I remember buying PlayStation’s complete Bioware Mass Effect bundle a few years ago and binge-playing all three games until the end. As with most gamers, the ending of Mass Effect 3 didn’t make sense in relation to the rest of the player’s actions and choices. According to the lead writer of the previous installment, the original plans for ME3 were completely different.
Drew Karpyshyn was the lead writer for Mass Effect 2 but didn’t stay on for the third installment in the series. According to his “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) thread on Reddit, the ending for Mass Effect 3 would have been different if he had stayed on as the lead writer. More to the point, there would have been a definite conclusion that related to the player’s action throughout the game.
Let me paint some perspective for those who haven’t played ME3. That means you should expect some spoilers ahead.
In the version we received, you have three choices at the end:
- Perform an action that would destroy all synthetic life, including the Reapers, across the universe
- Sacrifice yourself and merge with the Reapers
- Combine all life to live in harmony
While they sound like good choices for any game, they didn’t work for Mass Effect 3. After all the drama you faced in the ME games, it didn’t feel like there was a satisfactory conclusion to the Reaper strife. Karpyshyn says the original ending would have been more concrete.
There are Mass Relays that allow ships to teleport to another place in the universe quickly. According to Karpyshyn, the original plan was to lure the Reapers into these relays and then destroy the entire network. It would have left you screaming “Yes!” instead of frowning and asking, “WTF?”
It’s interesting to learn how a game could have ended had a lead writer still been involved. I love science fiction and fantasy, and Mass Effect is a good combination of both. The series still seems very much alive while we eagerly await Mass Effect 5, unlike Red Dead Online that players have memorialized in a virtual funeral.
