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The big problem isn't with the ending per se, but that there effectively is only one. The entire series has been built around choices and varying outcomes, but at the end you get 16 endings that are 99% the same. There is no sense that many of the decisions you made and any bearing on the final outcome.

I was alright with the ending when I beat the game the first time. I hadn't done everything and assumed I had gotten one of the "stock", bare bones endings and was excited for new ones. When the second was virtually identical to the first, I did a little research and discovered they are all virtually the same, and I was really disappointed. To me, this is contrary to everything ME has been about. When BioWare promised many "wildly different" outcomes, this was not what I envisioned.

And the ending(s) also has massive holes:

The mass relays are all destroyed with the combined fleet at Earth. So you unite the galaxy just to have all their spacefaring population stranded, presumably to fight over what little resources are left in the system? Nice.

And why was the Normandy already fleeing at the exact moment the crucible fired? The crew you fought tooth and nail with abandons you before the fight is over? Yeah, that doesn't jive at all.

So you have very little closure, even less explanation and a handful of plot holes.


I think it's unfortunate that BioWare feels they have to do this, but I do feel they have to do it. This isn't just the ending to a game, it's the ending to one of the most epic VG epics ever, and it was limited, confusing and almost wholly unsatisfying.

I don't want to see a "storybook" ending, but they really screwed the pooch here, imo.

Wow, my impression of the ending I got was based on the idea that there would be a completely different one for each path you chose. If all three are basically the same, that's pretty awful. And like you said, it's not necessarily that the ending isn't good, it's that a game based very heavily upon you making choices to influence events doesn't give you any freedom at the end. I don't know that I see a point in an ending DLC, either, though. To me it'd always feel like an "alternate" ending that wasn't the real thing.

That said, the buildup to the ending was really, really good. The scenes with each of your squadmates (especially Wrex) and the ones with Anderson and the Illusive Man at the end were really well done. The bulk of the game before that felt a bit disjointed and kind of like they were cramming events (and meetings with former characters) into too small a space, but otherwise I thought the story was good. I would have liked a bit more to it, though. I think a longer game would have allowed them to connect a few more events and flesh a few things out a bit better. ME2 was by far the best of the trilogy.

The whole thing is just unfortunate. I knew going in that the ending wouldn't meet expectation, because expectations were insanely high. That's how these things are.

But I wasn't exaggerating. There are 16 endings that are 95-99% identical, from the events to the cinematic scenes. It's just really weak, there's no two ways about it.

Of course a DLC ending revision will feel cheap and tacked on, but I don't think it can be any worse.