The Flaws of Mass Effect 3's Open World and Ending: Game Dev Reviews

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Every Friday, the editorial team of "Gamedev" from Skillbox Media shares fresh videos in Russian and English, which cover topics related to games, their creation and Game design. Today's episode features both successful and unsuccessful examples of approaches to creating open worlds in games, and also discusses the issues surrounding the difficult ending of Mass Effect 3.

How many games do you know in which the developers masterfully utilize the open-world concept? And are there any among them where this world does not simply serve as a backdrop for story quests, but is a carefully designed location in which every action you take contributes to achieving your goals?

In his latest video, the author of the channel Razbuten shares his thoughts on why he finds the structure of most open worlds, at best, strange. To illustrate his thoughts, he cites examples from games such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. The blogger notes that a significant drawback is that all of these projects can be completed simply by moving from one story quest to the next, without paying attention to the vast spaces. While players are occasionally offered side quests to distract themselves with, these vast and stunningly beautiful worlds aren't necessary for successful completion. In fact, both The Witcher and Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as Horizon: Zero Dawn, could easily be presented as games where events unfold in individual levels or large, yet still confined, locations.

Therefore, the video's author believes that open worlds don't play a significant role in the vast majority of modern games. While they are not without merit: by exploring such worlds, players can discover valuable equipment and witness the aftermath of events that occurred before the protagonist's arrival. However, this is still not a very convincing argument in favor of such worlds.

The blogger cites The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring as examples of successful open-world projects. According to the video's author, their developers didn't rely on players exploring these artistically created universes simply because of their openness. Instead, they ensured that every action taken anywhere on the map contributed to achieving a specific goal—whether it was defeating Ganon in The Legend of Zelda or defeating another enemy in Elden Ring. Both games won't let you enjoy the gameplay simply by following the rare markers that were provided by the creators.

Another striking example of open-world gameplay, according to the blogger, is Far Cry 5. In this Ubisoft shooter, the player must reach the leader of a cult, but to do so, they must first defeat his followers. Each of them controls their own section of the map, and to attract their attention, you need to actively act in the corresponding region. This could be killing an enemy, destroying objects, recruiting a new ally, and so on. Any action you take in Far Cry 5 will contribute to the cultists' attention.

Surprisingly, the fifth Far Cry game is more impressive in terms of open-world interaction than The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In the latter game, the protagonist Geralt, striving to find Ciri, often finds himself playing Gwent and talking with peasants about various trifles, such as frying pans.

When discussing bad endings, one of the first examples comes to mind is Mass Effect 3 – a game that was supposed to wrap up multiple carefully crafted story arcs, but ultimately boiled everything down to a choice between three differently colored buttons. But this begs the question: could a more fitting conclusion to a trilogy that unfolded over the course of more than five years have been possible?

Adam Millard, who runs the YouTube channel The Architect of Games, believes that BioWare's ending couldn't have been improved upon, no matter the circumstances. Users expressed dissatisfaction with the multifaceted ending of Mass Effect 3, as it did not reflect the choices that should have impacted the fates of all the characters who participated in the fight against the Reapers alongside Shepard. However, it is worth considering that in some playthroughs, certain characters might not survive to the end, making it impossible to create a unique ending for each player taking into account all the decisions made.

Nevertheless, the blogger advises against focusing too much on the final part of the trilogy, suggesting that the Citadel expansion pack be considered a more worthy finale. In this expansion, players have the chance to meet all the important characters at a party, allowing them to immerse themselves in nostalgia and rethink the decisions made in previous games.

The issue of multiple endings is not unique to Mass Effect 3. In his video, the author mentions other games in which, despite the developers' promises of a variety of endings, they actually turn out to be quite similar. Such projects include Fallout 4, Batman from Telltale, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and a number of others.