Reviews Ten Years On: Mass Effect

I think what I found disappointing was that you had spent ME3 bringing down Reapers by various means, visiting planets to build up your war assets & combat specialists - seemingly building up to the mother of all battles.

Then, as far as I remember:

Spoiler

All that was ignored and it came down to three choices given to you by a sentient AI in the form of a child - none of which I personally found very satisfying.

I think the great Citadel DLC, to a large extent, made up for this disappointment, and I consider this the true ending.

 

that was a gripe of mine... all that emphasis on making the right choices and ultimately all you choices amount to are minor cosmetic changes in a cut scene... meticulous planning and going the 'good' route yielded basically the same endgame as if you'd gone around the galaxy shooting everyone in the space-nads and being the galaxy's biggest knobhead...

 

Makes sense. Having only played it once, and then only after all the DLC was out (GOTY edition or whatever it was called), I felt the ending was a bit of a let down, but I don't think anything they could've done, even the biggest battle ever seen would've quite lived up to the story built up over the three games.

 

I liked the ending to ME3.

I understand how it was disappointing to people, but I liked it.

Spoiler

Okay, sure, you've spent tens of hours going around doing everything the 'right' way, helping everyone you found, doing everything, reading everything.. Maybe that should be hundreds of hours.. And you've been facing certain failure the entire time - The Reapers were never shy to lord the fact that they've existed since before humanity was a glint in evolution's eye, and they've killed better species (Coughprotheanscough) without so much as needing to scratch their ass.

And then you get there and find out that, really, you are an insignificant spec on the scale. It felt like, no matter what happens, most races try and out-do the Reapers, and are ultimately cut down. Even with you being the supposed best, you basically failed to stop it. You couldn't 'save' the galaxy how you wanted to purely because it was as futile as trying to stop the tide with a spoon. Okay, sure, you saved some, arguably more than anyone else ever had, but no matter what the Reapers still 'win'.

With the construction of a human-Reaper in ME2, I think it shows that despite the efficiency of the Leviathans as a design for the Reapers, they were willing to adopt humanity as their vessels of destruction.

Which, depending on the option you pick, isn't far from how it plays out. Besides, humanity has spent the last X years trying to prove they're better than all the other races in the galaxy, and here they are being the deciders of fate. Fates that, invariably, will cause the loss of many, many, lives.

I think it's a pretty bleak, but realistic, outcome - And that makes me like it. Too many games do the 'in the face of overwhelming odds you survived and saved everyone! yay!' ending, and that tends to detract from the story IMO.

 

I still haven't played ME3 - Is it worth picking up for a tenner?

 

Due to PS+ plus or other bundling, I own all these games and have never played one.

 

I'd say so. The game itself is enjoyable and plays nicely - Even if the ending frustrates people.

 

Imo yes, even if it's only too see what people got angry about.