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Fun Stuff => CLIKC => Topic started by: TheEvilDog on 12 Mar 2012, 07:48

Title: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 12 Mar 2012, 07:48
Haven't played it yet and I won't for a few weeks (I'm waiting for Operation: Raccoon City), but from what I've heard, a lot of people are pissed with how it ended. I've never been the biggest fan of the series, but I'd like to hear everyone's opinion about 3, seeing as how many of you have played the series from the beginning.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Asterus on 12 Mar 2012, 08:21
I'd say the ending is perfectly fine, with the exception of skimping a bit on the ending cutscene. I've heard quite a few people would have preferred a Fallout-style narration for epilogue stories on the surviving characters, but considering what happens, it wouldn't have fit very well.

On a side note, can Mass Effect 3 really be spoiled with the exception of the ending at this point? Half the characters involved are either DLC or possibly dead...
http://penny-arcade.com/comic
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: ArcAirbender on 12 Mar 2012, 12:51
I pre-ordered Mass Effect 3 and started playing it from day 1. Finished my first play this Saturday.
Been playing it from M.E. 1 and this is what I have to say about it:

M.E. 3 is a game that has no focus, it doesn't know what it wants to be and that's a terrible burden for a game that happens to be in its third and final act. Most games go exactly the other way around: They are born, don't know exactly what they are, then mature and define themselves in a genre, subgenre, etc. Mass Effect goes the other way around from 3, to 2, to 1 --where in my opinion, is as... "mass-effecty" as it gets--.
M.E. 3 wants to be an online shooter, wants to be an ipad app, and still wants to retain its single player campaign as high quality as it used to. Whether it achieves it or not, it is a matter of debate and personal preference.

To me, M.E. 3 is a good enough game to purchase the Collectors edition on day one. I love the game, care deeply for the Universe Bioware created, and I'm a sci-fi enthusiast...
That being said, the ending is underwhelming, and  not necessarily because of what it says or how it says it.
The ending is underwhelming because it finally and finitely makes you aware of the fact that your choices are of no consequence. Kill them, nurture them, fuck them, fall in love with them, take them to war, create everlasting peace. It matters not, all roads lead to Rome.

Some people like Jeff Gertsmann make their case about form-and-function: how M.E.3 is not an excellent game because of pacing or technical issues. Those are valid, but I can personally dismiss them because I'm invested in Mass Effect's story, not its ability to compete with Left 4 Dead, Modern Warfare or Skyrim.
I agree with Jeff, however, that Mass Effect 3 is a worthy game if you played M.E. 1 and 2. It is by no means a bad game, just a game that falls flat to the ground --face first-- in the last bit of its life. That doesn't take away all the merits it built in the last 5 or so years of its trilogy.

The bottom line is that I can always imagine a better finish to a Universe I'm utterly invested in. And that's precisely it: for a person to care enough for a world to imagine their own adventures in it, has to be the greatest indicator of how Bioware did more things "right" than "wrong" in it. 

Ps. I edited some of the text because DAYUM with my orthography & grammar.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: JD on 12 Mar 2012, 21:16
The ending is a total ass pull but I enjoyed most of the rest of the game.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: DrPhibes on 12 Mar 2012, 22:33
I've started playing ME3 some days ago and haven't played 1 or 2. From my experience it's another RPG-Shooter. Done well. Have yet to finish the game.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 13 Mar 2012, 08:23
I'm really liking what I am playing, but so far I've reached a point where I can see no end in sight, despite the fact that I filled my prep meter. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Also, the lack of teamates is a little unsettling. It seems like for most of the game you only have 3 or 4 teamates.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Theyis on 13 Mar 2012, 09:10
I really liked the ending. It went beyond the initial premise of the game (kicking Reaper ass) in line with pretty much all great sci-fi classics (books/movies or otherwise). The choices at the end I thought were an extension of the choices already made in the game, but on a much bigger scale. It's about sacrificing one thing for the other when you cannot have everything going your way. The fact that these decisions are overruled or perhaps pale in comparison to later, bigger decisions does not reduce their importance to the characters involved at the time. That like saying every life leads to death, therefore all lives are the same and don't matter. A little too nihilist for me.

Anyway, off on a tangent there. Back on topic: My girlfriend and I made different choices at the end of the game, because we had a fundamentally different philosophical approach to what it means to make a big choice for someone else (or a lot of other people in this case). Any game that does that, is doing things right in my book. So yes, I liked it with the only flaw that there could have been a bit more time devoted to what happened to all the characters.

From what I can tell that is the minority opinion out there...
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: dr. nervioso on 13 Mar 2012, 13:47
I hope I am not accidentally giving away spoilers. So to protect yourself, do not read my post until you finished the game

I was personally disappointed with the ending because it was very pessimistic. Think about it, Shepard was built up to be the hero of humanity, this badass who could do anything (First human spectre, single-handedly stopped the collectors). ME3's ending went against that completely, making shepard to be human. An extraordinary human, but a human nonetheless. I found the ending shifting the themes of the story in a completely opposite direction. Screw unity, it can't help us. We are all doomed in the end. It is like the saying of misanthropic people that "we will inevitably die alone someday." It is a very pessimistic view, when we were preparing for a hard won victory in ME 1, 2 , and even most of 3, we got his we can't win thing. Basically, Bioware went against everything it built up to be different, or to meet a deadline.

The experience along the way was more than enjoyable, plenty of good old fashioned ME humor. If only the plot was better
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: satsugaikaze on 24 Mar 2012, 01:53
First off: MULTIPLAYA, SOUPAH TAITO
The unlock rate for shit has gotten really stupid, though. N7 level 70 and I've unlocked characters on 8 different occasions - which sounds great until you realise that unlocking characters and unlocking weapons is used in the same slot. I've unlocked about 10 weapons, and haven't upgraded any of them past rank III. I still only have one sniper rifle mod, 2 assault rifle mods, and blah blah ANYWAY IN THE CONTEXT OF HOW MUCH TIME I'VE INVESTED I HAVENT GOT SHIT

Bad luck I guess.

Almost everything in this game is perfect for a Mass Effect fan. Events matter. War decisions are sometimes calculated by statistics like what friggin' dialogue choice you made once in this specific conversation between you and character X after mission Y, back two games ago. There are so many tiny consequences that the game is just so much about the journey as it is about the end. Customisation is BALLSY good and the variety in weaponry blows the previous two games out of the water completely (although admittedly a lot of the guns in ME3 were DLC weapons in ME2 but statistically there are so many new guns in ME3 it wins out regardless).

The way Shepard starts to show cracks is just absolutely magnificent. It was hinted at at the end of Lair of the Shadow Broker, now it shows in full swing and I just love it so much. Relationships between Shepard and squadmates now aren't so one-sided. Mass Effect 2 and 1, most of the time you're talking down your squadmates and supporting them through their character development - in Mass Effect 3, Shepard leans on his/her supporting characters for emotional support, even though Renegade often actively pushes them away. But the writers did great on this angle - the "galaxy at stake" shit isn't an exaggeration. I don't give a shit how badass one's Shepard is, if he/she isn't fazed by the idea of literal trillions of lives being wiped out, I wouldn't care about the character. Even the geth don't have an utter lack of empathy about the Reaper threat. And they're fucking robots.

On a related note, Mark Meer gets better (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHQoQSYhgs), but Jennifer Hale one-ups him again, I think (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3--U05e7k8). There are certain times where I think, "Jen really feels this shit, maaaan"

Also, Keith David turns Anderson into something so extraordinary at the end. Words won't describe. Y'all just have to see it for yourselves.

I hope I am not accidentally giving away spoilers. So to protect yourself, do not read my post until you finished the game

I was personally disappointed with the ending because it was very pessimistic. Think about it, Shepard was built up to be the hero of humanity, this badass who could do anything (First human spectre, single-handedly stopped the collectors). ME3's ending went against that completely, making shepard to be human. An extraordinary human, but a human nonetheless. I found the ending shifting the themes of the story in a completely opposite direction. Screw unity, it can't help us. We are all doomed in the end. It is like the saying of misanthropic people that "we will inevitably die alone someday." It is a very pessimistic view, when we were preparing for a hard won victory in ME 1, 2 , and even most of 3, we got his we can't win thing. Basically, Bioware went against everything it built up to be different, or to meet a deadline.

Really? The game was marketed as the end of Shepard's story. The actual ending seemed pretty definitive to me, and none of the people I talked to expected sunshine and bunnies from the get-go.  :mrgreen:

Also, I don't think it really went against much of the themes in the previous game. The very beginning of Mass Effect 2 showed that Shepard was mortal as fuck. He/she only survived because some shadowy dude with trillions of credits was willing to put in the science. Likewise, "single-handedly stopped the Collectors" kinda misses out on the idea that Shepard spent the entire game building a team to even have remote chances of beating them. Heck, Shepard asserts a couple times how he/she's just a soldier. There are multiple conversations that have to tell Shepard how he/she is a "natural-born leader" - so although there's a load of badassery, projecting anything more than "cool human protagonist" is a bit much, I think.


***maybespoilers?***
I personally don't have so much a problem with the pessimism as I do with the abruptness and lacking of closure to some degree. But although I get the disappointment, I don't align myself with the hate. The whole "PLOT HOLES IN EVERY LINE OF DIALOGUE", "RUINS ALL OF THE CONTINUITY", "MAKES ZERO SENSE" stuff going on at the moment is a load of hyperbolic bullshit.
Case in points: some random guy made ten pages of stuff on a Google Docs supposedly pointing out plot holes and things that "make absolutely no sense", and after glancing through it I could handwave about, say, 4/5ths of it away. That isn't to say there were glaring flaws with the endings, but actively searching for every hole in the plot will not a satisfied reader make. Half of it was speculative, anyway, things that could be explained away with more speculative crap.

I also think the campaign for a completely new ending is stupid as hell. I wouldn't mind some extra game content for exploring the ramifications of the ending, but when people bring up Fallout 3 and Broken Steel as an exemplar of changing Mass Effect 3's ending, I just want to facepalm. Bethesda didn't make an entirely different ending. They extended the story and made a retcon, jesus fuck.
I'm also in the camp where I think having the Lone Wanderer survive the endgame sort of ruins the meaning of the ending for the sake of extending gameplay, but that's a different matter entirely
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Skaltura on 06 Apr 2012, 06:21
Alright you guys, finally finished my ME1+2 marathon to get the save I want for ME3.

Let's compare ME histories shall we?

ME1

Sex: Male
Background: Sole Survivor/Colonist
Class: Soldier
Romance: None
Morality: Renegade
Deviations from established morality: Spared the Rachni Queen/Saved the colonists on Feros/Saved the Destiny Ascension

These were mostly just decided on a whim because I liked the dialogue scenes better or felt the renegade options felt too out of sync with how I viewed my character.

Wrex survived Virmire, Kaiden didn't, Garrus was encoured to be more renegade.

ME2

Class: Soldier
Romance: None
Morality: Renegade
Deviations from established morality: Kept the Genophage data/Shut down Project Overlord/Killed Morinth/Collector Base destroyed

Again, mostly decided out of personal preference.

Everyone survived the Suicide Mission, the Geth heretics were destroyed, Tali was not exiled and I did not betray her trust.

Final thoughts: As a maleShep player I simply feel Mark Meer can't do Paragon lines, so that is why I play renegade, and because it's usually more fun. :evil: A few exceptions are dialogue scenes with crew members (except for the ones that break a deadlock, I take the renegade "Fuck you, I am in charge, do as I say." hardass line) that I feel my character has grown too close to to act like an asshole. I view my Shep as a mix of Chaotic Neutral and Lawful Evil.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: LTK on 06 Apr 2012, 11:41
Why'd you destroy the Geth?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Skaltura on 06 Apr 2012, 12:20
I suppose something about rewriting them just rubbed me the wrong way, they did after all chose their path out of their own free will, or whatever you want to call the AI equivalent. I felt uncomfortable with removing that, better to die as a free man and all that jazz. Though it could be said that Legion's words about how humanoid morality does not apply to AIs defeats that argument entirely. Or maybe Shep was just in a foul mood that day. :psyduck:
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: maxusy3k on 07 Apr 2012, 05:28
I always felt destruction was a better option after Legion announced that rewriting them was "another solution to the heretic question".

I was uh... uncomfortable with the implications (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Solution) of that statement.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: satsugaikaze on 08 Apr 2012, 03:35
The most significant choices you made in ME2 that affect ME3 are probably Mordin's loyalty mission and Legion's loyalty mission, along with a smattering of peripheral choices made throughout ME1 and other loyalty missions in ME2.

Plenty of others to look out for, though.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Skaltura on 10 Apr 2012, 18:19
Welp .. the patch did not fix the face import bug for me. :(

Gotta make do with my recreation done by hand.

ME1 -> ME2 Transfer
(http://i.imgur.com/icBbO.jpg)

ME3 Recreation
(http://i.imgur.com/WIPr4.png)

Close enough :/, though I miss my scars and it ... well it's still a bit off, but nothing I can do about it.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Skaltura on 11 Apr 2012, 03:27
Holy shit the new Insanity settings are awesome, next to no margin for error, great AI improvements (cover usage, flanking, grenades!), died at least 15 times on the first post-tutorial mission because I kept screwing up, I love it!
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: schimmy on 11 Apr 2012, 03:27
I realised last night that the "Priority" missions are the one that drive the main plot, and subsequently close off side quests. This has really pissed me off. I was assuming "priority" meant that I had to, you know, prioritise them, meaning that there was some sort of time-limit on them. I've put a good 14 hours into the game so far, and I think I might have to do a huge bulk of that all over again.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Theyis on 11 Apr 2012, 04:50
Holy shit the new Insanity settings are awesome, next to no margin for error, great AI improvements (cover usage, flanking, grenades!), died at least 15 times on the first post-tutorial mission because I kept screwing up, I love it!

That's good. I tried insanity a couple of weeks ago for a couple of hours or so (Mars mission and some smaller stuff after that) and was not challenged a lot more than the hard difficulty. Might also be that the Adept is just ridiculously powerful in the beginning, but a bit more challenge is definitely good...
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Skaltura on 11 Apr 2012, 04:55
I've only ever played Insanity, with any ME game, and compared to ME3 the other two are a joke, at least as a Soldier. But this new Insanity is quite challenging if you have nothing else to rely on than guns. :)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: satsugaikaze on 17 Apr 2012, 04:28
Oh, so they actually increased the difficulty of Insanity?

That's good, because I played Insanity on my first playthrough and... it was pretty sane  :mrgreen:
Like, no seriously as an Infiltrator with a Black Widow I have literally gone through entire missions without ever taking cover
ever

Just casually walk around headshotting the fuck out of everything
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blyss on 29 Aug 2012, 13:19
Well, I have now done two run throughs of ME 1, 2, and 3.  One Male, One Female.

In the male run through, Jack died in the final mission, so that sucked.  Saved everyone in the female version, so it was cool in ME3 to see the difference.

I did not know that on my second play, I would get a difference at the end.  And that was not only a shock, but now I want to at least play through 3 again, to see what the hell happens...

I'm desperately trying to avoid spoilers here, so I'm being as vague as possible.

As for the ending.  I liked it.  Had no qualms whatsoever.  The choice is not an easy one, and I don't think it should be.  I felt that there were very real repercussions, no matter what I chose.  That felt right to me.  As someone else stated above, I guess I'm in the minority on this, but that's okay with me.  :)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Asterus on 30 Aug 2012, 16:20
If you just finished it, then you probably got the endings where someone narrates the aftermath, right? That's actually the Bioware patch ending, made later to ease fan rage.

The original endings were a lot shorter. The ending narration wasn't present, the 4th ending (The freedom one) wasn't available, and a few cutscenes were missing, meaning you had absolutely no idea how the Normandy went from a war zone to somewhere completely different, or how people in your party magically teleported to them. That was what most of the negative feedback was about, along with the fact that the three endings were more or less identical except for the color of the beam,
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 02 Nov 2012, 13:05
Played it back in July/August, soon after the extended cut was released.

I never was the biggest fan of the series but I did enjoy it.

Anyway, anyone playing multiplayer on the PS3?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 06 Nov 2012, 18:25
First look at female Turians
(http://static03.mediaite.com/themarysue/uploads/2012/11/photo-m-489x550.jpg)
(http://static03.mediaite.com/themarysue/uploads/2012/11/photo-m-1-345x550.jpg)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: LeeC on 01 Feb 2013, 07:37
Just picked up ME3 this past saturday and am really enjoying it.  I cant believe I put off getting it for the past year.  Imported my ME1&2 character and am having a blast.  I never realized how emotionally invested I am with some of these characters.  good going BW.  :-D

I fear this "ending" everyone complained about and have been able to avoid spoilers so I am curious and hope I wont be left disappointed.  I havnt installed any DLCs so its the pure ME3 experience from launch.  Should I grab some of the free DLCs?

also I find I do this with my Male Shepard.
(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7023069184/h8A4745AA/)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Kwaping on 30 Jul 2013, 09:54
So I played ME2 and ME3. Didn't play 1, but that's not relevant here.

In the suicide mission in ME2, I lost Mordin. What did I miss out on in ME3 because of that?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 30 Jul 2013, 11:53
From what I can tell, Padok Wiks (The supervisor from Sur'Kesh) takes over Mordin's role.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 30 Jul 2013, 13:15
(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7023069184/h8A4745AA/)

(http://i.imgur.com/UqcSDfU.gif)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: K1dmor on 30 Jul 2013, 16:52
In the suicide mission in ME2, I lost Mordin. What did I miss out on in ME3 because of that?

 One of the most important scenes in ME3 in Tuchanka, but nothing else  :-P .
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: ackblom12 on 30 Jul 2013, 16:57
That scene is one of the most heartrending things ever if you make the Renegade decision. Followed by the 2nd most heartrending scene.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 30 Jul 2013, 21:42
This "guide" is based on what friends have experienced in ME3. Personally, everyone survived in my ME2 playthrough....(except Morinth, but that's beside the point).

If Grunt died, he's replaced by Urdnot Dagg. Unlike Grunt, he doesn't get out of the Rachni mission, he always gets overwhelmed by Ravagers.
If Jack died, you see an engraved plate on the Memorial Wall, with the name Jacqueline Nought. She's replaced by one of the students who was taken charge when their CO was killed at Grissom Academy.
If Jacob died, his mission sees him replaced with a Doctor Webber.
If Kasumi died, during the confrontation with the B.S.J. you have to either help Bau or stop the upload.
If Legion died/sold to Cerberus, he is replaced with a Geth VI that's quite distrustful of Shepard (due to the fact that it doesn't have Legion's memories).
I've already mention Mordin, so I'll just skip him.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what happens if Miranda died in ME2.
Samara's death has little impact on the mission to the Ardat-Yakshi monastery.
If Thane died and if Major Kirrahe survived Virmire, Kirrahe saves the Salarian councillor, but dies from a gunshot from Kai Leng. (If Kirrahe died at Virmire, the councillor dies).
Zaeed, I have no idea what happens.
Garrus gets a name on the Memorial Wall and I think Liara stays with Shepard and James on Palaven instead of going back to the Normandy when EDI has that problem.
Tali is replaced by Admiral Xen on the Geth dreadnought and Admiral Raan during the last Rannoch mission.

That's all I know and if I have anything wrong, mention where I went wrong and elaborate.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: kelpy on 31 Jul 2013, 00:34
I didn't mind the ending, but I got pissed because I played it long after the initial release, so there was no way for me to get the "best" ending, the apps had been discontinues and no one else was around to multiplayer with.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: K1dmor on 31 Jul 2013, 01:53
 Well, there's one way to get the "best ending" without playing multiplayer. If you google it, you'll find it. Basically you take your savedata and edit it so you have enough "points". I know it could suck achieving the 100% and not being able to get it.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 31 Jul 2013, 04:35
Or you download the free Extended cut and continue playing. The War Assets now required to get the best endings has been lowered considerably, not to mention the more clearly defined endings.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: ev4n on 31 Jul 2013, 04:57
Yeah, but who's going to google the ending of a story game?  If you don't like multiplayer, you're kind of screwed.....
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 31 Jul 2013, 05:23
The extended cut also means you don't have to play multiplayer anymore to get the better endings.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: LeeC on 31 Jul 2013, 08:32
I got the breathing ending pre-extended ending but I dont think I did multiplayer.  Also with all the DLC I dont think you need to do multiplayer.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 31 Jul 2013, 08:50
I've been on my phone for most of the day, so I've only been able to do short replies.

With the extended cut, the Effective Military Strength needed to have the option of all endings was reduced from 4000 to 3100, that's without playing Multiplayer (even before doing the DLC and before Thessia, you can easily get that and a good bit more). That also means that the Alliance, the Krogan and the Geth (should you choose to save them) will bring you the bulk of the assets you need.  Basically, if you don't like Multiplayer, you can easily get around 4000 War Assets in the single player campaign.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 31 Jul 2013, 09:10
What, multi-player was the best part of the game! I was addicted to it and I played it long after I was done with the game.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: LeeC on 31 Jul 2013, 10:05
oh it is fun, my roommate still plays it religiously.  When I was first playing though I didnt have an active xbox live gold account so didnt.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 31 Jul 2013, 10:18
What, multi-player was the best part of the game! I was addicted to it and I played it long after I was done with the game.

Multiplayer was fun, but making a game where people had to play it in order to get the good ending was a problem. I know plenty of people who still religiously play it despite not playing the single campaign but they still felt it was too much to have that mechanic.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: kelpy on 31 Jul 2013, 12:39
this is indeed good to know, recently got myself some bioware points, so I'll go have a look at the DLC later (earlier? it's 3am), and download the latest patch.

edit: is that a pink gun I see in the groundside resistance pack? If so I'm having that.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 05 Aug 2013, 15:26
(http://31.media.tumblr.com/c8eb6d95876b234e9dd517b61a7a6d5b/tumblr_mqzyn3qDKz1rmwdm8o1_500.gif)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 05 Aug 2013, 20:19
Shepard, once again proving that Cerberus actually does crappy work.
And then he got loose and killed all their guys.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Edguy on 07 Aug 2013, 18:04
Shepard, once again proving that Cerberus actually does crappy work.
And then he got loose and killed all their guys.

The treatment of Cerberus and TIM in ME3 was almost worse than the ending.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blyss on 08 Aug 2013, 15:07
Shepard, once again proving that Cerberus actually does crappy work.
And then he got loose and killed all their guys.

Hell, I thought that was just a new way to do a double take.  But yeah, your explanation works too.  ;)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 08 Aug 2013, 15:52
It's almost hypnotic, I feel like I can stare at it for hours  :-o
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: ev4n on 17 Mar 2014, 06:36
Looking for a new game to play/replay, and strongly considering a femshep run through 1/2/3.  Have one I started a while back, she's either an engineer or an infiltrator, not sure which.  I *think* I'm about halfway through the game.

I've flirted with Kaidan, and will probably keep him this time, but no firm romance choices made.

Restart, or continue?  Any advice/preferences for skills/romances/squadmates to chose?  (I'm leaning all female squads, though if I kill Ash, I might be light on firepower)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: HauntingPoem on 17 Mar 2014, 17:58
I would suggest restarting if you are going to play a femshep. Play through all three games, great experience. And I for one can't play as a male shepard as the voice actor buggs the hell out of me. Jennifer Hale on the other hand developed greatly!

As for a class/skills to choose that is up to you, as it truly is a play your way RPG. For example, I always play heavily renegade as Paragon choices often seem like bad decisions when keeping in mind the fact that the galaxy is at stake. The only Paragon choice I usually make is to save the Krogan.

Since you do ask however, I will provide my input. My favorite class to play is Infiltrator, as My strategy/play-style in most games is usually one shot one kill. In ME1 it does play quite differently than in ME2 and ME3 so if you decide to go that route I would actually sugest playing as a sniper wielding Soldier for ME1 as theat style is more similar to the other games. My second favorite choice is to play as a Vanguard, it is the exact opposite strategy that the Infiltrator and focuses on taking out weaker targets first rather than focusing on the big baddies. Hope that was insightful.

Romance: I find the Kaiden romance a bit boring, but that is because I'm still tired of the similarities between him and Carth Onasi (same voice actor as well) The Liara arc is extremely good and well developed, but does not change much from the male path. In ME1 those are your only choices. In ME2 you have several more, my favorite options being Kelly or Thane. In ME3 my favorite is Samantha or Thane. If you aren't the kind of guy that always needs a happy ending the Thane romance path is superb and is by far my favorite.

Squadmates: From a purely firepower standpoint killing off Ash doesnt actually hurt you that badly if you substitute Wrex or Garrus for one of the other female squad-mates (you can manage to play as all female squad if you are a vanguard or soldier though.) In ME2 & ME3 it is much easier to play as an all female squad. Although I would still advise on taking thane on some missions and seeing the dynampics between other squadmates.

Good Luck to you, and my your L2 implants never feedback.

Edit: In case you don't know Carth Onasi is a possible love intrest for a female KOTOR character.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: de_la_Nae on 18 Mar 2014, 14:07
Carth/Kaidan > all of you

But yeah I'm a sucker for his VA and character.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 18 Mar 2014, 16:30
Carth was awesome. I put Kaidan on the bus the first second I can.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: de_la_Nae on 18 Mar 2014, 17:44
Kaidan for 1, after agonizing between him and Liara.
Garrus for 2, with chemistry with Thane but ultimately left unexplored.

What will happen for 3? Who knows! Heaven or Hell, LET'S ROCK

(Also Carth > Bastila, pretty much no matter what)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 18 Mar 2014, 21:30
Oh. For my romance options in ME there is NOT BETTER CHOICE then Tali.

Keelah Se'lai indeed.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: de_la_Nae on 18 Mar 2014, 21:48
Tali's a lotta cool, but I didn't have that option. :(
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 19 Mar 2014, 00:19
I would suggest restarting if you are going to play a femshep. Play through all three games, great experience.
Agreed. But I disagree about Hale - I actually much prefer Mark Meer's Shepard - the sarcastic responses throughout the games just seem to work better with his voice (particularly with the Citadel DLC for 3). (also because of "We'll bang, okay?")

For some reason, whenever I play femshep, they always end up being a Vanguard. You know, because spamming Biotic Charge/Nova is awesome.
And Garrus > any other romance option because he's fucking hilarious.

Kaidan gets really boring in ME3. I suppose Ashley does to a point as well, but he annoys me more.

Don't do a solely Renegade playthrough. It's funny for a while but ultimately it will break your soul. Full Paragon can seem boring, but the payoff at the end of 3 is worth it.


Then again, it doesn't matter how you play, so long as you've experienced the joy that is the ME3 multiplayer. (Volus Engineer ftw)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 04:06
I always do Paragon with "Renegade Sprinkles" namely headbutting certain reporters, taking cheap shots whenever they come up, etc
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 19 Mar 2014, 04:31
I always do Paragon with "Renegade Sprinkles"
That should be on a shirt  :-P
But yes,  I play in exactly the same way
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 05:01
I would buy the FUCK out of that shirt.



I confess I have an embarrassing crush on Tali. I have done a Liara all the way run because there was rumors of significant pay off for not cheating on your partner the whole run through across all three games... but no. Not really. In general a lot of the "hey look! Romance!" options just weren't doing it for me. Kaiden "Tabula Rasa" Alenko or Ashley "Space Redneck" Williams* for example. Liara was the best of the options in my mind in ME1 (since Dirty Harr... err Garrus and Tali weren't options yet) but even she struck me as a bit tokenistic. There wasn't much development in that relationship, it was the video game trope relationship via rescue in my mind, she got better later too, but still no where near Bat Turian and the Engineer.

*To defend this nickname, in ME she's a xenophobic space Jesus freak. Her good taste in poetry does not balance out that she pretty much started asking the entire non-human component of your crew why they smell weird. Putting her on the bus for ME2 was my favorite part of the game, because she got replaced by cooler characters like Miranda, Thane and motherfucking JACK. Still had more character then Kaiden though, which is why I suppose I always kill him.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 19 Mar 2014, 05:16
GM, I feel like this sums it up:
(http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/write.ign.com/59745/2012/03/masseffect_newsreporter-600x257.png)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 19 Mar 2014, 06:05
I hold no claim to having any skill at photoshop etc, but anyway. Shirt:
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: snalin on 19 Mar 2014, 06:07
Oh, the "who will you kill" choice from M1 was just... My response was "can I kill both of them"?

Mass Effect's biggest problem is that there's too many humans, really. They're generally just not interesting.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 06:09
If you don't punch Al-Jilani I don't know how to relate to you as a person.

and yes. Holy fuck yes. I would buy the shit out of that shirt.

Hey look! Snalin and I agreeing about something again! Come onwards ye end times! The humans would have been fine if they'd taken the time to make them suck less. Vega was a giant meathead but he was an interesting character.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 19 Mar 2014, 06:13
Vega was a giant meathead but he was an interesting character.
Vega had character. He was pretty much the only major character in the series from a working class background. And how often do you get to spar with your crewmates? (Barring any comments about Garrus and "sparring" from the ME2 romance subplot)

And I think it was good that the humans were mostly complete assholes. You have to succeed despite humanity. Overcome the racism and shitty selfish people to save everybody. Gives the story more depth, certainly.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 06:34
Well. The aliens (outside your crew) certainly all managed to hail from the dickehead nebula too. I was tempted to let the council die just because they were assholes
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blyss on 19 Mar 2014, 12:34
I actually did a playthrough wherein I allowed the council to die -
(click to show/hide)
  That was pretty disappointing.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 12:39
Well they're politicians. Which makes them assholes by default. They're from space, so more properly they're intergalactic assholes.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: HauntingPoem on 19 Mar 2014, 14:43
The two DLC characters in ME2 are really interesting as well. Javik was glaringly obvious fan service, but I enjoyed him as well.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: de_la_Nae on 19 Mar 2014, 16:08
Miranda isn't interesting.

Edit: You know what? I'm gonna go one further. Jacob is (mostly) uninteresting too. Has his moments, especially his mission, but...
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 16:15
I actually enjoyed Miranda. I wish they'd done more with the "genetically perfect/still a flawed human being with issues" thing they seemed to be setting up, especially in direct comparison with Jack, but nothing ever really went further with that sadly. I like Miranda when she's being human. I'd also like it if she put on slightly more in the way of clothes, and if the camera didn't follow her ass around like a dog following a piece of bacon.

Jacob was pretty boring, his mission was cool though.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: de_la_Nae on 19 Mar 2014, 16:40
I know right?

Someone told me that she's supposed to modeled off some model or something, so...I guess they wanted to show off?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 19 Mar 2014, 17:51
The two DLC characters in ME2 are really interesting as well. Javik was glaringly obvious fan service, but I enjoyed him as well.

Javik is best character
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 18:05
I know right?

Someone told me that she's supposed to modeled off some model or something, so...I guess they wanted to show off?

Any one know who? I wanna know... for... scientific reasons  :psyduck:
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: RedWolf4 on 19 Mar 2014, 18:07
Supposedly her voice actor?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: de_la_Nae on 19 Mar 2014, 18:29
maybe my info is weak?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: K1dmor on 19 Mar 2014, 18:32
 Her voice and appearence (mostly her face) were modeled off Yvonne Strzechowski.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 18:38
*googles*

Yowza!


Nae maybe you were thinking of the recruit-able reporter girl who's modeled on and voiced by that one IGN reporter?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 19 Mar 2014, 19:09
That would be Jessica Chobot.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 19:31
Sure, whoever the hell that is.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Edguy on 19 Mar 2014, 19:49
Anyone been paying attention to Mass Effect lately? Know if there's any news of sequels and/or spin offs yet?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 19 Mar 2014, 20:22
I think the ME team made it pretty clear Shep's done with ME3, I haven't heard anything about spin offs yet, but I'm sure something's in the works. EA's gonna milk that IP (and Bioware itself) till it dies.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 19 Mar 2014, 22:21
I'm holding out for a Blasto android/iphone game. Or, you know, a XBL Arcade game with co-op (remember his Elcor companion?)

"This one does not give a vorcha's fecal emission whether or not EA is milking the series out of every penny it can"

"Badassfully: Damn it. Blasto
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: RedWolf4 on 19 Mar 2014, 23:06
I wouldn't mind an ME game in the new style of shooter they're aiming for in The Division or Destiny.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 20 Mar 2014, 03:57
I still want a game doing the First Contact War with the Turians. A post Shepard Commander game where you have to pick the universe out of the rubble could be interesting too.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Detachable Felix on 20 Mar 2014, 04:21
I'd love to see the Genesis for a post-shepard universe. It would be so fucking complicated and that's before you even *start* the game. And the default option would piss off a great deal of people
(click to show/hide)

I imagine the First Contact War is probably the next stop for the series.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 20 Mar 2014, 04:27
The key with the First Contact War would be keeping the scope suitably wide so you run into everyone's favorite species, and also have suitable chances to practice the Captain Kirk school of diplomacy and interstellar relations.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 20 Mar 2014, 07:35
There were some rumors that they were going to make a game set on Earth a little while after the end of ME3 where no one could leave because of their reliance on the mass effect drives so resources are starting to run out

Here's some info on ME 4 from yesterday (http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/571153-mass-effect-4-still-in-progress-no-new-updates/)


(http://25.media.tumblr.com/f8523c3f7dfce4bdf4bce99157f85b70/tumblr_n0ol6jgKNx1r12z99o1_1280.png)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Edguy on 20 Mar 2014, 07:39
I think the ME team made it pretty clear Shep's done with ME3, I haven't heard anything about spin offs yet, but I'm sure something's in the works. EA's gonna milk that IP (and Bioware itself) till it dies.

I'm sure they will. Personally, I'm not a big fan of prequels, so I hope they don't go that way.

I had this idea about a game set in the Mass Effect universe, that I thought could be pretty interesting. I love sci fi, but I dislike how it's always got to be the universe at stake and the apocalypse on the horizon. I'd love to see a more personal story, where you don't have to be the paragon of humanity, but perhaps just some mercenary. Think Firefly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)) or Schlock Mercenary (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/pages/archives). Let's say you're just some guy that starts up his own mercenary band or something like that, and you go through the motions of recruiting a crew and doing jobs, all obviously with a paragon/renegade system. Surely there'd have to be some bigger, underlying plot, but it shouldn't have to be to save the universe.

There were some rumors that they were going to make a game set on Earth a little while after the end of ME3 where no one could leave because of their reliance on the mass effect drives so resources are starting to run out

That sounds.. pretty lame..
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 20 Mar 2014, 10:31
Actually it could be pretty epic if done right. Bring it in the exact SECOND the Reapers get wiped out, from that second on it's hard core survival, trying to bring tech back online to save billions of human lives, not to mention the millions of survivors of the allied fleet, deep political intrigue keeping all the factions from splintering, not to mention smaller things like feeding the Quarians and the Turians... all while researching and gathering material to redevelop a functioning warp/mass effect drive without the reapers.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7928095/1/Mass-Effect-3-After-the-Fall-and-Other-Stories
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: HauntingPoem on 20 Mar 2014, 12:13
Actually it could be pretty epic if done right. Bring it in the exact SECOND the Reapers get wiped out, from that second on it's hard core survival, trying to bring tech back online to save billions of human lives, not to mention the millions of survivors of the allied fleet, deep political intrigue keeping all the factions from splintering, not to mention smaller things like feeding the Quarians and the Turians... all while researching and gathering material to redevelop a functioning warp/mass effect drive without the reapers.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7928095/1/Mass-Effect-3-After-the-Fall-and-Other-Stories

You Sir are a genius.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 20 Mar 2014, 14:05
What do you mean?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: RedWolf4 on 20 Mar 2014, 17:13
Wait, wouldn't that mean disregarding the ending they brought out after the uproar of the original ending?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 20 Mar 2014, 20:33
I don't think so. It's not like they changed anything in that ending.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: HauntingPoem on 20 Mar 2014, 21:08
I agree, they really just clarified it and fleshed it out. The only thing that wouldn't quite work would be the worst case destroy ending.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Edguy on 20 Mar 2014, 21:40
They really screwed themselves over with the endings. Regardless if you like 'em or not, they're too fundamentally different to really continue with saved files from.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: HauntingPoem on 20 Mar 2014, 22:59
Thats why they pick a cannon ending. Similar to how Kotor and Kotor: II have cannon characters and decisions but you are still free to play your own way.

I think the  the controll ending would be the most logical endings to choose if they decide to go the route GM is suggesting. Synthesis has a lot of problems associated with it and it solves to many potential problems between the synthetics and organics without allowing a game to address those problems. And the destroy ending simply wipes out all synthetics, completely removing the geth ( a mainstay of mass effect)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: RedWolf4 on 21 Mar 2014, 02:44
Well in the revised ending, they fix up the Mass Relays without alot of fuss.

Although I guess that yeah, you could do the inbetween for that. . . could work. . .
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 21 Mar 2014, 04:02
The Destroy ending is already canon, just by virtue of it being the only ending where Shepard can survive, and the only one that really leaves the universe in a new dark age. They're already ignoring their own canon as far as destroying the relays, which per the Arrival DLC is a system ending cataclysmic event, so doing some hand wavium to save the Geth (Installing a surge protector maybe) 
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 21 Mar 2014, 09:41
They won't be focusing on them, though I bet you'll run into fan favorites like Tali and Garrus assuming you're in the same time line.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: Blue Kitty on 01 Apr 2014, 17:33
The Garrus body pillow (http://www.biowarestore.com/brands/mass-effect/garrus-vakarian-body-pillow.html)
(http://www.biowarestore.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/e/t/etc-pillow-garrusbodypillow-white.jpg)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 3 (No Spoilers Please)
Post by: GarandMarine on 02 Apr 2014, 05:15
Dakimakura still creep me out... but I'd probably be interested in a Tali one... >.>;