It is onerous to imagine that it has been ten years for the reason that uproar of the Mass Impact 3 ending controversy. For individuals who have been lucky sufficient to overlook it, the crash course model is that after dozens of hours throughout a sprawling RPG trilogy, the ending of Commander Shepard’s epic got here right down to a comparatively simplistic trinary selection that was virtually wholly faraway from the participant’s journey as much as that time.
It is troublesome to overstate simply how massive a deal this was, not only for Mass Impact followers however on gaming culture as a whole. The blowback was fierce sufficient that BioWare really launched an Extended Cut DLC aiming to supply “extra closure with much more context and readability,” and an ending that “will really feel extra personalised for every participant.” It was undoubtedly an enchancment, however the outcomes have been nonetheless fairly grim.
That is the place the Mass Impact 3 Comfortable Ending mod comes into play—and in case you do not need to be spoiled, I recommend you cease studying right here, as a result of they’re coming. The mod makes a lot of modifications to the massive end of Mass Impact 3 by canonizing a selected ending, reducing some content material to make the narrative work, holding the geth and EDI alive, and naturally guaranteeing that Shepard survives and is reunited with their crew—together with their love curiosity.
The unique mod is still available, however sadly it is not appropriate with the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. The excellent news for individuals who get pleasure from glad endings is {that a} reworked model, referred to as Audemus’ Comfortable Ending Mod, is—you possibly can snag it now from Nexus Mods.
Audemus’ Comfortable Ending Mod is described as a “religious successor” to the unique, and is definitely nearer to JohnP’s Alternate MEHEM mod, a rework of the unique Comfortable Ending that comes with the Prolonged Lower content material. However the internet result’s basically the identical: It eliminates the Catalyst, preserves the Citadel and Mass Impact Relay Community, and naturally retains Commander Shepard—and their love curiosity, if relevant—alive.
It is also been designed to include a Legendary Version-compatible model of the Citadel Epilogue Mod, which turns the excellent Citadel DLC—”a sweet, funny goodbye hug for long-term followers of the collection”—right into a Mass Impact 3 epilogue. The makers of Audemus’ Comfortable Ending Mod are presently engaged on that and anticipate to have it out later this 12 months.
Personally, I do not assume the conclusion of the Mass Impact trilogy was fairly the crime in opposition to humanity that some gamers made it out to be. Slightly disappointing, possibly, however not practically sufficient of a letdown to negate numerous hours of leisure in probably the most splendidly well-realized sci-fi universes I’ve ever encountered. That stated, I do very a lot choose glad endings over unhappy ones, and I believe that if I ever get round to enjoying the Mass Impact Legendary Version, I will probably do it with this mod put in.
