Mass Effect 3, endgame

[cyphomandra]

Okay. The final shooting sequence, where, weak and dizzy from blood loss, you have to wipe out four husks and one of those Guardian things, with your gun wavering all over the place and no biotic powers, did take me a while to get through but was extremely atmospheric, and very effective as a concept. The ship – hmm. I tried shooting a few things when I got up there, because I still had my gun, but then Anderson showed up, and then I ended up in a stand-off with the Illusive Man. I didn’t take the first interrupt, which meant Anderson got shot, and then I took the second one and shot the Illusive Man, not having a strong enough paragon rating to get the final dialogue choice. Having Anderson die and feeling I should have saved him upset me (I didn’t know until later that I couldn’t have), and as a result I was a bit off for the discussion with the child thing;I tuned back in for the three choices I got offered, and the resultant ending, but didn’t really process it until afterwards.

I got offered three endings; I picked Synthesis. I was reasonably happy with this. I didn’t want to destroy electronic life after spending two games saving it, I didn’t think controlling the Reapers had worked all that well for the Illusive Man, and while I wasn’t happy about destroying the relays, it wasn’t as if I had a choice. I was pretty happy with the conclusion, if a bit baffled by why the Normandy was suddenly light years away. The final guy and kid scene was a touch cheesy, but I thought the game had earned it.

And then I went looking on the internet.

I knew people were unhappy about the ending. To a certain degree, I am too, but not with the one I played in-game. Instead, it’s the things I found out about outside the game and had assumed otherwise while in it: that companions you go into your final attack with are then seen on the Normandy; that the Synthesis option apparently includes creepy electronic wiring for everyone (it was late, and with this and companions I obviously wasn’t focussing); that there is a way for Shepard to live, but she has to pick Destroy. It’s the last that I find most intriguing, actually, because survival of your main character is difficult to see as anything other than a reward, but the choice of Destroy seems to go against so much (but not everything) of what Shepard has done earlier. I can see why there are conspiracy theories proliferating, even if many of them seem even more than wildly unlikely. I am intrigued to see what Bioware comes out with as DLC.

Overall, though, it was a great game. I've started playing through with two other Shepards (a renegade on ME2 and an actual male Shepard on ME3 storymode), and although now packing has distracted me, I will get back to them. I loved, particularly, the command/responsibility and teamwork aspects, and the whole breadth and depth of the worlds. I'll miss a number of the characters (some of them more permanently), and various internet people are trying to tempt me into multiplayer, which I've never done with any game and yet am considering. Definitely worth the time.

Comments

[mossybomb]

I love how I just barely understand this. It's not completely incomprehensible, and it's not entirely babble. I'm standing behind the veil of the waterfall.