MASS EFFECT 3 [now with spoilers]

I'm putting this here to be appreciated

Well I finished it.

I can see why people we're a little bummed about the ending, but I'm not up in arms about it. About the same as I felt about the ending of ME2.

Overall, it was a pretty solid end to one of my favourite series.

I don't know why people would complain about the ending. It worked really well, and felt entirely appropriate.

Sure, every playthrough is still going to get you to that same point, but that doesn't make the ending garbage.

I went with Synthesis btw

The Catalyst is a walking plothole maker. Nothing about him makes sense, and Shepard's interactions with it are so linear and un-Shepard like. If they had introduced it earlier, rather than one line on Thessia, and explained it better there wouldn't be too much of a problem.

I think the problem people have with the Catalyst is that it shows up in the last thirty seconds, tells you that you have to destroy everything, destroy free will, or become a hypocrite, and Shepard bends over for it. None of those things are anything Shepard would do, and they contradict previous examples in game.

Shepard just accepts it because something that has been trying to kill him/her, their loved ones and every species in the galaxy said so. Half the things the Catalyst says are completely contradictory to what happens in game. Synthetics killing organics to save them from being killed by synthetics is a really shitty explaination if you ask me. Why not have the Reapers sit around and leave evidence of their existence and a message along the lines of "Hey, guys, the whole synthetic life thing didn't work out for these guys, you shouldn't try it!" instead of, you know, SLAUGHTERING the people you're trying to save. Half of Sovereign's speech is now invalid because of the Catalyst. Hell, Sovereign's entire purpose is invalid, because the Lord Pheonix damned leader of the Reapers was on the Citadel the whole damn time.

Then the Catalyst is some Lord Pheonix that can alter all life in the galaxy at once. It can just kill all synthetics, not even in a sensible fashion like having the Reapers destroy them, they just drop dead. It can alter every life form to make synthetic-organic mix by making Mass Relays explode. Oh, and if you're disintergrated you're apparently the new leader of the Reapers.

The 'wildly' different conclusions are really just three different colored destruction beams that will cripple galactic life for thousands of years. Nothing you do can alter this, and the best you can do is strip everything of its free will. I was not expecting a happy ending, but the fact that it's a bleak, nonsensical, unnecessary cliffhanger that you are absolutely forced into kills the replayability. There is no drama because there is no real pros or cons or even real effects, just different colored lights.

Mass Effect has always been about decision making, actions and consequences, and the Catalyst is none of that. None of your decisions matter. It could even be safe to say that not preparing at all and having the Crucible kill everything would be preferable to forcing trillions of people to slowly die as the backbone of their civilization is destroyed. There is no transportation, no weapons, tools, appliances. Millions of aliens are trapped in the Sol System with a battered Earth. There is no escape, no food, not enough supplies. Everything was for nothing because you are forced to accept the Catalyst at it's word, instead of being able to say "No, fuck you, we will fight." There's no replayability, because all your actions come to only one conclusion.

Sorry for the rant, but I don't see how any of it makes sense. It's just such an asspull, like BioWare thought that depressing stories are the only good stories. Why not have an ending where the galaxy wins, they win with casualties, or the Reapers win. What would be wrong with that? It wouldn't have detracted from the game, as every single thing about the Catalyst was said in those two final minutes.

OK. Don't want to talk about the ending right now.

So, what loadout did you guys end up using?

On the battle of Earth, I finally realized that my powers were dwarfed by the amount of damage I could do with my fully-upgraded weapons. So, I was packing everything but an SMG.

Javelin Sniper Rifle
-Concentration Module
-Magazine Upgrade

Revenant Machine Gun
-Magazine Upgrade
-Precision Scope

Geth Plasma Shotgun
-Smart Choke
-High Caliber Barrel

Scorpion Heavy Pistol
-Magazine Upgrade
-High Caliber Barrel

Javelin Sniper and that second to last assault rifle.

For most of the game. I've been running 2 different setups with mostly the same results:

Class: Sentinel

Weapons: Assault Rifle & Shotgun

M-96 Mattock
-Magazine Upgrade
-Extended Barrel

M-27 Schimitar
-increased damage
-increased aim

Second and fav setup:
Phaeston
-increased damage
-increased magazine size

M-22 Eviscerator
-increased damage
-increased aim

Note I'm not very far in the game due to a restart. But these weapons are far upgraded and work great. Plus they work well with my powers. Recharge is good.

Played the multiplayer. I suck at it, but what else is new? Very fun. Kinda wish they'd add an endless mode.

Honestly, I'm really only playing MP for the Readiness. It's kind of fun... but meh.

I like running around multiplayer with my asari adept with black widow

I, for one, can't wait until I get my Quarian Infiltrator.

That look you imagine on a Cerberus Engineer's face as his turret turns on him? Priceless.

Angatar wrote:The Catalyst is a walking plothole maker. Nothing about him makes sense, and Shepard's interactions with it are so linear and un-Shepard like. If they had introduced it earlier, rather than one line on Thessia, and explained it better there wouldn't be too much of a problem.

....You missed the whole 'Shepard is being indoctrinated' thing...it kind of explains everything


and it wasn't make synthetics kill organics so they won't make synthetics that kill them. It's clear high-level civilizations approaching the problem of being killed by their own synthetics and leave low-level civilizations behind. It's basically a 'give the underdog a chance'. That's pretty obvious from the whole fact that they left the Asari, turians and humans the last go they had

I guess Shepard being indoctrinated by the Reapers to destroy the Reapers is supposed to make sense. Or that the synthesis ending does nothing to stop the hybrids from building synthetics.

Everything Vent Kid says makes no sense. They had no proof before the cycle started to start the cycle. If synthetics always win, and the Reapers had proof of that, then the Reapers would never have been created in the first place.

It doesn't make any sense, any of it.

For those of you who have seen the ending, go into Google Images and search for "Space Winter".

Yeah. Tali's face isn't the only photoshop job Bioware did.

Yes because those two look EXACTLY the same....


you're fucking stupid, similar themes doesn't mean shit

KristallNacht wrote:

Yes because those two look EXACTLY the same....


you're fucking stupid, similar themes doesn't mean shit

Stupid? No. Just disappointed. The fact that the endings are virtually identical aside from different colors makes it hard not to see similarities as laziness.

But at least I'm not desperate enough to believe in an indoctrination theory.
I just don't get why, if Shepard was indoctrinated, destroying the Reapers would be an option at all.

Where did the indoctrination begin? When Shepard was hit by Harbinger's beam? If that's when it started, and everything after that is an Indoctrination-induced hallucination, how exactly are the Reapers destroyed? How is it that the Crucible is able to dock with the Citadel?
If the indoctrination didn't take hold until after Shepard arrived in the Citadel, why does he appear to be alive and ON EARTH'S SURFACE when you choose the "Destroy" option? And why is the "Destroy" option an option at all
If the Star Child is a real character (as indicated by an interview with Mac Walters), that kind of supports the latter option.

Released Bioware notes.
Just reading what I can, I don't think Indoctrination was the intended meaning of the end. It's more likely that the elements fans have latched onto as evidence of indoctrination are just elements left over from earlier story ideas. I mean, the "Explicit indoctrination" idea was dropped because of gameplay mechanics.

Essentially, what we saw is supposed to be the ending, with a little extra thrown in for "Speculation". Indoctrination is our way of rationalizing it, and it's not a very satisfying answer. And now I've heard it and written it so much, I'm sick of the word "Indoctrination". = /

well, there's lots of clues, like the boy not being acknowledged by anyone and being generally odd in the opening scenes. And various characters complain of symptoms related to indoctrination.

As well as the fact the control changes to be paragon and destroy changes to be renegade right at the end. And indoctrination doesn't require it to be a complete hallucination anyway.

Beat the game. Choose the red explosion ending. The only ending was not good imo.

I wish DJ Harbinger was in Mass Effect.

Gauz wrote:

I wish DJ Harbinger was in Mass Effect.

I wish Harbinger was in the game period. The fact he only gets mentioned once or twice and is only seen in the game once with no dialogue was a little disappointing, especially giving your pre-fight banter in ME2 and the Arrival.

I would totally rather live in the mass effect verse than the haloverse.


Interstellar partying with aliens not hellbent on killing you? Sounds fabulous!

What fuck Bioware.

Vigil wrote:I wish Harbinger was in the game period. The fact he only gets mentioned once or twice and is only seen in the game once with no dialogue was a little disappointing, especially giving your pre-fight banter in ME2 and the Arrival.

Heh. Maybe a final boss is too 'video gamey' and not serious enough for those who appreciate fine arts, but I would have liked a final showdown with the Illusive Man. We've seen what Sovereign did with Saren Arterius when it needed a prophet, so to speak. We've seen what Harbinger did to random Collectors when it need something that could stand up to Shepard. What would they do to the Illusive Man if they needed some sort of interface to bring the Keepers back in line?

Something, just something, you know?

Also, the Indoctrination Theory makes a little sense now. You can't stop Shepard. You can't injure her, you can't kill her for good. She can take a Reaper's laser to the face, get up, and come after you with an infinite-ammo pistol.

Indoctrinating her so hard that she can't see straight and convincing her to walk into an energy beam or grab two exposed ends of a high voltage conduit, on the other hand...