User blog comment:Arbington/My thoughts on the central theme of the series./@comment-3581090-20120730160451

I really think you're onto something. I'm not sure I think it's the main theme of the series (the ME3 ending throws way too much out of whack for anything to be definite), but I think it’s certainly a strong contender for the central theme of ME3. Which, in my opinion, is a kind of variant of what you said: “What It Takes to Win vs. What You’re Willing to Do to Win.”

At the end of the day, ME1 and ME2 were both about winning--but not about what it takes to win. ME3 (regardless of its ultimate execution of this) tries to be structured in such a way that all of your decisions directly affect the actual likelihood of success. The War Asset rating is the game expressly showing you whether you’re making beneficial decisions or not. And when there is an obvious measure of the likelihood of your success, you’re suddenly forced to weigh your personal morality against the idea of the greater good. It’s like the Dragon Age: Origins companion approval meter: which choice gets Leliana to fall in love with me--er, gets me the highest asset rating…and am I okay with making my decisions based on what a little green bar tells me?

Granted, a lot of these are set against the backdrop of “we’ll be lucky if we survive to deal with the negative repercussions,” which makes the choices less about morality or logic and more about highly emotional reactions (“You can take everything I have, just give me the antidote!”), but I think the intent is still there. Though, again, how successful it is up for debate.