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Mass Effect 3 |OT| Space Jesus Returns (tag all spoilers)

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
I might get both that and Omega at the same time then, have been holding off on it so far.

30$(I'm sure this one will be 15$ too) spent at the same time for 2 DLCs. Ouch. :p

At least, that's 6 extra hours of gameplay for you, assuming the Citadel DLC is the same length as your usual ME DLC.
 
30$(I'm sure this one will be 15$ too) spent at the same time for 2 DLCs. Ouch. :p

At least, that's 6 extra hours of gameplay for you, assuming the Citadel DLC is the same length as your usual ME DLC.

Well, I still have 400 points stored on my account, but yeah. I'll get them anyways, so might as well get them at the same time. And who knows, maybe there'll be a sale before then...

Lol.
 

Dany

Banned
The one to
destroy the Reapers.

AKA the only right choice since
it's what we've been trying to do since ME1.

Yeah, you know, I've replayed this game a few times, less than ME2 or 1 and one this is for certain, I will forever choose that ending, no matter what any ingame NPC says.
 
I don't know why people are so convinced the Reapers needed to be destroyed as if it's the canon choice. It's not as though Shepard had a deep and thorough understanding of the Reapers and knew exactly why it was vital that they be destroyed, he just saw "big army of talking spaceships" and thought "Killing them is probably a good idea."
 
I don't know why people are so convinced the Reapers needed to be destroyed as if it's the canon choice. It's not as though Shepard had a deep and thorough understanding of the Reapers and knew exactly why it was vital that they be destroyed, he just saw "big army of talking spaceships" and thought "Killing them is probably a good idea."

She would probably answer that with "they are too dangerous to let live."
 

CorrisD

badchoiceboobies
Yeah, you know, I've replayed this game a few times, less than ME2 or 1 and one this is for certain, I will forever choose that ending, no matter what any ingame NPC says.

Same here,
Destroy
will always be the only ending to me.

I don't know why people are so convinced the Reapers needed to be destroyed as if it's the canon choice. It's not as though Shepard had a deep and thorough understanding of the Reapers and knew exactly why it was vital that they be destroyed, he just saw "big army of talking spaceships" and thought "Killing them is probably a good idea."

You didn't really need a deep and thorough understanding of the Reapers and their motives, it was kill or be killed, the whole point around ME1 was the message the Protheans left showing that the Reapers had already wiped out all advanced sentient life in the Milky Way before and were going to do it again. Then there's the Rachni wars that they also started, using the Geth to causing chaos and killing people to find the conduit and get into the citadel so they could launch their attack, the harvesting of humans to build more reapers, and of course launching an attack on a whole galaxy wiping out millions/billions.
 
Except it wasn't.

The nature of Reapers is never made clear, thanks to ME3's dumbass plot meddling. According to Sovereign, "we are each a nation," which would imply individuality. Nope. According to the Catalyst, the Reapers are just technorganic slurry that can be sicced on whatever you want blown up with lasers. That's... really stupid. Look back at Mass Effect. If what Sovereign says is true, then why can't the Reapers be reasoned with?

If the Reapers have true motivation, and can be REASONED WITH, which is even a running theme in Mass Effect, that is substantially more interesting than the completely inane disaster that the Catalyst is. Shepard only met one Reaper, and maybe Sovereign was particularly zealous. That would make the decision to destroy them much more interesting and even difficult, because they are not a collective mind. Same ethical dilemma with control, because you are rewriting the thoughts of a sentient species. Of course, ME2 gave you the same decision, and came out with the utterly bizarre lesson of "Brainwashing is more ethical than killing," because Bioware couldn't resist putting in Paragon/ Renegade points.

ME3's bullshit is, for me, the only reason that ending is an easy choice that people will accept as "the best" in any way, even though
it screws over the entire galaxy and leaves billions to die as their sources of trade, supply, and any off-planet aid feasibly collapse, but who cares because SHEPARD WINS.
 
Except it wasn't.

The nature of Reapers is never made clear, thanks to ME3's dumbass plot meddling. According to Sovereign, "we are each a nation," which would imply individuality. Nope. According to the Catalyst, the Reapers are just technorganic slurry that can be sicced on whatever you want blown up with lasers. That's... really stupid. Look back at Mass Effect. If what Sovereign says is true, then why can't the Reapers be reasoned with?

If the Reapers have true motivation, and can be REASONED WITH, which is even a running theme in Mass Effect, that is substantially more interesting than the completely inane disaster that the Catalyst is. Shepard only met one Reaper, and maybe Sovereign was particularly zealous. That would make the decision to destroy them much more interesting and even difficult, because they are not a collective mind. Same ethical dilemma with control, because you are rewriting the thoughts of a sentient species. Of course, ME2 gave you the same decision, and came out with the utterly bizarre lesson of "Brainwashing is more ethical than killing," because Bioware couldn't resist putting in Paragon/ Renegade points.

ME3's bull**** is, for me, the only reason that ending is an easy choice that people will accept as "the best" in any way, even though
it screws over the entire galaxy and leaves billions to die as their sources of trade, supply, and any off-planet aid feasibly collapse, but who cares because SHEPARD WINS.

The reapers are each a nation because each one is the melted down goo of some previous species.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
ME3's bullshit is, for me, the only reason that ending is an easy choice that people will accept as "the best" in any way, even though
it screws over the entire galaxy and leaves billions to die as their sources of trade, supply, and any off-planet aid feasibly collapse, but who cares because SHEPARD WINS.

I'm not sure what you're talking about, ever since they released the extended cut,
we know the galaxy turned out just fine(well... ignoring all the people who died by the Reapers) after the war, no matter what choice you picked.
 
ME3's bullshit is, for me, the only reason that ending is an easy choice that people will accept as "the best" in any way, even though
it screws over the entire galaxy and leaves billions to die as their sources of trade, supply, and any off-planet aid feasibly collapse, but who cares because SHEPARD WINS.
Except that's not really the case since the Extended Cut shows
the mass relays being repaired. Will other planets and colonies have to fend for themselves while the mass relays are being repaired? Absolutely, and one could hypothesize that some of these colonies might not make it, but as you've no doubt learned from the rest of the trilogy, you simply cannot save everyone. You have to think about the bigger picture.

The thing about the endings is that even though they're pretty cut and dry, the reasoning for selecting each ending is going to be completely different for each player. I personally believe that
Synthesis is the "ideal" ending as it fits in with what I feel is the main theme in the Mass Effect games: organics and synthetics living in harmony.
However, I'll personally never choose this ending because I, and by extension my Shepard, believe that
the course of galactic evolution should never be decided by a single person. Before even knowing that everybody becomes a glowy, green-eyed freak living in perfect harmony, before even considering that the Catalyst could be lying to get me to jump into a beam and kill myself, I had already come to the decision that it wasn't an option for me.

There are also issues I take with choosing
Control. In this ending Shepard effectively replaces the Catalyst and the actions of the Reapers are influenced by Shepards character (basically your Paragon/Renegade status). Ignoring that part of the equation, you have to consider that the first Catalyst was an AI created to oversee relations between organics and synthetics, and yet it came to the "solution" of the Reapers and the Cycle. What's to say that a Shepard AI/Catalyst would not eventually come to the same, a similar, or an even more horrifying decision? Would the galaxy simply trust a Shepard controlled Reaper force and let them go about their business? Would the Reaper presence in the galaxy not serve as an ever looming threat or symbol of fear, death and destruction for the survivors? And again, who's the say that the Catalyst isn't lying and that Shepard might not simply get zapped to death? This was also not an option for me.

Destroy
is the only absolute ending for me. There are no
ifs and buts, there are no outside forces at work, and there is no chance of deception if the Catalyst cannot physically stop you. This was the mission, this will wipe out the Reaper threat, and the future of the galaxy will be decided by the actions of it's citizens, not by space Jesus. Could Shepard possibly survive? Sure, but that shouldn't be a factor in your decision, IMO. The loss of all synthetics is troubling, especially if you managed to unite the Geth and the Quarians, but sacrifices have to be made for the greater good of the galaxy. It's tough call, especially because I was unwilling to make the decision on behalf of the galaxy for synthesis, and synthetic lives shouldn't be any less valuable than organic lives, but I had to make the call and I believe the reasons I already outlined outweighs the loss of synthetic life. And who knows, maybe EDI's and the Geth's consciousness are backed up in some hard drive somewhere, though that's just wishful thinking. I didn't even know Shepard could survive on my first plathrough so seeing that little cutscene was a nice bonus.
Thankfully I played ME3 late and only ever beat the game with the Extended Cut installed.
 
I don't really care about the Extended Cut. It just raises more problems, and it's such a cheap re-do. Why is that acceptable? ME3 is a trainwreck, and adding 3 new happy endings doesn't change that. Remember that the game, without DLC, has
no Extended Cut, by default no Javik to explain any background information, and no Leviathan, so the Catalyst is portrayed as wise and all-knowing despite being clearly full of shit.

Shepard also repeatedly said we're not letting anyone die.
Sacrificing the Geth, knowingly committing genocide, as well as killing EDI (except she survives, magically) is far from an acceptable option either. Even for Renegade Shepard. The way Bioware presents the ending in ridiculous, vague absolutes, such as YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING YOU ARE, and presenting Synthesis and even Control as creating space-utopia, shows that they didn't even really consider the implications of any of the choices. By Shepard's morals, none of the choices are remotely acceptable. Destroy kills an entire species, he spends the entire game rambling about how wrong Control is, and Synthesis is just plain morally reprehensible. I don't really care if Shepard's mission was to "destroy the Reapers" because knowingly sacrificing an entire species goes against everything Shepard is talking about throughout the first two games. Remember that there is no option for "there has to be another way" or any opportunity to argue with the Catalyst. And with the Extended Cut, still just a meek little "ur takin our hope, catalyst."
 
I don't really care about the Extended Cut. It just raises more problems, and it's such a cheap re-do. Why is that acceptable? ME3 is a trainwreck, and adding 3 new happy endings doesn't change that. Remember that the game, without DLC, has
no Extended Cut, by default no Javik to explain any background information, and no Leviathan, so the Catalyst is portrayed as wise and all-knowing despite being clearly full of shit.

Shepard also repeatedly said we're not letting anyone die.
Sacrificing the Geth, knowingly committing genocide, as well as killing EDI (except she survives, magically) is far from an acceptable option either. Even for Renegade Shepard. The way Bioware presents the ending in ridiculous, vague absolutes, such as YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING YOU ARE, and presenting Synthesis and even Control as creating space-utopia, shows that they didn't even really consider the implications of any of the choices. By Shepard's morals, none of the choices are remotely acceptable. Destroy kills an entire species, he spends the entire game rambling about how wrong Control is, and Synthesis is just plain morally reprehensible. I don't really care if Shepard's mission was to "destroy the Reapers" because knowingly sacrificing an entire species goes against everything Shepard is talking about throughout the first two games. Remember that there is no option for "there has to be another way" or any opportunity to argue with the Catalyst. And with the Extended Cut, still just a meek little "ur takin our hope, catalyst."

Endgame spoilers:
EDI doesn't survive if you use Destroy. She gets turned into space dust.
 
J

Jotamide

Unconfirmed Member
I feel so glad I got around beating this game. I love the Mass Effect universe. Can't wait for what Bioware does next.
 

Izick

Member
This is probably a dumb question, but is there a preferred time to do Leviathan within ME3's campaign, and a preferred squad?
 

Shane86

Member
Just finished this and am absolutely disgusted with bioware, I did every side quest and still didn't get the perfect ending
Shephard died
. I have zero interest in multiplayer and I shouldn't be forced to. Raging.
 

Sajjaja

Member
Just finished this and am absolutely disgusted with bioware, I did every side quest and still didn't get the perfect ending
Shephard died
. I have zero interest in multiplayer and I shouldn't be forced to. Raging.

You don't need to play multiplayer >_>
 

Shane86

Member
Then I'd love to hear an explanation of how to get an effective military strength high enough to get the perfect ending without multiplayer. I did every side quest and still only had around 2600 with readiness at 50%
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Then I'd love to hear an explanation of how to get an effective military strength high enough to get the perfect ending without multiplayer. I did every side quest and still only had around 2600 with readiness at 50%
You obviously missed a bunch of them, as you should get near mid 3000s(i think) by doing all quests and finding most of the hidden stuff by scanning planets + making sure you don't screw up anywhere, like
annihilating all Geths or Quarians
, or missing ME2 characters for example.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Isn't it impossible to save both the
Quarians and Geths
without a few ME2 choices? That would explain a lot of things, as each groups are worth a good amount of hundreds of war assets. That, and each missing ME2 characters are worth 25 war assets i think.
 

Weiss

Banned
Isn't it impossible to save both the
Quarians and Geths
without a few ME2 choices? That would explain a lot of things, as each groups are worth a good amount of hundreds of war assets. That, and each missing ME2 characters are worth 25 war assets i think.

It isn't.
To get a peaceful resolution, You needed to keep Tali from being exiled in her loyalty mission so she becomes an admiral in the third game, completed Legion's loyalty mission (either choice), and both need to survive the suicide mission since you can't get reconciliation with their replacements. Furthermore, in 3, Zaal'Koris needs to be rescued in his side mission.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Hi, guys. Finally going to pick this up and finish it. What do I need to get the perfect ending?

No such thing as a "perfect" ME3 ending, but if you want an extra hidden scene, you'll need the Extended cut installed, your Effective Military Strength needs to be at least at 3100 and you have to choose the "red" ending.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Does pre-service history etc have any effect in ME3? I can't remember any mentions to it... but then i played the game only once.
I intend to a complete trilogy playthrough but i was going to choose the backround based on how it changes dialogue in ME3 (have tried all possible combos in ME2 i think).
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Does pre-service history etc have any effect in ME3? I can't remember any mentions to it... but then i played the game only once.
I intend to a complete trilogy playthrough but i was going to choose the backround based on how it changes dialogue in ME3 (have tried all possible combos in ME2 i think).

The only thing i can remember for ME3, is that if you took the choice where your parents are still alive, Hackett will mention your mother at one point...

That's all I can remember really. :lol
 

Sai

Member
Does pre-service history etc have any effect in ME3? I can't remember any mentions to it... but then i played the game only once.
I intend to a complete trilogy playthrough but i was going to choose the backround based on how it changes dialogue in ME3 (have tried all possible combos in ME2 i think).
You mean the Earthborn/Spacer/Colonist stuff?

... Very little. :/
 

Woorloog

Banned
You mean the Earthborn/Spacer/Colonist stuff?

... Very little. :/

I know it is very little but i'm wondering about specifics. ME wikia doesn't seem to have those... at least i didn't find any.
Specifically, did Earthborn Shepard express any fears for his/her homeplanet? My favorite backround.
I wonder what my Paragon Shep was... Probably Space/Colonist and War Hero.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
No such thing as a "perfect" ME3 ending, but if you want an extra hidden scene, you'll need the Extended cut installed, your Effective Military Strength needs to be at least at 3100 and you have to choose the "red" ending.

That has a hidden requirement I hear.
 
Heh, I just beat the Omega DLC and decided to go through again to get that final achievement I missed. I forgot what difficulty I was playing on, but figured I'd lower it a bit to fly through it more quickly.

Turns out I beat this thing on Insanity in just two hours. Damn, I love Mass Effect, but that's really short for 15 space bucks.
 

Patryn

Member
It looks like Bioware is going to be hosting a big Retrospective on Mass Effect panel at PAX East, moderated by Geoff Keighley. Casey Hudson for one will be there, but no Mac Walters.

2 p.m. on Saturday in the main theater.
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
It looks like Bioware is going to be hosting a big Retrospective on Mass Effect panel at PAX East, moderated by Geoff Keighley. Casey Hudson for one will be there, but no Mac Walters.

2 p.m. on Saturday in the main theater.
Did they just make him disappear?
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Finally making my way through the game, almost at the end I think, and lol pretty much
every new team member from Mass Effect 2 has died. Jack died back in ME2 on my playthrough (good riddance), and so far Mordin, Thane and Miranda have died in ME3. Only Jacob and Grunt are left. Jacob almost bit it during his one mission tho
 
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