The Mass Effect Legendary Edition brought me back to March 2012, when the Internet exploded with complaints about the trilogy’s ending. On F95zone, players shared their frustration, saying that the promised variability and impact of decisions were almost nonexistent. The final screensaver depended only on the galaxy’s combat readiness and the choice of three dialogue options.
Criticism was so intense that BioWare had to respond publicly. A few months later, they released the free Extended Cut DLC, which explained the fate of the commander’s party members in greater detail.
Some players were satisfied, but many others felt disappointed with Shepard’s story. Nine years later, we will examine what went wrong in the finale of the space opera, identify who is responsible, and consider whether they could have done it better. And be careful with spoilers: there are a lot of them in the text.
Problems started before the release
First, let’s take a look at how the Mass Effect trilogy ended . Before the Expanded Edition, there were three endings:
- Annihilation (Red) – Shepard uses the Prothean Forge to destroy all synths in the galaxy, including the Reapers and himself.
- Control (“blue”) – Shepard enters into symbiosis with the Citadel, taking control of the Reapers, becoming a super-powerful artificial intelligence. The Commander’s organic shell dies.
- Synthesis (“green”) – Shepard sacrifices himself, starting the process of transformation of organic and synthetic structure throughout the galaxy. The cycle of the Harvest ends.
Players start and win
On March 8, 2012, just two days after the release, players created a vote on the BioWare forum demanding a fourth, alternative ending. By mid-2016, the poll had gathered almost 14,000 votes and 140,000 views. At the same time, a group appeared on Facebook, calling on the developers to completely redo the final of Mass Effect 3 . Now the community has almost 50 thousand members.
On March 19, a post appeared in the official Mass Effect group on Facebook that the company did not intend to change the ending, especially after such successful sales (in the first month alone, the publisher shipped 3.5 million copies). And then he disappeared.A little later, BioWare published another message clarifying that they had not yet made the final decision. They said the previous statement had been a mistake: “…we actively take into account all player feedback and do not exclude any outcome of events. We continue to collect and study your feedback and have not made a decision on changing the ending . “
Apparently, back then, BioWare really did not have a clear position on the ending. While Casey Hudson defended the author’s vision and the team’s decisions, community managers assured users that the company would definitely do something about all this.
BioWare makes concessions
The free DLC Extended Cut , which threatened to close the holes in the plot, turned out to be controversial. Promises to radically alter the plot did not seem to sound, but, as sometimes happens, some fans have already presented the best possible option and were waiting for almost a revelation. “[The issue]” Expanded Edition “, in our opinion, will allow to achieve a balance between the answers, who want to get the players, and the artistic vision of the team for the final of the history of the Mass Effect » , – wrote Ray Muzyka . And Casey Hudson noted that “[the developers] have adjusted the priorities in the development of the game to make the ending more understandable and personal.”
Will there be new endings or DLCs in the future?
- No. BioWare is convinced of the team’s right to artistic vision for the Mass Effect ending . In the “Extended Version” the ending will be explained in more detail, but no additional DLC is planned for the ending.
What exactly will BioWare add to the ending?
- BioWare will expand on the existing Mass Effect 3 ending with additional cinematic scenes and an epilogue. The purpose of the new scenes is to bring some extra clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3 .
Why are you releasing the Expanded Edition?
- While we remain dedicated and proud of our artistic vision for the game, we also understand that there are some fans out there who would like the ending of Mass Effect 3 to be clearer. The DLC will not add a new ending, it will only reveal in more detail the consequences of [the final choice] and answer questions about the ending of Commander Shepard’s story.
Finding the “true” ending
Be that as it may, even the “Extended Edition” could not heal the mental wounds of the players, so the fan theories and alternative endings, which appeared almost immediately after the release of the triquel, have not lost their popularity until now.
Already 9 March 2012 on the Something Awful forum appeared the post with the “original” ending of the trilogy authored by a leading writer of the first and second part of Mass Effect Drew Karpyshyn (Eldritch Blast 5e). The main plot twist in Karpishin ‘s version was Dark Energy – a component of the zero element used when using the mass effect. The use of element zero led to the rapid aging of stars, after which they turned into black holes, destroying entire planetary systems. The Reapers were looking for a way to stop the spread of Dark Energy:
Great deception
Ending epic sagas like Mass Effect is not easy. In principle, it is impossible to please everyone. Of course, there is always a banal variant with a happy ending, but let’s face it – this is cheating. Self-sacrifice is often the central theme of myths and legends, and when it comes to saving an entire galaxy, it becomes almost inevitable.
The problem of organics and synthetics raised in Mass Effect cannot be solved beautifully and rosy, because even the most advanced races of the galaxy could not find a way to overcome it. The options available in the game leave a huge leeway for events, and it seems that even BioWare itself does not know how to continue the story.
