discussion Video game endings.

[AlBetGam]

It's been awhile but I vaguely remember that they designed the plot of 2 to be OK as a starting point for a new player, so the death/time skip was to let them make the whole world new again. Which led to what you're talking about, it just meanders through what's effectively a side story until ending up at the same place ME1 did, the Reapers are coming and we don't really know why, instead of being a proper second act of a 3 act story.

I always hate this logic. It takes a very minimal level of writing skill to be able to include a few "as you know" scenes to catch newcomers up on the basics of a story. Like, I could basically write that scene now:

Joker: Coming up on Gobbledy-Gork III, Captain.

Shepard: Good job as usual, Joker. Set us down as close to the ruins as you can.

Liara: I can't believe I'm finally getting to examine these. Hard to believe they're from a Reaper invasion two cycles ago- 100,000 years old!

Virmire Survivor: This isn't an academic trip, Liara. We need to find anything the Gobbledy-Gorks had that might help us stop the Reapers. And then get out before the Batarians catch us and the Council throws us all in jail for starting a war.

Garrus: Oh, the Council won't throw us in prison. Shepard's a Specter, if he wants to be here he has the authority to do it. Besides, they owe him a pretty big one.

[...}

Garrus: ...but they still might disavow us and let the Batarians hang us on live TV. So let's not get caught.

That's most of the basics from ME1 in like 15 seconds of dialogue; if you want more there's codex entries. And if you really can't handle that just do like a Saturday morning cartoon and start with a 1 minute "Previously on..." clip show.

Not aiming this at you to be clear, you're probably right that someone at BioWare was following that logic. It's just terrible logic.

That said they didn't need to explain the Reapers' motivations at all. They're spaceship Cthulhu, their motivations are inscrutable and they can't be bargained with, only resisted and fought.

This would be acceptable too. Shepard and crew never fully understand why the Reapers do what they do, they just learn to fight them better. Arguably unsatisfying, since so much of ME1 was presented as a mystery to unravel and this would mean leaving the mystery unsolved, but better than "something something man vs machine what's your favorite color".

 

[Peter]

As for adult games the worst ending ever was Acting lessons and having to let one of your girls burn, who forces a choice like that on their players. I've never hated anything more i really despise creators, who like to pull the rug out from people, and seem to think they cleverly subverted them. All I can think of is Rian Johnson and the Last Jedi. Which is not a videogame, but it instantly comes to my mind.

On Acting Lessons, I'm right there with you.
I couldn't believe it either, I even restarted the game because, I thought I had made a wrong decision somewhere beforehand.
I was all the more disappointed when I realized that it wasn't my mistake, but the developer's intention.

And as for Star Wars, I think there are two kinds of people, some love it and some hate it.
I haven't seen any of the movies yet (Yes, that's possible) but the whole back and forth in the storytelling is more Confusing than Enjoying for me.

 

[Peter]

This is going to be the answer for all time. Far Cry 3 wasn't great either, the story lost a lot of momentum after

Spoiler

killing Vaas

.

Far Cry 3, that wasn't a story, that was for me, more of an explanation, or rather, an excuse for having to do the same tasks over and over again.
It wasn't very Rich in variety or entertaining.

 

[Peter]

They had to use Sheps death as way to explain him or her working for Cerberus, and if you're not pro Cerberus in your first game its kind of out there. It kind of railroads you in service of the story. Still the Council not believing in you or the reapers and putting yourself in Shepard's shoes makes you wish the council had died if not for the worse alternative choosing the other choice and playing part 3. Choosing Anderson on the council is also invalidated when the game chooses Udina anyways. I've felt so good when i took that bastard down, sorry Ash I stole your kill. It's not like let Wrex die for shits and giggles in part one on Virmire. and then reload your save because he is a great tank on your squad. I wanted to take out Udina since crossing paths with him in part 1. Of all the satisfactions in part 3 that is one of few. I wanted to smackdown and fight Tim but the game have no boss fight.

Please use the “Reply” function to reply to a post, otherwise the whole thing gets too confusing when reading the thread. (just a hint )

 

[HTYYHRK]

On Acting Lessons, I'm right there with you.
I couldn't believe it either, I even restarted the game because, I thought I had made a wrong decision somewhere beforehand.
I was all the more disappointed when I realized that it wasn't my mistake, but the developer's intention.

And as for Star Wars, I think there are two kinds of people, some love it and some hate it.
I haven't seen any of the movies yet (Yes, that's possible) but the whole back and forth in the storytelling is more Confusing than Enjoying for me.

There's more like a couple groups of Star Wars content that a fan can have different opinions on - Original Trilogy(EP4-6), Prequel Trilogy (EP1-3), Sequel Trilogy (EP7-9), Legacy Expanded Universe, Disney Expanded Universe. If you ever do decide to watch it I'd say just plan to watch the original trilogy and then try the prequels if you like the originals, the rest is a mixed bag. Some people really hate the prequels but I think they're entertaining movies, even they aren't anywhere near the same writing quality as the originals.

Far Cry 3, that wasn't a story, that was for me, more of an explanation, or rather, an excuse for having to do the same tasks over and over again.
It wasn't very Rich in variety or entertaining.

Sure, I just felt like the latter half of the game didn't have much steam since the final villain was so boring in comparison. Even with the flight suit I remember by that point I just was going straight for the end since it was just the same thing as the first half but without any interesting characters.

 

[Deleted member 207685]

My favorite series with the word endings: Mass Effect 3.