Mass Effect 3

[ziggy]

... Is mere hours away, and this next sentence may sound like blasphemy.

I may wait another month before I pick it up because I'm having so much fun with Skyrim. :what:

[TheBeagle]

... Is mere hours away, and this next sentence may sound like blasphemy.

I may wait another month before I pick it up because I'm having so much fun with Skyrim. :what: I'm with you, ziggy. I've always loved the ME games but I got plenty to play, plus The Witcher 2 is coming out next month and I'm honestly looking forward to that one more. Since they started their partnership with EA, Bioware hasn't been the same. They already have DLC for ME3 on release date and the only way to get it without paying is the collector's edition. I'm sure it'll be damn cheap in a couple months anyway.

[dnbman]

You two post in the Skyrim thread to update what you're up to.

I'm actually playing Oblivion for the first time in ages. Didn't realize how big of a leap forward Skyrim was.

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I went ahead and picked up ME3. So far it's good, but up to this point it hasn't blown my mind like ME2 did. I'm still very, very early in the story though.

[bing!]

Don't forget to immerse yourself in the story by means of charatcter interactions and relations (I'm not talking about sex :biggrin: ), explore and talk to everyone. After every major mission, most characters on the Normandy will have something new to say and share with you or they'll be engaged in a conversation with another crew member... I got a kick out of Garrus and Liara reminiscing about the old days or eavesdropping on the discussion between Javik (get From Ashes) and Liara about the history of the Prothean civilization (the bastards were ruthless).

Thus far, Mass Effect 1 > Mass Effect 3 > Mass Effect 2.

[ziggy]

Don't forget to immerse yourself in the story by means of charatcter interactions and relations (I'm not talking about sex :biggrin: ), explore and talk to everyone. After every major mission, most characters on the Normandy will have something new to say and share with you or they'll be engaged in a conversation with another crew member... I got a kick out of Garrus and Liara reminiscing about the old days or eavesdropping on the discussion between Javik (get From Ashes) and Liara about the history of the Prothean civilization (the bastards were ruthless).

Thus far, Mass Effect 1 > Mass Effect 3 > Mass Effect 2.


So far I've got it as ME2>ME3>ME1

[bing!]

I still favour the original to its sequels because it's the only one that handled, and presented, the lore with care and tact. 2 & 3 went out of their way to throw excuses (or, as I like to call it, lore butchering) at the player in order to have him shoot more stuff and I don't quite care for that in an RPG (though, to be fair, 2 & 3 can hardly be called that). As pew-pew action games, they're superior, but as games that absorb one into their worlds, they've failed... for me, at least.

[adam187]

I still favour the original to its sequels because it's the only one that handled, and presented, the lore with care and tact. 2 & 3 went out of their way to throw excuses (or, as I like to call it, lore butchering) at the player in order to have him shoot more stuff and I don't quite care for that in an RPG (though, to be fair, 2 & 3 can hardly be called that). As pew-pew action games, they're superior, but as games that absorb one into their worlds, they've failed... for me, at least.

did you write this review?

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7694386/on-mass-effect-3

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Of course not, but I agree with the guy.

After having spent ~30 hours in the game, I'm gonna rectify my order of preference... 1 > 2 > 3. Having only one hub makes me feel constrained after a while, plus the game has many UI shortcomings and technical issues (on PC, at least). People have only had bad things to say about the ending(s) and the necessity of MP to achieve the best outcome despite devs saying that it wouldn't be required. I dunno, the initial excitement is waning, the game is quickly becoming a chore with the way plot develops, forced cameos, horrid cutscene direction/transitions and the incessant "oooh, Shepard, sex me up."

[bing!]

I've just finished the game after putting nearly 45 hours in it. What can I say... Bioware died a long time ago.

[TheBeagle]

I've just finished the game after putting nearly 45 hours in it. What can I say... Bioware died a long time ago. Being that I'll play it eventually, I've avoided spoilers, but I've seen enough reviews to know that this game was an epically epic fail. Mass Effect 1 and Dragon Age: Origins were the last "games" Bioware put out. Let us now sing their requiem.

[bing!]

I'd suggest you wait at least until April, seeing as they've promised to revise/expand upon/clarify the utterly abysmal ending. The game, in and of itself, is fun. Sadly, it has more in common with ME2 than ME1, but it's playable and entertaining nonetheless. The writing, on the other hand, has taken a dive alongside the VA performance by some of the cast. Cutscenes are poorly edited and the seams are clearly showing, which can break the immersion somewhat. The story development and the gameplay structure is bite-sized, with short missions involving a contrived enemy wave-summon mechanic in the form of activating a console or disabling an AA gun emplacement etc. It features a single hub populated by dull NPCs whose conversations you're supposed to overhear in order to start simple fetch-quests which get quite boring once you note down the pattern in which they're presented.

All in all, it's a good game (the worst of the trilogy, though) but I'd wait for the revised ending if I were you... either that or simply shut down your console/PC once you hear Anderson utter the words "You did good, child" and imagine that the game ended right at that moment (it's fitting and that way you get to avoid the worst deus ex machina ever employed in fiction).

[ziggy]

I just finished the game and man oh man was that a weak ending.

Back to Skyrim.

[bing!]

Which colour did you choose? :biggrin:

I went with the "destroy" ending since I was kinda mad and wanted to smash something, so it seemed the right choice.

[ziggy]

I chose the destroy ending also, were any of the other endings any better?

I was in a particularly foul mood after having to deal with Marauder Shields

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w301/bobcatsplanet/tumblr_m0yj6peNOC1qgjh4yo1_500.jpg

[bing!]

These might be a wee bit too large...

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/076/a/c/marauder_shields_3__the_intervention__me3__by_koob ismo-d4t2yke.jpg

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/077/e/6/marauder_shields_4__the_dna_fiasco__me3__by_koobis mo-d4t5gby.jpg

;)

[TheBeagle]

Well, a year later and I got it for $15 brand new and bought the From Ashes and Leviathan DLC when XBL had them half price during Christmas, and just finished it last night.

I think I finished with 42 hours and the bulk of it was really disappointing and boring. Like bing says through his posts, the writing is so subpar, especially Shep's dialogue...the things he says sometimes just don't fit. The combat was mostly poor, and apeing Gears of War with the roll, stick to cover and leaping over cover mechanics was poorly executed...if you're gonna do it, do it right like Gears. Many times, I was trying to dodge roll to get away from fire, and it would stick me to wall just to be shot to death...obviously during the banshee/marauder combat finale. Also, unlike ME1 and 2, you couldn't loop powers over cover...at least it wouldn't work for me; I'd target a dude and aim a little over cover, and my power or squadmates power would fire at cover and not over.

The most disappointing of all was, what to me is the hallmark of BioWare games, the character interaction like bing discusses. I mean, ME2 excelled at this to perfection, and the stark lack of meeting new folks and old, and having very little to do with them was extremely disappointing. In my first playthrough Shep, I have a good thing going with Miranda (I mean, come on, look at that ass!) and she was just a peripheral character and, like all ME2 characters, was not even playable!!! For my playstyle, Miranda is the best squadmate in combat in series history and I get nothing...and the only chance to rekindle with her is in a fucking hotel room, and you have the option to sex her up but the timing seems totally off, so I took the other dialogue option, thinking I'd have a chance to spend time with her after her "secret mission" only to find out otherwise. Wow!

You only have 4 (5 if you bought Ashes DLC) squadmates you can use throughout, and for me none of them complemented me all that well. Garrus (overload)and Liara (warp) were good enough but not great. I liked EDI but she had same weapon loadout as Liara and I needed her biotics, so I had to swap EDI out for Garrus though he has inferior powers. Javik was cool but I had no use for his powers since he couldn't do shit against shields or barriers or armor. Likewise the other new guy, the roided up dude who was a complete zero of a character and a squadmate in combat...a very poor man's Wrex or Grunt. And this was your squad....the entire game. Boooooooooo!

The ending is where I differ from most everyone else. I wanted to see what all the hubub was about, so I didn't download the "extended cut." I honestly don't know what the talk of marauder shields is about. I admit I was playing on normal difficulty my first playthrough, and I'm sure it's a pain in the ass on higher difficulties, but I just overload their shields with Garrus and then incenerate with my Shep and marauder is buzzard meat in two moves. Probably was an update to make it easier, I'm guessing, or there's just something I'm missing because the banshee's were the pains in my ass at the end.

I chose to take out Illusive man before he takes out Anderson though that was considered a renegade action? Didn't get that. And then I chose synthesis at the end and actually made for a beautiful ending. I didn't see this as a deux ex machina at all. Considering all that had come before in the trilogy, the ending wasn't unreasonable. It was set up pretty early in ME1 that this was sort of all boiling down to a man vs. machine scenario what with the quarians and the geth, and as we learn near end of ME1, the protheans and reapers, so it didn't seem ridiculous at all that reapers were created as the best solution for man vs. machine. I frankly thought it was a poetic ending and had a certain elegance to it...especially if you chose the synthesis ending (which, after downloading the extended cut and playing through the end again, you clearly see is the ideal ending...though actually, I found the original ending better because it was obvious you made the right call, and left your imagination open to how the galaxy would be affected).

No, I thought the ending made up for what was a pretty boring and disappointing game.