Just over two weeks ago, Bioware released Mass Effect 3 extended cuts in late June, a free DLC for Mass Effect 3 in reaction to all the hate and flak that they got for the game’s terrible ending.
It wasn’t even on my radar to replay the last missions and see the new extended cuts, given that a ton of new games came out (Civilization5: Gods and Kings, and Endless Space) that I haven’t even had time to play that much or review them.
I thought I was finished with the game in March, which left a bitter taste in my mouth on the game’s endings.
But a fellow gaming buddy highly suggested I go back and try Mass Effect 3’s Extended Cut out. “It’ll change the way you see the game,” he said.
I’m glad I did.
Thank you Bioware. Thank you for listening to your fans and coming up with the Extended Cuts that adds resolution and closure to the ending of this sublime series.
Note: The rest of this post has massive spoilers. If you haven’t completed the new endings, and want to see them unspoiled, stop reading and go replay the last part of Mass Effect 3.
Endings with closure
Sure, the Starchild portion of the ending still smacks of Deus Ex Machina, and the eventual endings do not change from the previous one.
However, with more dialogue and backstory, you get to understand and explore the motivations behind what the individual endings — destroy, control or synthesize — mean. There is even a fourth ending if you prefer to reject the choices given to you and go on your own terms.
This is what makes all the difference, where you have four separate actual endings rather than spray-painted palette-shifted clones in the original ending, where the end result was more or less similar.
Here, the concept of choice takes on immense importance as the consequences of each choice is fully explained with cinematics and cutscenes. I love it.
We also get closure with respect to all the characters we have grown to love over the series. Where are they when the Reaper threat is ended, and what are they doing? Do you get to see Jack talking to her students or paying respects at a graveyard? See Wrex have a a baby with his wife?
One of the final closing scenes, where the crew paid their respects to Shepard on Normandy’s memorial wall, was brilliant: It was heartbreaking, beautiful and bittersweet. It is storytelling at it’s finest, and I teared up.
We finally also get closure to some of the important loopholes in the original ending: How come Liara, whom was with you in the final assault ended up on the Normandy? Why did Joker leave the Sol system with the Normandy? All of this is answered.
Sure there are still tons of loopholes, but the game finally has closure and resolution, which is far more than I can say of the original endings.
Thank you fans for making your voice loud and clear on blogs, forums, and message boards, and getting Bioware to recognize that its original rushed endings suck.
And thank you Bioware for listening to your fans, and for releasing this DLC. You have won me back that you care about the games as much as your bottom line.
For more, do take a look at Angry Joe’s Extended Cut analysis:
Sure, the Starchild is a classic deus ex machina plot device that does suck. I agree with that.
Players feel cheated — who is this fucker who didn’t appear at all in the game (except in the last 10minutes) now telling me to choose three things that will decide the fate of the universe.
The reason given by the starchild is also pretty trite: Reapers exist to prevent war between organics and synthetics, and they do this by harvesting advanced civilizations. Pretty crap.
But one way to read it is that it the catalyst is an AI who decided their “solution” was to reap the universe, including their creators. I did enjoy the backstory and warped reasoning of the Starchild, which I like to think of as an AI god gone insane.
Yup, lots of plot holes still exist. How does synthesis work? You mean if there’s understanding between organics and synthetics there is no war or conflict (my heart leans towards no, because we’re still individuals).
Anyway, I think Bioware shot themselves in the foot by releasing a rushed series of ending that could have been better and made more sense in the mass effect universe. In the extended cut they made a decision to expand on this, not retcon the original.
In this sense, i think it’s fair to say the new endings have done a pretty fair job, given the constraints Bioware have boxed themselves in.
The ending is still stupid behind all reason. Like apparently the key to world peace is making everyone’s’ eyes green, oh yeah. I am sure World War 2 wouldn’t have happened if everyone had green eyes. Green eyes is the key to world peace and complete understanding of all life everywhere regardless of race.
Speaking of which how is that peace between the Geth and Quarians?
Yeah the star child’s logic makes perfect sense…until you immediately start to think about it.
The bar set by the ending is so low that the devil is playing how low can you go in his private torture chamber, so saying that the cut is an improvement isn’t saying much. The bar is still in hell.
Ending better but far from good, the sour taste in my mouth remains.
ending still suck, so it will be collecting dust in the box and never be taken out to play again.
The ending sucked balls while working the shaft and fingering dogs coinpurse
Like the ending did
Go suck dogs balls