Posted on: Wednesday, June 27th, 2012
Posted in: Featured
Comments: 588
ME3: Extended Cut Analysis + Leviathan DLC
Angry Joe breaks down and reviews the Extended Cut Endings for Mass Effect 3. Do they improve the franchise? or add further insult? And what might we see next for Mass Effect? Find Out!
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588 thoughts on “ME3: Extended Cut Analysis + Leviathan DLC”
I wonder if Joe played the Citadel DLC, there was a load of good stuff to review in that last DLC…
Meh… The endings are better BY A MILE than what it was before this DLC, but I just want to point out that the promise of “everything matters from previous games and no A,B,C endings” was false and I am still left with an unsatisfied feeling… I just hope that in the next ME there will be A LOT of Shepard references and everyone will speak his name in honor…
Hey guys i put together a new ending and if you hated the destroy ending because the beth being killed off, then you need to see this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTwKDDqaKTU
The extended Ending was really good. Like I said, I don’t dislike heroes dying in games. Sometimes that’s what makes the story really touching, interesting and special.
However, I also would have liked a different body ‘structure’ for that Catalyst AI. And it would have been nice to have the war assets affect the ending more.
And the Renegade ‘bullet the god child’ option really is a bite in the butt… That should have been improved.
But all in all its nice and satisfying. I can play ME3 now without fearing the last 10 minutes of the game. I can replay it without bursting out in anger of the end. And I am glad that Bioware took time and efforts to give the fans a better conclusion to everything.
The new ending was most definitely an improvement on what we first had. though in my mind it was too short for a proper, much anticipated ending to dare i say one of the greatest game trilogies iv’e ever played.
I’m pretty disappointed in how they went against their own lore with blowing up the jump gates. To me it was like the story was in a different studios hands.
Also the assets yes, the assets from halfway through the game i was hyping myself up thinking wow the Rachni and their queen tearing up rows of reaper battalions alongside the Blue sun, Blood pack and Eclipse merc teams. Only to find out all that work to get all the help i needed had no meaningful representation in the end game…….
Also sorry for a late response to the subject, i’m new here and just wanted to voice my opinion on the matter
BOYCOTT ELECTRONIC ARTS (EA)
I am very surprised by your accepting of this extended cut Joe, I am also surprised you put ME3 in both your top controversies and your best games of 2012 videos (obviously best surprised me). One would think, because of a large number of followers you have now, that you could be paid off by some companies to give better ratings for particular games. I myself am not pointing fingers, but that is the impression people are starting to have from you. I hope this is not the case.
BOYCOTT EA
“That is the impression some are getting from you”… because those people are so bigoted in their negative opinion of the ending that they think anyone with even a barely positive opinion of it are either paid off or are just not “true fans”. It’s really sad how people with that mindset never realize just how retarded they make themselves look and sound.
So Joe, what do you think about the Leviathan DLC? I tried it myself and it seems to answer so much more than I expected. I think that if they put that in the game, it would have made it a little better, but even those Extended Cut endings could have still been better; however, thank goodness they fixed some vital points of lore and plot holes.
I hate that the destroy option still takes out EDI and the geth (who I worked like a dog to get to have peace with the quarians). Like you said in 10 Reasons Why We Hate the Mass Effect Ending, “Why the f*ck not a happy ending?”
sorry, i seem to be alone with this opinion, but this “extended cut” ruins the complete story of mass effect. maybe the story was to “philosophical” for a mainstream computer game and it would have meant to end after the 3rd part. thats something gamers dont like and for the producers its bad for business, if they can sell more ..
in my opinion thats the difference, if you want to see games as something cultural, or just as entertainment ..
because seriously – if you would really life in this mass effect universe – i personally would somehow agree with the reapers to extinct this so called “advanced species” from the universe. thats their reason – they got the opinion, that biological species dont evolve and so they have to evolve or die, because they kill themselves or get extinct because they dont evolve. these topics are the core of mass effect – the friction between biological beeings, artificial beeings and what is done with the possibillities. if you achieve such technology and knowledge and still struggle with mercenarys, criminal activities and emotional problems .. i would burn to destroy this more 21century human like galaxy, which ignores any advance ..
shepards role was an advance for this society, uniting all factions (at least that was my goal and so i chose this “lame” third path from the original ending) – the lack of the original ending was the complete reset of everything by the reapers. destroying everything, maybe even themselfes, to give future life and species again the free and open choice how to coexist.
these are highly philosophical questions and topics and go down to the reason of life and even existence .. of course, thats not light stuff .. so the new ending is just to go on with new mass effect games and to please customers, making this game just entertaining in an “conventional” way – but there is more to a good story, then just a “nice” ending .. because life isn’t that way .. and games should be more than just a distraction from real life .. in my opinion
i actually liked the indoctrination theory…it made the whole game rise to another lvl and making the ending something you would have to think about and ponder if it were true or not
No offense, but why did AJ use Tetra ninja’s footage i’m subscribed to him LOL
Indoctrination theory could still be a possibility, as the God Child sounds like Harbinger in the 4th ending when he says “so be it”, possibly a frustration at failing to completely indoctrinate Shepard. I don’t know, that was my very first thought when playing that ending.
I’m not sure if this is related, but I thought it was odd when Shepard gets transported through the beam into the Citadel and passes out, and Anderson is calling out to her, when she wakes up suddenly there’s an odd sound kind of like a Reaper.
I just finished my second play through with the extended cut an hour ago and I couldn’t remember if that was there before.
But as for the extended cut, I didn’t feel the intense disappointment from the first playthrough, but idk, maybe I’ve just accepted it by now. I did love the extra interaction with your LI if you brought them with you to the beam and the glimpses into the Normandy and your crew while you’re on the Citadel
I had to go through it twice though, I accidentally pissed off the starchild the first time… haha
Hey Joe, maybe I’m late to the party but does the EC change your rating for Mass Effect 3? Personally, I’m one of those guys who believed that without the EC, it was rated a 6 or 7 due to not only the ending but also a couple of glitches which really made me laugh at first but grew more annoying (ex: a conversation with Liara where Shepard turns his/her head to the side and just stays there.) However with the EC, I feel that the game is at the very least a 8 but at max deserves a 10. Maybe you should do a review of Mass Effect 3 with the EC? I would be interested to see how your opinion compares to mine.
I can’t say I still love this game even after the EC came. I am glad that I waited for the EC though. It is a good game. But it still has issues that annoy me. I am hoping the omega dlc makes me want to play this game again but don’t know for sure. There are still characters that I feel are useless in the third game.
I just watched this video and agree with most of it, however I did noticed that the war assets do make a difference. I have played Mass Effect alot, but I have only completed the trilogy all the way through at once twice. First was as a paragon that got everything done. This causes what most people see in the ending, however I found that in my second playthrough, which I was a renegade that got the worst of everthing (EX: got most of my crew killed in the end of ME2), I also got as little war assets as possible. For me it cause both the control and destroy endings to be quite different (synthesis wasn’t even available). Due to the lack of assets the Victory Fleet got beat to hell and caused the Crucible to become badly damaged changing the ending of both the control and destroy endings.
god help them if they make mass effect an mmo
Jonte they are planning on taking it online just like the elder scrolls every things going online I am giving up on gaming
I think the endings was really awesome but unlike Joe I think thynthesis is the best ending. Isn’t it ultimate victory to achieve ultimate peace where everyone finally sits around the bonfire and sings Cumbaya? Yeah, someone had to sacrifice themselves, but sacrifices is the invetable part of every war.
On the other hand… MASS EFFECT 3 PSYCHEDELIC NIGHT CLUB MUSAC! HELL YA! BRRINNG OUT ZEE GLOWIE CHEMLIGHTS AND VODKA!
I think Joe should due a review on all 4 multiplayer dlc’s
Anyone noticed too, that they do not put Sheps Name on the Board at the Normandy if you choose to destroy with enough warassets (so including breathing scene?)… wonder what to take from that little thing….
could have lost some more words about the Reapers origin, but meh… i can now play the game again without worring too much about the former ending.
I think i can live with it now… it explains some major plotholes and the fact that they did something like this is even more amazing. Yeah, still there are some… sloppy… explanations and the godchild (which is no godchild anymore
Of course, i would prefered the Indoctrination theory, with some bombastic ending, figthing harbinger and making little babies with my sweety liara… but… yeah… think the guys in charge played to much Deus EX HR, lets see what Leviathan and maybe some other DLCs (hope their will be some more, heavy storybased DLCs) will do. I think maybe they pack in some more information (like with “Leviathan”). We shall see
This sucks. I really liked the indoctrination theory. I kind of hoped there would be a mass effect 4 that takes place after shepherd takes that breath on Earth. Oh well.
When I finished ME3 for the first time without the DLC I went from confused to trying to defend it and then anger. I could have been sort of okay if there had been no plot holes, even though there would be a bitter taste in my mouth. I love Mass Effect as a franchise, I think it is legendary, and the best game series for making you connect with your character, I even thought 3 was a brilliant game and could have earned 10/10… right up until the last 10 minutes.
I don’t blame Bioware for a second, for the original ending though, with EA at their backs holding whips forcing them to meet a deadline the original ending is awful, but I can understand why. I really appreciate what they have done with the ending (especially for free) and the new ending is a huge improvement. While I sat there for the second time, I really wanted to nitpick the new ending… but I couldn’t do it, because while it does have some flaws, it’s still a fitting end that brings closure to the franchise that I love. Bioware has taken on board our complaints and fixed them, (well most), and I am damn thankful for it.
Now I’m just holding my breath for Dragon Age 3.
I understand that Bioware was being pushed by the evil corporate pricks at EA who have no respect for art… but, they still made a big mistake. If you ask me, the ending of Mass Effect 3 should have been the first part of the game they completed. They should have BEGUN by making a really amazing ending to the franchise, then built the rest of the game to lead up to that amazing conclusion. Their #1 priority should have been to give Mass Effect and the fans the well thought out and complex endings they deserve, and that they promised.
I beat mass effect 3 with the EC now, i know im late to the party. I think that the EC makes it a little better, but it´s still a horrible ending. In my opinion, it was like slapping a band aid on a bullet wound. Now, don´t get me wrong, im really greatful for the DLC, anything is better than the orignal ending.But since the entire ending is so wrong for the mass effect series, a patch of the ending won´t help.
It makes me sad, that the series as a whole could have been legendary, but the story trips at the finishline. Mass effect 3 will be remembered as the game series with the horrible ending, and i think it deserves better. I know, and i don´t expect bioware to change or add anything. But i think this incident hurt bioware, and hopefully the industry have taken notice, and learned their lesson.
But anyway, thats that. Now im looking forward to dragon age 3. And i hope that the Mass Effect series will come back to. Thanks Bioware for the EC DLC, i am really greatful for the time you took on it.
I feel as if the new ending is better but still not up there with the rest of the franchise. Although it does show what your choices changed in the world after the war, it still doesn’t hold up to the promise that the ending will be affected by everything we did throughout the other games. The one thing I am really happy about is that if you bring your love interest on the last mission and have them escape, you get that heartfelt good bye seen that you don’t get from just talking to them before the mission. Everything else though feels like they used duct tape to cover the hole in the wall that was the ending.
Joe how could you forget Hudson’s comments!?! Your letting them slide easily for nothing more then doubling down on the crap they gave us the FIRST TIME.
Heck even the Better Business Bureau said they could be zapped for Bait and Switch.
Also HOW can you let them slide on comments like “Your choices matter from ME1 through ME3 the endings will reflect those choices!”
Stay ANGRY over this Joe! Remember HOLD THE LINE!
I absolutely hated the original endings, played through all three games with the same Shepard (I’m actually kind of glad the face glitch happened, I’m way happier with my new face) and I was raging hardcore.
But then the Extended Cut came along, I’m happier now. I can now pick up the trilogy without dreading what’s coming up from the Horizon (heh…get it?), and enjoy my Shepard’s adventures on this journey.
But I’m aware that there are still those who are unsatisfied, some are even quitting Mass Effect all together. That’s totally cool, if you’re still infuriated then don’t let me stop you.
However…
If you ever call anyone lesser for liking the tweaked endings, well…don’t expect me to have anything pleasant to say to you.
Er…by “you” I’m referring to anyone reading this comment, not just Joe! ^.^
Well, now there are legitimate reasons to like the endings. They aren’t objectively horrid like the original ones were. I wouldn’t have even thought less of you for liking the original endings, but I would have thought less of you if you said they were GOOD.
These new ones, however, are actually well written and explain alot. But the only “sunshine and lollipops” ending is still synthesis, which is still a horsecrap ending. I still want one where the reapers are gone and Shepard returns to his crew and they down a few beers (hopefully ones that DON’T kill Tali and Garrus, though
). I’ll quote Joe in his original “Why we hate the Mass Effect 3 Endings” video, “Why the f NOT a happy ending too?” And I’m talking about one that’s not loaded to the lip with stupid, like synthesis.