BioWare Announces Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut

[emigre]

Now this hints, that they believe what they presented is ok and is supposedly not a DLC-money driven purposeful cut-down of the story as many of us thought. (In which case they would have released something by now.) It is kind of sad, because I hoped, that the indoctrination theory was actually true and we get a proper at least 2-3 mission long extension with an actual final boss fight in the end, unlike in this one.

As far as a final boss fight...what exactly were you hoping to take on at the end? Did you want Shepard to pew-pew a reaper with his Avenger and somehow win? Maybe they could conveniently drop a rocket launcher at the last moment a la Resident Evil?

I did.

I am a sucker for rocket launchers to be fair.

 

[Zarcon]

"Clarifying" the ending(s) doesn't really do anything about my own issues with the ending(s).
Them being distinct lack of choices/exploration dialogue at the end, the breaking of character of at least Shepard (possibly more but it's so vague how things play out at the end so we'll see with this DLC), and a bunch of weird plot holes.

Mainly I'm just mad that you can prove the Catalyst wrong in almost literally every single way and Shepard just goes "Okay." to what the Catalyst gives as his reasoning and viable choices to proceed from there.
No "No, you're wrong. I resolved [issue you claim to be why Reaper cycle is needed]. Even if what you say will come true it won't at the moment. Call off the Reapers since you're in direct control of them." option.
Not even as an exploratory dialogue that ends in the Catalyst flipping the bird.

I never really wanted them to add or change anything. I'm perfectly content in thinking BioWare dropped the ball with the ending (personally).
But since they ARE adding something...here's hoping I guess.

 

[CCNaru]

Now, I'm going to lead a petition to make Square bring Aeris back to life in Final Fantasy VII.

TALK ABOT OTHER GAME DAN GRORRIOUS BIOWARU GAEM? DING DONG BANNU
JAPANIS RORR PRAYING GAEM? DING DONG BANNU

---------- END OF RINE

 

[Guild McCommunist]

"Clarifying" the ending(s) doesn't really do anything about my own issues with the ending(s).
Them being distinct lack of choices/exploration dialogue at the end, the breaking of character of at least Shepard (possibly more but it's so vague how things play out at the end so we'll see with this DLC), and a bunch of weird plot holes.

Mainly I'm just mad that you can prove the Catalyst wrong in almost literally every single way and Shepard just goes "Okay." to what the Catalyst gives as his reasoning and viable choices to proceed from there.
No "No, you're wrong. I resolved [issue you claim to be why Reaper cycle is needed]. Even if what you say will come true it won't at the moment. Call off the Reapers since you're in direct control of them." option.
Not even as an exploratory dialogue that ends in the Catalyst flipping the bird.

I never really wanted them to add or change anything. I'm perfectly content in thinking BioWare dropped the ball with the ending (personally).
But since they ARE adding something...here's hoping I guess.

Honestly you're probably not going to see any true "results" of the ending until the next Mass Effect game. Like if the first Mass Effect ended and there was no sequels then I'm sure people would think that ending was shit because it did leave a lot open. People are just assuming that this is the last Mass Effect game when BioWare stated it's only the last Mass Effect game for Shepard.

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

 

[SS4]

I been gaming since the atari 2600 and seeing ppl complain to game devs like that.... or games like CoD just being the same game under s new skin sold at full price every year being such a huge hit...

The real gamers like me cant help but be baffled by how the gaming industry has become... The new generation of so called gamers is so immature and seemed to have been spoiled too much. A game ending used to be a congratulation screen before and no one complained about it. Gawd some game had no ending and just kept getting harder and all you could do was try to beat your score...

I think the gaming industry has become too mainstream and is suffering from the customer stupidness like any business dealing with the general population has to do...

There are some great game companies and gaming has come a long way and is much better than it used to be. Now bewcause of a bunch of spoiled ppl and lame critics those great companies reputation is affected and that makes me mad.

Time for some ppl to grow up and realise a game is a game, and just like a movie if you don't like it or the ending then understand some ppl do and the world doesnt revolve around you. Just don't buy the damn thing lol.

 

[PolloDiablo]

yeah, give people what they want (as long as it's free )
not that I care about this game or his ending

 

[megabug7]

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

That was branded as fake by Chris Priestly

Thread

A Hanar as a squadmate - I don't think so

 

[Gahars]

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

That was branded as fake by Chris Priestly

Thread

A Hanar as a squadmate - I don't think so

Blasto. That is all.

 

[retKHAAAN]

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

That was branded as fake by Chris Priestly

Thread

A Hanar as a squadmate - I don't think so

Blasto. That is all.

Yeah, they could use the old "action movie hero comes out of retirement to save the real world" plotline.

Being that they...

Spoiler

...end up on a tropical planet

I envision a Tropic Thunder type scenario.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

That was branded as fake by Chris Priestly

Thread

A Hanar as a squadmate - I don't think so

Well I'm just saying whatever the next Mass Effect game will be, it'll probably include a lot of what happened in ME3.

The ending is basically designed for having another game. It has one common thread (the destruction of the Mass Relays) to shape the universe while there's different consequences of your decision which can shape it as well. Think of it like the ending of the first game. No matter what you do or decide, you fight Saren, he dies, and the Reaper (his name is escaping me at the moment) gets blown up. But there's all these other decisions at the end (like choosing Anderson or Udina as the human representative, whether the council lives or dies, etc) that shape parts of the next game.

Mass Effect 3 probably wouldn't get so much flack for its ending if people knew there was a Mass Effect 4 already incoming.

 

[Gahars]

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

That was branded as fake by Chris Priestly

Thread

A Hanar as a squadmate - I don't think so

Blasto. That is all.

Yeah, they could use the old "action movie hero comes out of retirement to save the real world" plotline.

Being that they...

Spoiler

...end up on a tropical planet

I envision a Tropic Thunder type scenario.

If that is the case, can we get Robert Downey Jr. in there somewhere? Maybe as Garrus' long lost, species-confused brother?

"I'm an eezo farmer, motherfucker!"

 

[megabug7]

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

That was branded as fake by Chris Priestly

Thread

A Hanar as a squadmate - I don't think so

Well I'm just saying whatever the next Mass Effect game will be, it'll probably include a lot of what happened in ME3.

The ending is basically designed for having another game. It has one common thread (the destruction of the Mass Relays) to shape the universe while there's different consequences of your decision which can shape it as well. Think of it like the ending of the first game. No matter what you do or decide, you fight Saren, he dies, and the Reaper (his name is escaping me at the moment) gets blown up. But there's all these other decisions at the end (like choosing Anderson or Udina as the human representative, whether the council lives or dies, etc) that shape parts of the next game.

Mass Effect 3 probably wouldn't get so much flack for its ending if people knew there was a Mass Effect 4 already incoming.

The Reaper's name is 'Sovereign'.

Yes, you make sense with reference to the first game, but that is also because we were told that ME2 was in the works, and in ME2 it was even stated in the loading screens to 'import your save files in ME3 - if you survive'. No hints to a Mass Effect 'continuance' was mentioned in ME3 - but that is probably because Shepard's story arc came to an end.

I'm sad that it did end his/her story. He/she (and the majority of the other characters) were central to what shaped Mass Effect IMO.
It's going to be very hard to live up to that in the 'sequel'. I barely got to know James Vega (one of my favorite characters too). it's a shame

As for the ending, it's the unknown that bugs me.
If there was no intention of providing 'closure' in ME3 as was originally intended, then why provide it with the Extended cut if there was going to be a 'follow up' with or without Shepard.

I guess time will tell - but for now I have no idea how BIoware will continue the franchise.

 

[Jehuty25]

So yeah, keep your eyes peeled for Mass Shift.

That was branded as fake by Chris Priestly

Thread

A Hanar as a squadmate - I don't think so

Well I'm just saying whatever the next Mass Effect game will be, it'll probably include a lot of what happened in ME3.

The ending is basically designed for having another game. It has one common thread (the destruction of the Mass Relays) to shape the universe while there's different consequences of your decision which can shape it as well. Think of it like the ending of the first game. No matter what you do or decide, you fight Saren, he dies, and the Reaper (his name is escaping me at the moment) gets blown up. But there's all these other decisions at the end (like choosing Anderson or Udina as the human representative, whether the council lives or dies, etc) that shape parts of the next game.

Mass Effect 3 probably wouldn't get so much flack for its ending if people knew there was a Mass Effect 4 already incoming.

It's getting flak becauce Mass Effect 3 was supposed to be the end of Shepard's story and that was a pretty shitty end for his story. Also, many people believed that the choices they made in the first two games would deeply impact what happened in this ending.

Spoiler

Unless they do some massive time-skip for the next game, all Shepard managed to do was destroy the mass relays and have everyone stranded on Earth with little chance of survival. You can't "win" in Mass Effect 3 because no matter what you do, Shepard kills off a large majority of the galaxy, dies (unless you play MP, which I think is bullshit), and seems to make all of the choices made throughout the game itself meaningless.

 

[Gahars]

@[member='Jehuty25']

Spoiler

Of course you win. What's worse: a few million dying (which was left open for player interpretation) or letting the Reapers eradicate all advanced life (and live to do it again)? Sure, your victory comes at a steep cost, but that's what we call a bittersweet ending.

And yes, your choices tremendously shape the ending of the Mass Effect trilogy... Mass Effect 3. While in a perfect world they all would have been apart of the very, very end, development time and cost has to be considered. The choices players made in the last two games combined form over a thousand variables; the fact that they were incorporated as well as they were throughout the game as a whole is a testament to Bioware's dedication and determination.

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

I never minded the ending, but I welcome any DLC that's free

 

[Jehuty25]

@[member='Jehuty25']

Spoiler

Of course you win. What's worse: a few million dying (which was left open for player interpretation) or letting the Reapers eradicate all advanced life (and live to do it again)? Sure, your victory comes at a steep cost, but that's what we call a bittersweet ending.

And yes, your choices tremendously shape the ending of the Mass Effect trilogy... Mass Effect 3. While in a perfect world they all would have been apart of the very, very end, development time and cost has to be considered. The choices players made in the last two games combined form over a thousand variables; the fact that they were incorporated as well as they were throughout the game as a whole is a testament to Bioware's dedication and determination.

Spoiler

I admit, the choices did matter. But only up until the last 10 or 15 minutes. I would have preferred an ending where the reapers won than what they're currently offering because you're essentially doing their job for them (excluding destroy). Also, considering that Saren wanted to do something similar to synthesis in the first game and The Illusive Man wanted to control them, picking either one at the end just makes shepard out to be a complete hypocrite, thus pointlessness of it all. I didn't pay Bioware/EA for an opportunity to use my imagination or to speculate, I paid for a game that completes the series and provides closure to everyone I was familiar with

 

[Gahars]

@[member='Jehuty25']

Spoiler

Up until the last 10 or 15 minutes... of a 30-40 hour experience (where, as I mentioned before, it would be difficult to integrate the multitude of variables due to time/space constraints). When you put it into a design perspective, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment.

And people keep mentioning that Saren wanted to do something similar to synthesis... but he didn't. Please correct me if I'm remembering this wrong, but his approach was based around appeasing the Reapers so that they would view the species as useful and spare us (which was largely influenced by Sovereign's indoctrination). (Again, if there's more to it that I simply haven't remembered after all this time, go right ahead and let me know.)

Even if that was the case, though, that doesn't make Shepard a hypocrite all of a sudden. He fought against their methods (Saren would have perpetuated the cycle, albeit unknowingly, and TIM was an extremist sabotaging the war effort for his own benefit). In the case of TIM, too, Shepard had no idea that his plan could ever be implemented; with all the information available, it came across as a wild, mad goose chase. None of that means Shepard couldn't agree, on a purely philosophical basis, with those proposals when given the opportunity to implement them him/herself; it is ultimately up to the player to decide what their Shepard would agree with.

Art is supposed to make you think, question, and speculate; if you go into an artistic medium (and gaming is an artistic medium) without expecting at least the possibility of introspective thinking, then you are doing it wrong.