It let a lot of people down who wanted a more unique and dramatically satisfying ending for the Shepard that they’d built over the course of three games. It was overwhelmingly vitriolic towards the developers and hundreds of supposed critics made ad revenue over screaming clickbait rhetoric about its failings. The fan backlash that came from its original launch was seismic and something that I remember dramatically today. The ending of Mass Effect 3 is controversial, even today. Shepard is not safe even in their sleep, they have the fate of the whole universe in their hands, and you have to keep walking them to a place that inevitably ends in fire and tragedy. Before you get to leave, every time, there’s another overwhelming sensation of flames and the imagery of the creatures, the Reapers, who are destroying everything you know and love. The audio is made up of a dull drone that creates a sense of uneasiness immediately, and as the game progresses, the voice of the members of your team that you’ve lost start to linger in your ears as you walk through this place. A spectre of a young boy you had no power to save on your planet, watching as you fly away safely while he crashes and burns. You are trapped here so many times, and all that you see and hear in this forest is the nightmares of your own failures and choices.

There is no avoiding these segments, they happen after every major event in the game and before the finale of Mass Effect 3, the final one occurs right after your cumulative love scene. Trees are endlessly tall and the world around where you’re supposed to be is shrouded by overwhelming white light, keeping you trapped in this place until you’re allowed to leave. The skies are completely grey and everything seems to lack colour except for your avatar, the brightness of the hair and the armour that you’ve made for them seems to shine beyond this realm. Throughout Mass Effect 3, your character Commander Shepard ends up in a dream of a forest.

Mass effect 3 different endings