Honestly I came to the Mass Effect fandom late, and I was astonished that none of the people who had been telling me to get into it told me about the Reapers. It took me until ME2 to pick up on the cosmic horror details, but once I did I was very impressed by the level of background details that hint at the murky, evidently covered up truth of the millions of years of harvests. A lot of people are disappointed by ME3, not just for the reason you gave, but for the ending. The control ending is in its way, a submission to the inevitable, as you describe, but even the destroy ending is a fate of cosmic horror. The Reapers might be gone, but what they were, is not. Now, the known monster is gone, but the threat, the reality of them, is now faceless. The inevitability of it, now unfettered, anything known about the Reapers, worthless now.
It's hard to contextualize the profound and horrific implications of the Reapers. It's really something that you have to discover for yourself. Welcome to the fandom!
@@KittyBoom360 I hear this "choice" crap a lot. No matter which choice you make, you're forcing a choice on people. A million things change your biology or affect your body myriad ways every day, and no one asks about the ethics of any of it. Trillions of neutrinos pass through your body daily, and you don't even notice. The "choice" objection just seems to me like some vulgar attempt to compare it to SA. Also, that's what you found to be hocus pocus? Not the siren song reaper signal that mind controls you? Not the magic "element zero" that nullifies the mass of matter? Not Javik's ability to read minds just by touching them? Not the evil sentient plant making pod people? Seems like a strange position to take when all this other equally improbable magic stuff happens too.
@@KittyBoom360 things do tend to escalate when someone says something unconscionably brainless, like comparing a games choice system to SA, yes. I’m not interested in your high ground BS, I was thoroughly sick of it a decade ago when the game came out. Just go away if you have nothing substantive to say.
I felt Mass Effect was scifi with Lovecraftian elements from the first shot of Sovereign on Eden Prime. But Leviathan DLC turned the corner for me and I realised it was Lovecraft in space.
The discussion with Sovereign the player has in ME1 is peak cosmic horror for me. It always gives me goosebumps. ME2 and ME3 sadly don't truly have that charm, but the idea of Reapers being simply a reflection of the Leviathans makes up for it. That's because it shows how much of a cosmic horror Leviathans themselves really are.
Mass Effect is my favourite fictional universe of all time for a good many reasons, one I've played through at least a dozen times over the years, and this is one of them. The Reapers are such an existential threat, with a perspective so far beyond what we can ever truly understand, and yet the rest of the game is so very grounded, and full of the tiny details of life, it makes for an incredible juxtaposition. This is an incredible video essay, and one I'm certainly going to be both coming back to later, and sharing with friends. Thank you.
I remember one morning I had the day off, and was like “I got nothing to play” and I googled new games. Never even seen a trailer or ad for ME.. just was in a list and it said “this game is Star Trek, Star Wars and Babylon 5 rolled in one” And I was like oh shiiiiiiii And I went out and bought it, grabbed some Wendy’s, came home and was HOOKED.
Nice. I had similar experience. Didn't play a video game for a couple of years and had no idea about games like Skyrim and Mass Effect. In 2012 I asked a friend if he could recommend me a couple of good rpgs because I felt the gaming-itch again. And among others he said try Mass Effect or Skyrim. Ordered both games and was blown away. Especially Mass Effect is part of my life ever since. I love the lore, the world building .. just everything.
@@NostalgicGamerRickOShayThat made me so mad at the beginning of ME3. The Reapers invasion was intense- the Reapers are finally here to destroy everything-Annnnnd suddenly Cerberus is a comic book villain, go fight them literally everywhere you go.
Was doing a full playthrough of all 3 games and just imported my character to ME3 and when the reapers came down... "Our numbers will darken the sky of every world..." was echoing in my mind the whole time
You know I never thought of it in this respect, and it's probably why it's one of my all-time favorite stories, Lovecraftian horror has always been my favorite genre, and this game really does an amazing job encapturing it!
I agree with you when you said that the Lovecraftian in 1 and 2 is about building up to the beginning of ME3. But the whole series, to me, is then about how punch Chthulu in the face in an act of payback as much as it is an act of survival. The series is cosmic horror, yes, but it is also a series about defying the Old Gods and triumph by the end. Or at least, in an attempt of triumph because other than the Refusal ending, something about the collective peoples of the galaxy has to change: in Destroy, it is about destroying any "sentient machines," meaning that the geth (if you don't choose to destroy them earlier) and EDI are wiped out; in Control, it is about having the cherished hero of the galaxy becoming the Eldritch God who would enforce peace by force; and in Synthesis, we then live in harmony by having everybody become one with the gods, essentially an alternative to "ascension" as mentioned by the Reapers. Really, the Refusal ending is true act of defiance over everything else since the galactic peoples refuse to change for anything and rather be wiped out. And with Liara's time capsule project is successful in sending a message to the future, the act of defiance can complete by another group of people 50,000 years after we have been wiped out. Therefore, the series is not just about cosmic horror per se but also about unmasking that horror and the truth.
@@Southern7459 Batarians, they are my favourite ironically. They remind me of arachnoid humanoids. I mean I’m sure they’re not but their resemblance to spiders I see it.
And to think people genuinely believe the ending only comes in three flavors. I (most recently) picked the control ending w/ most of the war assets available and a paragon Shep, and that was *not* the speech he gave at the end; at least not to my memory. And yeah, this is a pretty solid reading of the impact/lack thereof of the events of the previous games. In the face of the Reapers, even the full might of the galaxy can mean precisely nothing
I too have had this thought. Also consider that once you give a creature like cthulu a stat block, people will inevitably find a way to beat it. It's just a stat sponge. That denies the very concept of eldritch. I think instead, the very fact that the ending is so wrapped in so much irl dissatisfaction is such a masterful stroke. "The best game storytellers ever couldn't just drop a meaningless ending...... could they?" The fact we are sitting here passing around secrets hidden in the texts is very 'catching something off. It's not an action or a look. But something. It didn't feel..... right. And as I tried to look closer, suddenly I realized it wasn't wast just not right it was wrong. But everyone else just laughed and carried on. Didn't they see it? How couldn't they not? Until..... at the end..... I had to ask ............. maybe..... Just maybe...... was I the crazy one?....................................................'
This was the first time I've ever seen the control ending. It definitely fits the themes of the cosmic horror you talk about in this video. It's an interesting idea, but I could never not pick synthesis, since it's the entire theme of the series. The combination of the cosmic horror with the sci-fi is something I find so interesting and it's amazing that they do it so well
I had read a review or someone said that they were let down by the fact that Mass Effect two really meant nothing in the grand scheme of the narrative. I have never considered that being the entire point, but now I think you are exactly right it is to make you feel helpless, no matter how much you fight
I grew up on Mass Effect (parents played it all the time) and I absolutely love the Reapers as villains because they are so well written, I want to implement them into a DnD campaign
When I officially started making my DnD world, one of the very first things I did was say "My BBEG of the world will have Indoctrination. I don't know how or why, but he will." It's such a terrifying idea, that you can't study or even fight the enemy without eventually becoming their slave - of your "own" volition, too.
Great analysis, it was really strange to me that this subject is really overlooked when talking about ME, and I would argue that even the Leviathan DLC, did not ruin this because it happened too long ago, and even though it was initially an AI, it became something else, it was mentioned the reapers were a combination of synthetic and organic, the ultimate being, I still believe they still represent an unstoppable force, the only reason they are "defeated" is because they get to the conclusion that their current solution is no longer appropriate, and they need to devise a new one, but give Shepard the option to choose given he was the one who proves them wrong, as with many of the different Lovecraftian histories, it never ends because the horror is defeated, but because it is negotiated or simply survived, in this case, it was Shepard who managed to sacrifice himself to save the universe, because outside of "Perfect Destroy" ending, Shepard dies one way or another, is a sacrifice, which matches with what usually happens in this kind of lovecraftian stories, his strong willpower allow Shepard to get their, to unite most/all galaxy against them, and even them, they would have lost, because when Shepard refuse to use any of the options provided by the Reapers, they just kill everyone and continue the Cycle, which proves they are in control of the situation.
That's an interesting way to view mass effect I must say. But for me mass effect is a story about overcoming the impossible by working together and never giving up, no matter how hard it is or how much we had to sacrifice. Shepard needed a crew to find Saren. Human fleets needed to work together to defeat Sovereign. Shepard died to the collectors but Cerberus of all things did te impossible and brought him back. Shepard and his crew took the fight to the collector's base and defeated them. The reapers were the biggest threat galaxy has ever faced in every cycle, but throught those cycles the spirit of the species inhabiting it refused to die as each cycle kept on building the Crucible so they may one day defeat the reapers. They weren't even sure what it will do but they had hope. The protheans sabotaged Citadel so it would not open a way to dark space itself, they knew it wouldn't do *them* any good but they gave next cycle time. Shepard and Mordin brought end to genophage. Nobody thought it would ever end. Shepard brought peace between quarians and geth. Feat believed to be impossible. When they came back to Earth, whole galaxy stood behind Shepard. They knew they couldn't win conventionally, more powerful species have tried and failed before them, but they were willing to sacrifice everything for the sliver of hope that was the Crucible. And while reapers are great way to represent cosmic horror, there is one thing in which they fail "that is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die" The reapers, for all their power, are not truly immortal. They can be killed, and if they can be killed, then they can be defeated.
While I do agree about Lovecraftian themes being present in the Mass Effect trilogy, I don't think the trilogy itself is a cosmic horror game. The main narrative "promises" about Shepard (given by yhe writers) were that: 1. Actions have consequences 2. Shepard is the chosen one (see the prothean visions) 3. Shepard is not a martyr, bur someone who saves the galaxy and lives to tell the tale. The first two games lived up to these, but the third game's ending threw everything out the window. The idea of the Reapers being these horrifying cosmic villains from dark space was swapped for the good old "man vs machine" theme, then Shepard got railroaded into three very flawed ways to end things, all of them ending up with him dead (minus perfect destroy). In the first two games, the ending was shaped by your choices. In the third one, the majority of that was taken out of our hands.
I prefer the synthesis ending but im not 100% happy with it either. I think the red ending is the most "shepard" ending but as a habitual paragon player I think evolving past the man/machine dynamic is how you overcome cosmic horror. Great video sir
i do paragon control, not fully happy with it but will not kill the geth and jokers gf lol, and synthesis is sus af, in a way thats what the reapers have been doing all along, whos to say you didnt just instantly indoctrinate the whole galaxy in your effort to save them? so i prefer control
Props to your presentation and editing. Also, did you know that in the original release of ME3, your squadmates on the final run always died, no matter what? But there was a huge backlash from the happy-ending crowd, and the devs gave in with an "patch" so that Joker could nonsensically swoop in and save your mates, which also made some other "fixes" that I was not a fan of. Btw, I always choose Control ending, no matter my galatic readiness, because of my Lovecraftian pessimism, you could say. For me, it's always more about telling a compelling story and less about crafting some ideal ending.
I am mixed on ME regarding its cosmic horror elements. ME 1 gets it right for the most part, although Sovereign is a bit too chatty for my taste. I always felt that the reapers shouldn't care about me and would consider me little more than a pesky insect. Instead, Sovereign gives a long speech on Virmire, like a silly Bond villain. In ME 2, they get almost comically stupid. Harbinger comes across as a silly action schlock villain, and his taunts are hilariously lame. His constant "this hurts you" or "this is true power" make him look less like a millions of years old, unstoppable, incomprehensible menace and more like a petulent child. The only part with good cosmic horror elements is the mission where you find Legion. Finally, in ME 3, their origin is pointlessly over explained. The creators of ME obviously didn't understand that good horror comes to life inside the mind. The monster doesn't need an explanation for why it is after you (think Micheal Myers or The Thing) let alone a really bad one.
Honestly my opinion on the mass effects ending is controversial I don't think there shouldn't be an ending where Shepard survives, I feel the 3 games have been building up to the final moment. I prefer the endings that get a stronger reaction out of me.
In indoctrination theory, all Shepard's brilliant victories and successes were insignificant under the Reapers. There never was the possibility of victory, there was submission or death - as Saren said. I was unhappy with Shepard losing at first, but the horror of it all was much more poignant. Imo, the ending of ME3 was brilliant.
Thanks for this video. I'm a huge fan of the ME series and replay it regularly, multiple times a year at least. I love playing Renegade because it aligns with what you're talking about. I think the Paragon route is too cookie cutter "good guys wins the day" type storytelling. I prefer a narrative wherein you have to make sacrifices just to stay afloat, fighting an enemy you can't comprehend that requires every last bit of ruthlessness you can muster. The destroy ending is my favorite because it highlights the human condition. Our enemy exists on a level we cannot comprehend, can see a big picture we could never grasp, and yet Shepard kills them just because it's defiant. It's like an eldritch being telling you if you kill them, it will doom you and everyone you know, but you do it anyways because fuck him. I love it.
Every cycle create AI, every cycle create Crusible, and every cycle is dead, becouse every indoctrinated military leader is catalyst. Shepard is indoctrination military leader (check codex), he have all symphtomes and he is a Catalyst, he making Crusible for make harvest more easyer. So your "perfect ending" right anyway, choices is was just a 4rd dream, its not reality.
Is everyone in the dark as to who worked on this series? Go back and familiarize yourself with WHO worked on these games and it will make more sense as to why they were so good. I haven’t come across a game series like this since. Andromeda was okay but, the trilogy was 🔥. Well, as long as at the end you got what it takes to get the job done 😉
I like what we learn there, and don't really think it takes away from the cosmic horror-ness of it, because we learn a simple start but that was dozens of millennia before and they have changed drastically since
@@angeloalvarez5520 the voice actress did an AMAZING job. When she goes full Ripley-idgaf, it’s the best. The humanity first in the first game, to the betrayed by humanity, and just looking out for my crew and homies in the second game, to the third game of just trying to protect the homies and their homies and their homies families, to that I don’t give a fvck finale, where you just shoot that fother mucker over and over and over until it’s over! Because you lost friends along the way who laid down their lives for victory and you ain’t gonna b!tch out at the end just because YOU are afraid to die! 💪 Ha! Get some! One of the best endings ever in a game
Sorry man, but these guys are overrated--outside of Sovereign, at least. They are ridiculously overpowered, are extremely one dimensional, they have limited dialogue (which is surprising since your interactions with them are all talk), their lore is all over the place and, to top it all off, it's finally revealed that they were the puppets of the worst character in franchise history all along! In the end, their motivation (the old man vs. machine trope) doesn't justify all the sound and fury of their actions.
Reaper. A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end what they chose to call us is irrelevant. We simply ARE.
Chills.
Honestly I came to the Mass Effect fandom late, and I was astonished that none of the people who had been telling me to get into it told me about the Reapers. It took me until ME2 to pick up on the cosmic horror details, but once I did I was very impressed by the level of background details that hint at the murky, evidently covered up truth of the millions of years of harvests.
A lot of people are disappointed by ME3, not just for the reason you gave, but for the ending. The control ending is in its way, a submission to the inevitable, as you describe, but even the destroy ending is a fate of cosmic horror. The Reapers might be gone, but what they were, is not. Now, the known monster is gone, but the threat, the reality of them, is now faceless. The inevitability of it, now unfettered, anything known about the Reapers, worthless now.
It's hard to contextualize the profound and horrific implications of the Reapers. It's really something that you have to discover for yourself. Welcome to the fandom!
@@KittyBoom360 I like synthesis. Other than the fact that it’s the only option that actually addresses the problem, I’m just a hopeless optimist
@@KittyBoom360 I hear this "choice" crap a lot. No matter which choice you make, you're forcing a choice on people. A million things change your biology or affect your body myriad ways every day, and no one asks about the ethics of any of it. Trillions of neutrinos pass through your body daily, and you don't even notice. The "choice" objection just seems to me like some vulgar attempt to compare it to SA.
Also, that's what you found to be hocus pocus? Not the siren song reaper signal that mind controls you? Not the magic "element zero" that nullifies the mass of matter? Not Javik's ability to read minds just by touching them? Not the evil sentient plant making pod people?
Seems like a strange position to take when all this other equally improbable magic stuff happens too.
@@KittyBoom360 things do tend to escalate when someone says something unconscionably brainless, like comparing a games choice system to SA, yes.
I’m not interested in your high ground BS, I was thoroughly sick of it a decade ago when the game came out. Just go away if you have nothing substantive to say.
@@KittyBoom360 seriously? “No, you!”
Yeah, we’re done.
++YOUR WORDS ARE AS EMPTY AS YOUR FUTURE. I AM THE VANGUARD OF YOUR DESTRUCTION.
THIS EXCHANGE IS OVER.++
Goosebumps every time...
I felt Mass Effect was scifi with Lovecraftian elements from the first shot of Sovereign on Eden Prime.
But Leviathan DLC turned the corner for me and I realised it was Lovecraft in space.
It was just there to give the reapers an origin.
@@georgevirtus A bad origin really. I prefer pure ignorance about that.
@@jomnix What would be good origin?
The discussion with Sovereign the player has in ME1 is peak cosmic horror for me. It always gives me goosebumps. ME2 and ME3 sadly don't truly have that charm, but the idea of Reapers being simply a reflection of the Leviathans makes up for it. That's because it shows how much of a cosmic horror Leviathans themselves really are.
2:29 fucking goosebumps, man! The sound alone of the reapers has to be a masterclass of how to make you tremble just for the anticipation
Mass Effect is my favourite fictional universe of all time for a good many reasons, one I've played through at least a dozen times over the years, and this is one of them. The Reapers are such an existential threat, with a perspective so far beyond what we can ever truly understand, and yet the rest of the game is so very grounded, and full of the tiny details of life, it makes for an incredible juxtaposition.
This is an incredible video essay, and one I'm certainly going to be both coming back to later, and sharing with friends. Thank you.
I remember one morning I had the day off, and was like “I got nothing to play” and I googled new games.
Never even seen a trailer or ad for ME.. just was in a list and it said “this game is Star Trek, Star Wars and Babylon 5 rolled in one”
And I was like oh shiiiiiiii
And I went out and bought it, grabbed some Wendy’s, came home and was HOOKED.
Nice. I had similar experience. Didn't play a video game for a couple of years and had no idea about games like Skyrim and Mass Effect. In 2012 I asked a friend if he could recommend me a couple of good rpgs because I felt the gaming-itch again. And among others he said try Mass Effect or Skyrim. Ordered both games and was blown away. Especially Mass Effect is part of my life ever since. I love the lore, the world building .. just everything.
@@soundofnellody262 oh yeah it's a game that I'll replay the trigloy entirely every year or two
I killed the reapers. They talk and talk, I liked watching them fall. They found out they are insignificant. lol
Both Halo Reach and ME3 had an effect of helplessness and sadness for me...
I was too busy being annoyed at how Cerberus shoved the Reapers aside to make themselves the main villain for ME3.
@@NostalgicGamerRickOShayThat made me so mad at the beginning of ME3. The Reapers invasion was intense- the Reapers are finally here to destroy everything-Annnnnd suddenly Cerberus is a comic book villain, go fight them literally everywhere you go.
I love that mass effect is getting an resurgence in a way
Was doing a full playthrough of all 3 games and just imported my character to ME3 and when the reapers came down... "Our numbers will darken the sky of every world..." was echoing in my mind the whole time
You know I never thought of it in this respect, and it's probably why it's one of my all-time favorite stories, Lovecraftian horror has always been my favorite genre, and this game really does an amazing job encapturing it!
I agree with you when you said that the Lovecraftian in 1 and 2 is about building up to the beginning of ME3. But the whole series, to me, is then about how punch Chthulu in the face in an act of payback as much as it is an act of survival. The series is cosmic horror, yes, but it is also a series about defying the Old Gods and triumph by the end. Or at least, in an attempt of triumph because other than the Refusal ending, something about the collective peoples of the galaxy has to change: in Destroy, it is about destroying any "sentient machines," meaning that the geth (if you don't choose to destroy them earlier) and EDI are wiped out; in Control, it is about having the cherished hero of the galaxy becoming the Eldritch God who would enforce peace by force; and in Synthesis, we then live in harmony by having everybody become one with the gods, essentially an alternative to "ascension" as mentioned by the Reapers.
Really, the Refusal ending is true act of defiance over everything else since the galactic peoples refuse to change for anything and rather be wiped out. And with Liara's time capsule project is successful in sending a message to the future, the act of defiance can complete by another group of people 50,000 years after we have been wiped out. Therefore, the series is not just about cosmic horror per se but also about unmasking that horror and the truth.
I'd say dead space does a fairly decent job with cosmic horror as well. Although it'll likely not see a true ending like we all hoped.
Hey but dead space does not have cute space gipsies, racist spider people, 4-eyed romans, soldier birds, or tribal battle toads lol
Rasist spider ppl?...... do you mean the rachni cause I can't figure out what you'd be refrenceing to
@@Southern7459 Batarians, they are my favourite ironically. They remind me of arachnoid humanoids. I mean I’m sure they’re not but their resemblance to spiders I see it.
And to think people genuinely believe the ending only comes in three flavors. I (most recently) picked the control ending w/ most of the war assets available and a paragon Shep, and that was *not* the speech he gave at the end; at least not to my memory. And yeah, this is a pretty solid reading of the impact/lack thereof of the events of the previous games. In the face of the Reapers, even the full might of the galaxy can mean precisely nothing
I too have had this thought. Also consider that once you give a creature like cthulu a stat block, people will inevitably find a way to beat it. It's just a stat sponge. That denies the very concept of eldritch. I think instead, the very fact that the ending is so wrapped in so much irl dissatisfaction is such a masterful stroke. "The best game storytellers ever couldn't just drop a meaningless ending...... could they?" The fact we are sitting here passing around secrets hidden in the texts is very 'catching something off. It's not an action or a look. But something. It didn't feel..... right. And as I tried to look closer, suddenly I realized it wasn't wast just not right it was wrong. But everyone else just laughed and carried on. Didn't they see it? How couldn't they not? Until..... at the end..... I had to ask ............. maybe..... Just maybe...... was I the crazy one?....................................................'
Bro got indoctrinated
This was the first time I've ever seen the control ending. It definitely fits the themes of the cosmic horror you talk about in this video. It's an interesting idea, but I could never not pick synthesis, since it's the entire theme of the series. The combination of the cosmic horror with the sci-fi is something I find so interesting and it's amazing that they do it so well
I had read a review or someone said that they were let down by the fact that Mass Effect two really meant nothing in the grand scheme of the narrative. I have never considered that being the entire point, but now I think you are exactly right it is to make you feel helpless, no matter how much you fight
I grew up on Mass Effect (parents played it all the time) and I absolutely love the Reapers as villains because they are so well written, I want to implement them into a DnD campaign
When I officially started making my DnD world, one of the very first things I did was say "My BBEG of the world will have Indoctrination. I don't know how or why, but he will." It's such a terrifying idea, that you can't study or even fight the enemy without eventually becoming their slave - of your "own" volition, too.
FluffyNinjaLlama mentioned!!
I've always been a fan of ME series. I've never viewed it as comic horror. I alwayd viewed it as the hypocrisy of Ai. But loved the video.
Yes, the game "Control" is more cosmic horror.
Great analysis, it was really strange to me that this subject is really overlooked when talking about ME, and I would argue that even the Leviathan DLC, did not ruin this because it happened too long ago, and even though it was initially an AI, it became something else, it was mentioned the reapers were a combination of synthetic and organic, the ultimate being, I still believe they still represent an unstoppable force, the only reason they are "defeated" is because they get to the conclusion that their current solution is no longer appropriate, and they need to devise a new one, but give Shepard the option to choose given he was the one who proves them wrong, as with many of the different Lovecraftian histories, it never ends because the horror is defeated, but because it is negotiated or simply survived, in this case, it was Shepard who managed to sacrifice himself to save the universe, because outside of "Perfect Destroy" ending, Shepard dies one way or another, is a sacrifice, which matches with what usually happens in this kind of lovecraftian stories, his strong willpower allow Shepard to get their, to unite most/all galaxy against them, and even them, they would have lost, because when Shepard refuse to use any of the options provided by the Reapers, they just kill everyone and continue the Cycle, which proves they are in control of the situation.
I thought you were gonna say Bloodborne at the start, was surprised to hear Amnesia. If you haven't played bloodborne yet, please do!
Found this channel because of star wars stayed because of mass effect. Good videos so far brother
That's an interesting way to view mass effect I must say.
But for me mass effect is a story about overcoming the impossible by working together and never giving up, no matter how hard it is or how much we had to sacrifice.
Shepard needed a crew to find Saren.
Human fleets needed to work together to defeat Sovereign.
Shepard died to the collectors but Cerberus of all things did te impossible and brought him back.
Shepard and his crew took the fight to the collector's base and defeated them.
The reapers were the biggest threat galaxy has ever faced in every cycle, but throught those cycles the spirit of the species inhabiting it refused to die as each cycle kept on building the Crucible so they may one day defeat the reapers. They weren't even sure what it will do but they had hope.
The protheans sabotaged Citadel so it would not open a way to dark space itself, they knew it wouldn't do *them* any good but they gave next cycle time.
Shepard and Mordin brought end to genophage. Nobody thought it would ever end.
Shepard brought peace between quarians and geth. Feat believed to be impossible.
When they came back to Earth, whole galaxy stood behind Shepard. They knew they couldn't win conventionally, more powerful species have tried and failed before them, but they were willing to sacrifice everything for the sliver of hope that was the Crucible.
And while reapers are great way to represent cosmic horror, there is one thing in which they fail
"that is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die"
The reapers, for all their power, are not truly immortal. They can be killed, and if they can be killed, then they can be defeated.
While I do agree about Lovecraftian themes being present in the Mass Effect trilogy, I don't think the trilogy itself is a cosmic horror game.
The main narrative "promises" about Shepard (given by yhe writers) were that: 1. Actions have consequences
2. Shepard is the chosen one (see the prothean visions)
3. Shepard is not a martyr, bur someone who saves the galaxy and lives to tell the tale.
The first two games lived up to these, but the third game's ending threw everything out the window. The idea of the Reapers being these horrifying cosmic villains from dark space was swapped for the good old "man vs machine" theme, then Shepard got railroaded into three very flawed ways to end things, all of them ending up with him dead (minus perfect destroy).
In the first two games, the ending was shaped by your choices. In the third one, the majority of that was taken out of our hands.
I prefer the synthesis ending but im not 100% happy with it either. I think the red ending is the most "shepard" ending but as a habitual paragon player I think evolving past the man/machine dynamic is how you overcome cosmic horror. Great video sir
i do paragon control, not fully happy with it but will not kill the geth and jokers gf lol, and synthesis is sus af, in a way thats what the reapers have been doing all along, whos to say you didnt just instantly indoctrinate the whole galaxy in your effort to save them? so i prefer control
Props to your presentation and editing.
Also, did you know that in the original release of ME3, your squadmates on the final run always died, no matter what? But there was a huge backlash from the happy-ending crowd, and the devs gave in with an "patch" so that Joker could nonsensically swoop in and save your mates, which also made some other "fixes" that I was not a fan of.
Btw, I always choose Control ending, no matter my galatic readiness, because of my Lovecraftian pessimism, you could say. For me, it's always more about telling a compelling story and less about crafting some ideal ending.
nah, mass effect 3 didnt have the horror I expected from the reapers.
I am mixed on ME regarding its cosmic horror elements.
ME 1 gets it right for the most part, although Sovereign is a bit too chatty for my taste. I always felt that the reapers shouldn't care about me and would consider me little more than a pesky insect. Instead, Sovereign gives a long speech on Virmire, like a silly Bond villain. In ME 2, they get almost comically stupid. Harbinger comes across as a silly action schlock villain, and his taunts are hilariously lame. His constant "this hurts you" or "this is true power" make him look less like a millions of years old, unstoppable, incomprehensible menace and more like a petulent child. The only part with good cosmic horror elements is the mission where you find Legion. Finally, in ME 3, their origin is pointlessly over explained. The creators of ME obviously didn't understand that good horror comes to life inside the mind. The monster doesn't need an explanation for why it is after you (think Micheal Myers or The Thing) let alone a really bad one.
And then Mass Effect SCREWED EVERYTHING UP by making The Reapers the side-villain. CERBERUS takes up most of the villain parts.
Honestly my opinion on the mass effects ending is controversial I don't think there shouldn't be an ending where Shepard survives, I feel the 3 games have been building up to the final moment. I prefer the endings that get a stronger reaction out of me.
In indoctrination theory, all Shepard's brilliant victories and successes were insignificant under the Reapers. There never was the possibility of victory, there was submission or death - as Saren said. I was unhappy with Shepard losing at first, but the horror of it all was much more poignant. Imo, the ending of ME3 was brilliant.
Eventually the reapers will fail time is the true god for them
Wow a very new and interesting take on ME.
Time for me to subscribe and reinstall ME1-3😂
Thx for the video!
You got a like and subscribe out of me. Great video, well done.
Thanks for this video. I'm a huge fan of the ME series and replay it regularly, multiple times a year at least. I love playing Renegade because it aligns with what you're talking about. I think the Paragon route is too cookie cutter "good guys wins the day" type storytelling. I prefer a narrative wherein you have to make sacrifices just to stay afloat, fighting an enemy you can't comprehend that requires every last bit of ruthlessness you can muster. The destroy ending is my favorite because it highlights the human condition. Our enemy exists on a level we cannot comprehend, can see a big picture we could never grasp, and yet Shepard kills them just because it's defiant. It's like an eldritch being telling you if you kill them, it will doom you and everyone you know, but you do it anyways because fuck him. I love it.
You give me MrBTongue vibes
@@KingofReverie don't know who that is. Will give him a look
Every cycle create AI, every cycle create Crusible, and every cycle is dead, becouse every indoctrinated military leader is catalyst.
Shepard is indoctrination military leader (check codex), he have all symphtomes and he is a Catalyst, he making Crusible for make harvest more easyer. So your "perfect ending" right anyway, choices is was just a 4rd dream, its not reality.
Is everyone in the dark as to who worked on this series? Go back and familiarize yourself with WHO worked on these games and it will make more sense as to why they were so good. I haven’t come across a game series like this since. Andromeda was okay but, the trilogy was 🔥. Well, as long as at the end you got what it takes to get the job done 😉
The Reapers ceased being a cosmic horror once Leviathan dlc dropped. Really made them from a cosmic horror to just another rogue AI that won.
We don't mention Leviathan around here
Well, they didn't rebel against their creators, they did exactly what they were created for. Just in their own way.
I like what we learn there, and don't really think it takes away from the cosmic horror-ness of it, because we learn a simple start but that was dozens of millennia before and they have changed drastically since
They stopped being cosmic horror the moment Sovereign was defeated in MA1 I would say. It's not a true cosmic horror if you can actually kill it.
@@mrsejd3446"If it bleeds....we can kill it".
It's insane people are still playing this game and i've still been to scared of being mean to play a renegade run.
My first playthrough was renegade
Female renegade is literally the best version of the story. For real, my dude? Go back and play!
@@Thelastetherborn I play female shepherd as a paragon
@@angeloalvarez5520 the voice actress did an AMAZING job. When she goes full Ripley-idgaf, it’s the best.
The humanity first in the first game, to the betrayed by humanity, and just looking out for my crew and homies in the second game, to the third game of just trying to protect the homies and their homies and their homies families, to that I don’t give a fvck finale, where you just shoot that fother mucker over and over and over until it’s over! Because you lost friends along the way who laid down their lives for victory and you ain’t gonna b!tch out at the end just because YOU are afraid to die! 💪
Ha! Get some! One of the best endings ever in a game
Sorry man, but these guys are overrated--outside of Sovereign, at least. They are ridiculously overpowered, are extremely one dimensional, they have limited dialogue (which is surprising since your interactions with them are all talk), their lore is all over the place and, to top it all off, it's finally revealed that they were the puppets of the worst character in franchise history all along! In the end, their motivation (the old man vs. machine trope) doesn't justify all the sound and fury of their actions.
Reapers are right.
This is the reason why i like MEA more than the Trilogy.
lol