MASS EFFECT 3

[nub]

All in all awesome end to the trilogy.

If you're talking about the literal end to the story, then bull fucking shit.

There's no fucking closure whatsoever. I wanted to see where all the races stood after the war ended, as well as Shepard's crew and friends. An epilogue like in Dragon Age Origins would have been great. The Normandy crash-landing on a remote planet because its relay jump was interrupted just adds so much confusion and vagueness to it all.

I pretty much knew Shepard was going to die since they hint at it several times throughout the game, and when you get baked by that reaper while trying to run to the Citadel beam on Earth, it's pretty obvious he's gonna die. Shepard's death is justifiable, though cliche. I just wanted closure.

I'll just warn everyone who hasn't beaten it yet and is eager to see the end:

You will be disappointed.

[joe_rogers_11155]

Okay I get what Banter is saying but isn't the Mass Effect series' gameplay focused heavily on talking to people? Even more so than the average RPG? In that case, I would say that the graphics DOES have an effect on the gameplay. When we talk about immersion in this case, we mean that the ability of a game to immerse the player in a conversation is important to the gameplay and the whole experience.

But I just watched the "Hero" video on the last page and it reminds me of Pixar's earliest projects. I think "Geri's Game" looks much better than what I saw in that video. I thought I was watching some early devs-only early-hacked version of the game instead of the finished-product Let's Play video.

I guess for full disclosure I have never played any ME game for more than about 30 minutes...but wow the new one is looking more and more like a cheap rush job of a finale.

[Ark11]

EA
RUINS
EVERYTHING

[Phott]

I should stop clicking on this thread.

I'm still playing through it, not even half way.

[Major Banter]

Well, I had a hilarious moment when EDI cracked an obvious joke and BroShep made a full OMFG face. It had me rolling around on the floor with how out of place it was. But some of the animations are just re-used or dreadful. The running animation isn't a problem for me, but seeing the same 'dynamic reaction' animations in conversation over and over is immersion breaking, and that's a problem.

[Phott]

Well, I had a hilarious moment when EDI cracked an obvious joke and BroShep made a full OMFG face.

That scene was really fucking awkward. God damn I hate the animations, they just get worse with every new game they release.

[nub]

Me and my buddy actually laughed our fucking asses off at that part. Bioware must have put that in as pure stupid humor rather than try and make a clever joke. That face he makes is priceless, even if it's awkward and retarded.

Mass Effect 2 had a lot of humor in it though, especially if you choose the Renegade path:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PjTuSQNLI4

In ME3, a majority of the humor in the game comes from the relationship between EDI and Joker to be honest (just like in ME2), though if you talk to Wrex when on the Salarian home world while Garrus is with you, there's plenty of pretty funny, lore-friendly wisecracks.

Also, seeing Tali drunk was priceless.

[joe_rogers_11155]

i'm gonna wait for the next project from the guys who did the recent "Kara" video, the ones who made Heavy Rain.

[cashed]

nub why does it have to have closure? I sometimes think its better when you can fill in the universe with your imagination with markers they provide.

[nub]

nub why does it have to have closure? I sometimes think its better when you can fill in the universe with your imagination with markers they provide.

Because of the characters. A lot of people played Mass Effect because of them. Just look at Tali and Garrus. They were with you in all three games and developed a lot throughout the series. I, along with countless other fans, wanted to see their roles come to a conclusion.

Leaving it up to the viewer/player to decide how it ends is great when it's done right. I didn't feel the least bit satisfied with the "markers" that Bioware gave us though.

All you REALLY find out is that the war is over, and the Normandy crash lands on a remote planet. Shepard dies unless you have over 5000 EMS. You also don't annihilate Earth from destroying the Reapers if you have over 5000 EMS apparently. I imagine all technology, including the Geth and EDI, is still destroyed though.

My point is, people want to see all the characters they care about after the war is over and talk to them (if Shepard survives of course). How much you want to bet they're thinking about releasing a DLC that lets you do just that?

[vcool]

gg

[Phott]

Well I finished it.

Had a great time, was a little sketchy about a couple of things during the first missions. However, the way the game progressed was good and I started liking it more and more. Enough to actually consider this to possibly be the best game in the series, but only in certain aspects. Shepard felt a bit... Empty in the earlier games. In this one you actually see him react a lot more to what's going on, and is a bit more personal about it. This should have been shown a lot more in the earlier games.

I didn't really like some character re-designs, such as Ashley's. Did she get a ridiculous boob job or what? And an armor with a skirt... None the less, the focus on dialogue and story telling was great just like the other 2 games.

So I went with what I would think is the best outcome for an ending by controlling the reapers. It was quite emotional, so that was good. But what the actual fuck happened after that? It feels like it didn't really end, the god damn credits surprised me because I was expecting more.

My guess is that the vague ending leaves options for Bioware to release more Mass Effect content, possibly not in just DLC's.

All in all an enjoyable experience, quite possibly one of my best when it comes to games. People can say what they want about EA ruining Bioware or them fucking up, but there was a clear focus on story and characters that never really disappointed me. I'm curious to see how much the game changes with my other save file imported, because on that one I pretty much got the worst possible ending in the second game. But... Eh, I'm probably going to run through the entire trilogy from the start now.

[joe_rogers_11155]

SO..................how 'bout that indoctrination theory?

ENORMOUS SPOILER WARNING IF YOU WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!

Was it a masterful mistake by Bioware or was it planned from the start?

[Phott]

Prepare for DLC with "real" ending.

[nub]

Well I finished it.

Had a great time, was a little sketchy about a couple of things during the first missions. However, the way the game progressed was good and I started liking it more and more. Enough to actually consider this to possibly be the best game in the series, but only in certain aspects. Shepard felt a bit... Empty in the earlier games. In this one you actually see him react a lot more to what's going on, and is a bit more personal about it. This should have been shown a lot more in the earlier games.

All in all an enjoyable experience, quite possibly one of my best when it comes to games.

Don't get me wrong, mechanically the game is sound. They went in the right direction with the combat. I was glad they brought back weapon mods, though I still wish they had incorporated heavier RPG elements (properly, that is) so the game could be a "true" action/RPG title. Nevertheless, they did a good job in that area. I enjoyed playing the game.

However, the game does lack visual polish. There's so many ugly textures, which is a shame because overall the levels were designed very well. Just to sort of...summarize what I mean though, watch this video:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/kjlZ-Bp41Ww[/youtube]
Ignore the annoying commentary..

There's a lot of animation snapping in cut scenes too; even characters not appearing in their correct spots on occasion, which breaks immersion. Mass Effect 1 had these issues, though not as much. Mas Effect 2 cut scenes were nearly flawless in my opinion. I only came across a few awkward animations whenever I played it.

One last thing I've always noticed about Bioware is their weakness to emotional scenes.

Shepard's reaction to certain characters' deaths were just...kind of bland and lacked impact. He felt way too stiff towards Mordins death, as well as Tali's and Legions. Three characters I absolutely love. Mordin's actual death was well portrayed, just not Shepard's reaction. Tali's death scene is the only one I disliked. It was just plain insulting for Tali fans. Fortunately, her death is avoidable.

Anyway, once I found out Shepard can survive, I knew Bioware was holding something incredibly important back for whatever reason. That youtube video that Joe posted is really informative, and in my opinion is mostly accurate. I had a feeling something just didn't add up with that whole scene inside the Citadel with the Illusive Man, but I ended up just blaming it on Bioware rushing the game (which might still be the case).

Even so, I don't think it excuses Bioware from leaving out so much. It's so anti-climatic for this series. Releasing a DLC to give the game actual closure will be a godsend, while fucked up at the same time. Like the day-one "From Ashes" DLC, it should have been included in the game already.

No sense in arguing that though. It's EA afterall. I've learned to live with their bull shit since it will never change. That's why I never buy DLC anymore.


PS: Does anyone remember an article from a while back (before ME3 even came out) that said you could import an ME2 save where Shepard dies at the end? Whatever happened with that?