ME3, Part 2 - The Final Conflict - Page 2

Deleted User 135096

3624 Posts

March 11 2012 13:06 GMT

#21

I'm probably going to do another shorter blog on this, but only after I finish my other characters. Also I figured I'd post how EMS affects the endings as this is what I'm looking to experience to see how my choices actually affect the outcome, and whether its an effective resolution:

+ Show Spoiler [how EMS affects the endings] +

Straight from the Collector's Edition from the guide (I will type this nearly word for word, credit goes to Prima Games):

EDIT: The game assumes if you do not import a save then you DESTROYED the Collector's Base

If you saved the Collector's Base in Mass Effect 2, then:

If your Readiness Rating (War Assets multiplied by Galactic Readiness, will be called EMS from here on out) is below 1750, Earth is destroyed regardless of your final choice.

If your EMS is 1751-2049, if you choose to destroy the Reapers, Earth is also destroyed.
If your EMS is 2050-2349, if you choose to control the Reapers, Earth is saved.
If your EMS is 2350- 2649, if you choose to destroy the Reapers, Earth is devastated but still saved.
If your EMS is 2650-2799, you unlock the third (Synergy) ending.
If your EMS is 4000-4999, if you choose to destroy the Reapers and "saved" Anderson, Shepard lives.
If your EMS is 5000+, if you choose to destroy the Reapers and did not "save" Anderson, Shepard lives.

Saving Anderson means not letting the Illusive Man kill him outright.
_____

If you did not save the Collector's Base in Mass Effect 2:

If your Readiness Rating (War Assets multiplied by Galactic Readiness, will be called EMS from here on out) is below 1750, Earth is destroyed regardless of your final choice.

If your EMS is 1751-1899, if you choose to control the Reapers, Earth is also destroyed.
If your EMS is 1900-2349, if you choose to control the Reapers, Earth is saved but devastated.
If your EMS is 2350- 2649, if you choose to control the Reapers, Earth is saved.
If your EMS is 2650-2799, you unlock the third (Synergy) ending.
If your EMS is 4000-4999, if you choose to destroy the Reapers and "saved" Anderson, Shepard lives.
If your EMS is 5000+, if you choose to destroy the Reapers and did not "save" Anderson, Shepard lives.

Saving Anderson means not letting the Illusive Man kill him outright.

Clues

United States186 Posts

March 12 2012 14:35 GMT

#22

Here is an interesting take on the finale

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/9727423/1

Deleted User 135096

3624 Posts

March 13 2012 12:06 GMT

#23

On March 12 2012 23:35 Clues wrote:
Here is an interesting take on the finale

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/9727423/1

That is a fascinating read. I think I even tend to support this viewpoint on the finale even more than my own original hypothesis (the viewpoint being that we as the player are experiencing indoctrination). The only problem with this scenario is that it suffers the same issues with my original hypothesis, in that we still don't have enough information presented to us to properly reach this conclusion, or that this information is presented to us in a poor manner that it simply confuses us. Basically the end is all about a really interesting hypothesis that is poorly executed, no matter how you look at it, so I'm still left with my major questions like"

Where did my squad mates go after Harbinger leaves?

How, if I survive the ordeal, did I get back to earth without a pressure suit?

If we again assume indoctrination, how are we to know about the audio cues given to us if we haven't read any of the books? This is a big one because it means that in order to properly understand the context, we have to search for outside sources from the games to fully understand this intent, meaning people like myself who never or rarely read external fiction from games automatically won't comprehend what is being disseminated to us.

The ending videos still make very little sense, and even less so if we're buying the whole indoctrination angle.

I am not inclined to believe that it's a hallucination, as there are an stupid amount of plotholes that surface with that one that preclude us from being able to get behind that scenario. If Bioware intended the ending to be this murky, then I am inclined to have strong words against this decision, because what that says to me is that they are intentionally duping everyone who plays the game, which is a rather insulting MO. I'm not saying a little subtlty doesn't hurt, and I would have loved this game to be more subtle, but when you both have wide swings in how you present something to the audience, AND then try to introduce subtleties, %99 of people will not grasp the intentions properly.

I think that the indoctrination hypothesis would have been perfectly in line if two things were changed.

A. We had a more sustained suggestion that we are fighting indoctrination. This works really well with the Illusive man and you would originally conclude that he has harnessed the powers of indoctrination and is trying to assert his control over you (which you witness when you fire the gun). However, if this visual/audio cue were to have persisted (albeit slightly more subtle) when we are experiencing the final sequence, I may have been able to piece together that I was being indoctrinated as that, along with some re-worked visual cues would have given me the minimum amount of information that I needed in order to pick up on that.

B. Secondly, the final videos would have to have been re-worked in order for this to have made sense. As it stands now, there is no correlation to either succumbing to indoctrination (control, synthesis endings), and beating it (destroy ending). The destroy ending works to some extent, but if we were to follow the control example, nothing happens because of the Illusive man conundrum and everything would have been destroyed by the reapers. If we assume the synthesis ending, then why is the Normandy running at all? If we assume that this "additional code' allows the reapers to take control of organics, like they did with the Geth, then it would make zero sense that the Normandy is fleeing, as they should be under the reapers control at this point.

All in all, it still comes down to poor execution leading to a very unfocused ending, that either wasn't very well thought through perception-wise, or was intentionally misleading, which suffers the same problem.

Buzzworth

United States14 Posts

March 23 2012 20:10 GMT

#24

Edit: (What would have helped) was a scene in which Shepard radios back and orders the fleet to retreat. That could have added to the feeling of finality as Joker initally refuses to leave him behind and you get another conversation decision to talk sense into him or make it clear that it is a direct order.

I'm not sure where the Normandy would be headed, but at least you could justify the flight sequence.

Chaggi

Korea (South)1936 Posts

March 24 2012 06:16 GMT

#25

To be honest, this is a lot of analysis, I overall had fun with ME3 though, and I think that's what a game should bring.

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