Mass Effect 3 (expect spoilers for the entire series)

[Prime Mover]

Finally beat ME3 yesterday (late to the party, I know... playing FFXII-2). Enjoyed the game, don't understand all the hate against the ending (c'mon, I can name countless games with far worse endings!). I'm not bothered by the Tali reveal, and she's still the greatest character in the series, IMO. Overall, not as amazing as ME2, but probably not for the same reasons people are saying.

My biggest gripe with the game is the move back to centralization. I loved ME2s decentralized feel, you have a number of different "home bases", that you get to play around in. Omega was especially cool, but the Asari merchant planet was breathtaking, and there were a few other smaller ones too. The citidel got old, I wanted more varried community locales. On the same note, I wish they had changed things up a little more from ME2. For instance, I liked the concept behind the Mako driving sections in ME1, but agree that they were poorly executed. I was hoping they'd have something a little similar in ME3, but maybe with the Kodiak's... instead of just the boring planet scans. Too many of the side missions were just planet scans, instead of raiding bases or rescuing people, it made the game feel rushed out the door.

That said, I enjoyed the experience. Not GOTY material like ME2, but great none-the-less. And *GASP* I'm okay with the ending as is, I know I'm in the extreme minority, but I actually think it fits with a lot of the themes of the series. Well, at least it was a hell of a lot better than the ending of Fallout 3, but I know that's not saying much.

[Agent D.]

Where have I read this before....?

Jk, prime (I learnt my lesson, obvious sarcasm is now obvious).


In other news, did not participate in this weekend's event yet. Gonna try to get a run done now, but meh, don't have much urge to play anymore.

[Yoda]

I wonder how the ending DLC will...play

Will there be any gameplay or is it just movie?

[Ashtrot]

I'm okay with the ending as is, I know I'm in the extreme minority, but I actually think it fits with a lot of the themes of the series. Well, at least it was a hell of a lot better than the ending of Fallout 3, but I know that's not saying much.

I agree.

I mean, a lot of people want explanations for EVERYTHING, but honestly, is it so important that we know the origins of the Reapers? Will that make them more terrifying or better villains?

If Ridley Scott had described in detail the origins of the aliens from the Alien series? I mean, we know it's fearsome and powerful, that's what makes it horrifying, but does knowing its entire backstory add or detract from the overall experience? Would a movie like The Thing be better if we were shown which of the two characters that survived was the actual Thing and learned how it replicated and how the contagion was spread? Some things are better kept as a mystery, which is a literary technique that seems to be lost on many people nowadays. No imagination whatsoever.

Also, it really weirds me out when people try to use Mass Effect 3's ending on other movies/games/books to outline how 'ridiculous' it is. I can do the same thing for anything. Watch this shit:

- Shepard tries to drive the Citadel into the sun. The Illusive man chops off Shepard's arm and then takes control himself but ends up piloting it into the sun anyway by accident. Everyone escapes, the Reapers blow up, and everyone gets medals.

- Shepard crawls through the Citadel's vents and to freedom, runs away, and lives a life of peace on a fringe planet making boats and running a hotel.

- The Catalyst tells Shepard to travel to the core of the Catalyst. There, he finds the Statue of Liberty, falls to his knees, and damns us all to hell.

- Shepard is too late and the Reapers destroy everything. The Catalyst talks to Shepard. Shepard says "Catalyst, this may be the start of a beautiful friendship." Fade to black.

I can see people having problems with the ending, but GOddamn are some of the complaints stupid.

[Yoda]

Ashton, what's that last example you used?

[Ashtrot]

Dude, that was the easiest one: Casablanca. :P

[Eusis]

Well, I don't think you need to know EVERYTHING, and what was revealed in the game or would've been revealed in the scrapped plans was enough, but the Reapers are kind of set up in a way you WANT to know more, or so I thought. Why would machines keep wiping out life on a reliable 50,000 year schedule? What is their purpose that leaves them so confident we can't comprehend? And why is it they need to assimilate other races? I think they were made personable just enough that some answers ARE expected, if they were more terrifying and alien as the xenomorphs or, hell, the space monsters in Gunbuster I think you could get away with no explanation, but here you needed at least as much as the games provided.

[kyuusei]

I didn't want everything explained and absolute, complete closure necessarily, but more than what we got would have been nice. I'm still hoping the ending DLC will explain something, anything... but who the hell knows.

Really, I liked the hints at dark energy that were made back in ME2. I thought that would play more of a role (aside from, well, biotics!), and I think they'd meant to go with that but scrapped that for whatever reason.

[Draak]

For a series that always tried to explain everything, the way it ended is unexpected. It's specially the space magic bit that makes little sense in a universe considered to be "hard sci-fi". It felt out of place.


MP news: Finally got the Salarian Engineer. So good.

[Agent D.]

Mp stuff for the weekend, kill 3 million banshees (it was inevitable).

New mp classes soon too. Vorcha imminent.

[kyuusei]

And another 'extract on gold' challenge, too.

I want to play as a vorcha and hiss at everyone. But I want a flamethrower damnit.

[kyuusei]

Patch this week

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/324/index/12276459

And some more MP DLC coming this week too (my vorcha dreams are answered):

http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2012/1501.html

Oooh, they're fixing that vanguard glitch that keeps fucking me over. Finally.

[Agent D.]

Haven't played in like three weeks. My regular guys stopped playing, so I did as well. Maybe I'll hop on for some rebellion items, but idk. Anyone down for some missions during the weekend coming up?

[kyuusei]

Probably not til I get back from LA/E3.

[Agent D.]

Probably not til I get back from LA/E3.

/jealous