Remembrance day holiday was an opportunity for some long-awaited PC gaming opportunity. Still, as I browsed through my hard drive and consequently saw the Mass Effect folder, I know it's time to uninstall the game.
Before I do that, I fired it up one last time in order to finish writing this post.
My last posting elaborated on the decisions I made in the game, as well as the feelings/justifications behind those decisions.
Indeed, the Mass Effect series has always been marketed as a game which empowers players to make choices in the game, and that those choices shape the development of the storyline in the game, including the ending. That’s what I had in mind when I purchased the 3 games. That’s what I had in mind as I journey through the story, until the ending. I anticipated that such a grand story-telling effort with the countless decisions I have made will lead to something innovative and unforgettable.
In reality, the ending is this - A choice of colors:
That’s it. Pick your ending by walking to the left, right, or center path.
The ending is not innovative, but definitely unforgettable to me. Why? Remember the original promise that series is about choices and consequences? The ending threw all that right out. All the choices I made in the series of 3 games did not really matter. There is no real consequence. The promised wasn’t delivered.
The bad ending is complemented by another bizarre entity – the space brat. It is so bizarre that, according to the game, you wouldn’t understand even if an explanation is available. Huh?! Those who have finished the game will know exactly what I am talking about. As for those who haven’t…
Just beware that he is NOT some random kid.
The ending is a genuine mess. It’s like a long wonderful journey on a train, only to have it ends with the train crashing at the terminus. I am not angry like the hordes on the developer’s (Bioware) online message board, but I am definitely not pleased. The original promise on choices and consequences was not delivered.
Before I continue on, I must note the existence of the extended cut ending with the Citadel expansion (final DLC). In this final DLC, the opportunity to fight alongside Wrex and Grunt in that virtual arena definitely made me smile. Two krogans fighting and headbutting along side of you is one amazing sight. (Geth primes would be even more overwhelming... wishful thinking, I know)
Above all, the gathering at the end of this DLC was bittersweet and served as a closing for the whole journey. This really should have been part of the original game journey/path. Better late than never, I guess.
Nevertheless, all these nice bits still couldn’t make up for the ambiguous, inconclusive, jarring pseudo-ending. Considering the amount of re-used material in the different endings, I should add lazy to that list of descriptors. I strongly suspect that being too revenue-centric (additional paid DLC packs in the future) was the main culprit which pushed everything downhill.
Personally, the ending, and the relevant aftermath online, enlightened me on two very basic building blocks of goodwill.
First is trust. Just as Warren Buffet said, it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. How true. I am sure that, due to this mess, the same fans who will pre-order before beta will now be very skeptical about the quality of future games from EA/Bioware. At least I would be.
Second is respect. I believe it is only natural that fans are a lot more vocal than the general public when it comes to opinions and complaints. After all, these people truly care about the game. Using “sense of entitlement” to dismiss their complaints on expectations not met is simply unacceptable and disrespectful.
While I was researching material to write this article, I came across a page on Forbes. It mentioned a quote that I concur. It’s from Tom Bissell : “Something that can’t be done well is probably not worth doing at all.” I know about the opposite pair: “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” These are wisdom that I will definitely keep in mind at all times, especially in design works.
Needless to say, I am deeply disappointed in how the execution of the ending destroyed all the work and expectations developed through the story-telling and gameplay. While the ending left a bad taste in the mouth, I look forward to playing a new game (preferably from another developer) in the same universe, and in different genres. Personally, I would LOVE to see additional development on the geth.
Oh well, it’s time to uninstall this and move on.
