JWeinCom said:
Scoobes said:
The ending didn't go into anywhere near enough detail before the patch. The starchild just gave you three options with little real explanation (it was just about enough to understand the basics for the ending to work) and you picked one of the three. You then saw what happened to Shephard, the Reapers, the Mass Relays, and a vague end to the Normandy and crew.
It didn't show the effect of any of your other decisions throughout the course of the trilogy so smaller decisions and even major ones just got sidelined leaving you with numerous questions as to what happened with x, y and z. In the patched ending they at least addressed that and showed the effects of even relatively minor decisions and gave more detailed stories for the more important characters. It improved things a lot, but it was still a little too simplistic for many.
Personally I don't have the hatred many have for the ending. I enjoyed it for what it was and understood the point the developers tried to make in that some things are inevitable (in that Shephard always dies no matter what).
That said, it was a bit too simple considering the complexity of the trilogy, but I'm not sure what else they could have done that would have made for a more satisfying ending.
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*Spoilers*
Was the point the developers trying to make that some things are inevitable? Again, we only have evidence to the contrary. In ME1 it seems pretty inevitable that the citadel will fall, but you overcome impossible odds. In Mass Effect 2, you go on what is constantly called a suicide mission, but you are able to make it out with all crew members alive, if you make the right choices. You're able to end the genophage, end the seemingly endless battle between Geth and Quarian, overcome the reaper's mind control in several cases, etc etc.
So, Shepard routinely does the impossible. The whole series is about ending a cycle that has been going on forever. If the point was that certain things are inevitable, that would be a strange and sudden shift. And of course, in one ending it seems that Shepard lives, so that throws another wrench in it.
As for what they could have done, the indoctrination theory, whether it was ever intended or not, would have been pretty satisfying as an ending. Either that, or they could have just kept it simple, and had the united force of the galaxy defeat evil. They would have had to change some things along the way, but it would have worked. Wouldn't have been the most creative thing, but sometimes it's fine just to blow up the death star and have the good guys go home happy.
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To me that's what I think the devs were going for and also why it sticks out as such a weird and controversial moment in the trilogy.
The series is nearly completely devoted to cause and effect and even if you screw up, they spent the entire trilogy making your character out to be this absolutely incredible figure that defies all the odds, but at the end of the day he/she is only one human being and can only do so much. I think the ending was supposed to serve as a counter point to the cause and effect nature of the rest of the trilogy where you can defy the odds, you can choose which characters survive and which die, and the Galaxy seems to turn at your whim. After all that, you're meant to feel powerless.
That one ending where it looks like he lives is only viewable if you choose the correct ending and have a score of 5000+, and even then it's not certain. My suspicion with that is they put it in as a kind of nod to the emotional desire players would have had with their version of Shephard, and the need for some people to get the perfect "happy" ending. An easter egg moment for players that completely devoted themselves to getting rid of the Reapers.
