The ending of Mass Effect 3 proved to be divisive among fans of the series, and even the talented former writers and developers at Bioware were torn over how it all played out. One of the major selling points of Bioware’s beloved sci-fi roleplaying franchise was the ability to shape the ongoing narrative throughout all three games with in-game dialogue and story choices that carried over from one installment to the next, and many fans were excited to see how it all came to a head in 2012’s Mass Effect 3.

However, these fans were less than thrilled when they finally reached the end of the game's climactic Earth mission. After battling their way through the invading Reaper armies and dealing with the treacherous Illusive Man one last time, Commander Shepard is confronted by a holographic child avatar at the heart of the Crucible, who explains that the Reapers were created to prevent civilization from being overtaken by Synthetics by cleansing all life from the galaxy. Shepard is then presented with three final options to bringing about peace: either activate the Crucible and eradicate all Synthetic life (including allies like EDI and the Geth), take control of the Reapers at the cost of their own life, or merge Organic and Synthetic life into a singular race. While some players praised Bioware for this daring narrative twist, others cried foul over the seemingly out-of-nowhere revelations and the Reapers' hypocritical motives, with many feeling that the game’s ending played out largely the same regardless of what Shepard chose to do. The outcry was loud enough that Bioware eventually released a free DLC expansion to further elaborate on what happened and give the series a proper sense of closure. However, plenty of fans were still displeased with how the story that they spent hours developing ended.                                                

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According to The Gamer, Mass Effect 3’s controversial ending proved just as divisive to the people who made the game as it was to the fans playing it. “I mean, it would be easy for me to say ‘I knew it sucked the whole time,’ but... I did have misgivings,Mass Effect 2 and 3 writer Jay Turner explained. “When I played the game, I was pretty OK with the ending, since I considered the whole of Mass Effect 3 to be the ending for the trilogy, but after I replayed it and realized that my decisions only really changed the color of the explosions in the ending cutscene, I was pretty upset.

 

Commander Shepard walking toward the Crucible at the end of Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect 3 senior gameplay designer Patrick Moran shared Turner's misgivings, saying that some members of the development team wanted to change the game's ending. "I remember reading the story beats, [and] getting upset because it felt like all the decisions I made no longer mattered. I sent an email off challenging the ending and received no reply.” However, Mass Effect 3 writer Chris Hepler was happy with how things played out, especially when it came to the Extended Cut giving the writers “a second chance to make an ending that acknowledged many more of the players' choices.”

The ending to Mass Effect 3 and the controversy surrounding it remains one of gaming’s most contentious subjects of debate, even nearly a decade after the game launched. Bioware will continue the Mass Effect saga with the recently announced Mass Effect 4, which the developer hopes will overcome the icy reception that both Mass Effect 3s final moments and the ill-fated Mass Effect Andromeda received and restore the series to its former glory.

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Source: The Gamer