Let’s talk about Mass Effect 3. At one point, it was the most-anticipated game in the industry. Why? Bioware had beautifully crafted an RPG epic featuring compelling characters, great battle mechanics, and a universe worth exploring. The first game had your typical “feeling things out,” but by the second game, Bioware knew what to do. So when it came time to “finish the saga” with the third game, they knew they had to put everything on the line to deliver an epic conclusion. Sadly, as gamers found out, while 95% of the game was as compelling as they hoped it would be, the remaining 5% wasn’t.
Long story short, in Mass Effect 3, the Reapers finally arrived, and the races of the galaxy weren’t prepared despite Commander Shepherds’ repeated warnings. So after Earth falls at the game’s beginning, Shepherd and his allies rally all the major races, some minor ones, to help save the universe. They even find something called “The Catalyst” to help counteract the Reapers potentially. But that’s where things went south. After some events that contradicted one another, Shepherd had to make a choice. He could destroy the Reapers, or choose to spare them, but they wouldn’t be evil anymore.
On the surface, that’s not a bad choice. But, the catch was that every Mass Relay in the galaxy would be destroyed. That meant all the races would be stuck in Earth’s sector of space, and all the decisions you made previously were for naught because everyone couldn’t go home except the humans. The backlash to the ending was so bad that Bioware patched it later to be more “fulfilling.” That ending is what you’ll find in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
However, there was “another ending” made by a former Bioware developer. Violet McVinnie had a “tradition’ when she made Bioware titles of making the main characters run to the bad guys and then “kiss and makeup” instead of doing the final climactic battle.
In this case, that scene features Shepherd running to the Illusive Man to hug it out and not deal with the Reapers at all. It’s hilarious; some might even enjoy this more than the original ending. You can check it out below.
Sadly, that ending wasn’t the true ending to the game, nor the series, and the next game was anything but satisfying. However, Bioware is hard at work on the next installment to the franchise, and many hope it will be better than the past failures.
Source: Twitter
