Film Crit Hulk on the the ending to Mass Effect 3 (game spoilers will follow):
To be honest, hulk thought it was one of the best video game endings that Hulk has ever seen. It went for a brief, beautiful articulation of everything it ever needed to say about its central, driving theme. But even if it didn’t do it for you in that same emotional way as it did for hulk, there is no denying that the ending is a single, economic thought and pure expression of the creators.
Hulk argues well here. It’s probably the best defense of Bioware’s original intention I’ve read. Yet like many (most?) of those that have finished the game, I remain disappointed by Mass Effect 3‘s ending. It fails on several levels – it’s length (there were early side mission cut scenes that ran longer) and its failure to account for decisions made earlier in the game, a hallmark of the Mass Effect series. Yet for me the biggest shortcoming was less plot and more user interface; that “walk to one of three options” final choice on the Crucible was flat out confusing.