10 Video Game Moments Where You Were Screwed Either Way

6. Mass Effect 3 - The Not So Happy Endings

mass effect 3 ending
Bioware

The fact that Mass Effect 3’s endings are unpopular is not news. But it is worth dwelling on the fact that there were four endings to one of the most beloved trilogies in all of gaming and they were all pretty damn unsatisfying. Hundreds of hours of galaxy-trotting, character building, and awe-inspiring events boiled down to stumbling toward a stream of light and choosing one of three options that had little to do with the series so far but flipped the galaxy on its head.

In the end the Reaper threat could only be contained by either destroying the reapers, the catch being you also have to destroy all synthetic life in the galaxy and massively screw up the Citadel and Mass Relays--not great--or you could turn everyone in the galaxy into green-eyed human/synthetic hybrids, or you could sacrifice yourself to control the reapers. If those all sounded bad then you definitely won’t be keen for the fourth ending where you just refuse to choose, give up, and just let the Reapers win. All up, we definitely felt screwed over. At least the Legendary Edition coming this year includes the extended edition of the trilogy, now remastered, plus over 40 DLC so, look, I’m definitely going to play it again anyway.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.