10 Video Games That Made Us Look Like Idiots

For its first two games, Mass Effect was held up as a landmark sci-fi RPG, a densely detailed, narrative-focused adventure which took stock of player choice as its story progressed.

BioWare promised fans that the climactic third game would offer up a certain amount of narrative granularity, with particular regard to its ending, ensuring that player choice across the trilogy would pay off in dynamic ways.

But of course, Mass Effect 3 was widely pilloried for an ending which cast all that promise aside and effectively just asked players to pick one of three colours in order to receive a pre-baked ending.

Though BioWare did release an extended ending to try and paper over the upset, the damage was already done.

Not only did fans feel duped by BioWare for failing to deliver on their promises, but many felt stupid for having invested so much of themselves in a storyline and characters which were eventually serviced so unsatisfactorily.

The message that the game sent to players was that they were silly for becoming so wrapped up in the epic, sweeping story, which going by the tepid commercial performance of follow-up Mass Effect: Andromeda may have been enough to ice the franchise for the foreseeable future.

Pro-tip for EA: don't make your customers feel like they're dumb for believing in your product.