Saturday, July 05, 2014

Mass Effect 3 -> Mass Effect The Next Generation (or whatever)

The Mass Effect Trilogy was the journey of one Commander John/Jane Shepard.  Cdr. Shepard rose from a line officer to a Command officer and finally culminated in pan galactic war hero with unlimited authority and above any law.  Its a lot of exceptions to make for any man but for the story to succeed it worked.  He/She was basically an interstellar Delta-Force^³.

Well as a result of his or her choices we get three basic flavors of ending to this 'volume' for lack of a better term.

Flavor 1: Destruction - Reapers and Geth go bye bye...oh and so does EDI.
Consequence - Depending on war assets and whether or not you made the illlusive man kill himself...Shepard survives.  The reapers are destroyed and anything made up of their technology is at best majorly disrupted (presumably including the Keepers in the Citadel as well as the Citadel itself...now dead in orbit over the Earth).  The Mass Effect Relays are majorly damaged and teh galaxy is ravaged by the war with merely pieces of their fleets left over.

The industrial and damage to quality of life across these interstellar empires is massive.  This cycle may have been the least ready for an onslaught like this and only survived due to luck in finding what others had left behind.  The Protheans of the previous cycle had probably dealt a lot more damage to the Reapers than even Shepard could imagine...yet they kept on coming.  The empires of this era were comparatively new on the proverbial block.

The Reapers would have had precious little trouble if it wasn't for the MacGuffin that is the Crucible.  Not even the remnants of their creators (the Leviathan) were really much of a threat.

So to me this is the worst possible ending in terms of the amount of time it takes to recover.  However it gives the galaxy the largest chance to start completely anew.  It is a clean slate.  future protagonists will have to deal with an overall stunted technological and industrial/commercial base (logically) and whatever the main plot goal is...will be the most difficult to achieve.  However there will be some rewards in terms of flexibility for choices one would surmise.

As to the Quarian question - They might not matter.  If the player chose to side with legion...then do destruction...both Geth and Quarians are endangered species if not outright extinct by the time we pick up the first chapter of the next volume.  At best the Quarians are left trapped in the Sol System far from Rannoch...which at this point would be a long way from being rebuilt.

Shepards survival or death isn't terribly meaningful except to Liara..who may still be alive and a Matron by the time the new volume picks up.  If he survived there maybe one or two of his daughters out there to be encountered or if not encountered then at least you might hear about their own exploits.

Flavor 2:  Control - Quarians and Geth can survive in this one together or you can pick one or the other.  Here Shepard is now the Deus Ex Machina.  He replaces the Starchild and the Reapers become a super pan galactic protector rather than a machine of harvesting.

Consequences - The Mass relays are likely rapidly rebuilt and technological development continues onward.  Galactic travel likely resumes in as short as a generation or two thanks to Reaper assistance.  In game terms...maybe the new protagonist will hear the ghostly voice of =Shepard exclaiming that this store is his favorite on the citadel.  Perhaps the Reapers will deliver unexpected aid to the protagonist as a result of Shepard's benevolence and desire to protect the galaxy from whatever the latest threat is.

On the down side we may have an orwellian sort of state here where nothing is beyond the reach of the reapers.  A soft tyranny of sorts.  the brutality of the reapers will be unquestioned but largely hidden from all but those in power for the various stellar governments.  The mere threat of war will result in the Reapers stepping in as a police force to prevent or  stop instability.  Peace at all costs.

The overall plot wouldn't change but news reports and attitudes would be darker.  The Reapers would be anti-heroic.  Shepard is in control...isn't he?  That would be a neat C-plot to explore.

Flavor C - The Good Ending - Synthesis.  The Reapers...though partially organic before are now sentient and connected to the web of life.  They have empathy and individuality.  Individuals are now connected through their shared techno-organic Gestalt and have access to all of the knowledge that came before.

As the ending states...everyone is free to rebuild and flourish like never before.  The Reapers are galactic citizens and not oppressors or caretakers.  The state of technology would be highest here...perhaps with a new generation of Mass Relays...or a better form of travel that eliminates the need for them entirely.  Ships and people can now move freely about the Galaxy.  This ending REQUIRES many things.  It requires Shepard to have deleted the Geth who rebelled.  It requires Shepard to have stood down the Quarian fleet while allowing legion to sacrifice himself for the good of his entire people and it requires the quarians to have some to a peace with the Geth.

EDI lives.  The Normandy flies off.  Perhaps it reapirs itself now that it is at least partly composed of organic components.  The Krogan even flourish...rebuilding Tuchanka in the images of the ancients.  They have learned from their mistakes and have likely expanded their space beyond Tuchanka and potentially have a seat on the Council...taking their place finally as a legitimate power.  The Reapers after helping to repair likely retreated to dark space continuing a higher mission of protection of their Galactic Wards.  They might even have a council representative.

The protagonist here will have an extreme advantage compared to other endings with possibly a better starting condition.   N7 at this point should be a pan galactic designation...not one limited to those from Earth.  It should be on-par if not replacing the SPECTRE status (regardless of ending).  The difference here is that there will be more cooperation than in the destruction ending between powers...easier diplomatic solutions.  Control would force cooperation out of fear of the wrath of shepard.  Destruction...well the galaxy should be only *just* recovering in the slightest at his point.

Entire worlds will be cratered and scarred...in fact this would likely be the first Generation to really go back to the stars from the Destruction ending.  I for one can't imagine that ever being the best ending.  However it would have one thing in common with the synthesis ending and that is a different method of FTL travel not dependent on Reaper based Mass Relays.

Well here's to hoping we pick up on the Dark Energy story line here.