great stories dont have fairy tale endings. All roads are flawed, all roads leave pain. Much like the decisions you make in life. There are no perfect solutions, only decisions that the bravest amongst us shoulder the burden of making, and, more so, live with the consequences. Most objectors hate the ending because they dont understand it so I will try to explain. The reapers represented the "ultimate solution" to humankinds salvation, To kill off advanced species before they could develop dangerous AI that surpassed reaper technology and wipe out all organics. (Effectively making the reapers the "shepards" of mankind, beautiful storytelling) For countless cycles, time after time, this has been the solution to keep the threat of universal destruction at bay. No organic has been able to best them since there inception, presumably billions of years in the making. Until now. for the first time, an organic, shepard, was able to best the reapers. The reapers, the "shepards" of the galaxy had been dethroned. No longer could they hold claim to the future of the galaxy. The decision for humanity's future now rests with commander shepard. Shepard has before him 1 of 3 paths. No path can be perfect, because humanity in and of itself is not perfect. One path may lead to the galaxy and beyond being destroyed while one may allow humanity to live in peace throughout time. It is impossible to know which path will lead to salvation or destruction. This is the ultimate ending. This is the ultimate choice that not only you as the player has made up to this point, but any being in the history of this fictional universe has made. This decision, and the consequences that follow, now belong to you. If you think the ending doesnt make sense because "everyone would starve", you're missing the bigger picture. This isnt about any crews you brought together, it's not about joker, liara or anyone on the Normandy. every choice, every sacrifice, you've made up until now has been to get shepard to this point. Those people you've met, the armys youve assembled all of it was to get you to this one point, this one decision. The entirety of everything in existence is at risk and you, the player, hold this decision in the palm of your hand. You wanted your decisions to hold weight? Bioware literally let you decide the fate of EVERYTHING IN EXISTENCE. Quit... your... bitchin
@@jeremyduke4938 Let me sum all that up for you. Yo dawg we heard you got synthetics killing organics so we made some synthetics to kill your organics so that they dont get killed by synthetics. Lazy. Writing. A child could've done better.
@@smugskeletor193 why are you so angry? What makes you think you can lambast people just because they have a different opinion than you? This is a story. Stories are largely subjective. Grow up dude.
@@mstachife your welcome to make your own space epic and put your own ending on it. I just finished this trilogy for the first time. I honestly think the anger maybe was justified back in 2010 when games were still awesome. If this story came out today, it would be right up there with witcher 3 and rdr2.
I still hate how they screwed over the ME2 squad and only made them appear briefly, I mean I built a romance with Miranda all the way, just to have 4 or 5 chats with her and a "quick" romance scene.
+The Legend Miranda has the looks,the accent an DA ASS,Tali for me is just a turian with a bucket in her head,but then again we all have our own opinions
+The Legend Im sorry and im know what im about to say is going to sound sexist or something of the sort but i just can t take femshep serious,im on my 2 me2 playtrough and i can only play renegade shep,and the female voice makes me wanna turn off my console,but if i had one it would be Garrus
Pretty much. The extreme adrenaline rush through your veins, then the many tears shed, the feeling of pure vengeance for thise you've lost, the final tears shed to your romantic partner, then... Absolute disappointment.
+Free Speech I thought the same as you before till I bought the game for sale the other week. yea the games actually really good. not where close to the originals but I got invested in it. Story isn't as bad as you think it is. Don't just make a judgment based off of what others have said or what you've seen on videos. Sit down and play the game. Its dirt cheap right now
@@MistahJay7 no, Mass Effect is good for its story and writing and choices. Andromeda sucks because it got none of those right. The combat is better, the rest is worse.
Hell fucking yeah! The Ilos theme is easily my favorite piece of Mass Effect music. So amazing! I loved that it plays everytime you find a squadmate in ME2.
I agree Vega is fucking boring however EDI is actually cool, not great but shes fine, being in a relationship with Joker and having a past from ME 2 helps too
Vega is cool, better than that black guy wich iam so sorry that i have forgot his name. Maybe he is boring because he is not from the beggnning and you dont have much interation with him, you dont see him develope like everbody else. And i love his bantering.
eiji niizuma Then I feel sorry for you more than for starving children in Africa! After over 2,5 years I still find out that playing through entire trilogy the final outcome can be different all the time. The ending is not quite about chosing the colour of explosion, as many people still claim, especially after EC DLC. I have never before thought that you can play in a way to actually let the Rachni rule the Tuchanka. I also laught at people who claim that Mass Relays has been destroyed. They have been damaged and repair is possible thank to the Reapers tech, coz whether we kill them or make them be on our side their technology belongs to all who survive! There are two ways to make all people die - to lose the war or to win it with huge sacrifice. Also BioWare claimes that they were in hury because of shit EA and they're saying it won't happen again. Besides, new Mass Effect won't have much to do with first trilogy.
MrVader75 You made a good case. ME3 was tons of fun--even if the ending before the EC patched it kind of "messed me up". I've played ME3 maybe three times through. Wish they could have also patched the Tali reveal :eyeroll:
Tim Hammack Glad to read it and yea, Tali's face reveal would be great but I also think she's sou unique and intriguing because of her mask. Not only her, entire Quarian species actually. We can also see unmasked Quarians in extended cut.
Dear Joe, i hope you never die. I hope i can get to be 82 years old, and watch 3D holografic rants, from an old Joe that uses the expression "Back in my day.." , too much.
I think we can all agree that there are some concerns, "no no's" and "WTF?" moments. But none of that scratches the surface comparing to the ending of ME3. That was heartbreaking. For that reason alone is why this doesn't get a 9.5/10 or a fucking home run 10 out of fucking 10. Bioware broke the heart of every ME player since this beautiful story began. We worked HARD on building our Shepard, our team, our friends, our romance(s), and it was even harder to say fucking goodbye to ones we lost along the way, let alone say goodbye to OUR Shepard in ME3. Mass effect two is by far the best (in my opinion). I had tears full of joy earning every award in that game. Walking away seeing no coffins gave you pride as a player (I'm rambling, back to my point!). I'm a fucking gamer and Bioware you have rubbed every gamer the wrong way in this magnificent trilogy. You've created tears, confusion, rage, replay after replays and most of all, never ending discussions with those ending options of one of the best games in history. I have no idea what the plans are for "Mass Effecf 4" but I pray you don't repeat a cop out ending like you did in Mass Effect. The least you can do is let me see Garrus Vakarian again, his calibrations are greatly missed.
Speak for yourself alone, as you said to me. I wouldnt go ape shit. No need to be angry either, it's just a comment. Mass effect has been my favorite game for a very long time, your disrespectful mouth and attempt at insulting me is saddening. Please "Keep your shit to yourself".
It's alright, my comment isn't negative, I gave ME a 9.5, just explained how I was heartbroken on the ending. Hard to say goodbye to shepard and my crew, ya know? Lol
Romance ends up in bed with my best galactic buddy since Chewbacca to populate a new planet - Excuse me while I go into a fedal postion and cry... But really- "Everyone! Shepard saved trillions of lives! Let's put his name on a plaque that no one will ever see and go back to fixing relays that we can't fix because we don't understand the tech!" I FUCKING HATE EA jackass's!
Not quite so sure I agree on ME2 being the best. My complaint is entirely with the near-omnipresence of Harbinger.. Sovereign spoke only once in ME1, and his words had a tremendous weight to them. This is the only time he spoke, and it was a level of contempt and hatred that I've felt from no other villain. Harbinger's constant taunts, though, just weakened his presence as a villain. If Harbinger had remained silent except for a few key points, if we got no look at the Collector General, if he had been given one of those 'reveal' moments like he eventually got in the Arrival DLC, he'd have felt like a much more mysterious threat. In the end, his taunting tainted the feeling of the game for me.
***** They've already done that; it's...................... DESTINY!!! DUH DUH DUUUUUUUUH!! But seriously, powers to control people and objects, blue alien race, SPOILER FOR ME2 main character revived through unexplained reasoning. Reapers= Darkness, Cabal= Krogan, Vex=Geth...etc...
+trisha Hernz Fuck, the Javik DLC was ON THE FUCKING DISK. Basically, this was the beginning of the current state of Bungie....where corporate fucking of the customers was more important than telling a coherent story, or a story at all. See: Destiny, for further proof of this.
+Swatch the new ending is free, yeah its dlc but you don't have to pay a penny, and it was not planned, EA rushed bioware to finish the game way too early, the extended cut dlc is Bioware trying to make things right after that since they did not have the time to write it the right way the first time.
We used to be pissed at this back in the day… but comparing it to the games we get nowadays this game seems like a masterpiece!!! I wish we’d get games like this than the mass-produced crap we get thrown at every year! I guess it’s true, you forget what’s real good after time passes and when you come back at it after not playing it for almost a decade you feel like a blind fool whom just realised how the REAL games used to be like…
For real, compared to some of the modern-day gaming controversies, bad writing in this ending seems so trivial. Future gamers will have a hard time understanding (or even believing) just how big of a deal this was at the time.
Actually, I thought the ending was pretty good. Yes, it did have its faults, but the ending, especially the Synthesis ending (my personal favorite) is pretty fulfilling. All the sacrifices that you made in the game are worthwhile to see the Reaper threat ended.
"Something we can all embrace instead of cringe at"- Joe Vargas 2012 Mass Effect Andromeda 2016: All cringe, no embrace. Did Joe predict the future? I mean the game has the effect that he explicitly stated we didn't want 5 years ago.
That look Joe had in the beginning WTF moment, that was me for weeks, hell even months after beating the game. The indoctrination theory was all that gave me peace and I still accept it to this day.
***** To discuss the purpose and the issue of AIs and stuff. And it's to show that even Gods have a beginning. It's almost like Votary's saying, "If there is no god, then it is necessary to invent him." And guess what? Leviathan created one on accident.
Okay so you like the ending? 1. Nonsensical, the Star Deus Ex Machina Child talks utter bullshit. How? "Synthetics will always be in war with organics", even AFTER you reunited Geth and Quarians. 2. Reaper mysticism completely destroyed, the reapers act like some kind of galactical janitors cleaning up the organic mess. 3. 3 different endings, not 16 as promised. 4. None of your choices matter. At all. 5. Before Extended Cut, the Mass Relays were destroyed so the whole galaxy's fleet is FUCKED in earth's orbit. Shall I go on? ME3's ending is an absolute disgrace and a massive confusing pile of shit which only gets worse after how AWESOME the rest of the game was. But this is what happens if your publisher forces you to push the game out the door. Also, Casey Hudson and the leads wrote the ending, completely locking out the actual story writers. Explains a lot to me.
Hanfgurkenhasser 1. Conflict has happened and peace has happened so the Starchild could see it as a peace but not total peace. Plus if there could have been elaboration that he's like the Terminator from T2, locked by his own programing the Leviathan gave him that he can't really do much on it's own so it needs Shepard's help in creating an alteration. 2. Did you really take Sovereigns' "We have no beginning we have no end" speech seriously? It's a thing to show that even gods have a beginning and their purpose isn't as incomprehensible as you might think. (We knew about the Flood's origins and purpose as well as the Borg and the Reapers needed to be something more than just harvest all life from what Casey and the rest established in ME1.) You might not agree with it but I think it's fine that they showed the Reaper's purpose to be a mistake that has taken a hold of the galaxy. 3. When you count out the EC combinations, it's about 30 endings now coming from 4 choices. 4. You do have a point about the final battle. But I could say that there was a lack of incentive to do other choices throughout the series, including ME2, but I'll leave that for another day. But you do get to see the results from rallying the galaxy and the key choices you make. (The krogan are free or fucked if you helped them or not and the same can be said for the Quairans/geth and you see the rest of the characters who are still alive.) 5. Well the EC is here and it changed it so the aliens can go home once the Relays are finished. While it wasn't everything that it could have been thanks to EA forcing it out the door, I, like Angry Joe,was happy with what we got with the EC. I choose to work with the ending instead of forcing myself to be unhappy with all the issues. And now that I am, I'm writing my own fan-fic headcanon that makes the best ending into the perfect ending: www.fanfiction.net/s/10284927/1/Victory
Doesn't #5 just show that the first iteration of the ending is just plain stupid, nonsensical and full of plot holes? On top of being rushed. Also #1 might have a point there on the long term but we didn't even try to resolve that. #2 No but to me the Reapers always had this mystical, close-to-god-like feeling. They were huge, arrogant, powerful, incomprehensible. I didn't know their motives and I think the series did a pretty awesome job making them feel like these large, massive creatures you just cannot understand. #3 I mean REAL differences, not slight flavours of endings. Real, differenciated, fleshed out endings which change depending on your choices of the last games. Did they matter? No. #4 Yes but what about the Rachni Queen? Did I see her anywhere there? There's no alternate cutscenes, just a different voiceover of Joker and the standart fleets. No alterations or anything. Bit of a letdown.
The first minute is the best synopsis of ME3 on the web! I went through every single stage Joe went through, from the 'Hell Yeah' of the fighting and overcoming Reaper troops, to the heartbreak of watching Mordin and Legion sacrifice themselves, to the sheer badassery of taking back Omega with Aria. And when I finally made it to the very end, I too was like 'What the fuck Bioware?!?' That ending was so heartbreaking(for totally different reasons). I've been a fan of the Bioware team since back in their Baldurs Gate days (back when they were Black Isle), but when they sold their souls to EA things just went to shit and the ending to ME3 was just one example. That being said, I *am* looking forward to ME4, but I just hope they dont fuck it up like ME3. Bioware is still the best RPG maker in the world, their stories are always what make their games awesome, even if the tech sometimes doesn't work out well (see the current issues they're having with DA:I), but the end of ME3 was a huge shock to the system and definitely cost them fans. I hope they can recover and continue to put out quality works.
**GRIN** The really sad/funny part is, despite the craptastic ending, I'm currently replaying it for the 5th or 6th time. :) There's just so much to love that I still love replaying it. :) I'm trying the MEHEM mod to see if it makes for a better experience. Here's hoping. :)
Ark Lyte pffft! noob... I'm on my 23rd playthrough (no joke), Every class, both Fem/shep and M/shep, and I've romanced different people, run missions with different squad members, used different weapons/tactics - especially when you change from soldier to adept, that's a whole new world! :D There's a lot more to these games than a lot of people realise - most just pick their favourite gun,class, and teammates and always use them ALL THE TIME - something Bioware actually picked up on when they were making the Citadel DLC - The Citadel DLC was too funny, the combat was perfect aswell, but the humour that you see coming through in the rest of the game just goes through the roof! Sarcasm, Puns the fucking works it's beautifull xD I hate spoilers, so anyone who doesn't have it yet/hasn't played it etc... - just LISTEN to the Dialogue in this DLC, it's just so good. This is the entire trilogy i mean - not just ME3 - the characters wouldn't develop the way i want if i just played the third... This is also alongside me playing other games aswell - right now I'm actually playing Dying Light on XBone... it's ok btw - the story is meh but the game is hilarious,fun and tense all at the same time xD This was going to be a short comment... sorry for turning it into a review of my own xD I kind of neeked out a little bit over this game xD
LOL...no worries Nathaniel Derrick...I'm right up there with you in my overall love for both the ME franchise and BioWare. I've been a fan of theirs since the Black Isle days. 23rd, huh? That's damn impressive. :) I'm sure I'll get there eventually, as, despite the ending, I really do love the crap out of this game. I plan to play through all the classes both Fem and BroShep and do the various romances while playing Renegade and Paragon. It'll take years and I know I'll love ever minute of it. :) ME is one of those franchises that stands the test of time and I'll probably still be playing it 10 years from now. Hell, I just started a new game of Baldurs Gate...the new Extended Edition is great!! Fortunately, BioWare and all the various companies they're descended from/'cousins' with put out games that stand the test of time too.
I just started this again on pc it's a fucking shame it uses bioware points for the dlc, you will need £48 to buy all the dlc at the current price of what the points are worth. Yet EA or bioware won't change the points system to cash and make it cheaper it's a joke
During my playthrough I had like five (later four) characters to choose from, so I had to take Vega. It's ridiculous compared to the big number of characters from ME2.
I know what you mean. Almost five years after release, buying this game with all the DLC on Origin is horrendously expensive considering the game's age. I bought the game on release and then each DLC as it was released, so it was (arguably) worth the asking price at that time. However, I simply wouldn't buy the game and all DLC in one go today at it's current price in BW points.
femtoservants I didn't mean to imply that it would be exactly like Loghain, but the concept of working with a former enemy to achieve the greater good is a fascinating one. Too many of Shepard's squadmates are friendly to him or else just yes-men - it would be intriguing to have a much darker, more hostile squadmate with radically different opinions to you.
Yeah that was discussed some years ago that a full hostile/rival batarian squadmate would have been kind of cool Kirrahe as a squadmate I would have also liked
I know right? For some reason I always liked Balak, so the idea of having a former enemy that wanted to kill you, and being a race very hostile to humans would have been interesting. I mean, we really didn't learn a whole lot about the Baterians did we? That would have been an interesting way to learn more about there history and culture. But nope, we stuck with a meathead, a likable meathead, but still a meathead.
Sean Marshall Garrus was one of the only 2 people that died for me in the suicide mission in ME2, i nearly cried, but I couldn't make myself save scum and change destiny.
cooliovasquez Garrus is one of only two people that I would willingly restart my entire game to save, the other being Tali. Thankfully the only person who ever died on me was Zaeed.....and nothing of value was lost that day.
well me too i finshed me3 with the green ending and it was perfect ending for me.....i even got emotianl to it.....cuz bioware does one hell of a great job..........lets just hope they dont f@k up the new mass effect......and is it wrong to think that sheperd shouldnt alive in the new mass effect?
+The Puppet Master's Master oh your one if those condescending nerdy little fucks lol shut up man ME is ny favorite series too. what's so inexperienced about that?
+The Puppet Master's Master Lol that's just opinion though. this series is renowned as one of the best gaming series all throughout the gaming community
Diego Bunuel I don't know, I never had too much problem with it, and I loved being able to drive up mountains and then jump off like nobody's business.
It is insane to see just how long dude has been active in the reviewing scene. Enough to where you can compare initial release with generation remakes/remasters years on. Super cool
I will admit that EDI was not as dynamic as Cortana, but EDI did give interesting conversation points about synthetic life that plays off of Legion's themes. Plus a big part of the ending revolves around her.
0:01 - 1:03 Excited Joe: Beginning the game and making his way through the Reaper Invasion on Earth and Mars Mind Blown Joe: Meeting up with past crew mates (Garrus/Liara/Tali/Samara etc) and killing his first Reaper on Tuchanka then his second on Rannock Sad Joe: Witnessing the deaths of Mordin/Thane/Legion as well as saying goodbye to Samara/Miranda etc Competitive Joe: Kicking Lieutenant Kai “Bitch Bastard” Leng’s ass. Twice. Confused Joe: Reaching the Conduit and End Game starts Frustrated Joe: Midway through End Game Pissed Joe: Final Choice in End Game Angry Joe: Finished the game.
The only thing I hated about Mass Effect 3 was that you had to constantly play the multiplayer to build up your EMS score so you can unlock all three endings
***** "No, but some people, don't wanna see gay sex or two men in bed," Then don't participate in the homosexual options? " I have not played the game yet. I just bought it for 9.99, not bad for a new game, I might return it, I'm not a fan of homosexuality!! " Really, you are going to judge a game because it gives people choice? "But women are awesome, I don't understand why a man wants a man, never have, never will!!LOL PEACE!!" Because some people find the other sex attractive, or even both sexes. Its nothing wrong with them, and I think you should rethink your thoughts on the matter as you come across as a bit Ignorant.
Alexae B I myself am bi-sexual and think gays and bi-sexuals should be treated equally... Why must people be hated for being different? And don't even get me started on those religious people that go. "GAYS ARE NOT LOVED BY GOD AND THEY SHOULD BURN IN HELL!' If god exists, he's probably very disappointed in people who say that. When they are just homophobic and try to use the bible as an excuse which is the main reason i don't go to church or follow any specific religion. I don't mean to offend anyone following a certain religion though.
LUCARIO1171 " I don't mean to offend anyone following a certain religion though." They can be offended all they like, its still them being backward and intolerant.
While I confess I didn't like the endings to the game, what I also find annoying about them is how they have made people forget everything else that is wrong with it. The game is definitely not 99% great without the ending. Do people forget the comedy animations. Ruined journal. Eavesdropping side-quests. Increase in passive conversations. Kai Leng with his brilliant plot armour. That Shepard's background and military history never rated more than a throwaway line, why was my Colonist Shepard so obsessed with Earth but only had two lines about her homeworld of Mindoir (only one line if you take out the optional From Ashes DLC). Why oh why does Shepard speak so much without my input? Cerberus were used so much it felt like they were the main enemy and not the Reapers. Hell they even managed to make the planet scanning worse. At least in ME2 it had a point and perhaps a minor challenge, in ME3 you only have one thing to find and are pointed directly to it. They may as well have just gone back to the scanning system of ME1.
THANK YOU The whole game had so many plotholes too, the ONLY good parts of the story were the geth quarian conflict (the only thing that pulled from choices from the past game) and the genophage. Everything else feels out of place and when you think about it, really don't fit with the existing lore and even technology.
What annoyed me as well was how so much of the game was written for people for whom the third game was the first that they had played. No where was this more obvious than in the conversation with the Rachni Queen. The line where she mentions meeting you in the first game is so badly added into the conversation that you can tell it was an afterthought. It's a shame really as the mission before that point was fairly enjoyable. The genophage mission was well done with your choice to save or kill Wrex in the first game really changing how I felt about the mission. On a run where Wreav was in charge of the Krogan I just couldn't bring myself to allow the cure.
I agree with you. I loved the game, and the trilogy as a whole. However, even completely ignoring the whole ending controversy, it's not a perfect game. The story (until the ending) and the characters we loved from the first two games hold the third game up higher than it would normally be. And yes, the third game was made too "accessible" for newcomers to the trilogy. I don't even see why anyone would want to play ME3 without experiencing the story from the beginning anyway, but maybe that's just me!
ReD DeV I actually started this series with ME3, I got it cheap from a friend.Now I'm playing through 2 after finishing one and I can finally see understand why people highlight 2 as the best in the series.1 has a good story, but is technically broken (texture pop-ups everywhere, the mako sequences are awful, companions are complete dumbasses in combat) and 3 has the weakest and less interesting story of them all (oooo, the big battle against the big bad reapers, rwarh) with no plot twist, no mystery and the weakest ending of a game trilogy ever.I haven't even played the first 2 games at that point and felt completely disappointed, so...
You make fair points. If you started the series with ME3 on the cheap, while it's certainly not the best of the three games to start with, it did get you into the trilogy in the first place. I agree with you about ME1, it is a good game, but it's flawed, especially with glitches/bugs and the less than stellar combat system. It's as if they needed more time to get the formula just right, which they later did with ME2 in my opinion. Then somehow they completely cocked up the formula for ME3. Ranking the trilogy, I would go ME2>ME1>ME3. ME2 is by quite some distance, my favourite of the three games, and I still give it a playthrough from time to time - still not bored with it to this day! It had an interesting story, improved HUD and combat from the first game, a nice mission layout with the loyalty missions for each team member, and IMO a superb ending with the suicide mission - that ending was for me, the high note of the entire trilogy, even though ME3 does have a couple of great moments itself, in amongst the garbage. As someone who had played the previous two games before ME3 was released, I actually quite liked ME3 on my first playthrough. I didn't think it was a perfect final game of the trilogy by any means, but in general I enjoyed the game - up until THAT DAMN ENERGY BEAM, when everything turns to shit and the trilogy ends with a big FU. I found the indoctrination theory credible in certain parts, but ultimately I don't believe it was Bioware's intent - even if believing it was their plan makes the ME3 ending easier to accept. To Bioware's credit, they did attempt to improve the ending (some might say damage control) with the free extended cut DLC, but in my view that just put a few band aids on a bullet wound, and it wasn't enough to save the ending in my eyes. Since the trilogy finished, I have finished a few complete playthroughs of the trilogy, starting from ME1, and it's a great experience up until the final moments of the final game. I do not have high hopes for the future of this franchise. God knows what Andromeda will turn out like! Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised?
I like that you've outgrown IGN or Gamespot on youtube (much greater view numbers for the review) - because you tell it like it is. Thank you angryjoe. People who aren't game producers need to give angry joe money, so he can keep on telling us as it is.
Just finished the ME trilogy. I have to say along with Dragon Age Origins, this seried is one of the best Bioware had ever made. The action, the drama, the threat of the 'omnipotent' Reapers, the setup with all the races teaming up. Thankfully I finished the series with the extended cut so I didnt find the ending as bad as the original. But, it was still a bit lacklustre. Still, great series.
If anyone picks up the remastered version remeber your Map on the citadel is the way to track quests. Also use the % complete number on systems to know if there is anything left to scan for.
lkim100 What is a good journey without an worthy ending? I mean, even the look back AT THE JOURNEY is a kind of ending, where the journey beats the ending. But it has to be something like that. Otherwise it does not work. And millions get angry at you. As you see. =)
This review is exactly 10 years old; today The first one I saw of you. Nice to see you're still doing the reviews to this day. This one is a nostalgic piece.
I don't think I'm the only one that wants to go back to when they first played the series and experience the story without knowing what happens, to playthrough and truly experience the game again.
***** Haha, I just beat ME2 this morning. That Reaper battle, man, it was fantastic! Only downside is that I lost Mordin and I forgot that I had an extra DLC character. It's a good thing I have a summer break from college. I've literally been doing nothing except Mass Effect. That's probably bad, but it's just too good! I can't believe I've waited this long. I guess it's better since now I can play them all the way through. Now I'm sitting here, waiting for ME3 to download...
***** After having ME3 for a year, I still don't have the Citadel DLC. Going to get it right after I beat ME2 again though. I've seen it on RU-vid and I have to admit, it seems awesome. I do have the Omega DLC however and it was great. Except the last part. I played it for the first time, which I also happened to be playing on Insanity at the time, last week and it took me about 4 tries to get past it. Didn't want to use any names so that I don't spoil it for Dildo if he hasn't played it yet.
+Jackson Bruegeman I chose Tali because she is the Bae but Miranda's very useful in combat. Warp+Overload+Squad Bonus I took her in almost every mission(Very useful on Insanity run). Miranda+Grunt/Garrus/Zaeed is such a awesome combo.
Well I am glad I got the game late when all the DLC was out and with the extended ending..I though the ending was just fine. The multiplayer isn't that bad..I thought it was going to suck but it doesn't. Really good game.
It's like Joe said in his Extended Cut analysis video: if those were the endings the players had gotten from day one, there would not have been an uproar at all. From the comments from Post-EC newcomers, myself included, most of them were satisfied with the game overall. In fact, I think 3 is my favorite of the bunch.
***** Oh i did not see that video. But yeah bioware should have made the EC endings in the final game not a dlc...though it was free so i dont care. Oh they would have been eaten alive if that cost money. But yeah i love ME3. Replaying ME2 as engineer (femshep).
... you didn't have to watch the video... and he said nothing that could spoil it in any drastic way... you only hurt other people like you . So don't take it out on us...
I recently just played the Mass Effect Trilogy for the first time (secret thank you to everyone for not spoiling the ending.) and I wasn't THAT pissed off with the ending. I had that feeling of...........really nigga? And I can almost guarantee I would've been pissed off if I played all the games when they came out. If I had invested 5 years into my life playing the game only to be slapped in the face. But overall the Franchise is amazing and is already my favorite franchise ever. I can't wait for Mass Effect 4. Literally I don't want to because I don't want one. That ending said to there is no such thing as Mass Effect 4. Unless they do some Xmen Days of Future Past.
zjgvvjg322 Let me ask you this though. Did you have the extended cut ending, (the one with the slide show at the end) or the original ending? The extended cut ending honestly isn't that bad in my opinion, but the original ending?.......DEAR FUCKING LORD KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!!! Basically what they are doing with ME4 is setting it in a completely different galaxy. It will be very far removed from the Reaper conflict of the first three games.
DevilHunter1994 I have played the series multiple times now and bought some DLC for it including the extended cut. And the extended cut makes it better. But I still would've prefered to just destroy the reapers. I romanced Tali and brought the Quarians and Geth together so I couldn't destroy synthetics. So instead I just synthesis everything but I don't get the Hackett speech. Instead I get EDI although I like her I want my last experience to be "Hackett Out" overall i'm excited Mass Effect 4 now.
zjgvvjg322 Hackett only does the speech for the destroy ending. Shepard does the speech for control, and EDI does it for synthesis. It did suck having to destroy the Geth and EDI, but I still thought it was the best option. With Synthesis I felt like I was playing god and it just seemed wrong. At least with destroy, I knew everyone was ready to give their lives if that's what it took. Destroy is also the only option that completely eliminates the reapers as a threat. With synthesis and control, they could always return, and Shepard wouldn't be there to stop them.
DevilHunter1994 yeah everything in my instincts told me DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY!!! But romancing Tali made pick synthesis because I wanted her to live outside the suit. And why the hell is control even an option? The whole point of ME3 is to stop the reapers and the Illusive Man. Why control you're enemies and become your mortal enemy? But the extended cut was SOOO GOOOOD!!!!! The last interaction I had with Tali before she went with Garrus (My squamate on the mission) where she's talking about having a home made me cry. I'm excited for ME4 and can't wait. I just hope they give us more characters to fall in love with.
zjgvvjg322 Even when I romanced Tali I still couldn't pick Synthesis. Even more so because of her last words to you. "Come back to me." I couldn't leave her alone after that. I'm pretty sure if it came to a choice between living with you inside the suit, and living without you outside the suit she would choose the life with you in it in a heartbeat. I think the control option was just there to give you some last minute conflict. The entire game we were working under the assumption that controlling them was impossible. Now suddenly everything changes. The appeal of Control is that we can end the war without killing anyone, or changing all of the races. It seems great at first, but when you stop and think, the dangers are obvious. We are basically left with two questions. 1: Can this really be done, or is the reaper AI lying to me? 2: Even if I can do it, do I really want to? I liked how that choice conveyed the burden of command. Sometimes new information presents itself suddenly and the commander has to factor that information into their decisions without having much time to really think things though. It was a nice curveball they through our way and it presents an interesting dilemma.
Mass Effected Cameltoe yes, though personally I didn't have a problem with the rest of the physique, her body was an infiltration unit impersonating someone so it makes sense that it would have the same proportions as it where. I was always curious if EDI could change her body type to impersonate other humans or if that body was built to specifically impersonate who it did (trying to avoid spoilers).
I'm suprised Joe didn't go into the multiplayer that much. For the year they came out with free updates and missions, this was some of the funnest multiplayer gameplay i had in 2012
I'm currently playing through the game again and I gotta say, its still a damn good game. And the story DLC were all fucking awesome. Even the extended cut, which IMO did fix the ending and made it enjoyable.
+DigitalVirusX2 personally I thought none of the DLC´s had enough content to justify their price tag, had cool moments but even it´s EA, they should know that $10 means that the DLC should have enough content comparable to one sixth of the base game, as the full game costs $60 and in this they let us down really badly. Javik DLC: 20 minutes long mission without new elements and one fricking character with about 30 minutes of dialoque or personal screen time... The story of protheans was good but doesn´t amount to much on it´s own. Then an overpowered weapon for money, shameful.. but a day one DLC as well? Despicable. Leviathan DLC: 90-120 minutes of gameplay, not much action and the detective work wasn´t very interesting. No new enemies either. Meeting the leviathan scene though was satisfactory. Multiplayer characters.. well the multiplayer itself was alright considering the previous ones had none and the characters are versatile and such.. but by getting the DLC you only gain the possibility to unlock them, so you might pay money and never actually get them, which defeats the point. So saying that multiplayer add-ons cover the lack of single player content is not entirely true. Same applies to all other dlc´s. Omega DLC: around 2 hours of gameplay, new enemies and the omega was an interesting enough place to get to revisit but the characters let you down.. and the story was an disappointment. A step to the better as at least there were more interactivity with the world this time but.. not enough. And why they made Aria so cool in the combat and not make a multiplayer character out of her.. Citadel DLC: Now this was a good DLC.. story wasn´t great but alright for a not too serious one, many returning characters and unique elements with some completely new things like the arena and the party. I also enjoyed the mirror shephard fight as the best boss fight in the game. Now that´s great... wait.. $15 price tag? Now that got out of hand a bit, I mean.. that´s a quarter of the full retail price! I might agree that for $10 the DLC is a good pick.. but why $15? Did they think that ´ oh we have a bit more content now. Let´s raise the price. ´ That is god damn horse shit, every single DLC in ME history has been for $10 and now you change that all of a sudden? It was as ridiculous as the DLC coming in two downloads. Extended cut: The ending was indefensible. The fact that they made a free DLC though gains my respect. But still, even if the extended cut made the ending twice as good, eating a piece of crap that is twice as good than the last piece of crap you ate, it still tastes pretty shitty. Like great, they added three minutes of footage, one new ending and a slideshow. A fucking slideshow to end a trilogy spanning 5+ years with some of the most dedicated fans of any franchise ever.
+Liam Nolan For it was at then ( i romanced Tali) and at last mission when Normandy pick her up and then she said that she alwready has a home i cries like a baby
Vega actually has a whole backstory. Watch Mass Effect: Paragon Lost. It's an anime based on Vega's squad during the period that Shepard was dead. Very touching story. He makes quite a few references to it too throughout the game. Nearly cried at the end of the anime.
Some say it's anime because it was produced by Funimation. I'd rather talk about something that's relative to this video rather than what is and what isn't anime.
I agree with the whole single player review, but Joe couldn't be more wrong with the multiplayer mode. I had an absolute blast for over 3 years on it. Those builds...
EDI wasn't completely un-interesting... "I only forget to recycle the Normandy's air when I've discovered something truly interesting... that was a joke"
The ending doesn't ruin the franchise, trust me, I know how bad it feels to be betrayed as bad as it was here, but the rest of the franchise is still a masterpiece, the good FAR outweighs the bad
And that's why Joe give it an 8/10. And he even said himself the biggest bad was fixed with the EC and he was happy in the end. I've played through the game with the EC and I felt it was great and the ending was great, not spectacular spectacular, but great enough to make me nod my head during the credits and appreciate the journey I took with the fantastic crew of characters.
So 10-11years since I beat #3. Played all the games multiple times. And just finished the legendary edition again after wanting to grind the game back out. And after getting all war assets and getting the “good” ending where Shepard lives, I gotta say this game was dam near perfect in my eyes now. From ME1 to ME3 the story is just beyond amazing and is probly my favorite game series out of any games
Think about it. This game could exactly be real life one day and what would you do if you were in his position? Probably with the 4th release they'll still have him, but as the leader of the reapors.
They already said "commander shepard won't be back, and there will be no 'second commander schepard'" (probably meaning that the new character won't be like him)
I don't understand, I liked the ending. You feel the awesome power as you say "F*** YOU" to that 'reaper-kid' and as every single Reaper gets their ass beaten, and of course - right before the credits - they show a destroyed battlefield on earth then a torso of what appears to be a dead body, with a spike besides it with a dog-tag that says "N7" on it and you see the torso breathing in, as it awakens from it's sleep, roll credits! That was awesome! And of course you know it's Shepard, coz N7 was his/her sign through all 3 games XD
I remember playing through the series back to back, in the end of 3 my Shepard lived and I felt like a badass. I also manage to keep all my squadmates alive too... well except for Mordin, it was either letting him sacrifice himself or kill and I couldnt kill him, hes too cool of a character for me to kill lol... oh and EDI, she died too... and Legion.. damnit I couldnt save everyone lol
You CAN actually save Mordin! It just requires you to have made certain decisions in the 2nd game already - These are the things I LOVE! How you made a decision that alters someone's fate, but doesn't remove gameplay from you, but just provides you with a "if only I didn't do this..." feeling - JUST like in real life.
***** Yeah, that makes it hardly worth it, but to be honest... I think Mordin is one of the most awesome characters, with Wrex being awesome too, just a with Mordin being a tad better.
I played through most of the game with EDI, Kaiden (I specifically picked him for my male shep because I knew it would be the minority outcome, and I was not disappointed) and Tali, and EDI really was boring and dull... which surprised me, as I expected her to be the most awesome character in the game.
Remember when BioWare got so much hate at them for the ending of ME3 that they literally redid the ending with the extended cut and with the remastered trilogy ME3 extended cut is officially canon so the endings aren’t the same thing but a different color,I miss those days where BioWare listened, now look at anthem and thought whole “anthem 2.0” bull
Honestly, I think Bioware crammed too much content into a span of just 3 games. I think they could have made the story more compelling if there were more games for Shepard and his crew to scrounge up intel on the reapers. Every game, the situation with the reapers would gradually get more dire. In fact, I kinda wish there was enough time(More than 3 games) for the galaxy to fully realize the reapers actually exist, and therefore, prepare for the previously delayed onslaught. Set up battle lines, prepare traps, have Shepard choose the strategies each race should undertake. I think an amazing feature would be instead of collecting war assets solely in the final game, Shepard and his/her crew should also garner war assets from previous games, thus having Shepard's past decisions affect how much support he/she gets at the end of the game. The change from killing a human embryo reaper, to a full scale war with the reapers was a bit of a far-fetched jump in plot in my opinion. Then again, I don't blame Casey Hudson and his crew at all. Bioware was simply not given enough time by EA to put the icing on the cake(Those swindling bastards). The stock photo of Tali is a good indicator of how EA readied their grubby hands to milk another cow. Albeit, a pretty damn good cow. Oh well. Let's hope Mass Effect 4 is just as amazing as Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2, and the first 42 hours and 48 minutes of Mass Effect 3.
Bioware were too lazy with the ending, even with the extended dlc it still lacked depth to sail the boat for shepard and doesn't do service to all the things you've spent hous doing as it will still not be even hinted.
Agreed. Just finished playing it half an hour ago, with extended ending, and when I'd done blinking back tears, I just told myself "I gotta admit... this ain't how I pictured it... close enough... close enough." Although, in my head, Shepard survived, she was rescued by Liara (again), settled down to raise a family of blue children who had the largest family of awesome aunts and uncles in history - and they all lived happily ever after. My ending. Why Bioware didn't see it that way is a mystery to me.
MeeesterBond17 I'd prefer that as well, but from what I've heard, Bioware doesn't want to be prescriptive on how people interpret the ending. Meaning there are apparently some people out there who take the breath scene as Shepard taking a last breath before dying. Other people with Shepard surviving may not want a scene with Liara and blue babies, so they kept it open for interpretation. I don't really like the concept of "imagine your own ending" though.
SirLugash Yeah, I know what I may see as the right ending will be completely, utterly, head-shakingly wrong for some people. just got a little carried away in my commenting... :) I think the one thing we can agree on (now I'm all calm and collected again :P) is that they should have written many more endings than just "one suits all, imagine away, fans!" that's a lazy concept, you're completely right. Maybe they stopped paying their writers? Or maybe EA were just rushing things, like they did with BF4, curse them.
Actually I think I know why this is. It's probably just bullshit rumors I heard, but apparently the script leak for ME3 might have had something to do with it. But I read up on it, and the script had the same ending nonetheless, still, my point remains: The entire story was different. It was changed however, and I wouldn't know why, but the entire original story would involve the concept of dark energy, because if you followed the game series and the developers, they wanted to ground all the science fiction to some form of real science, such as relays working as basically worm holes, biotics working with the use of chips, and mass altering and all these things: They were probably gonna use the dark energy part (which was hinted to in the 2nd game with Tali's loyalty mission), and that would've played a huge part. What I heard is the original script writers were re-assigned to work on the old republic mmo, and thanks to EA rushing everything and all that crap, they probably never got anywhere. This part is probably just a rumor. However, I still believe the original game was very different. The concept of making organics merge with synthetics in a "magical" way almost doesn't seem grounded in ANY form of science, and was just a "this might be cool, its science fiction, lets go crazy". I'm sure if they had the time, and budget to work on it as they please and not let EA's whatever fucking crisis they have been going through the last few years (is it the economic crash that fucked them up?), that the game would've included a lot better parts. I'm sure not everything was "just made up on the fly", such as the Genophage cure part, that was brilliant. Certain character deaths were perfect, and some character appearances were brilliant. But the main plot points I felt were weak, and the game was probably getting along well until they found out they didn't have the time. Thus the ending was rushed, like, REALLY rushed (This part isn't even speculation), and they cut corners everywhere. Few characters, few variations, and sudden ending, with no consequences.
7PlayingWithFire7 Yeah, agreed, it was like the last 15 minutes didn't fit at all... sure there's the gambling machine AI on the Citadel in ME1 that warned at this sort of thing, which I guess is where they got the Control ending from, but... it was like Lord of the Rings suddenly turning around and saying to Frodo and Sam; "Sorry, you can't destroy the Ring. You can become Sauron, kill all the forces of darkness (plus the elves and dwarves), or merge everyone into orc-man-hybrids. Enjoy!" I wouldn't put anything past EA at this point, tbh, looking at their history (Bullfrog's cannibalisation, SimCity support, Dungeon Keeper stats, more or less calling all their customers impatient, spoilt homophobes, etc.) They're working like a manufacturing company, not an Arts company (ironically), and without a good enough QA department. They need an attitude transplant, but fast.
This is what happens to a franchise when you loose the writer. ME1 - story is amazing. A complete destruction of all civilization is near. You are egaged and motivated. ME2 - story makes no sense. You fight some stupid Collectors that just show up and are somehow a priority to Shepard, but the characters are great so you're egaged. ME3 - story falls apart completely. The game is barely held up by it's predecessors and fails at critical point.
Completely agree with you. IMO ME1 had the best plot of the 3. Character development in ME2 was INCREDIBLE and it added weight to the suicide mission at the end. Only thing I personally can ever credit ME3 for is having solid gameplay, but the ending takes everything you did throught the entire series, balls it up into a little wad, and flushes down the toilet.
Mass Effect 2 story makes perfect sense. I'm playing through it again now. Also, the Collectors were mentioned in the novels before they ever came to ME2. The Collectors aren't just a random priority for Shepard. He was dead for 2 years and the 2nd best guy in the galaxy at gathering information has been looking into attacks on human colonies and has suspicions of them being tied to the Reapers.
+King Of Heroes as much as I love the first mass effect, whats the difference in the ending of the first mass effect? Concil either dies or survive, and its either udina or anderson at the head of the council, none of the previous choice matters in the end of the first mass effect, you only change the ending in the final minutes.