Mass Effect 3 Discussion Thread

[The Highlander]

Now that this game is finally out I though I’d start a thread to discuss it (rather then the problems at GAME). So what does everyone thing of it so far?

Personally I’m mostly enjoying it, the problem with transferring saves from Mass Effect 2 was a little annoying but I managed to rebuild my Sheppard (after one failed attempt) and got on with blasting though the single player campaign. Just finished the Grison Academy level, I had to laugh when I found out who one of the teachers was (really didn’t see that coming). The new weight system is interesting and I think it’ll take me a while to figure out my ideal setup.

I’m also enjoying the multiplayer but I am a little annoyed at the unlock system. It’s an interesting idea but the problem is that without a way to exchange unwanted equipment for other items I’m left scrabbling around for useful gear rather then getting stuff that fits my playing style. I would also like to see a list of potential items and what level/rarity they are so I know what sort of packs to aim for. I really want to play a Krogan soldier and would like to know whether I need to get veteran packs or spectre packs. On the other hand I was delighted when I opened the free pack you get at the start and found a Matlock (my second favourite gun from Mass Effect 2). I’ve been having plenty of fun running around with it, I love how much punch it has. Now if only I could find that Krogan!

[eldargal]

I just finished my first playthrough, I think it is brilliant. There was a lot of fuss about the endings not reflecting choices and being bad/unsatisfying, I can't disagree more. Which isn't to say the endings are happy, after four and a half years of Mass Effect and investing hundreds upon hundreds of hours into my FemSheps and their relationships with their companions it certainly hit me hard. I've never felt so emotionally drained by a story before.

I'm enjoying multiplayer a lot more than I thought I would. Still trying to unlock Asari though, I love Asari.

[RealMikeBob]

I'm rather enjoying it and slowly working my way through single player. I even tried multi player today, and other than a tendency for people to quit when things are going badly it seems pretty good.

I do wonder though how big a difference the previous choices made affect this game, beyond cosmetic alterations.

For example

Wrex was killed in my save. Is Wreave merely a visual difference with some alternative speech? Or do the Krogan missions play out differently?

Same with the Rachni. I saved them previously, but had I killed the queen would the reapers have been denied a range of troop options? Or would they instead have come up with some deus ex machina to reintroduce them then carried on regardless?

And what if I hadn't bought and played through the Arrival DLC for ME2? Would Shep still be imprisoned?

I'm curious, yet don't really fancy playing through literally hundreds of hours game play just to find out. Not just now anyway.

All in all though, an enjoyable game. Didn't encounter the import problems for my character some are reporting either.

[The Custodian]

I loved the game. Till the last 15 minutes.. I am one of those who felt that everything you had done up to tthen was pointless. What bugged me the most though was the lack of an epilogue like we saw in Dragon Age origins. I could type out everything else that bugged me but i think this quote from Forbes works just as well

Without giving too much away, the issue is that after 100 hours of story driven gameplay across three games, the end is split into three rather nonsensical choices, and picking each of them results in largely the same ending which is light on resolution and not what most fans were looking for from their beloved series. One fan aptly described it as if Star Wars was wrapped up with the final moments of 2001: A Space Odyssey

.

[Ohman]

I agree about the ending being a real disaster but I also felt the game as a whole was a bit of a let down. It felt just like ME2 but shorter, with less story, less characters and less everything.

A lot of my choices from ME1 and ME2 didn't really carry over to this one which was strange and they didn't manage to close all the holes in the plot either which made the series as a whole feel really unfinished. Almost the same feeling I had after finishing KOTOR 2.

This really doesn't bode well for Dragon Age 3, or Bioware as a future producer of quality RPGs either.

[eldargal]

I can understand why some people may be underwhelmed by the endings but I think calling it a disaster is silly. I do wonder what people expected, the most advanced race the galaxy has ever known to go 'pop' and everyone live happily ever after? I felt the endings were suitably epic and made perfect sense in the context of the overall theme of Mass Effect, ie organics vs synthetics and which is superior.

Mass Effect ending: kill saren, save/destroy council.
Mass effect II ending: destroy/save collector base.
Mass effect III: three different choices.

I think most of this fuss is completely overblown personally. I think people are still too immature to cope with bad endings or the hero not getting his or her way exactly in an interactive story. The Forbes articles on the subject were atrocious.

As to lose ends, that is what DLC is for. Though I admit it is a shame we need DLC for closure.

Major ending spoilers:
[spoilers]I don't accept that the endings are silly, or nonsensical, or lack real, varied consequence.:

If you paid attention to what the Ctalyst tells you, you will know the Reapers contain the essence of each galactic civilization they harvested. So if you Destroy them, you are giving a final end to every advanced species the Reapers harvested in order to save the current races. Not to mention destroying EDI, the Geth and all other synthetic life.

If you choose synthesis you are forcibly and without any permission/consultation hybridising ever race in the galaxy with synthetic components. A greater violation of organic life is hard to imagine, but it closed the key question of the ME series: is synthetic or organic life superior and are they doomed to destroy one another forever.

The control is the least satisfying, in my opinion. Shepard becomes the new catalyst, the reapers leave. Is it guaranteed that Shepard can stop them starting a new cycle? What is actually achieved?

In my opinion, real choices with real consequences and moral considerations.[\spoilers]

[Wyrmwood]

On the subject of the endings, I feel I'm in a strange position. I'm perfectly happy with the three that we have, but that isn't to say I'm satisfied that they're all we have. At the same time I couldn't disagree more with those who are unhappy with the endings because they're not suitably one dimensional enough. Really, the crux of my issue is thus: I'm a little disappointed that we don't have the option to refuse the Catalyst, leading to the very real possibility of loss against the Reapers (if one's readiness is not high enough - anything below 95% or even 100%, and taking into account certain other choices throughout the series).

Apart from that, I'm a perfectly happy bunny and I think the massive backlash against Bioware is very undignified.

@Eldargal, on the subject of emotional drain: Clearly you've never played STALKER, Limbo or Silent Hill 2 to completion. [tongue/cheek]

[The Custodian]

Oh i wasnt expecting the endings to be happy. I just was disappointed really. THere were so many questions from that ending that arose instead of the series coming to a satisfying end...

1-Wtf was the Catylyst? Why didnt we get an investigate option there and why was Sheppard so accepting at that point.
2- This struck me as odd but why is control the paragon option? o.0 It doesnt exactly stop the cycle. Whos to say sheppard can even control them? Didnt he say the Illusive man cant? On the opposite side Destroying the reapers is shown as renegade? And how the hell did sheppard survive that ending? (only ending he does survive in... And for some reason hes back on earth <.< )
3-Joker and Co.: What was Joker doing in relay transit at the end? I thought the normandy was spearheading the whole assault?
4-The catalyst's explanation is silly... Synthetics will always rise up against their creators so lets use a bunch of synthetics to wipe you out before that can happen? But dont worry we'll make sure your not forgotten and turn you into one of us!
5- Synthesis dosnt ensure peace. Whats to stop the new hybrids from make new synthetics at some point in the future?
6- We were told there would be many different endings... INstead we get 3 different colors which all have the same immediate consequences: Reapers stopped, Mass Relays gone, Normandy crashed, Allied Fleet stranded at earth.

I dont know, its just i was expecting some kind of epic end to all this (not necessarily good) but all the questions and no info on what happens to everyone is really annoying...

[Charax]

Playing some ME2 just after completing ME3 it's quite jarring how much stuff I miss that was stripped for no discernable reason. Little Things like how in ME2 you perform a little slide to cover if you sprint towards it, or the loss of the hack/crack minigames, or vehicle missions.

A lot of ME3 is great (combat especially feels perfect) but with so much kibble taken out and so many sequences where I'm railroaded into actions I don't want to perform it seems like Bioware focused on telling their story first and making a fun game second (up until the end of the Krogan homework it may as well have been a rail shooter with dialogue options.)

The ending is a whole other issue.

[Lord General Armstrong]

I'm not one for bandwagons but after seeing that frak excuse for an ending, I found myself offering support in anyway possible adding my two sense wherever and whenever it was needed.

I so hope this video is right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynYgr...eature=related

In the mean time I will watch the fan made endings

Tali: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zagpVInvjA
Liara: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fykfVUD23jA
Reaper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3CAS_WfoZM

[Charax]

Right, now I'm awake, my thoughts on the endings:

The Crucible entity is a literal and figurative Deus Ex Machina - its existence isn't foreshadowed at any point over the three games, except perhaps the fact the Illusive Man's plan requires Reapers to be controllable, but even then, nothing implies they are being controlled by an external force. It's an utter asspull performed in the last five minutes of the game: Suddenly a sparkly child appears, performs some exposition and you walk to whichever endings you've earned (And seeing as I was playing Singleplayer only, I got forced into the destruction ending because my war assets only counted half. Brilliant move, Bioware...)

People complain that it doesn't provide closure to the other characters, but I thought that was the point of talking to them on the planet. would have been nice to see how they cope without the mass relays though, or have Joker chew me out for killing EDI (wait, he can't, Shepard dies too) so I have no issues with it on that score.

also if the whole series is a story being recounted by a father to his little girl, does that mean he told her about all the sex? 'cos I'm not sure how I feel about that implication.

The From Ashes DLC is very worth it, even if just for the Prothean particle beam. The squad member himself is quite good, the best part of Javik is his Dark Channel power, which you can get as a bonus power (and, on a replay, start with).

Oh, and EDI being the Overlord AI was a nice touch

Definitely the weakest of the 3, but still better than most games

There's no way Bioware are going to alter the ending with DLC, at least not significantly (although it would be the fastest selling DLC ever)

Oh, and just FYI, when replaying a completed ME3 game you lose ALL credits, but retain weapons and mods, so buy EVERYTHING

If you paid attention to what the Ctalyst tells you, you will know the Reapers contain the essence of each galactic civilization they harvested. So if you Destroy them, you are giving a final end to every advanced species the Reapers harvested in order to save the current races. Not to mention destroying EDI, the Geth and all other synthetic life.

Isn't that because they're formed from the liquefied remains of those species? That's hardly worth giving you pause in destroying them

[Ohman]

I called the ending a disaster, not necessarily because of how Bioware choose to end the story but because how they choose to end the GAME.

No boss fight? No talking to harbinger? No last important decision to be made? (no the different colors don't count). Forced renegade choice?

I was expecting a big fight like Saren in ME1 or the human reaper in ME2, instead I got a wierd actionless 20 minute slowmotion sequence.

A big let down to say the least.

[Lord General Armstrong]

Right, now I'm awake, my thoughts on the endings:

Oh, and EDI being the Overlord AI was a nice touch

Oh, and just FYI, when replaying a completed ME3 game you lose ALL credits, but retain weapons and mods, so buy EVERYTHING

EDI wasn't the AI from Overlord she was the rogue VI from the mission UNC: Rogue VI in mass effect 1.

Evidence: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/UNC:_Rogue_VI

We lose all of our credits, I started a new play through and had everything.

[Charax]

really? she referred to it as "Project Overlord", which is the name of the DLC pack. Either way, it was a nice touch

Meeting the overlord scientist among the rogue Cerebrus scientists was fun too.

[Satan]

Haven't played the game yet, but won't jump at it after seeing what Bioware did with DA2. I'll be waiting for some DLC to be released and the price to be dropped before getting it. Sadly Bioware's been a real disappointment for me ever since ME 2/Dragon Age: Origins.

I wasn't too fond of KoToR either, but I don't buy all this talk about "quality game design" which they start waving around whenever someone hands out critique to them - I mean, even though I enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins there's parts of today's releases by this company that fails to meet the standards of BG 2 in terms of design, which is by now 10 years old. You'd think that at least was some sort of minimum requirement.

[Evil Hypnotist]

I haven't finished it yet but enjoying the game immensely. Bioware have a great ability for story-telling, I was literally out of breath after the intro, which I haven't experienced since ME2! Also the voice cast is insane!

[Lord General Armstrong]

Wait till you get to the end.

[Yodhrin]

I can understand why some people may be underwhelmed by the endings but I think calling it a disaster is silly. I do wonder what people expected, the most advanced race the galaxy has ever known to go 'pop' and everyone live happily ever after? I felt the endings were suitably epic and made perfect sense in the context of the overall theme of Mass Effect, ie organics vs synthetics and which is superior.

Mass Effect ending: kill saren, save/destroy council.
Mass effect II ending: destroy/save collector base.
Mass effect III: three different choices.

I think most of this fuss is completely overblown personally. I think people are still too immature to cope with bad endings or the hero not getting his or her way exactly in an interactive story. The Forbes articles on the subject were atrocious.

As to lose ends, that is what DLC is for. Though I admit it is a shame we need DLC for closure.

Major ending spoilers:
[spoilers]I don't accept that the endings are silly, or nonsensical, or lack real, varied consequence.:

If you paid attention to what the Ctalyst tells you, you will know the Reapers contain the essence of each galactic civilization they harvested. So if you Destroy them, you are giving a final end to every advanced species the Reapers harvested in order to save the current races. Not to mention destroying EDI, the Geth and all other synthetic life.

If you choose synthesis you are forcibly and without any permission/consultation hybridising ever race in the galaxy with synthetic components. A greater violation of organic life is hard to imagine, but it closed the key question of the ME series: is synthetic or organic life superior and are they doomed to destroy one another forever.

The control is the least satisfying, in my opinion. Shepard becomes the new catalyst, the reapers leave. Is it guaranteed that Shepard can stop them starting a new cycle? What is actually achieved?

In my opinion, real choices with real consequences and moral considerations.[\spoilers]

I'm getting really quite sick of being told that I'm just immature and can't handle a negative ending because people have -dared- to point out that the almighty Bioware put out a load of rubbish. The end of ME3 isn't bad because it's negative, it's bad because it's got more plot holes than a fictional swiss-cheese, doesn't offer any real resolution to the story, and makes the player's choices in the previous games seem even more meaningless than the rest of the game did(the Rachni do still exist...somehow, some of the characters that die in ME2 are suddenly not, killing Wrex is pointless because all that changes is the name of the character). The Catalyst alone opens one gigantic plothole; why did it need Saren/Sovereign? It could have just opened -itself-. Not to mention that it could have done with a lot more foreshadowing than one throwaway line earlier in the same game that only become remotely relevant with hindsight.

As to the endings, there's no real moral choice, because the end result is the same in all three cases - Reapers gone, Relays gone, Citadel gone. If the choice is between, for example, destroying the Reapers and all synthetic life, thereby ensuring forever that organic life will be safe, but as a price you must give up the relays and Shepard must die(both exist thanks to Reapertech) as well as perpetrate genocide against the clearly sentient and aware Geth and EDI, or alternatively, you can free the Reapers from the Catalyst's control and give them back free will like the Geth, you preserve the Relays, Citadel, Geth and EDI, but must then accept that you are essentially rolling the dice both on whether the freed Reapers will back down now, and whether the Catalyst's predictions about synthetic life wiping out organics is correct - that's a meaningful choice with actual consequences. As it stands, the endings are so dire some fans of the series are resorting to trying to cast the entire ending scenes after you get mown down as an attempt by Harbinger to indoctrinate Shepard by messing with his brain.

[Eumerin]

Finished the game on Thursday, iirc. At the end I was basically left wondering if someone had secretly swapped out the real ending of the game and QC at Bioware hadn't caught it.

The problems with the "core" of the game's ending have already been discussed. But then you get what comes afterwards, and the plotholes THAT introduces. Primarily...

From what you can tell, the magical color explosion that your "decision" releases happens pretty much immediately after you make your choice. But somehow Joker has enough time to run from Earth orbit to the relay network, where the explosion catches him. Further, people who were on Earth with you are then seen stepping out of the Normandy (assuming that you got enough points from the War Effort part of the game), indicating that in between the time when Harbinger knocked you down and when you set off the magical color explosion, Joker swooped in with the Normandy, picked your teammates up from London, ran off to the relay network.

Er... what?

As said, the core of the ending is bad enough. The stuff that follows, described above, merely makes it even worse.

[The Custodian]

Heh... Finally someone put this up. Dont click unless you have seen the ending. Just shows how.. 'varied' the end of the series is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPelM...ature=youtu.be