10 Awesome Gaming Franchises It Became Cool To Hate

3. Mass Effect

Mass Effect revolutionized the RPG genre. Fully voiced and acted characters, a fluid and naturalistic dialogue system, a fascinating universe, and a compelling story all helped establish the first Mass Effect as a new original franchise to get excited about. Mass Effect 2 was an improvement in almost every way. It was met with near universal critical acclaim by both gamers and critics, and cemented the series as one of the best of the genre. Then Mass Effect 3 happened, and suddenly a series that was beloved by many became reviled. While a step down in many ways compared to the second game, what truly made Mass Effect 3 a colossal misfire was the last 10 minutes. Never has the opinion of over 100 hours of game been completely changed by the last moments for so many people. The abrupt apocalyptic nature of the ending gave us no closure, and the tone of the final decision feels incredibly distant to all the story that came before it. Many fans felt betrayed and/or depressed. Some time has passed and the ending still remains wrong on nearly every level. But the outrage over the ending continues to overshadow all the good in this franchise. That terrible ending will never change the fact that the mythology and world building was impeccable, the writing sublime in its combination of humour and drama, and the cast of characters real and morally complex. Most importantly, the feeling of personal involvement continues to go unmatched by most video games. It's unfortunate that all that continues to be drowned out by the hate. Now Mass Effect is an easy target. Mass Effect deserves more considering all the joy it has brought to so many gamers' lives. That ending can't be forgiven, but the 99% that came before it is simply too good to forget.