Did They Fix It?: Mass Effect 3’s New Endings

A few months ago, I was eagerly awaiting the release of Mass Effect 3 like many others.  Once I finally got my hands on it, I then spent the next few days playing it like it was my job ignoring important things like friends, schoolwork, and any form of healthy living.  Throughout my time playing it, I thought to myself “This is one of the greatest games I have ever played.”  And days later, after hours of struggle and work, I was ready to see how this great trilogy would end.  That’s when I saw the original ending for the first time and to be honest, I actually didn’t mind it too much.  I’m serious.  I didn’t like the ending per se and thought it could use some work but I didn’t feel outrage or bile like some fans did.  Even after listening to the complaints and opinions over the ending, I felt like the ending wasn’t as bad as everyone thought.  I was still excited to hear that Bioware was listening to its fans and “fixing” the ending.  I was interested to see how they would try to fill in the plot holes and make the ending actually make sense.  But did they succeed?  Oh, for readers who haven’t finished Mass Effect 3 yet, beware!  After this part there be spoilers!

One major complaint about the ending was the perceived lack of choice.  Bioware claimed that when the player got to the end, all their actions would affect the ending and there wouldn’t be some A,B,C choice ending.  The new DLC, well, now it’s A,B,C,D choice.  You still have the same three choices the “god-child” gives you, destroy the Reapers and all synthetic life, enslave the Reapers, or combine organic and synthetic life across the galaxy.  You still have those options, but with the added ending of being able to reject all three.  This results in the galaxy losing the fight and the Reapers continuing the cycle of destruction.  However it is implied that due to the actions of Shepherd and Liara that the next cycle is able to survive.  I didn’t like this ending to be honest.  But then again, I played Paragon.  If you’re Renegade player, this is your option.

The other major changes in the DLC are the plot hole fixes.  This I really liked.  Rather than just the Normandy crash and energy beams, each choice gets a new ending.  Kind of.  Basically, they do an epilogue showing the consequences of your choice and how the galaxy rebuilds and remembers Shepherd.  These are actually brilliant.  They show that Shepherd’s choice is like a heroic sacrifice, he gives his life so the rest of the galaxy can survive and the epilogues show that not only does the galaxy survive, but thrives.  All thanks to the player.  These scenes are heart-warming and very well done.  No real plot holes and everything gets wrapped up pretty nicely.

Overall, I enjoyed the new endings.  They fixed most of what was broken and added some nice touches.  If you stick to the extended endings, the series ends on a hopeful note rather than the mindscrew that it was previously.  Would I like to see a happier ending?  Yes, but not every story gets a happy ending for its lead.  But depending on how you played Shepherd, this is a happy ending to a great franchise.

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