6 small changes that would make Mass Effect 3 ending better…

(Without indoctrination theory and without changing it too much)

Well to say, I am becoming quite fed up with all those give us whole new DLC with better ending! or I want blue babies! Not that I don’t want that, but I am quite happy with tragic bitter sweet ending. But only if it’s better clarified. Or rather explained. However, I understand what Bioware wanted to say. Nothing comes without a cost. It’s not like Shepard didn’t know it all along.

1. First, make secret ending available for those who don’t play multiplayer. It pains me to know, that Shepard only survives if you play multiplayer. Some gamers are fine playing alone, enjoying their single player. It just feels awful to complete every single side quest in the game and still not have enough war assets to get the Secret ending.  Or it’s rather impossible to get: even if I solve every quest in a best way possible (counting all three games) I still don’t have enough. And only because I don’t play multiplayer or I don’t not own iPhone. This is actually only thing I really dislike.  

2. Let us know what happened to humans/aliens we care about. Ignoring the magical teleportation of your final squad to Normandy, one last glance or one second cutscene made about them is enough for me. Give them a chance to survive Harbinger blast. They are strong enough. Few seconds of your LI (players care a lot about them, considering how angry they are if something happens to them) – Kaidan, Ashley, Liara, Garrus, Tali looking at sky, the other squad mate placing hand on their shoulder trying to reassure them. So Shepard may have sacrificed his life, but those who she/he fought for survived.

But I get it. They may have survived, signalled Joker to take them to the Citatel (the beam stopped working) to help you and then they got caught in the mass relay force. I admit it, Normandy crash is not working for me either. So Normandy got caught in Destroy Reapers beam – because the ship is equipped with reaper tech and that beam transported her beyond this galaxy. Too complicated. Let it crash on Earth. I still don’t get it, but at least I was happy that my companions made it alive. Sometimes that’s enough. (Actually every time I see it crash on tropical planet, it makes me think of Jacob’ s father.)

3. Relays – most fans consider this the biggest problem. Because we can’t understand what happened to them. Just deactivate them for a while and make all those clever scientinst figure out how to activate them again. At least this would silence mass relay destruction equals big chain reaction explosion and fleet isolation complaints.

I don’t really care if Shepard dies or not. Thought I will do everything in my power to make Shepard live if there is a chance. Actually, I can even justify Star kid explanation. But still, it could be much more. (And we all know it was quarians fault. Why wipe whole galaxy because of their mistake?)  

4. Kid choices. Ok whole reapers presence is test, we can leave it there. So reapers were created to preserve life. But what if they gone rogue and forgotten their original purpose, and after some time something inside them went malfunctioning. That some time ago they started harvesting innocent civilisation and became slaves of their own cycle. They tested Shepard as they did in every cycle and she/he finally managed to prove them wrong – by uniting geth and quarians. This is where dialogues wheel was clearly missing. Shepard can be pretty persuasive, but why it can’t be used now, when it matters the most? Typical paragon persuasion – Star kid is wrong, peace can be achieved, and organics and synthetics don’t have to fight. Reapers, we proved you wrong in this cycle. Shepard proved you wrong. The chosen one. Bla bla. Kwisach Haderach. Ultimate goddie ending. And if you played really well, maybe your Shepard survived.  

5. Middle option is just typical backdoor/neutral wheel option. This choice can work as ultimate final sacrifice closure. Those who want it can take it. It’ s for those who are fine with belief that one big wave made of Shepard changed DNA in whole galaxy. Personal complain – But as an add in can you please release a patch that will erase Edi presence? I just can’t stand her. Maybe if she looked more normal and less sexy? I found it too forced that Edi had to be sexy, and only purpose of that was to justify symbiosis ending. So it only works when robot is equipped with big boobs? And does Edi really need high heels?

6.  Control the reapers – should be about actual controlling. Admit the cycle was mistake that Reapers went rouge and their original purpose was forgotten. It fits with typical renegade choices: Geth or quarians are decimated; genophage is not cured and so on. Take over Reapers power so that one day, if someone repeats the chaos mistake it will Shepard your turn to stop them. Give them a chance to stay as it is, but make possible return of Reapers a threat – something that people will remember. That reapers still may be there in dark space, watching their progress. If next generation fails, you bring Reapers back. Humanity rules and one particular human – the only one who actually deserves it, has the power now.

So I am fine with Red, Blue, Green pill choices. I only want them to be logical. That’s what I was trying to do in my head.

And I love the game and definitely don’t want to get my money back.

And then in Mass Effect 4 : Return – Some time ago in a Galaxy far far away…

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