such a meaningful farewell it did make me cry. And I just love what they did with
Jack/ Subject Zero
.
Yes, those dumb last two hours CAN ruin the entire series, and they still do in that useless piece of extended cut shit. But the path to disappointment is actually still a nice ride.
I haven't bought part three either and I plan to hold off on it until it moves to Steam or there ends up being more than one game on Origin that I would actually want to play. Because I really don't want to get a whole new game download service for one game.
God, I am so sick of the negativity around this ending. I swear, I haven't seen this much hate over an ending since Neon Genesis Evangelion. I seriously do not understand why you guys see it as "shit". And I really am sick of hearing "Indoctrination Theory". If that WERE true, then that makes all three games completely pointless and is just as big a cop-out as if Shepard were to wake up on Earth on a peaceful sunny day to find it was all a dream. I can understand a difference of opinion, but those of you who don't like it parade around your opinion that it's "crap" as if it were undeniable fact. Which it isn't. It's an opinion. So what if Bioware didn't give you the ending you wanted? Is that their job? No. Their job is to tell the story THEY want to tell and make money doing so. You want your own ending? Then open up a Word program and get to writing your fanfiction where Shepard rips out Harbinger's brain with his/her bare hands and then relaxes on a beach with Garrus and Mordin. And personally, I'm of the opinion that there was not going to be a happy ending where Shepard lives with his/her love interest in a house on Earth/Thessia/Palaven/Rannoch.
In other Mass Effect news, BioWare's finally giving us PS3 players the ability to play Mass Effect 1. Sadly, no release date as yet...
I think the issue is that there's suspicion that Bioware wasn't allowed (via time constraints or what have you) to make the ending that THEY wanted to make. Kind of a KOTOR II type deal all over again. I haven't played the game, but the fact that the ending kinda looks rushed makes me automatically feel like they were pressured into releasing an unfinished product and that they had a more involved ending planned that got cut due to some factor that we will probably never heard about.
Also, the government can hear my thoughts, but this tin foil hat helps loads.
Conspiracy theory? Hardly. The discrepancy between what BioWare promised and EA delivered could not be greater. So either BioWare has hallucinated/outright lied or EA has cut development time/money.
I think it has also already been made expressly clear that this is not about wanting a "happy" ending. It is about an ending in which your decisions in a hundred hour total game actually count - nothing less than what was promised. The Mass Effect fans could probably deal with Shepard's death. What they can't deal with is that stupid almighty deus ex machina AI kid that pops up completely out of the blue, put in place by about the most stupid ancient race EVER, who did not even give this AI enough processing power to detect what useless shit it is doing even in the n-th cycle. It's bad writing and has nothing to do with Shepard's former actions, period.
And I repeat: the "indoctrination theory" would - if true - be even worse writing than what is presently there. Heck, it's bad fan fiction without the obligatory sex.
And I repeat: the "indoctrination theory" would - if true - be even worse writing than what is presently there. Heck, it's bad fan fiction without the obligatory gay sex.
The Indoctrination Theory makes a lot of sense when you look at some of the evidence that fans have turned up. There are several videos with very compelling arguments for it - several very well made videos. Don't dismiss it out of hand. If you don't like it, fine, but it's still better than the original ending and it would lead to a much more epic and fitting conclusion to the trilogy.
The Indoctrination Theory makes a lot of sense when you look at some of the evidence that fans have turned up. There are several videos with very compelling arguments for it - several very well made videos. Don't dismiss it out of hand. If you don't like it, fine, but it's still better than the original ending and it would lead to a much more epic and fitting conclusion to the trilogy.
No, no it wouldn't make a fitting conclusion. Every video I've seen brings up the same points. All of which pretty much say that Shepard would've been indoctrinated since DAY ONE. I said it earlier, if that is true, then every decision you ever made in any of the games is completely pointless beyond all reason. And one of the worst arguments I've seen for the indoctrination theory was "OMG, there are shrubs on the ground before the beam to the Citadel, there are shrubs in Shepard's dream, he's indoctrinated, OMG!"
And Vaina, I honestly felt that my choices up to that point influenced my decision at the end. For instance, I didn't feel that a Commander Shepard who spent the entirety of Mass Effect 3 trying to shape peace between the races, give sentience to the geth, and help EDI discover her own "humanity" would be willing to sacrifice the geth and EDI just to kill the Reapers. That's not just collateral damage, that's backstabbing and twisting the knife.
No, no it wouldn't make a fitting conclusion. Every video I've seen brings up the same points. All of which pretty much say that Shepard would've been indoctrinated since DAY ONE. I said it earlier, if that is true, then every decision you ever made in any of the games is completely pointless beyond all reason. And one of the worst arguments I've seen for the indoctrination theory was "OMG, there are shrubs on the ground before the beam to the Citadel, there are shrubs in Shepard's dream, he's indoctrinated, OMG!"
I'd say it means that Shepard wasn't actually indoctrinated - YET. It depended on the decision you made at the end. The swirly eyes thing is a clue there.
Yeah, what actually happened in the finished product was a cop-out, but if done properly, you could have ended the game by accepting what the starchild says (and completing the indoctrination), which would have lead to one ending where you do something similar to the control or synthesis choices, or just shooting the kid (and rejecting the whole thing), which would have given you a different ending where you blow the whole thing to shit and end the Reaper threat entirely, possibly sacrificing yourself in the process.
Instead, we got three cookie-cutter endings that were essentially identical. Not so any more thanks to the extended cut, which fixed many issues, but we still got the starchild, and by this point he personified a lot of what was wrong with the ending. Like how Jar Jar represents the fuck-ups of The Phantom Menace.
And yes, the shrubbery thing was weak. Also, it brings to mind this.
The thing that pissed a lot of people off is the choices we made throughout the games did not affect the endings at all. Let's say you raised your war rating to its max level or something. If done properly, maybe that would have resulted in all the races you saved coming to help you destroy the Reapers. All it would have taken is a few clips of battle cruisers helping in the final battle, one for each race you helped.
And, just to really shut everyone up, how about this. If you barely helped anyone, Shepard died. If you helped loads of people, Shepard lived.
And, just to really shut everyone up, how about this. If you barely helped anyone, Shepard died. If you helped loads of people, Shepard lived.
Isn't that what happens though? If your readiness is high enough, and choose "destroy", then Shepard lives in the end as you see him breathing afterwords. Which also helped the indoctrination theory out as it would be the ending the reapers wouldn't want Shepard to pick.
No, no it wouldn't make a fitting conclusion. Every video I've seen brings up the same points. All of which pretty much say that Shepard would've been indoctrinated since DAY ONE.
That is not at all what the indoctrination theory says. The indoctrination theory posits that after so much contact with various reaper artifacts that they've finally started to worm their way into Shepard's mind. That's for Mass Effect 3 only. In none of the other games was he having weird freaky dreams or hearing voices. Furthermore it does not state that he had already been indoctrinated but that throughout the game they're slowly TRYING to indoctrinate him. Which ultimately culminates with his encounter with the starchild. That's the ultimate test to see whether they've won his mind.
If this theory is correct then there are a number of things that were planned/could be planned. Either they leave it like it is, which would be unsatisfying or... A potential IT DLC/ME4 that has you waking up on Earth and finishing the fight to destroy the reapers.
For instance, I didn't feel that a Commander Shepard who spent the entirety of Mass Effect 3 trying to shape peace between the races, give sentience to the geth, and help EDI discover her own "humanity" would be willing to sacrifice the geth and EDI just to kill the Reapers. That's not just collateral damage, that's backstabbing and twisting the knife.
That right there highlights one of the massive failures of the ending. After doing all that why didn't Shepard argue with the starchild and point to his successes (if you managed them) with the Geth and the Quarians? No instead he just accepts everything the starchild says without a peep.
I'm sorry, but the dreams are not a sign of indoctrination. It's simply the weight of the world on Shepard's shoulders. If you pay attention, most of the voices are from the past. Good example is after Mordin's death. The dream voices echo "Someone else might have gotten it wrong" over and over.
And what if Shepard pointed out the success with the geth? That wouldn't have changed anything.
Ugh, don't remind me of those slow motion dream sequences. THEY weren't exactly my favorite.
I will say this...why did they feel the need to make you walk through it? Why not let it just be a cutscene? That's all that those sections amounted to.
Also, I get the feeling that the Catalyst(refuse to call it star-child) actually isn't a catalyst at all. It was a program designed to do a very specific thing, which was solve the problem of synthetic life-forms(NOT AI) rebelling against organic life-forms. It chose a very odd solution, yes, but still. Once it determined that the solution would no longer work, it required new input. A new catalyst. Hence Shepard.
I will say this...why did they feel the need to make you walk through it? Why not let it just be a cutscene? That's all that those sections amounted to.
So that you can experience the indoctrination first hand.
Again, I personally looked at the choices in front of me and weighed each option against what my Shepard had done in the past and found that synthesis was the best option.
Still think it's a gyp to me and others that play FemShep that the only way to leave behind a "legacy" beyond saving the galaxy and all that is to go for Liara and potentially have a bunch of blue children.
Comments
I just played that extended cut and now I hate EA even more. Eh, I probably picked a "wrong" ending.
And then I did the only reasonable thing, shot the annoying AI kid in the face. Resulting in a cheap thirty second Shepard sighs/ Liara beacon ending.
So this was my "extended cut". What a laugh.
Well it's what the Shepard a lot of people played would have done. That was one of the major complaints about the original ending: Why can't Shepard just do that.
No 'new' ending would has satisfied everyone, so they create a quick little "fuck you" to shut up everyone who didn't like the extended endings that they did (and which I think work, more or less).
Also, they should have just gone with the Indoctrination Theory. Made a whole lot more sense to me.
You hear what I'm hearing? It's a truckload of fictional cash that may or may have not existed on EA's bank account.
The only thing that matters is not buying, and not enough people would do that for a theoretical part four to really hit their wallet.
Yay me?
*sigh*
For boycotting Origin, you DO deserve a medal. I hate that one with a passion, and I will never ever buy another game on that platform.
Still, I had fun with ME3.
Some of the dialogue is the best in the series, particularly involving everything concerning
Yes, those dumb last two hours CAN ruin the entire series, and they still do in that useless piece of extended cut shit. But the path to disappointment is actually still a nice ride.
(And before you ask - YouTube videos reveal all.)
In other Mass Effect news, BioWare's finally giving us PS3 players the ability to play Mass Effect 1. Sadly, no release date as yet...
Dunno if I'll get it on PS3 or PC.
PS3 would get me to avoid Origin, so probably that...
Also, the government can hear my thoughts, but this tin foil hat helps loads.
I think it has also already been made expressly clear that this is not about wanting a "happy" ending. It is about an ending in which your decisions in a hundred hour total game actually count - nothing less than what was promised. The Mass Effect fans could probably deal with Shepard's death. What they can't deal with is that stupid almighty deus ex machina AI kid that pops up completely out of the blue, put in place by about the most stupid ancient race EVER, who did not even give this AI enough processing power to detect what useless shit it is doing even in the n-th cycle. It's bad writing and has nothing to do with Shepard's former actions, period.
And I repeat: the "indoctrination theory" would - if true - be even worse writing than what is presently there. Heck, it's bad fan fiction without the obligatory sex.
I completely agree.
No, no it wouldn't make a fitting conclusion. Every video I've seen brings up the same points. All of which pretty much say that Shepard would've been indoctrinated since DAY ONE. I said it earlier, if that is true, then every decision you ever made in any of the games is completely pointless beyond all reason. And one of the worst arguments I've seen for the indoctrination theory was "OMG, there are shrubs on the ground before the beam to the Citadel, there are shrubs in Shepard's dream, he's indoctrinated, OMG!"
And Vaina, I honestly felt that my choices up to that point influenced my decision at the end. For instance, I didn't feel that a Commander Shepard who spent the entirety of Mass Effect 3 trying to shape peace between the races, give sentience to the geth, and help EDI discover her own "humanity" would be willing to sacrifice the geth and EDI just to kill the Reapers. That's not just collateral damage, that's backstabbing and twisting the knife.
Yeah, what actually happened in the finished product was a cop-out, but if done properly, you could have ended the game by accepting what the starchild says (and completing the indoctrination), which would have lead to one ending where you do something similar to the control or synthesis choices, or just shooting the kid (and rejecting the whole thing), which would have given you a different ending where you blow the whole thing to shit and end the Reaper threat entirely, possibly sacrificing yourself in the process.
Instead, we got three cookie-cutter endings that were essentially identical. Not so any more thanks to the extended cut, which fixed many issues, but we still got the starchild, and by this point he personified a lot of what was wrong with the ending. Like how Jar Jar represents the fuck-ups of The Phantom Menace.
And yes, the shrubbery thing was weak. Also, it brings to mind this.
The thing that pissed a lot of people off is the choices we made throughout the games did not affect the endings at all. Let's say you raised your war rating to its max level or something. If done properly, maybe that would have resulted in all the races you saved coming to help you destroy the Reapers. All it would have taken is a few clips of battle cruisers helping in the final battle, one for each race you helped.
And, just to really shut everyone up, how about this. If you barely helped anyone, Shepard died. If you helped loads of people, Shepard lived.
Isn't that what happens though? If your readiness is high enough, and choose "destroy", then Shepard lives in the end as you see him breathing afterwords. Which also helped the indoctrination theory out as it would be the ending the reapers wouldn't want Shepard to pick.
That is not at all what the indoctrination theory says. The indoctrination theory posits that after so much contact with various reaper artifacts that they've finally started to worm their way into Shepard's mind. That's for Mass Effect 3 only. In none of the other games was he having weird freaky dreams or hearing voices. Furthermore it does not state that he had already been indoctrinated but that throughout the game they're slowly TRYING to indoctrinate him. Which ultimately culminates with his encounter with the starchild. That's the ultimate test to see whether they've won his mind.
If this theory is correct then there are a number of things that were planned/could be planned. Either they leave it like it is, which would be unsatisfying or... A potential IT DLC/ME4 that has you waking up on Earth and finishing the fight to destroy the reapers.
That right there highlights one of the massive failures of the ending. After doing all that why didn't Shepard argue with the starchild and point to his successes (if you managed them) with the Geth and the Quarians? No instead he just accepts everything the starchild says without a peep.
And what if Shepard pointed out the success with the geth? That wouldn't have changed anything.
Because it's not a cycle then.
And let's face it. Fem-Shep is not Neo and Liara is not Trinity.
I will say this...why did they feel the need to make you walk through it? Why not let it just be a cutscene? That's all that those sections amounted to.
Also, I get the feeling that the Catalyst(refuse to call it star-child) actually isn't a catalyst at all. It was a program designed to do a very specific thing, which was solve the problem of synthetic life-forms(NOT AI) rebelling against organic life-forms. It chose a very odd solution, yes, but still. Once it determined that the solution would no longer work, it required new input. A new catalyst. Hence Shepard.
So that you can experience the indoctrination first hand.
Let's call this annoying piece of bad writing... Wesley.
Here's looking at you, Whil.
Again, I personally looked at the choices in front of me and weighed each option against what my Shepard had done in the past and found that synthesis was the best option.
Still think it's a gyp to me and others that play FemShep that the only way to leave behind a "legacy" beyond saving the galaxy and all that is to go for Liara and potentially have a bunch of blue children.
Except if it really was time constraints, that wouldn't have been the conclusion.
Heck, from what I've seen the concluding scene actually is was a blatant sequel hook.
Guh, still selling DLC even in a collection? EA are the most miserly bunch out there.