SPOILERS GALORE AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
What an amazing experience. This is possibly the best storytelling in a game or even movie I've ever experienced. The character development is top notch, the plot itself is outstanding - you get extremely attached to the characters, even more so if, like myself, you've been playing since Mass Effect 1.
That is...until it all comes hurtling down with the endings.
Pros: +voice acting is amazing for nearly all characters +amazing and engrossing plot +most of your decisions from previous games affect events in this game (except the endings...) +music is well placed and the scores themselves, albeit familiar to those who have been playing since Mass Effect 1, are still breathtaking +gameplay is good, shooting mechanics and cover system have been improved +coop multiplayer is actually fun
Cons: -endings -Jessica Chobot and her bad acting -endings -codex is not as fleshed out as previous games -endings -graphics on PC could be much better -endings -random quest bugs and glitches that sometimes make the quests impossible to finish (thankfully these are sidequests) -AND THE GODDAMN ENDINGS!!!
Phew!
So, why are the endings so bad? Note that there are supposedly 16 endings, but in reality, three superficial endings: you either control the Reapers, you destroy all synthetic life, or you create a hybrid so that all life becomes a hybrid of organic and synthetic (i.e. the Geths and the Reapers become biological, organic entities, as well as retaining their synthetic traits and vice versa for all the organic races). All endings are actually the same.
1. Shepard dies in nearly all endings and it is impossible to save him/her without a high war readiness rating; even then it is not a 100% since the cinematic is extremely vague 2. The Normandy randomly escapes our solar system and ends up crash landing on a jungle planet. 3. All the mass effect relays are destroyed, thus ending feasible travel between systems. Even if Shepard survives, some or even all his friends are stuck tens of thousands of light years away! 4. The fate of most of your friends is unknown. Joker survives in all endings. EDI survives if you choose the ending where all life becomes a hybrid of synthetic and organic. 5. Deus Ex Machina. Yes, one of the worst plot devices is used for an ending! Without any forewarning, we're told that the Catalyst that is to be used with the Crucible to destroy the Reapers is actually the construct of those that created the Reapers and out of nowhere, Shepard is given the choice for the fate of the entire galaxy. Without being given the option to challenge the Catalyst. The word of the Catalyst is taken as the word of God - Shepard goes along willingly and resigns himself or herself to the three choices. There is no option to argue with the Catalyst. 6. If you're really invested in your Shepard, you'll probably feel sick for a few hours to a few days after finishing the game. 7. Lack of replayability BECAUSE of this ending. In fact, this affects all the Mass Effect games so the ending makes even them less replayable since you know how it all ends and that it all ends the same. 8. None of your choices matter when they should. It doesn't matter if you saved this race or that race or neither, that you chose to side with this party or chose to fight against them - none of it is of any consequence.
My overall score for the game without the ending: 9.5/10.
My score for the ending: 0/10 (yes, zero!)
My overall score: 5/10
What an amazing experience. This is possibly the best storytelling in a game or even movie I've ever experienced. The character development is top notch, the plot itself is outstanding - you get extremely attached to the characters, even more so if, like myself, you've been playing since Mass Effect 1.
That is...until it all comes hurtling down with the endings.
Pros: +voice acting is amazing for nearly all characters +amazing and engrossing plot +most of your decisions from previous games affect events in this game (except the endings...) +music is well placed and the scores themselves, albeit familiar to those who have been playing since Mass Effect 1, are still breathtaking +gameplay is good, shooting mechanics and cover system have been improved +coop multiplayer is actually fun
Cons: -endings -Jessica Chobot and her bad acting -endings -codex is not as fleshed out as previous games -endings -graphics on PC could be much better -endings -random quest bugs and glitches that sometimes make the quests impossible to finish (thankfully these are sidequests) -AND THE GODDAMN ENDINGS!!!
Phew!
So, why are the endings so bad? Note that there are supposedly 16 endings, but in reality, three superficial endings: you either control the Reapers, you destroy all synthetic life, or you create a hybrid so that all life becomes a hybrid of organic and synthetic (i.e. the Geths and the Reapers become biological, organic entities, as well as retaining their synthetic traits and vice versa for all the organic races). All endings are actually the same.
1. Shepard dies in nearly all endings and it is impossible to save him/her without a high war readiness rating; even then it is not a 100% since the cinematic is extremely vague 2. The Normandy randomly escapes our solar system and ends up crash landing on a jungle planet. 3. All the mass effect relays are destroyed, thus ending feasible travel between systems. Even if Shepard survives, some or even all his friends are stuck tens of thousands of light years away! 4. The fate of most of your friends is unknown. Joker survives in all endings. EDI survives if you choose the ending where all life becomes a hybrid of synthetic and organic. 5. Deus Ex Machina. Yes, one of the worst plot devices is used for an ending! Without any forewarning, we're told that the Catalyst that is to be used with the Crucible to destroy the Reapers is actually the construct of those that created the Reapers and out of nowhere, Shepard is given the choice for the fate of the entire galaxy. Without being given the option to challenge the Catalyst. The word of the Catalyst is taken as the word of God - Shepard goes along willingly and resigns himself or herself to the three choices. There is no option to argue with the Catalyst. 6. If you're really invested in your Shepard, you'll probably feel sick for a few hours to a few days after finishing the game. 7. Lack of replayability BECAUSE of this ending. In fact, this affects all the Mass Effect games so the ending makes even them less replayable since you know how it all ends and that it all ends the same. 8. None of your choices matter when they should. It doesn't matter if you saved this race or that race or neither, that you chose to side with this party or chose to fight against them - none of it is of any consequence.
My overall score for the game without the ending: 9.5/10.
My score for the ending: 0/10 (yes, zero!)
My overall score: 5/10