Mass Effect 2 was my absolute favorite game in this series, but immediately after I finished that game I started Mass Effect 3 and I couldn’t stand how it started. So once I had a chance where I could just save the game, I did then never returned to playing it. And I spoiled the ending to myself and what the actual hell? I know everyone has mentioned it was horrible, but seriously that made me want to finish playing it even less. It was as if they didn’t know how to end the game and just destroyed the character arc of Commander Shepard. Every choice you made, boiled down to choosing one of three endings but no matter what you did during the course of the three games you could undo everything you’ve done and pick one of the three: control, destroy, or synthesis.
So the entire game, you play as Command Shepard as you have for the previous two games. This time the reaper threat is real and they are wiping out life across planets of the Milky Way Galaxy. Shepard goes on a search for an ancient device said to destory the reapers, one of the pieces is the Catalyst which turns out to be the Citadel or captial of the galaxy. After facing the Illusive Man who was indocturined by the Reapers, you face a childlike AI. Who looks like the very boy you failed to save in the beginning of the game. This AI is the creator of the Reapers. Who’s main objective is you cull and preserve organics advanced by synthetics to allow more primitive species to evolve. Since Shepard won’t back down, you are left with three choices: destroy the Reapers and all synthetic life, seize control of the Reapers, or synthesize organic and synthetic life together. No matter your choice, Shepard will die along with the mass relay network. However, if Shepard destroys the Reapers with a high enough Effective Military Strength (EMS), he/she will instead take a gasping breath from within a pile of rubble and survive. With their fate left in the wind, as they do not return in the following game.
When I found out the game lead to that after starting out the game watching Earth being destroyed, I couldn’t bring myself to get past the opening scene.
And it doesn’t matter what you did during the course of those three games. You can chose any of the endings. Sure you need to up your military strength to avoid other destructions and deaths, but overall that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme. Seriously? If I spent the entire three games fighting against the Reapers and all sythenics, why would I want to chose any option other than destroy? Any other choice is taking the character arc of Shepard and throwing it in the trash. Sure you can pick them and get a different cutscene, but it’s such a story let down. I don’t know what they could’ve done instead but it doesn’t feel like a decision between Regeneade or Pargon. More just hit a button and well whatever. Though I haven’t played to that point as I’ve mentioned, but I have seen the scenes. They are horrible compared to the endings of the previous two games.
As I mentioned it felt like they took Shepard’s character and did a 180 degree turn. You went from being under the Illusive Man’s control to back with the military, but under house arrest for either genocide or working with the Illusive Man even if it wasn’t under your control. And then after the destruction of Earth, Shepard has visions or nightmares of the little boy dying. It was like watching someone with PTSD and from what I heard that just gets worse and worse. Probably from the Reapers attempting to indocturine Shepard. But it just overall wasn’t for me. What did you guys think of Mass Effect 3?
