Mass Effect Extended Cut Part 1

So Bioware released their highly anticipated Extended Cut DLC on Tuesday the 26th. I played it that night after work and putting my son to bed. Took me 4 hours but I finally did it and saw the new extended endings and cut scenes. In this post, I'm going to keep it short and just give my general impression of the original endings and the extended ones. My next post will be a further break down of the events and I will share what I liked and didn't like from the EC DLC.

HERE BE SPOILERS  

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The problem I had with the original endings was the fact that my experience and choices over the past 3 games and 5 years didn't actually matter. I got the same dismal ending but in a different color. I never expected Shepard to have a happy ending. Happy endings are for Disney and general American film goers, not the Mass Effect series. (Not saying I would have been opposed to a happy ending either, just saying I wasn't concerned by the lack of one.) Overall, I wanted my Shepard's sacrifice to mean something and those endings fell short. They also didn't leave any explanation on what became of your crew after they crashed on that planet or what happened to all the different fleets from your alien comrades after the Catalyst's beam damaged all the mass relays, which in turn made us all wonder about the situation of the other homeworlds and colonies throughout the galaxy. Leaving it all to speculation, the most popular theories by the most devoted fans told of a bleak and depressing future, no matter what you did in the previous games.

But Bioware listened to their fans and came up with a solution to help us understand. I'm glad they did because these new endings are so much better. It fixed some of the major plot holes, gave us more depth and closure, and hit all the right emotional chords. Each ending now feels different from the others and the consequences of your final decision are adequately shown through a narrative slide show and additional cut scenes and voice over. For the first time since finishing the game back in April, I felt like my Shepard's choices actually mattered and I was rewarded for my time and effort with a complete ending that showcased the characters that I grew fond of over the past 5 years.


Not everyone agrees with this opinion, but whatever the reaction, I think we can all agree that Bioware has successfully made an ending to a game that will be talked about and discussed by gamers for a very long time to come.