Mass Effect

[CharlesPhipps]

I think the ending only needed to be edited, not changed.

Just end the game with a fade out on Shepard lying beside Anderson and maybe a voice over saying something like, "The Reapers are blowing up!"

It would have been touching, sad, and still worked.

Possibly, though I would rather that be one of the endings instead of the only one because that still ties into the biggest problem of ME3, if you're going to die no matter what then what is the point of any of this? If Shepard is doomed to die then why fight to keep him/her alive in ME2, why promise your love interest that you want to grow old with them and join them on their home world? I'm not against Shepard dying but I would rather that be a result of your choices, mistakes and successes, be the reason you die instead of it just being the only option based on things you have no control over.

Well, while Shepard living is important...isn't the point saving the universe from genocide?

[Winter]

Well, while Shepard living is important...isn't the point saving the universe from genocide?

Well, if the Warden could find a way to stop the Blight without dying doesn't it stand to reason that Shepard could find a way to beat the Reapers without having to sacrifice themselves? Again, it all comes down to the subject of the players choice and killing off Shepard with no way of surviving no matter what you do is ignoring the players choices. I'm not saying that Shepard needs to survive for the ending to be good as that's the same problem with the original ending but I would like the option to be able to live based on my own choices.

[Independent George]

I've got no problem with Shepherd dying at the end. It's everything leading up to it that's the problem.

ETA: What I mean to say is that Shepherd dying is a perfectly acceptable, even expected, outcome for facing a race of techno-eldritch abominations like the Reapers. I don't have a problem with a pre-ordained death, either; player choices would still matter if they affected the outcomes for all of the people and races Shep encountered throughout the trilogy. The hero charging headlong into certain death to save his loved ones is one of the oldest tropes in history for a reason, and it would work very well here.

The issue comes the numerous problems enunciated throughout this thread. I disagree with a lot of those points, and some are unsurprisingly contradictory, but ultimately, the ME3 ending was deeply unsatisfying on an emotional and narrative level. Citadel was absolutely brilliant in that it ended on the emotional note we really needed in the main game, but the lack of cohesion in the plot can't be fixed by a DLC.

[CharlesPhipps]

While I agree, I do note that no win situations are a thing.

Shepard: I don't believe in a no win situation!

[Independent George]

The solution is obvious.

EA needs to hire Brandon Sanderson to write ME4 and end the series.

[Karha of Honor]

The solution is obvious.

EA needs to hire Brandon Sanderson to write ME4 and end the series.

I liked Alexander Freed's Imperial Agent story. I would love to see him do something in Mass Effect.

[PerrySimm]

So at the end of last year I posted a 8 part fan fix called Rewriting Mass Effect 3

...

https://www.deviantart.com/journals/?q= ... Masquerade

Based on the way ME2 ended, they absolutely needed a replacement character for ME3. Shepard dies, so they are replaced by... Shepard?

I'm just not sure another generic human was the way to go. Narratively, you would pick one or more of the squadmates to lead. Nearly all of them have merit, but I think Liara or Wrex would be the most interesting as the Player Character.

[Riedquat]

The main problem with Shepard dying (from a plot perspective) is that it's so contrived. In a much smaller situation someone having to die so the rest can live makes sense ("I'll hold them off whilst you escape!"), on this scale it justly attracted the Space Jesus accusation. It could only be stuck in there at all thanks to the instant win button, which is even more contrived.

[PerrySimm]

As Shepard canonically dies at least once, possibly three times, perhaps more precision is needed when talking about which death.

ME2 in general makes about as much sense as a game can make with its protagonist dying possibly both at the start and the end.

As for ME3, certainly there's an appeal to finish the end of a trilogy with the hero making the noblest sacrifice, but ME1 set up a theme of having to live with the guilt of life and death decisions.

[Fixer]

I had always thought that player choice or the outcomes of game actions should have played a role.

It would have had a lot more impact if for example, Shepard could sacrifice himself to destroy the Reaper threat permanently. Or alternatively he survives and helps rebuild the galaxy after the war is over.

Either way works and like the original pitch for how the series was meant to unfold. The player gets to shape their own personal story.