Mass Effect 3 Endings, Now With New HAT!

I tried to play through the DLC and see the endings for myself, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Posted this earlier on Facebook:

I really have almost no desire to finish ME3 with the new DLC. I do want to at some point, but i'm just not really itching to do so. Back when I played through the game the first time, I played the shit out of it, doing everything I could, doing my best to power through difficult sections in order to see how the awesome trilogy (using my knowledge of the games at that time) would come to a conclusion.


I guess that just goes to show how much I loathed the original ending. It sapped most of my desire to want to play the game ever again. I went into the DLC not expecting something revolutionary or amazing, but with an open mind. Ever since it's release, i've heard nothing but bad things about it, and that pretty much killed my desire. What's the point if i'm just going to get disappointed again?


Ever since then i've been thinking about whether or not I would actually play through it all again, or bite the bullet and just watch the endings online. A friend of mine posted a link to a lengthy documentary talking about the Indoctrination Theory, which basically served as a refresher for me. Back after beating the game, I read a bunch of stuff online, and when the IT began to form, it made a lot of sense when I went back and thought about it. After reading up on it, I pretty much made it the theory I went with, as it gave me a relatively satisfying ending, although it did leave a lot of unanswered questions. What happens now that the Mass Effect relays are destroyed? Will there still be travel between planets? Why did Joker fly the Normandy away from Earth after he pretty much swore he'd never leave? That's just a few of the questions that never really got an answer.

After watching the IT documentary (the one I posted above), I decided to just go for it and watch the ending. It had been so long since I beat the game and stopped thinking about it, I wasn't exactly sure which one I watched in my original playthrough. Luckily the documentary reminded me about what I was most likely thinking during that time (before I knew about the IT itself), about how the whole point of that final mission was to go up to the Citadel and destroy the Reapers. That's what I came to do, so that's what I was going to do, no matter what that starkid fucker had to say. So, with that knowledge in mind, I watched that ending once again.

As I was watching it, I could pick out the scenes I hadn't seen before, so it wasn't a total "was that what happened?" moment. I noticed that they added a scene on the Normandy, with Hackett talking about (I forget the exact quote) how everyone should evacuate the area and whatnot. The other crew in the cockpit convinced Joker to fly away, so that they wouldn't be destroyed in the explosion (which at least answered one of my above questions). There were also scenes that may have been in the original ending (that I may have forgotten, but I have no idea), where the Asari and Krogan troops celebrated the destruction of the Reapers. There are a few other scenes that were added, but I don't really have to recall each one, since the videos are readily available on Youtube.

Basically, after watching watching the same ending I watched before with the new "extended scenes," I felt slightly more comfortable with the ending, but it still didn't answer all my questions. I know since this DLC has been released, there was talk about future DLC being released, but it's still not known if that will be post-ending or not. All in all, the ending is slightly better, but I still don't think it's what the end of a major trilogy like this one needed. It also didn't really disprove or approve the Indoctrination Theory either, which would have been nice. Maybe it was Bioware's intention all along to leave the ending open to interpretation, I dunno. But I was thinking that this DLC would be a bit more final, so in that way it's a disappointment. There's still a lot of stuff unanswered, which i'm sure will remain that way until more (most likely paid) DLC is released, or if a new game in the series is released. I'm still disappointed overall, but I feel like it's a minor step in the right direction, as the same person that made the above documentary put it in a video he released a day or so ago regarding the actual DLC itself put it: "it's still shit, but it's shit with sprinkles now!

I'll probablty watch the other endings tomorrow, maybe that'll change things once again, but I highly doubt it.

E3 Thoughts

Conferences

Microsoft: D-

Way too much time spent on sports games, and additional functionality (not Netflix necessarily, but stuff like that, that isn't game related). I understand WHY they spent so much time on it, but for me personally, I just didn't care. Nothing against Usher, I think he's definitely talented, and they needed a "star," mainly because that's the norm these days, but I cringed when I saw him burst out onto the stage and break out into a song and dance routine. Starting off the conference with Halo 4 was a brilliant move, one I honestly didn't expect, although I feel stupid for not expecting it now. I mean, I knew it would be shown, just not first. I fully expected them to start with Black Ops II.

Other than Halo 4, there really wasn't any exclusive stuff that I cared about. They showed ACIII, which is awesome, but not Microsoft exclusive. The same goes with Splinter Cell, and Black Ops II (which I completely don't give a fuck about). Overall, not a whole lot to get excited about that made me want to boot up my 360 more than any other system. Oh, and the whole SmartGlass thing, while interesting in a way, I also didn't really care a whole lot about. I highly doubt i'd ever use it. But they're bringing Internet Explorer to 360, you guys! YAY! -_-

EA: C-

Starting off with Dead Space 3 (loved the hell out of DS2, so any footage about 3 had me at hello) was a wonderful touch, although like most other people i've heard talk about it, i'm worried it'll be too action-y, any not scary enough. Sports stuff, like I said in the MS part, don't fucking care. The new Need For Speed looks absolutely incredible, and its made by Criterion, the Burnout guys. I love the Burnout series, and this looks to be Need For Speed: Burnout Edition, which is perfectly fine by me. The Medal Of Honor stuff was meh, i'm fucking tired of gritty modern day first person shooters. The only one I still give a shit about is Battlefield 3. Speaking of, fuck Battlefield Premium.

Ubisoft: C+

Flo Rida starting off a conference doesn't really resonate with me. I like a few of his songs, but it was about the dancing genre, which i'm not a huge fan of. Poor Aisha Tyler, I know she wants to be there, because I know she loves games, but you could totally tell she wanted to beat the shit out of Tobiscuit or whatever the fuck his name was every time he opened his mouth. Can't say that I blame her either, that guy can go fuck himself. The Avengers game could be interesting if it's modeled somewhat after the Marvel Ultimate Alliance/X-Men Legends stuff, I liked those games well enough to want to play another. Far Cry 3 looks alright, although the co-op multiplayer thing they showed looked absolutely terrible. Didn't see much of the ZombiU stuff until Nintendo's conference, so I'll save that for it.

More AC3 stuff, which was awesome. The Watch_Dogs stuff looked (visually speaking) pretty damned incredible. I hear it was running on a pretty high-end PC, so that could be part of it. I originally thought it could be a next-gen game, but their website lists it as coming out on current consoles, so there's that. As for the game itself, I wasn't 100% sure what was supposed to be happening, mainly because the talk before the actual demo stuff started nearly put me to sleep, but the idea behind what was going on sounds pretty cool.

Sony: C

It's sad to me, to think that Sony had the most new IPs out of the whole show. Granted, they really only had two (Beyond and The Last Of Us), but that's more than everyone else. I was a big fan of Heavy Rain, so to see what those guys have been up to since was awesome. Didn't really see a whole lot of gameplay, but what they showed was pretty fantastic. The visuals in that game, especially in the faces, were outstanding. Ellen Page's character even gave that signature smirk, which was an awesome touch. The PS All Stars stuff didn't look all that fantastic, i'd much rather play Smash Bros over it any day. Plus, when I think of the Big Daddies from Bioshock, I don't think Playstation. It'll be interesting for sure, but it's not on my list of things to buy. The PS+ stuff was alright, but nothing i'm interested in. Even more ACIII, this time BOAT COMBAT. I love how the enemy ships took one shot (relatively speaking, I know there were a lot of cannonballs flying at once) to burst into explosions and sink, but the player's boat barely took any damage. VIDEOGAAAAAAAMES. Also, the weather effects were absolutely amazing. Beautiful, sunny day one second; Dark, cloudy, stormy weather the next.

God of War, more like God Of BORE. I know, lame fucking joke, but my god...how much more of Kratos slicing and dicing do we need? I never got into this series of games, mainly because other cames (*cough*devilmaycry*cough*) have done it way better. Outside of the ultra violence, it doesn't have anything for me. Plus, that demo went on too long. And speaking of demos going on way too long, Wonderbook. Fuck everything about that demo. It brought shit to a CRAWL, and I was just sitting there waiting for it to be over. It took that one lady what, 5 times before the thing picked up wtf she was doing? Ending the show with The Last Of Us was absolutely brilliant. Fuck, does that game look amazing. I am a huge fan of the Uncharted series, and I know Naughty Dog can put out amazing games, I am so ready for this. As soon as the guy's female companion chucked a brick at that one guys head, I was in love.

Nintendo: F+

They really needed to show what the WiiU is capable of, but they just didn't, at least not any better than they did last year. Other than Pikmin 3, there really weren't any surprises. Even Pikmin 3 wasn't a surprise, when I think about it. Everyone knew a new New Super Mario Bros was coming out. I was so ready for Nintendo to show me something that would make me want to pick up a WiiU sooner rather than later, but it just didn't happen. I'm interested in the system, but I feel no need to rush out and pick one up when they come out. Nothing really about 3DS, at least nothing worth mentioning, since they're holding that stuff off for a later date, for whatever fucking reason. I was just bored the whole way through. I'm glad multi-platform stuff will be easier to port over to the new system, but again it's not a system selling thing. The Nintendoland stuff wasn't really all that interesting either, it was basically better versions of some of the tech demo stuff they showed last year.

And fuck, what a horrible way to end the show. Virtual fireworks? Really? Where was the "oh, and there's one more thing" moment? Where was anything other than New SMBU? Where was Metroid? Zelda? Star Fox? Donkey Kong? Smash Bros? What's Retro up to? C'mon Nintendo, I WANT to like your stuff, just give me a reason to.

Best Moments

Anything involving Assassin's Creed III. I want that game, and I want it now. As for moments from the conferences, I don't know. My least favorite though, was Wonderbook. That was a lame idea (even if I had kids, i'd still think it's lame), and the demo they gave straight up didn't work. Oh, my favorite moment (non game related) was the South Park guys (I think it was Matt, specifically) making a joke at Microsoft's expense, at their own conference. I lol'd.

Must Buys

Assassin's Creed III - It's already pre-ordered.
The Last Of Us - Naughty Dog makes it. Enough said.
Need For Speed: Most Wanted - Made by the Burnout guys, I can't pass this up.
Halo 4 - I'm ready for more Halo, and the new enemy/weapon types looked pretty cool.
Dead Space 3 - Love, love, LOVE Dead Space 2, and I am so ready for more.

Potential Buys

Watch_Dogs - Interesting premise, i'm interested in seeing what comes next.
Beyond: Two Souls - I am super interested, but depending on what they show in the next few months, that could wane.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - It's Metal Gear meets Devil May Cry. Sounds good to me, if Platinum doesn't fuck it up.
Tomb Raider - Looks like their take on Uncharted (which I know is basically looping around to where the genre started), which i'm all for.
Resident Evil 6 - It's a new Resident Evil, it'll be hard to pass this up.
DmC - Wasn't shown at a conference, but I saw the new trailer, and i'm in. I wasn't at first, but the more I see about it, the more i'm ready for it.

Final Thought: I posted this on Facebook a little while ago, thought i'd share it here. In past E3s, there were so many awesome games. I would go to the nearby EB/Gamestop the weekend after E3 with a list at least 10 games long to pre-order on the spot. This year, that's definitely not happening. I'll still pre-order stuff, but nowhere near that magnitude. Nothing really grabbed me, and got me super excited. Nothing was revealed that truly shocked me