Talking about Mass Effect 3 With Spoilers

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Azisien

I am apprehensive because given the enormous web of choices available via two games, I can't see them having that many ME1 and 2 characters playing a huge role. That would be a lot of redundant/overlapping work to fully story and voice a character that may be dead.

I figure the length to which you saw Ashley/Kaiden/Wrex in ME2 may be the extent to which you see ME2 characters.

Mind I don't WANT this, but it's also a huge job to do what I WANT. Surprise me, Bioware.

Also get this fucking Final Fantasy bullshit out of my Mass Effect thread. Blues if you don't understand the Internet view of FFX-2 at this point, you live under a rock. Snake, don't goad him! Me, stop backseat modding!



Well he's right about the J-Pop thing. Literally. :\

All I was trying to do was show how a game can be made with its predecessor's materials. He's the one who felt the need to heave and get all up in arms. :/



Point being, using the prequel's resources basically amounts to:

Producer: "Hey, we need you guys to make a game."
Developer: "I'm listening. It's going to take a ton of time and money."
Producer: "Well, we have a bit of a surprise for you. It's a sequel." *snaps fingers*
*a giant silver platter is rolled out to the table*
Developer: *lifts the lid and sees a multitude of clocks and wads of bills* "Doesn't seem to be enough."
Producer: "I said it was a sequel."
*another platter is rolled in*
Developer: *lifts lid to see millions of polygons, sound bytes, and lines of code* "OH. MY. GOD! YES! Yes, this will make up the entire difference! Maybe more!"

[Bells]

On using old assets i'll say this... i do worry a little about them changing Music Composers, i loved the music in ME2. And now there is a new guy doing that on ME3... it's an Oscar Winner and everything, and he does have a decent background. But still... i hope they manage to keep or improve the quality in that department.

[Aerozord]

but they cant shave off any more then they already have, while sequels do take less, this is the second sequel. I imagine differance between ME2 and ME3 will be about the same as ME1 to ME2

[Azisien]

Originally Posted by Bells

On using old assets i'll say this... i do worry a little about them changing Music Composers, i loved the music in ME2. And now there is a new guy doing that on ME3... it's an Oscar Winner and everything, and he does have a decent background. But still... i hope they manage to keep or improve the quality in that department.

Kill Reapers and save the Earth to this?

Yes ploix.

[Bells]

Originally Posted by Azisien

Kill Reapers and save the Earth to this?

Yes ploix.

I see your point, i still love the "Futuristic" Flair of the ME2 main theme though. No doubt the new soundtrack is going to be Epic, i just hope they keep it unique.

[Azisien]

I think my big point is music should probably be the least of our worries because they really seem to have that covered. I don't need soundtrack links either, I own both of them!

Worry more about over-simplifying the game play (The "Fable" approach to game design), or their APPROACH to game play. I can't even read the middle pages of this thread because god damn another "fetch aid to oust the Reapers from Earth for 25 hours" mission set scares the fuck out of me.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Azisien

I am apprehensive because given the enormous web of choices available via two games, I can't see them having that many ME1 and 2 characters playing a huge role. That would be a lot of redundant/overlapping work to fully story and voice a character that may be dead.

I figure the length to which you saw Ashley/Kaiden/Wrex in ME2 may be the extent to which you see ME2 characters.

Mind I don't WANT this, but it's also a huge job to do what I WANT. Surprise me, Bioware.

...I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, if given the choice between like a version of ME3 where absolutely no new characters were introduced and all your squadmates were ME1 and ME2 holdovers and the game required you to actually have beaten ME2 in order to play it, insofar as its narrative was entirely dependent on your ME2 decisions...and a version of ME3 that was just like "Here is a totally new cast of characters, everything you did in ME2 is now irrelevant, you might see a few of them in glorified cameos though!"

...Like, please, give me the former option.

At this point there really is no added utility for me to meet many new characters, and 95% of my enjoyment of ME's storyline will come from seeing old faces return.

...I'm just hoping Bioware actually realizes this.

[Azisien]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

...I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, if given the choice between like a version of ME3 where absolutely no new characters were introduced and all your squadmates were ME1 and ME2 holdovers and the game required you to actually have beaten ME2 in order to play it, insofar as its narrative was entirely dependent on your ME2 decisions...and a version of ME3 that was just like "Here is a totally new cast of characters, everything you did in ME2 is now irrelevant, you might see a few of them in glorified cameos though!"

...Like, please, give me the former option.

At this point there really is no added utility for me to meet many new characters, and 95% of my enjoyment of ME's storyline will come from seeing old faces return.

...I'm just hoping Bioware actually realizes this.

Yes, kind of like that. But it seems both pessimistic AND realistic for me to assume it's more likely surviving ME1/ME2 characters would get, like, CG cut scenes or something of them doing cool shit. Maybe.

Even agreeing with Blues on them having pretty much all the resources they need from ME2 to build up ME3, the kind of story branching that exists to create THE SUPER IDEAL ME3 we all hope and dream for seems unrealistic.

I'm saying all of this to combat my murderously high expectations to some extent. Keep that in mind.

I mean, I hope Earth is the prologue and opening missions too. I'd be very disappointed if Earth was the end-game. Fuck Earth. Earth is a pathetic speck on the galactic scale, or so the setting has led me to believe.

As for how the Reapers get to the Milky Way so fast, honestly I'm not too sure. Maybe relays get opened for them? Maybe there are a few more latent emergency Reapers? Maybe they hibernate in dark space but actually DO have the energy to jump back to the galaxy in a total emergency. I think from a Reaper viewpoint, this is a total emergency now. They're hyper efficient machines. No point jumping back unless it's absolutely necessary.

Maybe they actually just ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL of our own ships and beat everyone up that way.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Azisien

Yes, kind of like that. But it seems both pessimistic AND realistic for me to assume it's more likely surviving ME1/ME2 characters would get, like, CG cut scenes or something of them doing cool shit. Maybe.

Even agreeing with Blues on them having pretty much all the resources they need from ME2 to build up ME3, the kind of story branching that exists to create THE SUPER IDEAL ME3 we all hope and dream for seems unrealistic.

...I dunno, I mean, in Bioware's defense, I thought they did a surprisingly good job correlating many of your choices in ME1 to ME2 developments.

That being said, there were some disappointments too. It was saddening that all your ME1 conversations with Garrus had no effect on his ME2 outlook. Like, even assuming he'd have become Archangel regardless, you can give him drastically different reasons for doing so based on how Paragon or Renegade he was feeling at the end of ME1, and that wouldn't require a drastic amount of coding.

Really, like, I could easily separate the ME1 / ME2 cast into several categorizations of characters:

Characters Who Absolutely Must Return in ME3 and Play A Significant Role, There is Seriously No Excuse If Bioware Does Not Do So: Liara, Garrus, Tali, Joker

Characters Who Should Return in ME3 and Play A Significant Role, Insofar as They're Love Interests for Some Gamers and it'd Stink if Bioware Privileged Some LIs over Others: Kaidan, Ashley, Miranda, Jack, Thane (and...I guess Jacob...although please Bioware, don't feel obligated to waste too much time with him.)

Characters Who I'd Like to See in ME3, at least in Cameos, possibly (as appropriate) as Squadmates: Mordin, Wrex, Legion, Kal'Reegar, Illusive Man, Anderson

Characters Who, To Be Frank, I Probably Wouldn't Mind Not Seeing In ME3: Zaeed, Kasumi, Samara, Morinith, any Character I Haven't Mentioned

Finally, Character Who Must Appear At One Point So I Can Kick His Ass in a Renegade Interrupt: Turian Council Member, preferably while making a "quotation" gesture while referencing the improbable existence of "Reapers" on Earth.

...Like, if I just read about ME3 and Bioware's like "Man, we sure put a lot of effort into making sure there were separate dialogue trees and squadmate options depending on whether you chose Samara or Morinith, it was sure worth keeping that over ensuring you could use your squadmates as LIs, or including Garrus or Tali in the game!", that is something I would not be happy with.

I think my deepest concern is that the Dragon Age: Origins style military recruitment quests will lead, for example, Tali and Legion to be non-squadmate cameo characters who just aid you diplomatically in attempting to convince the Geth and the Quarians not to go to war with each other if they're alive during the "Geth / Quarian Mission." And then there'd be like a "Salarian Recruitment Mission" where you'd meet Mordin and say hi to him, and then a "Turian Recruitment Mission" and, look, there's Garrus!

...Oh God I would hate that so much.

[Bells]

Originally Posted by Azisien

I think my big point is music should probably be the least of our worries because they really seem to have that covered. I don't need soundtrack links either, I own both of them!

Worry more about over-simplifying the game play (The "Fable" approach to game design), or their APPROACH to game play. I can't even read the middle pages of this thread because god damn another "fetch aid to oust the Reapers from Earth for 25 hours" mission set scares the fuck out of me.

i can totally agree with you on that one, Even though i don't look at Mass Effect as an RPG, more like an Action game with some RPG elements, and in that regard the game is a little simplistic. It bothered me that it felt like even though the weapons are great and you can evolve them to more powerfull versions... the Selection was still rather short, same with Armors. I hope they expand that on the next game...

And Again, i'm fairly certain that the Cast of ME 3 will be a Mix of ME1 and ME2 with some new additions, and there will be deaths fo'sure!