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[royox]

Yes. It's been more than 8 years since those words were said

And we ORIGINALLY got as ending the same cutscene with diferent colors:

But let's be honest, that started one of the biggest shitstorms I've ever seen in the videogame industry. The shitstorm was so big EAware was forced to RE-DO the endings adding:
-New Cutscenes
-1 New ENDING
-An epilogue to all the endings explaining what the fuck happent
-Changing cutscenes that were already in the original endings


We also got a lot of memes, one of the best i remember:

The denial of the endings was so big the fans started to believe the endings were FAKE and the real ending was what we know as the INDOCTRINATION THEORY (a theory that says that the last part with Shepard and the IA-Child never happens and it's all in Shepard's head while fighting Indoctrination to chose the DESTROY ending).

Also they Added a "fuck you" ending where you refuse to choose/shoot at the AI-child and we lose in this cycle but the next cycle will beat the reapers.

Nothing of this gave me any feeling of "closure". I never got to kick Harbinger's ass, only some minor reapers. I never got to kick TIM's ass, his whole stuff in ME3 ends in a looong conversation where he kills you, he suicides or you press a button and kill him. Not the final boss battle I was expecting for years.

And here I am, in this "pseudo-not-E3" waiting for somebody to announce a Mass Effect trilogy remaster to give them another chance on doing the correct stuff and solve the ending.


Still mad. Will never forgive. Will never forget.

 

[namekuseijin]

NMS to me has been a far better sci-fi game than Mass Effect ever was.

edit: I'm serious.

you wake up alone next to a crashed ship in a huge bewildering universe and try to survive by gathering resources, refining them into useful gear and exploring to uncover the how's and why's of Existence in repetitively ever changing familiar scenarios. It poses a more interesting existential plot than the typical caught-in-the-middle-of-alien-races-conflict and the amount of ships, tech, landscapes, creatures and sheer mindfuck are staggering. Old Commander Shepard's military incursions can't hold a candle - scripted quests is fine for the first time, but don't have the replay value rogue-lites give you...

 

[Lone Wolf]

Yeah I hated what they did, but I don’t expect it to ever be fixed. At this point I doubt we ever get another Mass Effect. BioWare as we knew it died long ago anyway.

 

[akS^]

I have over 1000 hours in the 3 games combined. For me it's a case of - the journey was more important to me than the finale. Even though the ending is divisive, I was satisfied with the overall experience.

The Citadel DLC in a way which came out a year after the game, did give me some closure that I needed with the characters. And for me personally - synthesis ending was satisfying.

 

[M1chl]

Well it was fun game, what's worse is Andromeda. Fuck that abomination.

 

[royox]

And for me personally - synthesis ending was satisfying.

There's no satisfaction in leaving the reapers alive. You are indoctrinated chosing the "Saren" ending, destruction forever. Fuck the machines.

 

[Andodalf]

The ending was very underwhelming, but no ending was going to be satisfying. I have never seen a proposed ending that is good, or really even much better than what we got. I'm just glad it had a definitive ending. I also really liked the 4th ending.

Citadel DLC is the real ending anyway

 

[Goro Majima]

Was the rumor true about the team collaborating on the entire story except the ending where Casey Hudson locked himself away in his office and wrote it entirely himself? I vaguely remember some of the devs trying to distance themselves from him after that ending came out.

 

[Cyborg]

How can you be mad at a game? Ending sucked but after few hours I was fine I didint even bother after that to play the new ending.
Its just entertainment I enjoy and sometimes the ride is fun till you hit a bump.

 

[Stilton Disco]

People fixate on the ending, but 3 was a shit show from the get go.

skipping a huge chubk of time, introducing characters we were told Shepherd was a close friend with that we qs the player had had no interaction with, completely ignoring their own lore in regards to how FTP worked in universe, having the Reapers act entirely out of their established character, the stupid child that was a ham-fisted attempt to pull at the heart strings, Liara no longer really being Shadowbroker to excuse the fact she was back on the team, shafting half the ME2 characters, making Cerberus a cartoonishly evil and ridiculously powerful organisation out of nowhere, the citadel being about 3 areas and the council not nattering even if they were dead or alive, ignoring the choice to make Anderson councillor (even though it was the overwhelmingly more common player choice by their own metrics), the terrible narrative convenience of the crucible, the Citadel randomly teleporting to Earth at the end with no explanation, I'm going to stop here because I could go on for hours.

My point is, the game was a mess and Tachunka, Rannoch and Citadel DLC aside, it was an utter disappointment all around.

 

[TheContact]

3 was even more of a disappointment because of how good 2 was. At least they tried to fix the ending though.

 

[GreyHorace]

Still my biggest disappointment in all my years of gaming. Never thought Bioware could mess up what was supposed to be their magnum opus.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Was the rumor true about the team collaborating on the entire story except the ending where Casey Hudson locked himself away in his office and wrote it entirely himself? I vaguely remember some of the devs trying to distance themselves from him after that ending came out.

Sort of, but worse.

it was Casey Hudson and lead writer Mac Walters, and the ending was literally jotted down on a napkin over lunch a fortnight before the cut off point where they could add anything to the game, so they didn't even bother asking the other writers for thier input.

Basically they had no idea how to end it and one of them heard about the theory of the 'technological singularity', and were too proud of how smart they felt, to stop to consider if what they were doing made a lick of sense.

 

[GlockSaint]

I have over 1000 hours in the 3 games combined. For me it's a case of - the journey was more important to me than the finale. Even though the ending is divisive, I was satisfied with the overall experience.

The Citadel DLC in a way which came out a year after the game, did give me some closure that I needed with the characters. And for me personally - synthesis ending was satisfying.

How in the...the main games were around the 25hr mark iirc.

 

[GreyHorace]

Sort of, but worse.

it was Casey Hudson and lead writer Mac Walters, and the ending was literally jotted down on a napkin over lunch a fortnight before the cut off point where they could add anything to the game, so they didn't even bother asking the other writers for thier input.

Basically they had no idea how to end it and one of them heard about the theory of the 'technological singularity', and were too proud of how smart they felt, to stop to consider if what they were doing made a lick of sense.

I heard it was because lead writer Drew Karpyshyn left Bioware after Mass Effect 2, and Mac Walters took over and completely overruled his Drew's original ideas for the ending (which involved Dark Matter).

 

[AV]

Boy was that a shit show. I completely forgot about Marauder Shields, thanks for the laugh. Also this pasta which still pops up from time to time;

I'm still mad
I will always be mad.
On my death bed I will be mad.
When the seas heat up and the world falls into global catastrophe I will still be f***ing mad.
In the afterlife, when I get to the gates of Heaven, St. Peter and his angels will ask me "Are you still mad about ME3?" My answer will be yes.
When the race of man is no more and the ruins of man's cities have crumbled into dust, I will still be mad.
Ancient alien civilizations will find the smoldering, volcanic corpse of planet Earth and decode the secrets of the ancient "internet" and they will find this post and so my eternal anger will be brought forth into the far-flung reaches of outer space.
When the last tiny flash of heat in the universe dies and all descends into entropy, my hatred will remain.

I'm still so f***ing mad I took the time to write this stupid f***ing post and I'm not the slightest bit less mad. I f***ing hate you Bioware.

 

[royox]

Was the rumor true about the team collaborating on the entire story except the ending where Casey Hudson locked himself away in his office and wrote it entirely himself? I vaguely remember some of the devs trying to distance themselves from him after that ending came out.

"LOTS OF SPECULATIONS FROM EVERYONE"

 

[Shantae]

I know I'm gonna be laughed at for this, but I still stand by my strong belief that the indoctrination theory is the only thing that makes this ending possibly work. People dismiss it simply because it's a fan theory, but there are so many things in the game that support it, and it actually makes the ending better. Bioware is too chicken shit to commit to it though.

 

[Matt_Fox]

It's the journey not the destination...

 

[Goro Majima]

I do love how they had to go back and fix the ending by adding an "Animal House" style end summary to tell you what happened to everyone.

 

[Nico_D]

I believe in the indoctrination theory because a lot of the things in the games point to that direction and it makes sense. Even when playing the ME3 ending I felt it was very dream like with weird illogical things happening, like Anderson. And it also makes the ABC ending work as the choice is about Shepard, not about the war.

I have seen people answer to that, that if it is so, then we never know how to game and the story actually ends. I disagree. If Shepard surrenders, then he never makes it to the Crucible. If he doesn't, he gets up and destroys them.

It is my ending anyway, other people may prefer whatever they want.

What I personally don't understand is that people say the choices didn't matter. The whole third game was the result of your choices: the plague and the Krogans in general, the Quarians, the Geth and who lived and who died.

 

[The Fartist]

 

[Forsythia]

The shit already started in the beginning when they oh so conveniently find a weapon that can stop the reapers. But to be honest, the dumbing down of the reapers already started in ME2. In fact, the entire decline of ME started with ME2, which needed to be grittier and more action packed than ME1. Cerberus being this secret organisation but with ships flying around with their logo plastered over them. At least it gave us Miranda's ass. The stupid cast with that ridiculous emo bald chick. Wow so badass and deep.

The stupid starchild, I still cannot stand his face. It has become the face of everything wrong with ME3. And I still love the universe but it could've been a great sci-fi epic, but it turned into generic sci-fi action quick. Andromeda had a cool premise, but then we have human-like aliens who are really not as different as they could've been. Never finished that game. Such a shame what happened with this series.

 

[LordOfChaos]

I have over 1000 hours in the 3 games combined. For me it's a case of - the journey was more important to me than the finale. Even though the ending is divisive, I was satisfied with the overall experience.

That's how I felt. The point of a game isn't just to end, I understood why people were mad that their decisions through all that time didn't really matter in the end, but ultimately I still played three great games with fantastic moments and characters all throughout. I couldn't be that mad at it.

Not excusing the writing for the ending here either, but I think this is the ultimate fate of stories that try to be too big. Galactic consequences are hard to really show, so things end up kind of same-ey in the end.

 

[V4skunk]

Bioware died after KOTOR.

 

[Stilton Disco]

It's the journey not the destination...

This is true, like if you ever came home to find your house broken into, all your possessions stolen and a massive turd left in your bed but, on the way there, you saw the most beautiful rainbow you’d ever seen, it would definitely be that you remembered most about the day, and not the utter ruination of you life and violation of your home!

 

[RAIDEN1]

I would re-visit Mass Effect 3 over Andromeda ANY DAY...Andromeda was even worse than the divisive ending of 3, it didn't even deserve to hold the Mass Effect name in of itself!

 

[Matt_Fox]

This is true, like if you ever came home to find your house broken into, all your possessions stolen and a massive turd left in your bed but, on the way there, you saw the most beautiful rainbow you’d ever seen, it would definitely be that you remembered most about the day, and not the utter ruination of you life and violation of your home!

So Mass Effect 3 is the burglar's turd at the end of the rainbow?

 

[Wizz-Art]

I advice you to go see a shrink a.s.a.p. Still being mad 8 years over something that small is not healthy!

 

[SinDelta]

Mass Effect 3 was a harbinger that something was horribly wrong with modern storytelling.

To cap off the Mass Effect Saga like that will forever be a disgrace.

It foretold Anthem.
It foretold The Last Jedi.
It foretold Star Trek Discovery and Picard.
It foretold Game of Thrones Season 8.

 

[Hudo]

Well, after the DLCs and patches, I actually liked ME3 almost as much as ME2 (still my favourite BioWare game). It is leaps and bounds ahead of Andromeda, which I hope they retcon (or just ignore it ever happened). Thankfully, Casey Hudson is back, so the next ME game has the potential to be good.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Me too. I am so mad, but little did we know it was a sign of things to come.

I thought at some point I'd come around to become indifferent to it, but that hasn't happened.

 

[NickFire]

I loved Mass Effect 3. I'm only mad that they killed the franchise with the follow up.

 

[Ascend]

ME3 is still better than ME2.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Well, after the DLCs and patches, I actually liked ME3 almost as much as ME2 (still my favourite BioWare game). It is leaps and bounds ahead of Andromeda, which I hope they retcon (or just ignore it ever happened). Thankfully, Casey Hudson is back, so the next ME game has the potential to be good.

Hudson was there for Anthem. DOn't get your hopes too high.

 

[Hudo]

Hudson was there for Anthem. DOn't get your hopes too high.

Fucking hell...

 

[JimmyRustler]

It was quite obvious from the start that they were not going to deliver on their promises from after ME1. Still, 3 was a huge disappointment after the first two.

 

[A Rifter in Space]

If you play the last ME3 DLC and install the Mass Effect Happy Ending Mod it's almost like the shit ending never even happened. I'm so thankful that mod exists.

 

[Andrew Evenstar]

therapy may help, specifically emdr

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

They ruined a trilogy purposely to start another then they shit the bed with Andromeda. I'm not even mad, I'm amazed how fast Bioware went to shit and they never recovered.

 

[BlackM1st]

Still the last good ME game. RIP Bioware.

 

[Fbh]

Yeah, definitely one of the biggest disappointments of last gen. It also wasn't just the lack of choice or multiple endings, but the ending itself and how it all leads up to it (with the AI child an all of that) was crap too. I'd have preferred a straightforward all out battle with various outcomes.
Not to mention that I still think it's one of the big reasons we haven't seen many developers try this sort of big multi-game style storytelling ever since

It wasn't just the ending either. Remember how the most interesting new crew member, the last survivor of an ancient race we spent the last 2 games hearing about, was day 1 DLC?

 

[Ascend]

Hudson was there for Anthem. DOn't get your hopes too high.

He came with the concept, but left in the middle of development... And returned near the end... This is what Wikipedia says;

Around August 2014, Hudson believed the team at BioWare Edmonton was in a sufficiently good place to continue without his oversight, and left BioWare.[7][9] Some inside the Anthem team were concerned, as Hudson's leadership on past games kept their team on point, in contrast to the current development efforts on both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda's teams.[9] After Hudson's departure, the team started to struggle on the scaling aspects that impacted other parts of the development.

Anthem (video game) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

After things go off-road it's that much harder to correct for them. But I guess the proof will be in the pudding when we get another game that was fully under his supervision. That being said, both ME2 and ME3 and their endings happened under his watch. So... Yeah...

 

[pawel86ck]

I have played ME3 for the first time around 5 months ago and I dobt know why people complain. There are few different ending, and there's even one ending where Shepard lives


I dont know what else people wanted.

 

[Labolas]

Yeah the franchise was ruined at 3 for me. It wasn't just the ending though. That was the cherry on a shit sundae. They completely sidelined the ME2's cast. Didn't really like the new characters too much. I remember the multiplayer was fun though.

 

[Enjay]

Shenmue fans: disappointed in part 3 get in line.

Kingdom Hearts fans: Yeah!!

 

[Darkmakaimura]

ME1 and ME2 are among the best games ever made. It's probably the best gaming experience I ever had along with Symphony of the Night and Legacy of Kain.

ME3 was a decent game with one of the most disappointing reveals and endings ever.

Andromeda managed to do even worse.

I still would love a new ME game if they go back to what made the first two great.

Right now Halo is the only space opera franchise that has a chance of turning out good unless Infinite turns out to be a massive disappointment.

 

[bender]

Bioware tried to warn you that they lost their chops with Jade Empire but no one listened.

 

[Big Baller]

8 cotdamn years?! Man time flies. Can't believe how EA let this franchise die. Should've been the next Star Wars/Trek.

 

[Shifty1897]

I know I'm gonna be laughed at for this, but I still stand by my strong belief that the indoctrination theory is the only thing that makes this ending possibly work. People dismiss it simply because it's a fan theory, but there are so many things in the game that support it, and it actually makes the ending better. Bioware is too chicken shit to commit to it though.

If I can prefer the Squall is Dead Theory, you can believe the Indoctrination Theory. You shouldn't have to justify your interpretation of an ending if it sounds like a better ending to you.