BioWare explains Mass Effect 3's controversial ending

I haven't finished it yet but I get the sense he was going for something like how The Sopranos ended, which left what happened to everyone fairly open ended and largely up to the viewer to decide, which it something I appreciated actually.

I guess I will see how I take to ME3's ending, hopefully by this weekend.
 
when will people realise it a game ffs ! halo 3 had a crappy ending and still i enjoyed it (cause its a GAME) !
 
Isengard said:
I haven't finished it yet but I get the sense he was going for something like how The Sopranos ended, which left what happened to everyone fairly open ended and largely up to the viewer to decide, which it something I appreciated actually.
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The problem is that even with the 'philosophical' angle, the ending still feels like a cop-out. Literally none of your actions or choices across the 100+ hours of time spent playing the series matters in the end. Also, they blatantly lied about that. Check this article from 7 days before release.

We’re literally days away from the epic launch of Mass Effect 3 and anticipation for the game couldn’t be higher. BioWare has assured gamers that this trilogy capper will provide the satisfying conclusion that rounds out the story of Commander Shepard. In order to craft an experience that really delivers on this promise, BioWare has had to fashion numerous different endings that hinge on the choices made by the player over the course of the entire series.

In a recent interview with 360 Magazine, the game’s producer Mike Gamble and discussed how the studio approached the story of ME3.

There are many ways to end Shepard’s story, right? I wouldn’t necessarily say ending Shepard’s story means one thing or the other, like life or death or whatever. It comes to a conclusion and how you get to that conclusion.

There a risks involved in how you get there or how you completely not get there. As in the previous games, you’ll make a decision and you’ll see the outcome and there are huge risks to all of those decisions. It’s not cut and dry.

There are many different endings. We wouldn’t do it any other way. How could you go through all three campaigns playing as your Shepard and then be forced into a bespoke ending that everyone gets? But I can’t say any more than that…
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I'll post a few more choice quotes in the official ME3 thread so as not to clog this thread up with them.

Dohc-WP said:
when will people realise it a game ffs ! halo 3 had a crappy ending and still i enjoyed it (cause its a GAME) !
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I don't think you quite understand why people are angry at the ending. It goes beyond just "I didn't like the ending". Also, when you watch a movie with a bad ending do you also just brush it off and say "it's a MOVIE"?

When people invest more than 100 hours into a universe and its inhabitants, especially a game that focuses so strongly on narrative and story, there's nothing wrong with being angry if it ends badly. Me3 is not Halo 3. Halo 3 is all about the pew pew, ME3 is all about the story and narrative.
 
Basically what Graal said.

The bastards lied. There is a difference between provoking reaction and simply pissing people off. I'm pretty much done with Bioware.
 
Haha. I think people will be doing their best to try and forget that ending.

Why couldn't it just have been a simple lose/barely win/win/etc ending? :(
At least then I'd be able to look fondly back at the series instead of just trying to forget that it ever existed.
 
I'm wondering the same thing. I would have been perfectly happy with a standard 'ride off into the sunset' ending.
 
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