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Mass Effect 3 Broke My Heart and now I want to talk about it (Spoilers!)


Tay

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I've been debating whether or not to post about this here on Fuwanovel... but, as you can see, ultimately I decided I'd give it a try.

Has anybody else played/beaten Mass Effect 3? Anybody willing to talk about it?

I haven't been as invested and heartbroken and amazed and sad in a game (excepting VNs!) as I was in ME3. Not in years. I loved the ending, but tonight as I hopped on to play a bit, I felt the heartbreak all over again.

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Mass Effect is one of my favorite game franchises. I still remember renting and playing the first one when it came out in November of 2007 and completely loving it. I have all three now on my PC. Sadly I lost my saves when I re- installed my operating system so now I have to replay them all again. I am not complaining though. I want to play a Male Shepard to romance Jack but I am also going to play a Fem Shep to either romance Liara or Kaidan.

The ending to the third game bothered me somewhat but I didn't hate it like some people did. It was nice Bioware out out an extended cut that cleared some things up though. Grunt, Wrex, Tali, Joker, and Garrus are my favorite characters from the series. Hard to believe ME3 came out on March 6. Makes me feel old thinking about it.

I really regretted killing Wrex with my Male Shep. When I replay it I am going to make Wrex and Male Shep total space Bros.

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Sadly, I am one of the people who didn't like the ending much, though unlike others it hasn't ruined the franchise for me, its still a great series, just not the absolute best it could potentially have become for me.

Er, I get the feeling I may be coming across as a 'no fun' guy or something here, not trying to do so.

Just came to share my humble opinion, and to say that its awesome that you loved the ending, and that I wish I could do the same~

Out of curiosity, what was your favorite moment in ME3? Mine would have to be

The moment Wrex names his child after Mordin, ALL OF MY FEELS ;___; And also killing Kai Leng, not because I hated him, but because I felt he was a terrible character >> <<

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I loved Mass Effect 3's ending, too. It became even better with the Extended Cut DLC. I always thought the Reapers' motives were a bit muddled, but the DLC resolved that. A happy ending would have been fine, too, but this one we've got is less generic, which I appreciate.

I actually had a Renegade character. Before the final battle, you get to make a speech to your comrades. You can choose either "Comrades..." or "Friends...". After staring at that screen for a long time, I had to oppose my Renegade build and choose "Friends...". Not many games has ever stirred my emotions in such a way.

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Wonderful! I'm glad so many people have played and even enjoyed the ending! EDIT: Note - I got really into ME3. Like, VN-deep. So you'll have to forgive me for the strong emotional reactions : ). I was pretty affected by the depictions of war and my previous close emotional connection to characters.

Since the title of the post says "Spoilers!" I am not going to hide my spoilers! Read on with caution!

As for me... Wow. To me, ME3 is one of the best games to show the horror and madness and pain and sacrifice and sadness that war brings upon everybody involved. I played paragon with a (pretty much) 100% ME2 save import. That said, all of my characters were alive and transferred.

Thane's Death - Thane's death scene made me cry. His prayer for me was... powerful. I spent all the time I could in ME2 getting to know him (I found him to be such a cool, inspiring character), and losing him was really hard on me.

Miranda's Death - I fell in love with Liara in ME1, chose Miranda in ME2, and decided to go with Liara in my first playthrough in ME3. Watching Miranda die (after breaking her heart on Citadel) was hard. It made me teary, sad, and I felt terribly guilty. Isn't that how we all feel when we lose people close to us? We ache through the loss of what might have been and what more we could have done?

The ending - I'm talking about on Earth. Once you're free you can go to an A/V station and talk with all of your old squadmates. My heartstrings were pulled, I realized that I may not see them again, and it started to feel like I was losing friends.

Then, the amazing speech scene -

Before the final battle, you get to make a speech to your comrades. You can choose either "Comrades..." or "Friends...". After staring at that screen for a long time, I had to oppose my Renegade build and choose "Friends...". Not many games has ever stirred my emotions in such a way.

-InvertMouse

I'll just come out and say it: I cried hard through this. My emotions were stirred, and my heart was breaking. We'd seen several really, really good friends die at this point (Thane, Miranda, and more) and I realized: ME3 shows war's brutality. I'm going to lose most if not all of these people...

Saying goodbye to Liara (on Normandy/on Earth)- A slow and agonizing heartbreak until the slow-mo sprint for the citadel portal. At that point I realized I was never coming back to see her. Cried my eyes out. Shot those husks through blurry, blurry eyes. (Insanity mode) I chose Liara because she reminds me of many of the things I love most about my wife, and having to come face-to-face with the pretend situation of losing her was near-unbearable.

The Illusive Man - I played this scene with full paragon and over 7000 war assets, so I know I got the full endings. The ultimate-true-paragon choices lead you to a truly powerful and important point where the Illusive man realizes his own indoctrination, puts the gun to his head, and says, "I tried, Shepard." Boom.

Those lines... especially when we learn from the Catalyst that the Illusive Man was right (but was indoctrinated too early)... were truly fitting for ME3. I don't think any character is as complex as the Illusive Man. I love that Bioware made him both a villain, a hero, tragic, and victorious. He's the ultimate shade of grey, and to learn that he was right all along (though he "sacrificed too much!") further complicates the picture of war ME3 presents.

This conversation made ME3 for me.

The Endings with the Catalyst - Chose synthesis the first time. The fact that it's the "special" third option and only opened with high war assets, suggests it's the "best" and even "canon" ending. I realized that yes, synthesis IS the best ending for the galaxy, but is not the best ending for my personal catharsis or future stories set in the same universe, and so I decided to try the other endings.

The Destruction ending is now my official favorite. A) I've come to decide for myself that this is the ending Shepard would have chosen in character. He came to end the war, to destroy the threat, and to finish the job. There is a huge amount of tragedy in the choice he has to make, but in the end this best encapsulates his reasons for fighting the war. B ) My only nay-say for the ending of ME3 is that I'd have liked a little more catharsis in each of the endings. Shepard lives! was the ending of this choice. That, for me, is the right tone to take when ending a trilogy as expansive, powerful, and sweeping as ME.

Edited by Tay
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Wonderful! I'm glad so many people have played and even enjoyed the ending! EDIT: Note - I got really into ME3. Like, VN-deep. So you'll have to forgive me for the strong emotional reactions : ). I was pretty affected by the depictions of war and my previous close emotional connection to characters.

Since the title of the post says "Spoilers!" I am not going to hide my spoilers! Read on with caution!

As for me... Wow. To me, ME3 is one of the best games to show the horror and madness and pain and sacrifice and sadness that war brings upon everybody involved. I played paragon with a (pretty much) 100% ME2 save import. That said, all of my characters were alive and transferred.

Thane's Death - Thane's death scene made me cry. His prayer for me was... powerful. I spent all the time I could in ME2 getting to know him (I found him to be such a cool, inspiring character), and losing him was really hard on me.

Miranda's Death - I fell in love with Liara in ME1, chose Miranda in ME2, and decided to go with Liara in my first playthrough in ME3. Watching Miranda die (after breaking her heart on Citadel) was hard. It made me teary, sad, and I felt terribly guilty. Isn't that how we all feel when we lose people close to us? We ache through the loss of what might have been and what more we could have done?

The ending - I'm talking about on Earth. Once you're free you can go to an A/V station and talk with all of your old squadmates. My heartstrings were pulled, I realized that I may not see them again, and it started to feel like I was losing friends.

Then, the amazing speech scene -

I'll just come out and say it: I cried hard through this. My emotions were stirred, and my heart was breaking. We'd seen several really, really good friends die at this point (Thane, Miranda, and more) and I realized: ME3 shows war's brutality. I'm going to lose most if not all of these people...

Saying goodbye to Liara (on Normandy/on Earth)- A slow and agonizing heartbreak until the slow-mo sprint for the citadel portal. At that point I realized I was never coming back to see her. Cried my eyes out. Shot those husks through blurry, blurry eyes. (Insanity mode) I chose Liara because she reminds me of many of the things I love most about my wife, and having to come face-to-face with the pretend situation of losing her was near-unbearable.

The Illusive Man - I played this scene with full paragon and over 7000 war assets, so I know I got the full endings. The ultimate-true-paragon choices lead you to a truly powerful and important point where the Illusive man realizes his own indoctrination, puts the gun to his head, and says, "I tried, Shepard." Boom.

Those lines... especially when we learn from the Catalyst that the Illusive Man was right (but was indoctrinated too early)... were truly fitting for ME3. I don't think any character is as complex as the Illusive Man. I love that Bioware made him both a villain, a hero, tragic, and victorious. He's the ultimate shade of grey, and to learn that he was right all along (though he "sacrificed too much!") further complicates the picture of war ME3 presents.

This conversation made ME3 for me.

The Endings with the Catalyst - Chose synthesis the first time. The fact that it's the "special" third option and only opened with high war assets, suggests it's the "best" and even "canon" ending. I realized that yes, synthesis IS the best ending for the galaxy, but is not the best ending for my personal catharsis or future stories set in the same universe, and so I decided to try the other endings.

The Destruction ending is now my official favorite. A) I've come to decide for myself that this is the ending Shepard would have chosen in character. He came to end the war, to destroy the threat, and to finish the job. There is a huge amount of tragedy in the choice he has to make, but in the end this best encapsulates his reasons for fighting the war. B ) My only nay-say for the ending of ME3 is that I'd have liked a little more catharsis in each of the endings. Shepard lives! was the ending of this choice. That, for me, is the right tone to take when ending a trilogy as expansive, powerful, and sweeping as ME.

I know what you mean about the Illusive Man and his ending. It helps that Bioware got the great and veteran actor Martin Sheen to voice him. The only other two actors that I can see doing the Illusive Man justice is either Morgan Freeman or Christopher Lee.

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Hmm, I started with ME2 since I had used a PS3 to play it, but got to know the first ME through a kind of summary, but I gotta say, it's a very long expanding story that I just love. When I heard so many people say the ending was bad or something like that, I got interested to play it and when I did, I liked it immediately. The story was very engaging and the fact that our choices affects the ending makes it even better.

My favourite scene would have to be the ending, any of them. Each of the endings give the series a well deserved epilogue. And though I would have liked them to elaborate some parts, the ending gives me a sense of closure to the whole series and that is why it is my favorite

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Tay, that was a nice insight into your thoughts about Mass Effect. I enjoyed reading it :). Indeed, that talking scene on Earth was so powerful. Of course, I also enjoyed a particular part where Grunt joked about taking over Australia, which happens to be where I live :P.

Saber, I really want to recommend that you play through ME1 first! Having that complete experience is what makes it magical.

Overall, it's just great to see plenty of people here actually enjoyed ME3's ending.

The first time I finished ME1, I actually thought it was just an okay game. Yet, a few weeks later, I find myself replaying it. Only then did I realize I was in love with the world and its characters. I would choose to walk across the Citadel's halls instead of using the transport system, etc. In other words, I wanted that authentic experience, to really put myself in Shepard's perspective. Not many fictional worlds have drawn me in like that.

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