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I finished the game a while back, and personally I didn't have a problem with the ending.
My fleet was kicking butt against the Reapers.
I welcome more DLC for things like helping Aria take back Omega.

http://youtu.be/vG4EyfXOTJ4

The end of ME 3 visualized in the style of American Graffiti and Animal House.

CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Not bashing, but if you read all 16 endings (spoilers obviously), they sound a bit too similar..

but other then that I really enjoyed the game

Comments on the ending:

Seeing the E3 trailer I was expecting it at best to be bittersweet. I sort of expected Shepard to pull a Heroic Sacrifice at the end.

When you get to talk to everyone right before the end it was pretty obvious Garrus and Kaidan didn't expect to survive it. I liked the speech you get to give that seems like a callback to the speech you give taking the Normandy out for the first time. A lot of people were pissed over the lack of closure with what happens to your squad afterwards by letting you call everyone who's not dead worth noting I think Bioware was thinking that they covered it. The final charge across No Man's Land was pretty freaking awesome. And Shepdard blasting the **** out of the thing in the Destroy ending was pretty badass..why she walked towards the explosion (the opposite direction I go with regard to explosions) I have no idea.

My problem with the ending is that it doesn't make any sense at all and contradicts a bunch of established lore. Also, if you don't fill your bar all the way and get the bad ending...why does not having a big enough army make the Destroy Synthetics red space magic kill Organics as well? Didn't The Arrival establish that an exploding Mass Relay destroys all life in the system? That would probably be a problem? The fleet appeared to be gone after you pick a choice (only a few Reapers were in orbit)...did they leave? Why was Joker mid-Mass Relay jump? It's the final battle for the galaxy and he fled in cowardly terror? And the space kid? That was so goddamned bizzarre that I, and apparently people recording a number of different podcasts, was thrown for a loop because of it's complete tonal shift from sciency sci-fi to mysticism that I picked the Control ending the first time I played it, intending to pick Destroy, and didn't realize it until I saw the others on Youtube. I also noticed that after shooting him The Illusive Man no longer has robot eyes. Was that intended or a bug/oversight? And if it's intended what the hell is it supposed to mean?

The only explanation I've heard that makes the ending(s) clever, rather than impossibly stupid, is that Shepard was being Indoctrinated and the Destroy ending breaks free of Reaper control. That would make the complete nonsense make sense: dreams/hallucinations can be complete nonsense. But, if this is the case, then Mass Effect 3 doesn't have an ending it just stops. Does the Crucible get activated? Also, what does it do? Was the cycle broken? Did the Reapers win and it continues? If everyone didn't die I wouldn't mind knowing what happens to my squad.

While Bioware has good writers that's giving them a lot of credit. It's like the Final Fantasy 8 "Squall is Dead" theory, but nobody would accuse Squaresoft writers of being half that clever. Don't get me wrong, I loved playing it, but the last five minutes were crap.

evilpaul wrote:

Comments on the ending:
[snip]

Yeah, you're not the only one. In discussions with my brother, he had a few choice words to say about the development of the ending. Mostly along the lines of "we were cut out of the development process and they dropped the ball".

But more the to point, he also said something which made me put it all in perspective: "How did you like 95% of the game?"

I've only completed a couple missions on single player, but I am having a lot of fun on multi. I'm generally not a multiplayer fan, but the cooperative nature, and scaling difficulty, made for a fun diversion the past two days. On the other hand, if they don't introduce new maps, incentives, etc, from time to time, I could see multi-as-it-is getting boring.

I finally finished the game and actually thought the ending was quite good. It forces you to make tough choices.

I honestly never expected sheaperd to survive the whole thing. I don't think anyone should've expected that. All that was needed was for him to light a cigarette with Anderson as he waited for him to pass.

As the ending to the series I thought it was pretty good. As a game in and of itself it felt a lot like a tacked on ending to ME2. There wasn't really any sort of character development, the entire game is pretty much tying up loose ends. I really wouldn't recommend ME3 to anyone who hasn't played ME2 as they would be hopelessly lost and too much of the character development that makes the series great would be lost on them. The tying up of loose ends almost started detracting from the game. Every conversation pretty much felt like 'catching up on good times, the worlds going to end, I'll never see you again, bye'. Conversations often times felt forced at the most inopportune moments. Like you're blowing up a reaper or giving people time to escape from a Cerebreus base and you can stop to shoot the breeze with old friends.

In essence the game felt ridiculously depressing. While some may argue that if the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance things will be depressing, but you can most definitely make it a bit more cheery. It's like the ending was expected from the beginning, rather then it just happening organically. That sort of thinking made me feel quite sad playing through the whole thing.

With the ending the way that it was I really can't see how their DLC will sell all that well. There are tons of rabid fans, but at the end of the game there really is no way for you to play DLC without breaking immersion.

Bensam123 wrote:

In essence the game felt ridiculously depressing.

It felt real. And thats why I liked ME3 (sure the endings were blah), you knew in your mind what it was going to take to stop the reapers. You knew what kind of job needed to be done. So as you set out to do this you tie up loose ends.

Finally got started after going back to ME1 because I lost my original save file and just couldn't do it without a fully completed character (wasn't man enough for those second playthroughs).

First thing I noticed was the significant improvement in voice acting and the general cinematic flow of things. More than ever you really feel like you're IN the game, not just playing it. Lip syncing and graphics haven't changed that much, which is expected. The story itself is very compelling and believable.

Gameplay is a blast IMO. Once you get used to the changes it all flows together really well. I love the choices in armor, and there are some very interesting new weapons. Even the omniblade is a great addition, about which I had serious doubts.

Anyway, I love ME and am very satisfied with 3. Very curious to see what they do next with the franchise (besides that alleged movie based on ME1).

I loved the ending, was even a bit emotional at the end!

I was not blown away by the game, but it's freeking Mass Effect! It did take a while to get used to the changes, but once you are in , you my friends are in!

Although the scanning was in the game, I missed that it was essential like in ME2.

Omniblade is awesome, probably the most enjoyable weapon there is

MechTech wrote:

Although the scanning was in the game, I missed that it was essential like in ME2.

Wait... you liked the scanning in ME2? Will wonders never cease.

Has anyone had any success in playing multiplayer with friends? I keep getting a notification that PerfectCr wants to play, but I can't do anything about it. Do I hit the multiplayer section and just wait? Do I click something when I get the notification? How do I tell the XBox that I want to play with my XBox buddies too?

I play Silver games reguarly. Hell, I've done nothing but play multiplayer games nightly since the release of the game.

Single player, what's that?

Looks like you are on a console though. I'm playing multiplayer on PC. How it works on PC is that you accept the invite and it will shuffle you into a lobby. If the lobby already filled it should timeout instead and tell you the game was full.

Well, they just announced that they are releasing free dlc endings for ME3. Problem is, it doesn't sound like what the fan base wanted. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/04/05/bioware-announces-mass-effect-3-extended-cut-but-is-it-a-victory-for-fans/

Video games are not art, they are games.

I've had success darkmage, is perfectCR sending actual game invites? There is like a general invitation or something, and a specific one. I've had no problem with the specific ones, though one friend keeps sending the general invitation and, like you, I have no idea what the point is.

I'll PM you my gamertag, if you wish you can PM me yours and I can invite you to a game if I see you on sometime.

tanker27 wrote:

It felt real. And thats why I liked ME3 (sure the endings were blah), you knew in your mind what it was going to take to stop the reapers. You knew what kind of job needed to be done. So as you set out to do this you tie up loose ends.

Sure... but the entire game was done in that tone. In ME2 you had to accomplish relatively similar feats, yet the game felt completely different, even though you ended up putting your crews life on the line at the end. The tone changed completely through out the game, that's absent in ME3. ME3 sheapards all mopey, doubting himself, his crew offers more encouragement then he does them.


Oh, and Jarvik should've so totally been free. The game was designed from the ground up with him used as an alternative perspective from a different timeline. One where things turned out very differently. He is most definitely a plot asset.

Invites? multiplayer?

teleportgrend please.

Bensam123 wrote:

Oh, and Jarvik should've so totally been free. The game was designed from the ground up with him used as an alternative perspective from a different timeline. One where things turned out very differently. He is most definitely a plot asset.

This argument only holds water if you didn't get the Collectors Edition.
Oh, I see my mistake there.

jk

Javik's solution to any problem?

Throw it out the airlock......

DrDillyBar wrote:

Bensam123 wrote:

Oh, and Jarvik should've so totally been free. The game was designed from the ground up with him used as an alternative perspective from a different timeline. One where things turned out very differently. He is most definitely a plot asset.

This argument only holds water if you didn't get the Collectors Edition.
Oh, I see my mistake there.

jk

He, I got the collectors edition and has been using him as one of the squadmates every time, since the first mission where you can use him, he has dialogue and interactions with the characters it seems. Certainly doesnt feel like any DLC that are supposed to be an aftermarket piece. No to mention backstory on a whole lot of other parts. And I've been lax in playing SP so I'm just past tuchanka and the genophage so far. If there was any justice in the world, they would just gift From Ashes to everyone then develop another free real DLC for the ones who bought collectors edition.

Krogoth wrote:

Javik's solution to any problem?

Throw it out the airlock......

Or eat it, salarian livers were supposedly a delicacy back in the days...

These guys always crack me up. Just a warning, they have potty mouths.

Bensam123 wrote:

ME3 sheapards all mopey, doubting himself, his crew offers more encouragement then he does them.


Oh, and Jarvik should've so totally been free. The game was designed from the ground up with him used as an alternative perspective from a different timeline. One where things turned out very differently. He is most definitely a plot asset.

Are you a paragon? Because my renegade femshep is pretty darn full of herself.

I agree about Jarvik. He has made this game so much more interesting.

Deathright wrote:

Well, they just announced that they are releasing free dlc endings for ME3. Problem is, it doesn't sound like what the fan base wanted. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/04/05/bioware-announces-mass-effect-3-extended-cut-but-is-it-a-victory-for-fans/

Video games are not art, they are games.

Yes, yes, they will finally show how your "companions" got back into Normandy in the final scenes! That WILL explain EVERYTHING unexplainable and WILL satisfy every player! So awesome!

Bensam123 wrote:

In essence the game felt ridiculously depressing.

No, the game was fine. Same goes for all of the conversations I've had with the rest of the "team" and with whomever I chose as "romantic interest" (I was "Paragon" all the way and I chose Tali as "romantic interest"). The only "depressing" thing was the actual ending. Which Bioware didn't want to change for no good reason, for anyone (there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with allowing people to get a more "positive" ending if they choose to go that route - it's not a static, dull book/movie, it's a DYNAMIC video game which supposed to entertain many DIFFERENT kind of people (wasn't this the reason they used dialogue CHOICES in all of the games in this series?).

Looking for Knowledge wrote:

Invites? multiplayer?

teleportgrend please.

I've been multiplayer'ing alot also.
Evoactii

Finished. The ending was... meh. Maybe it would be a little better if I had just let the genophage cure get sabotaged instead of committing my one and only paragon action of the game. Oh well. I'm okay with a second playthrough.

JohnC wrote:

The only "depressing" thing was the actual ending. Which Bioware didn't want to change for no good reason,

Actually, there are several "good reasons" for not changing the ending. Look, I don't like the endings either. I think they stink. But consider what it means for BioWare to re-write the endings based on this swell of fan bitchiness:

1) Write better endings.
2) Possibly redesign the room where you activate the Crucible.
3) Design, script, animate and render new endings. This will likely include new animatics, space battles, explosions, etc.
4) Call the cast back to record their new dialog, including the celebrity voices. Michael Douglas can't be cheap.
5) Alpha test the endings. Iterate development to fix any bugs.
6) Package & release to DLC. Hope to hell this gets the fans off your back.
7) Hope to hell this enables future purchases of your product, because you sure didn't earn anything from the free DLC you just released.

This stuff costs money. Serious money. They screwed up and released a product with a serious flaw, but give the huge expense of putting out a game like this, it's a no-brainer that they're going to go for the least-cost option to try and fix it.

I personally thought some of the sub plots were the best the series has ever seen and the combat is amazing. The games binary choice element really exposes how BS the whole thing is at this point though. All the scenes and setups are fixed and if you killed or saved characters it never ultimately effects the outcome. Say you kill pretty much every character from the last game, you end up with maybe one or two less scenes but ultimately most of the cameo scenes are still there they just have new NPC characters stand in for the old ones. It makes the whole choice thing feel rather irrelevant and the games end cements that even more. Assuming you don't go pure renegade or paragon you end up in some really stupid narrative black holes where complete BS happens. For example, in my first play through I had a choice between Tali killing legion or tali killing herself. Meanwhile you as a viewer are like, WHY DON'T WE JUST DO THIS... but alas it isn't a dialogue option instead I'm left with some rather nonsensical choices and quite wonky outcomes. No matter though you still basically get one of TWO real endings. The way the whole game builds into a anti climatic, it don't matter what you did conclusion is ridiculous. Ontop of that as pointed out by others, 2 out of the potential 3 choices have outcomes that simply don't jive with fiction from the prior games(mass effect relays blowing would end life in all sectors). Then you end up with the whole indoctrination conspiracy, while it does seem plausible I personally see it as proof of the plot holes in the fiction and story that have popped up as a result of the rushed production schedule of the game. And bioware has agreed to as much. Though the way the game ends does dilute the whole of the series in an unprecidented level I'm actually more upset with the day one DLC. If you didn't talk to the prothean the "twist" at the end is a giant slap in the face. The prothean sets you up for it in interesting ways and his input really helps you to embrace that twist. It is quite apparent he was part of the core story(he's also one of the only interesting members of your lame squad this time). The removal of him from the core game and packaging of him as DLC pretty much seals the deal for me as far as bioware goes. They don't really care about their consumers or their products either. Remove the prothean and I'd literally drop the game from a B to a C. That in and of itself shows how much they fumbled this

The combat is the best its ever been in that your character movement is great, the weapons all feel amazing as do your abilities. Squadmate control is fluid, and easy with AI actually self managing quite well. Enemy AI is great and the different monster/enemy types are varied and interesting. The games art design on the whole is at an all time high with certain exceptions(EDI looks like she stepped out of a 1920's sci fi pulp of some sort, she just doesn't really make any sense relative to where her character came from or in continuity with the other character designs). This game is sadly more hyper sexualized than the prior despite the new G rated bed scenes(And that's hard to do after some of the outfits female characters sported in the last game). Characters are all dramatically more busty than in prior games and its sorta ridiculous. Sexuality isn't a big but, big boobs and big eyes and my interpretation is that these choices were made because of focus testing or some other marketing reason. It betrays the depth that the characters have and also the maturity of the audience.

For me with all its faults at the time ME1 was a solid 10/10 because of how much new there was in it. 2 was a step backwards in a few regards(The strange trend towards pandering of the female characters sexuality as defined by teen male players) But ultimately 2 was best with even more of what you loved and less of what you didn't. 3 seems to have missed the point of the other games in many regards. While the stories present in act 2 are overwhelmingly amazing(inspite of certain... wonky conclusions or lack of choice/input) the overall structure of the game is just not as good as the prior. The binary nature of the game after playing stuff like witcher 2 sorta betrays the notion of choice. The fixed narrative structure and totally canned ending not to mention the DLC both bridging 2 to 3 and then the launch DLC being handled the way that they were just never really did anything good for me. While combat is one of the best for shooters and RPG's there is just allot that isn't working in 3. From the meager and generally uninteresting squad mates to the lack of 1-1 dialogue with your crew in many instances its just feels stilted. 3... yeah well its got the 3 part saga curse that has plagued many games. It Sorta lost the magic in many areas and it has become apparent that outside influence has had bad rather than good impact on the game.

1 was an A 2 was an A+ and 3 was a B-. Sad to see a series stumble in such goofy ways. Their eagerness to bolster the 3rd game with as much content regardless of choices from the prior games has a hugely negative impact by devaluing many of the choices from 2 for many players. Its ok for people to not see a story or area because they killed someone ya know the fact that the play through of many characters is so similar despite divergent choices speaks to this shortfall. Ultimately in 3 they were in many ways not as brave as they should have been. Now with DLC coming to appease the discontent after launch it seems the trend of pandering will continue. I'm ok with Bioware making a game that doesn't live up to expectations, unlike most gamers its not the end of the world. The fact that mass effect 1 and 2 exist will no doubt influence a game in their image to come along if not for bioware to take another swing at these games or their universe and perhaps for EA to back the flip off and let them do their thing. It is sad to see such characters and stories to be wasted in such a lack luster conclusion though.