Okay, I love multiple ending options, I find them cool, but they really made them.... cheaply. And I'm saying this having seen the extended cut!
I just played this really great game, had a blast, was invested heavily in Shepard and the rest, and the ending lasted maybe 10 minutes with only one person speaking the whole time, some weird crash-land on a planet, only brief glimpses of those who've been in your crew throughout the series and only brief glimpses of those who were in you crew
this whole game. Not counting the few obvious differences of the endings, that stuff was the same.
(Except for the fourth ending of course, that one was disastrous
)
My main complaints are the reused scenes through the three major endings, and the lack of properly showing you what the survivors are really doing. Don't give me a picture of them, don't give me just them gazing on some fucking weird planet for no reason, or standing in front of a memorial not saying anything. Show me a bit more depth! I played 80+ hours on this game and I think after making a really fantastic game you guys could've made a really fantastic ending!
*sigh*
Well obviously the extended cut is the best they gave the fans for that 'ending'. I really feel that the Citadel DLC is more a proper ending than the game.
Anyhow, I have a lot of complaints with it, as you can see. Just totally didn't do the series justice.
But anyways I'll now mention the four endings and which I liked and disliked (as a side note, multiple endings could've also made them cheapen things; instead of working on one strong ending they split it into multiple cheap endings... then again they reused all the scenes for the originals so never mind
)
So funny thing, I wasn't very clear on how to do each ending at first. So I ended up choosing Synthesis even though I had in mind to choose Destroy first. This is easily explained by me being partially distracted for the ending, as I was giving Joe live message updates on it because it was fun.
So I didn't pay as much attention as I should and walked straight to Synthesis.
So, Sythesis - It really turned out to be... I guess... a happy ending? Shepard dies to fuse ever life form and seems like it makes everything peaceful. Looks like people are still who they used to be. From a story perspective it was a cool unique ending, one reason why I really liked it. Fusing organic and synthetic life together (even down to the plants!) was a fun concept. On the other hand, I have some misgivings about being one person to decide the lives of everyone in the entire galaxy, but that goes for every ending I suppose.
Also, fusing all life together is a weird option. It's basically agreeing with the machines/Catalyst that the two types will forever be at war, which seems to always be caused by Synthetics, which of course as we know isn't true, as the Geth only ever attacked in self-defense (not counting them controlled by Reapers). Fusing the two types seems like it has some good things and bad things. You just took away the unique individuality of both types, forever. Also it's really unclear how that affects things on personal scales. I think Bioware makes an effort into making it a really good ending by showing everyone working together.
All in all I like the ending, but don't find it perfect/not quite what I wanted.
Next, Destroy - I wanted to choose this first because it felt like the natural choice. We've been fighting the Reapers in ever game, the whole goal has been to get rid of them and stop the cycle. I wanted to complete that goal in the game. Unfortunately it has the nasty side affect of destroying all Synthetic life that currently exists.
So there goes EDI and the Geth race, which I just went through lengths to keep them and the Quarians both alive
and to ensure the Geth attained true individuality through Legion's efforts. Not my ideal option with that tacked on.
But the perks to this one is, of course, destroying the Reapers and stopping the cycle, saving most of the galaxy, and it seems Shepard survives the events, the only ending to do so (though of course there's no follow up).
Next, Control - Wasn't a fan of this ending, it seems to be portrayed a bit ominously imo
Shepard dies but her thoughts and memories live on. Well, that seems nice, but now she's talking about how the other her died and that she'll now use the Reapers to guard the galaxy and help people out... right? I mean, she has Shepard's memories, so... this won't eventually go wrong, right? The old Catalyst was, I mean, so awesome, after all.
There's a bit of danger in having the Reapers now around all the time and under control of another Catalyst who claims to want to protect people. You hope she'll be Shepard, but who knows what'll happen as time goes on. Don't want history to repeat itself.
(Also, the ominous feeling could stem from the fact that this was what TIM wanted.)
Lastly, Doing Nothing - Great job Shepard, everyone dies
Fun inclusion though, and seeing the time capsule Liara left behind, with her image, was cool, but sad. Terrible to imagine Shepard doing nothing at all, and thus ensuring everyone dies.
I liked the first two I mentioned the most, for different reasons. They both have good moments. It's also the only two options my Shepard would have chosen. She possibly would've went for Destroy first though, because of all the unknowns of Synthesis. The idea of everything, from plants to the individual races to the Reapers, basically merging together, is so alien. You can't be sure that you, and everyone else you care for, will be the same after that. But it seems like it works out, and it's pretty cool.
Anyways I liked the choices, I just wish it was done with the same dedication and love that the rest of the series received.
