For the past week or so, I’ve had almost to ignore the internet. Since about the day after Mass Effect 3 was released, all I kept hearing was the controversy over how “Bad” the ending was. Having not beaten the game myself, I didn’t want anything ruined for me. Mass Effect is a series that has grown close to my heart, and seeing the ending for myself –spoiler free– was something I couldn’t wait to accomplish.
Tonight, after 45 hours of gameplay and completing every single quest and side quest in the game, as well as achieving 100% Galactic Readiness, I finished the story. For me (and to quote my Twitter comment), the ending was a bittersweet ending to an epic storyline, which, as far as gaming goes, ranks in my top 5 easily. Bioware has successfully crafted one of the most spectacular stories in recent history and should be praised for its accomplishment.
Instead, all I’ve been reading online are whiners, naysayers, and trolls who didn’t get the ending they wanted and now think they have the right to DEMAND a new ending. Hopefully, Bioware is smart enough to see past the “unsilent minority” and keep the integrity of Mass Effect intact. After all, it is BIOWARE’S story to tell. They wrote and made possible all three entries into the Mass Effect series. That gives them the right to make any creative choices that they choose. The ending to the game was sad and even unexpected at parts, but it was not “bad”, far from it.
Demanding that Bioware create a new ending (with all of the writing, coding, voice-over work, and production that goes with it), is nothing short of childish.
If your favorite author decided on an ending to their newest book that you did not like, would you demand that the book be rewritten to suit your needs? NO.
If a movie you had been waiting to see for a long time ended in a way that you didn’t feel fit the film correctly, would you demand that the ending be refilmed? NO!
So what gives these jilted gamers the idea that since they don’t like the fact that Mass Effect didn’t end the way they envision, they can demand a new ending to the trilogy?
It really speaks a lot of where our society is heading when people feel so entitled that they can demand whatever they want and get it. I hope that Bioware keeps its integrity on this issue and doesn’t change a thing. And to those that still feel the need to huff and puff:
*SPOILER ALERT*
Shepard dies to save everyone. That’s it. You need to stop raging and come to terms with how the writers over at Bioware decided to tell their stories, as happens a multitude of times over the years in different works of art, the protagonist that we’ve grown to love sacrifices himself (or herself) for the livelihood of everyone that he (or she) has sworn to protect. The ending was extremely heart-wrenching. We’ve lost a character we’ve grown to love, and I still feel sad about that.
To me, that makes the story that much more grandiose. My Shepard did exactly what was necessary to save the galaxy, just as Shepard would have. There are no surprises there for me. I know that I would have loved to see Shepard and Liara’s babies running around after the final battle, with them living happily ever after on a beach somewhere.
But in real life, that doesn’t happen. War is gruesome and doesn’t always end on a high note for everyone. It’s that realism that I feel that Bioware was really able to portray in the ending sequences of ME3. And honestly, looking back at the trilogy as a whole, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m not saying it’s ok to dislike the way it ends because everyone is entitled to their opinion but to say that the ending is “bad and needs to be rewritten” is nothing short of poor taste and lack of maturity.
My hat’s off to Bioware and friends for putting together one of the best series of the past decade and yes, ending it in an amazingly epic and graceful way.
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