Mass Effect 3, because we need a thread without Caps Lock

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Originally Posted by Bells

Then, there is the thing with Tali's face (not really a spoiler, but i'll grey it out, just in case...) People complaining HEAVILY about how Tali's face is an Stock Photo with some photoshop... saying that it's lazy or a "betrayal of the fanbase"... Bullshit. Know what i thought the second i learned it was a stock photo? A Clever Prank. almost an easter egg from the developers poking fun on the people that worry so damn much about this stupid thing.

Whether or not it was a purposeful prank or a serious, stupid decision it was hilarious.

[Arcanum]

Ok, beat the game, so here are my (somewhat) final thoughts on it.

Overall, the game was aces. I enjoyed playing ME3 way more than I did ME2 (both in terms of overall plot and game mechanics (especially game mechanics)).

Character deaths were very well done with the exception of Miranda, but that might have just been because I romanced her in ME2, then ditched her to get back with Liara (in my mind Shepard wooed her just to ensure her loyalty to him instead of to Cerberus). Mordin went out like a champ, and Thane's death was rather touching.

Also, some minor near-end-game crew banter/relationship spoilers if you didn't romance Tali: Garrus and Tali hooking up was great. Brought a smile to my face to see them together, and their embarrassed excuses when you stumble in on them hugging is hilarious.

Also, drunk Tali is hilarious.

Now finally, the ending. Holy shit that ending. What the flying fuck Bioware. Like, everything leading up to the very end was great. The attack on the beam, the final push failing, Shepard and Anderson making it onboard the Citadel. All of that was pretty great and I found myself thinking "what was everyone bitching about?" Hell I'll even excuse Bioware for bringing back the "shoot self in the head to avoid Reaper control" thing, because I found it a hilarious callback to ME1.

And then they fuck everything up with the Catalyst. I mean really, the Reapers are only wiping out advanced organic life because they will inevitably create synthetics that will destroy organic life? What the fuck? Do they (bioware) not realize how idiotic that is? And they don't even tell you why or how the Catalyst exists. Sheperd just blindly believes what the holographic kid tells him because he's sooooooooooooooooo consumed by guilt over the kid he let die on earth (which, I might add, is the worst thing in the game because of how it's just hammered into the game (the whole kid thing, I mean)). Like, after spending the entire game of finding solutions outside of the box like pitting Kalros against a reaper, or curing the Genophage, or bringing peace between the Quarians and the Geth, Sheper just lies back and accepts the options handed to him by a goddamn holographic kid that was in charge of murdering the galaxy countless times over.

Bluh, enough ranting. I will just say that I chose the synthesis ending just for shits and giggles because I didn't like any of the choices so I had Sheperd throw himself into the light. Control probably would've been the better option but whatever.

Also, an unintended side effect of the synthesis ending, I'm pretty sure I gave Joker the ability to have babies with EDI, so that makes it somewhat worthwhile. Even though it's extremely stupid that now everything has glowy circuitry on their surfaces (be it skin or whatever).

[Azisien]

Got my human vanguard to level 20 in multiplayer. I roll max Charge and Nova with max Shield bonuses, and I only carry a shotgun with weight reduction mods. I get Charge back in about 3 seconds after use, and less if I chain with Nova. Shit is so addictive.

Of course, many of the other classes look fun too, but I am having shit luck unlocking new ones. I think I unlocked...Turian Sentinel? And that's it? Screw playing other defaults too!

[Sifright]

So i'm Sifright on the origin system any one up for some PC multiplayer this week? Would be nice to try and take a gold challenge on with some people with mics!

[Bells]

Ok, Finally finished. Here we go... my full view of Roleplaying the game in full, and my view of the ending (it's a big one!)

I Roleplayed during the entire game.I really wanted to take the story as it was meant, so i dove into it as if i was reading a good book i've been expecting... It reflected on everything.

I Continued my Shepard from the previous game, Full Paragon, but sometimes you just can't avoid a few Renegade points (no more than 5% by the end game), and just like ME2 i maxed out Paragon before the final mission. My readiness was 50%, but i maxed out the Green Bar for war assets (although i think my final meter was just over 4.5k assets).

Playing that way, worked very well with me... Shepard's armor reflected his state of mind as a Warrior, i always changed it and change it's color scheme to reflect his personality. In more serious momments it was a Camouflage or Grey tone. And Missions or momments were Shepard was pissed, it was red. After someone's death, it's Black. When Going on full heroics it's colorful or White with blue. And for the final mission i Bought the Dragon armor as a way to make Shepard stand out as a leader for mankind.

Made all the more impact when the Armor was destroyed by the Harbinger attack on the final push.

Also his clothes reflected the character. He starts with his new Normal suit... then, when the reality of war kicks in, i change it to the same one Kaidan uses, to reflect Shepard trying to downplay his own role in the war (dodge the pressure). Later on when he goes for his limit, i just put on the jacket, looking almost civilian.... but on the final mission, he goes with the Full Military outfit (again, plays out nice when the Admiral comes onboard wearing the same thing).

I Go through the game seeing the heroics, feeling good. Feeling like i'm part of a Huge war... you can't save everyone, soemtimes good peopel die... wars aren't fun, aren't glamorous, aren't clean... they are painful, and sometimes the costs are too high.

With that in mind i watch Mordin go. Good bye my friend. Nobody else could got it right.

Later on i feel Relief when Grunt survives. Game me a scare, but sometimes Heroics pay off.

Then, One of the moments where the game gave me real pause... i failed to get Peace between the Geth and the Quarians. Legion is a friend, his actions are logical. He has good purposes, he is a good asset against the reapers... other's don't value them as lifeforms. My Shepard is full Paragon, this is wrong in his eyes... so he supports Legion all the way...

But then... It's either Legion or Tali. What else could i do? Tali is my only romance during the entire series. And i need the Quarians, and this is her Homeworld... and if i loose them, the Geth could STILL go Reaper on me... i can't achieve piece, so as it is... i'm forced to watch a friend kill a friend, and a race going from the brink of freedom and individuality into complete extinction.

Playing this way was great, helped me feel immersed into the game, and as it turned out the game got the best of me in one specific part... jack. There was the mission on the School for biotics, to save them. But i saw it as just a sidemission and let it go for a while... and then... i lost the mission! The students were dead and i felt a bit guilty about it.

Later on, i learned that Jack was on it, and it hitted a bit harder. Specially since in ME2 i took an interest on Jack, always sided with her and made friends with her...

took a chance on a rebel, and it seems she turned her life around just fine, but in the end, in the chaos of war and priorities i let her down.

This was specially true to the fact that Miranda was always a self-righteous bitch with jack, and while the entire galaxy is going down on Flames, Miranda is focusing on her own personal agenda against her dad, while Jack was turning her life around and helping kids so they could be like her without having to endure the hell she did. It turned out i managed to help a semi-useless Miranda, and by accident left a good friend behind to be the plaything of a mad scientist.

Then, i go to a Cerberus facility and learn the grin true... the not only got her, but they turned her into one of their minions. I Fight Jack, and kill her.

And now i really feel guilty about it, through the narrative of Mass Effect, the urgency of the Chaos and the utter Helplessness of everyone around my Shepard. The Game managed to play to my heart strings this time.

And then when it was all said and done, My Shepard, this Larger than life figure, known across the galaxy as a hero, fends off with nothing but a couple of friends a Platoon of monstrous beings that could destroy the most fearless armies... they take one final push for the Goal, and it takes the Mother of all reapers to simply slow him down. I had Garrus with my, the old old reliable friend Garrus. And The Prothean (Felt right to bring him along, let him helpend the fight). Now, they are both dead (as made perfectly clear by anderson on the comm).

Now the game makes me feel relief that i didn't bring Tali along (My solid romance from ME2 and ME3) at least she is safe at camp.

I move forward, and during the Slow-Mo Firefights i feel the need to pull in some headshots. Curious as it might be, i kill 3 Husks and when the 3rd goes done... an Achievement pops in. 1000 Enemies killed. Seems fitting.

Next thing i know, Shepard is standing surrounded by a the pile of Corpses... Gruesome sight, gave me pause for a bit. He can barely walk... but goes forward.

At this point, as it seems to be the case with many players, the game annoys me. I maxed out my Assets, i Maxed out my Paragon Status, i Helped everyone. And yet, when it counts the most, i can't pick the 3rd paragon dialog option against the ILM. It forces me to take a Renegade action to save Anderson... or else he will just kill us both.

It's clear where this is going... Shepard deserves to go away with Tali into the sunset, he earned it. But there is no going back, the ultimate sacrifice is where this game is leading me. There is no Cowboy heroics, there is no "America Fuck Yeah". That much is made clear when the Hacket demands one more mission from Shepard, and before even knowing what it is, he just replies "What do you need me to do?". That's what drove it home for me. Can barely walk, can't see, Bleeding, tired, beaten, still has to go forward.

Then... the kid. Hammered into the game to play to the emotional heartstrings of gamers... Well, i SUPPOSED you need a Proxy to Empathize the player with the final solution... a little human kid is fitting, if also a Huge old beaten clichê...

Now, some (most) comment on how the Reapers solution is idiotic... i can't say they are wrong. HOWEVER, one detail most gloss over is something the kid clearly says... "we wipe out the older races so the young ones can survive". So, it's not ALL Organic life they kill. It's not complete Eradication.

They remove every SENTIENT race that has developed the ability for conflict, Collecting everything they learned, know and created and using it to guide the rest ahead... twisted, but it's not supposed to be perfect anyway, i mean, that's why the game exist in the first place.

...although, hard to think of something viable to replace this section that it's not a juvenile "Big Showdown with Explosions"...

Then, we come for the 3 choices (i got 3 at least...) and it's REALLY clear which is which... there is a blue light on the Paragon Option (control the reapers, create peace.), there is a red light on the renegade option (kill all) and down center there is a Neutral "new" option.. merging everyone.

It's even shown the ILM going for the Paragon option and Anderson going for the Renegade one...

Roleplaying my Shepard to the end, i had to assume the role the universe had forced down on me... even though my character would never think he was worth it, and the ILM showed that he failed trying to do the same thing...

But, the Shepard i knew, the one i created would never force a change into all races, he would never make a decision this big on his own... merging Synthetics and Organics... this is not Shepard. So, in the end, Shepard chooses to serve, yet again. Assume the role life gave him. Making him larger than life... he becomes the one that controls the Reapers. Paragon Choice.

Shepard essentially does ascension into Godhood, controlling all the Reapers and forcing Mankind to roll back it's technology a couple thousands of years.

His final flashbacks annoyed me as a player, he recalls all his friends and experiences... but as a player for this Shepard, my last thoughts were with Tali.

And in the end the ending annoys me a bit... if i can choose freely, why do i have all these Paragon points? Why couldn't i choose the last Paragon option with the ILM? I can play Paragon the whole game and in the last 10 minutes act fully Renegade... i know Mass Effect is about choice and consequence... but i would like to own up to my destiny.

I picked my journey to this point... i'm willing to see it's consequences fully played out. By giving the final word, the developers took away some of the weight of everything i've done (the good and the mistakes) by giving me too much control... up to the point where i can break character in the last second.

Then, the final scene plays out... and THIS is the part it really annoys me. It does not show what happened to my people... we won the War. Shepard now has control of the reapers (even though nobody knows that). he will watch out All races and i'm sure will be a much better judge on how to guide and help them all evolve into better beings...

But... what happened to all the people i cared about to this point? What was their fate? Is Garrus and the Prothean really dead? Where is everyone? I payed so much attention and invested so much time into this people, don't i deserve to know that after my sacrifice they got somewhere? Has Kaidan turned into a good specter? Does James got his back with as a new N7 member? What happaned?!

The Normandy crashed on a planet similar to earth, they are all trapped in there... Tali, EDI, Joker.. are they Ok? How will Tali react having to be once again locked away from her homeworld... loosing her true love...

After the credits one last scene plays out... the "Stargazer" Looks at the sky talking to a kid (his son?) His voice makes it clear... it's Joker, is that his kid? He and EDI had a child? Has the rollback of technology affected EDI?

In the end, i'm not angry with the game... but i felt played by it. Some many answer i worked to earn, but i never got... Between ME1, 2 and 3, it's nearly 100 hours invested into this Story... everything was so conclusive and tied up nicely... but right at the end, i felt blinded at the last second.

Shepard is this thing larger than life, and as i player i earned my stripes by taking him through a hell that would break most living beings. If he has to die, if the Hero's Sacrifice is a necessity, didn't i earn the right to know that all those i cared for are Ok and counted for? Isn't this the whole point of the sacrifice? Even at the last minute when i've beaten all the odds, i have to still bet more and just hope for the best?

In that regard, the ending didn't live up to the amazing Journey. Not that it was a bad ending, it had me locked in all the way... it just didn't live up to the character i played as.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Originally Posted by Azisien

Got my human vanguard to level 20 in multiplayer. I roll max Charge and Nova with max Shield bonuses, and I only carry a shotgun with weight reduction mods. I get Charge back in about 3 seconds after use, and less if I chain with Nova. Shit is so addictive.

Of course, many of the other classes look fun too, but I am having shit luck unlocking new ones. I think I unlocked...Turian Sentinel? And that's it? Screw playing other defaults too!

Yeah that's how I played Van on the demo. Haven't started playing the full thing yet though, want to finish the campaign first.

I tried the Turian Sentinel in the demo though, it was meh. It feels so weak compared to Van.

An Infiltrator with the sniper though, now that is fun, especially when you can run around invisible for like 10 seconds at a time and take all the time you need to line up perfect headshots.

The Asari Adept is debatably the most powerful though, but I haven't played any Krogans yet.

[Azisien]

Strongest person I've seen on multiplayer to date was just a human soldier with an insanely powerful rifle. M-34, IIRC. Made the Spectre weapons look like a peashooter. That combined with his grenade power, and he was almost casually soloing Silver rounds.

SO, finished the game:

Boy, that was some Matrix Revolutions shit.

Which, of course, I mean in a negative way. Pretty weak ending. I don't actually begrudge them the final three choices, those were pretty good all things considered. But the presentation, the Citadel avatar being the kid, the way you pretty much casually dispose of the Illusive Man, ugghhh. Some of the final fleet battle cinematics were amazing. But the scene between Shepard and Anderson that should have been pretty awesome was spoiled because of how fucking awful the Earth texture was. Really, was it 16-bit? Why didn't they just use a nice painted vista like most of the levels in the entire game? And on such an important scene.

I'm sad that what is now one of my favourite game trilogies comes to a close with a weak ending. A difficult thing to bring to a close, I suppose, but shit. Despite all of my complaints and all of the negative bandwagoning around this game, there were so many great character moments in this game. And it was also the tightest ME gameplay ever, so it was actually fun to play. They even managed to make a fun multiplayer out of it, even if they probably shouldn't have. On this, I acknowledge, they were under orders to by EA. And I'd rather the game have been made anyway, instead of not at all.

Overall, fantastic, but for the first time out of the three games, I will say that Mass Effect 3 may not end up my Game of the Year. I suppose it depends on the other contenders of course. ME1 and ME2 knocked it out of the park for me, but 2012 is looking like a delicious year.

[Sifright]

Vanguard with fully upgraded biotic powers and with a tiny pistol so you get 200% recharge speed DOES solo everything, on silver challenges it's a pretty regular thing for me to have more score than every one on my team put together. The soldier class is pretty fantastic though.

[Azisien]

I will be up for multiplayer more or less whenever you find me on Origin. Maybe we could have an NPF game where 1d55 doesn't lag out like a crazy person!

Not sure if I am free this weekend but we'll see.

[Sifright]

Originally Posted by Azisien

I will be up for multiplayer more or less whenever you find me on Origin. Maybe we could have an NPF game where 1d55 doesn't lag out like a crazy person!

Not sure if I am free this weekend but we'll see.

PM me if you are around this weekend this goes for any one else with ME3 on PC who wants to play multi-player with me