Mass Effect 3 (SPOILERS!)

[Felon]

The problem I have with people complaining about this is that there are SO many plausible scenarios in which this could easily be explained.

But fret not, it has been officially stated that these holes shall be filled and so nobody will have to use their imaginations to fill them:

It's not a failure of imagination. It's simply not very plausible given the circumstances and time frame that the characters on earth would have the opportunity to rendezvous with the Normandy, which is supposedly supporting the space battle.

Although given the number of inconsistencies with the ending, that one's pretty minor. Go get the "perfect" ending and you'll see quite a jarring one.

 

[Kzach]

Go get the "perfect" ending and you'll see quite a jarring one.

I have and I still wasn't 'jarred'.

 

[Phaezen]

Moridin died ensuring the Genophage Cure would work. Probably the most meaningful computer game character death I had so far. I really liked Moridin and I wouldn't have minded him studying sea shells instead. But then, it had to be him, right?

For me it's a toss up between Moridin sacrificing himself to save the Krogan and Legion sacrificing himself to save the Geth from the reaper influence. But I think Legion edges it as his sacrifice is made at the moment he achieves true independent personality.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

For me it's a toss up between Moridin sacrificing himself to save the Krogan and Legion sacrificing himself to save the Geth from the reaper influence. But I think Legion edges it as his sacrifice is made at the moment he achieves true independent personality.

Interesting perspective - but I loved Moridin more! He was probably my favorite character from ME2 (and the entire game). He was kinda... unexpected - and that made him awesome.

 

[Kzach]

For me it's a toss up between Moridin sacrificing himself to save the Krogan and Legion sacrificing himself to save the Geth from the reaper influence. But I think Legion edges it as his sacrifice is made at the moment he achieves true independent personality.

Mordin's moment was also the most powerful for me as well but Legion's sacrifice... just didn't click. It just seemed meaningless and contrived. He had to sacrifice himself because... umm... what was it again? Something about non-conformity in a collective? But wait, wasn't that what the entire purpose of giving them the Reaper-tech upgrade in the first place? Now THERE is a plot-hole.

The second-most powerful moment, for me and in terms of other character's stories, was Grunt surviving the Rachni encounter. I was like, "Noooooooooo! Another one bites the dust! Arrrggh!" And then he comes out of the tunnel covered from head to toe in Rachni ichor

Now that was one of my personal disappointments, ie. that the entire Rachni decision-chain came to mean absolutely nothing. They weren't in the final battle, other than as a 'war asset', and it didn't matter whether you let the Queen live in ME1 or not, as there is a 'new' Queen if you didn't. Now THAT made me feel let down. I've been waiting for three damn games to see how that played out and got... next to nothing in return. No Rachni ships, no sweet, purple notes to counter the sour yellow ones, nothing.

And no little blue daughters, either. MAJOR disappointment there

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

And no little blue daughters, either. MAJOR disappointment there

You obviously didn't try hard enough.

 

[GSHamster]

The second-most powerful moment, for me and in terms of other character's stories, was Grunt surviving the Rachni encounter. I was like, "Noooooooooo! Another one bites the dust! Arrrggh!" And then he comes out of the tunnel covered from head to toe in Rachni ichor

I liked this too. Apparently he does die if you haven't done everything with him in ME2, though.

Now that was one of my personal disappointments, ie. that the entire Rachni decision-chain came to mean absolutely nothing. They weren't in the final battle, other than as a 'war asset', and it didn't matter whether you let the Queen live in ME1 or not, as there is a 'new' Queen if you didn't. Now THAT made me feel let down. I've been waiting for three damn games to see how that played out and got... next to nothing in return. No Rachni ships, no sweet, purple notes to counter the sour yellow ones, nothing.

If you killed the Rachni in ME1, the Rachni Queen is a clone in ME3, and she eventually betrays you and goes back to the Reapers. Though I think this is mostly a matter of losing those War Assets.

So the decision chain does matter, but it's very hard to see that it matters, if that makes sense.

 

[Felon]

I have and I still wasn't 'jarred'.

Well, the one I'm talking about has a few extra seconds at the end where Shepard is shown alive, and he takes a breath. Since the Citadel is quite clearly shown to be obliterated during the cutscene, I think most reasonable folks would find that to be a little jarring. But, suit yourself.

If you killed the Rachni in ME1, the Rachni Queen is a clone in ME3, and she eventually betrays you and goes back to the Reapers. Though I think this is mostly a matter of losing those War Assets.

So the decision chain does matter, but it's very hard to see that it matters, if that makes sense.

The problem is that the war asset points ultimately don't make much of an impact. If you didn't play MP, you had no hope of getting better than "even" odds regardless of how many assets you piled up. But if you played MP for a few hours, you got 100% readiness and could get the best odds even if you missed lots of assets.

And the variations in endings seem to be quite slight. As I said above, the best getting gets you a sigh.

 

[Felon]

I liked this too. Apparently he does die if you haven't done everything with him in ME2, though.

As with Wrexe, Mordin, Legion, Jacob, the Rachni queen, and so forth, you get a placeholder NPC if the primary character perished at some point. I don't think the placeholder Grunt fares as well as the original (nor should he).

For me it's a toss up between Moridin sacrificing himself to save the Krogan and Legion sacrificing himself to save the Geth from the reaper influence. But I think Legion edges it as his sacrifice is made at the moment he achieves true independent personality.

I agree with Kzach that Legion's sacrifice seems contrived.

OTOH, poor unlamented Thane. This guy was a real badass, but somehow he really never got much fanfare.

Probably the most disappinting aspect of the game was not getting the squad I wanted. No Wrex, no Legion, no Thane, no Mordin. Nor was there any new breakout character, like an Elcor with those shoulder-mounted weapons. Or maybe a Vorcha or Bataarian.

 

[Kzach]

OTOH, poor unlamented Thane. This guy was a real badass, but somehow he really never got much fanfare.

I was actually a bit pissed off at Thane. When you first meet him, he essentially says he's useless and won't join you even though he's dying. The Normandy could offer him every medical convenience that the hospital could but his knowledge of tactics and general experience and intelligence could be a great asset on-board instead of rotting away in a hospital.

But his ending was almost as good as Mordin's. By the time I'd done Udina's betrayal, I was already feeling rather 'desperate' and forlorn, so Thane's loss and his prayer had a meaningful impact.

I just liked Mordin better. And... well... seashells... man, that makes me tear up even now