Okay, it's been a while since this thread has had activity, and I hate double posting, but the Extended Cut came out today. Here are my impressions. Warning, SPOILERS!
Still here? Okay.
Well, I was glad that they showed Joker coming to pick up my team-mates. I was afraid the game'd just kill them off, so I picked my least favorite team-mates, ie. Ashley and James. Lots of small touches, such as Joker being pretty much forced to leave, and the fact that the Normandy's engines don't get ripped to pieces is good in my book. Also, the Mass Relays don't go boom. I really liked that you could question the Catalyst over everything, and the comparison to a "cleansing fire" really put the whole thing in perspective. And the extra epilogue. I grinned when I realized that EDI was narrating it. I loved seeing the Reapers actually helping. I loved seeing that there were signs that all the planets, especially Tuchanka, were being rebuilt. And I loved seeing the little cute baby krogan. And then the memorial wall. FUCK. I knew Liara was going to be devastated by Shepard's loss, but seeing that even EDI was breaking down...damn. And then the Normandy lifting off to fly away into the sunset was bittersweet. Brief impressions of the other endings: 1) The refusal ending is kind of a big F-you to everything you did. The Reapers win and the next cycle finds Liara's recordings. 2) The destroy ending shows that there's a bit more hardship that they have to endure and is narrated by Hackett. It's not as personal. I don't know if it happens if EDI was your most popular team-mate since they're always safe, but her name is on the memorial wall. 3) The control ending is narrated by the Reaper Collective, near as I can tell. With Shepard's voice. The Reapers rebuild everything and then take up the task of protecting everything. So if anyone ever fucks with the galaxy, nobody needs to worry, they have a fleet of gigantic robot bugs.
All in all...I am so glad to have this game. I loved it even before this, and this confirmed everything I had been surmising.
\Watching the other endings on IGN and getting ads for the Navy narrated by Admiral Anderson. WIN.