![]() ![]() “I recycled some of the strong-force-as-a-weapon tech into the Reaper infantry weapon, the Blackstar. ‘Sufficiently advanced technology indistinguishable from magic’ was far easier and had much more project momentum. “And there was no time to do that homework, which would be me telling all the leads to hold off for a week while I exchanged a crap-ton of emails with my subject matter experts. ![]() “I had some concern that Nancy Kress might notice and sue us if I didn't do my homework,” Hepler says. ![]() Given that Mass Effect is largely about the coexistence of humans and cybernetic creatures, it would also have had an impact on other aspects of the universe - what would happen to EDI? The Reapers would be neutralized, but the tech would be there. As a result, he hadn’t got a full description of how this pertained to the entire galaxy yet - although looking at it now, it could have borrowed from the best bits of each ending. The design leads moved pretty fast with their Destroy/Control/Synthesis trifecta, to the point that the whole premise had been approved before Hepler even got around to finishing his second Codex entry. So, what happened? Unfortunately, Hepler never got to pitch his ending. Remember, this is coming from the Mass Effect loremaster - if he says there is lore to back up a dark energy anomaly that only the Reapers can save us from, it certainly exists. Hepler confirms that there are explicit lore details that lean into this idea, but that he never personally heard about capitalizing on them. For example, there are aspects of the lore that actually lean towards the Citadel species allying with the Reapers in order to collectively tackle a dark energy anomaly, as opposed to the Reapers remaining as the Big Bad right up until credits roll. Hepler explains that fans had observed several hints throughout the trilogy that pointed in completely different directions. I felt a lot better about myself and us as a team after the EC came out.” The Extended Cut gave us a second chance to make an ending that acknowledged many more of the players' choices, and was about as good as we could reasonably make given the decisions we'd already made. “Did it satisfy the fans? Hell, no, not at first, and I found a lot of the criticism to be legitimate. Now you’ve made an enemy of one of the best and smartest krogan in the galaxy. Over the course of the next few weeks, he slowly pieces it all together and realizes that the Genophage is still alive and well. Wrex, on the other hand, is far too bright. ![]() Urdnot Wreav then replaces him, opening up unique possibilities in later games - if Wrex dies in Mass Effect, you can save Mordin in Mass Effect 3, because Wreav is stupid enough to fall for an elaborate ruse. Spend too long on the fence between right and wrong? Wrex is going to die before the first game even ends. It’s important to qualify this: Mass Effect is known for making excellent use of cause and consequence. But when Mass Effect 3 finally launched in 2012, the hypothesis that it’s impossible to please everybody violently imploded, with fans all over the world inciting outrage towards what they deemed to be a bit of a cop-out. BioWare was approaching the close of what had become one of the most beloved and established trilogies in the history of games, and so it was only natural that some people were going to be disappointed. Writing an ending for Mass Effect 3 that pleased everyone was never going to be possible. ![]()
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