[Megathread] Mass Effect 3

[JustintimeSS]

I own and played many hours and characters on ME1 and ME2. Naturally i was very positive and eager to play ME3, but i needed a hint on what i will be expecting.
So, I went on Youtube and saw many vids about gameplay and story progression from the start. The Earth and Mars game play and the Turian world game play and story were awesome. I saw few glimpses of the Geth and Quarrian story, enough to satisfy me. I also saw some parts of the announced DLC, very promising.
I was very excited and hyped for the game, and i said to myself to go to the nearest shop to buy it. But before this i was intrigued by a vid that showed the "bad" ending, and i saw it. After that i saw another "not so bad" ending.
Meh, my hype was over and my excitement was gone. I went to the official Bioware forums where the large majority of posters flame Bioware for delivering a crappy ending and asking for more ending options in the form of a DLC (a free one they ask).
Allthough i havent played the game myself, after all those i have seen (and some i have read) i have absolutely (Bioware phrase lol) no intent to buy ME3 at its current ending state. I agree that the story up to the finale and the game play may be worth the purchase but the endings are spoiling the 3 games fun for me.
I hope that they ll be awake in Edmonton.

Much like you I spent many hours on the first 2 games completing everything and in my games I have everyone alive. I worked really hard for completion and companions.

In ME3 you see them all and get some good lore (especially from the DLC) but all in all the choices I made and people I saved in the first 2 games really didn't change anything in the end. They leave you with no explanation of anyone but like 3 people and that's pretty crappy.

The philosophical ending after the credits is cool and leaves DLCs open but in all honesty they should have worked harder on incorporating the people I worked so hard on bringing along with me. That is why I hated the ending. Not the ending in it's entirety, or the journey - those were all awesome. Just the lack of information about those I cared about throughout the entire trilogy.

In layman terms - Y U NO TELL ME WTF HAPPENED TO MY JACK?

[Strah]

By the way, does someone know how can i upgrade weapons to 6-10?
I do have it upgraded to 5, but there's an achievement saying "upgrade a weapon to 10"

[Daverid]

anyone care to explain the synthesis ending? what do they mean by co-existence? reaper style half human half twat or just living happily ever after with each other?

Spoilers tags would have been nice but I guess there's probably enough already untagged in the thread .. And I feel obligated to answer your Question..

Yes, Think of it like Geth ... It would be like the entire Universe is now full of Geth ... Except they would have the brain of a Human ... I think of it like the Brain of a Human in Ideals and Values except they would have perfect Unity, they would never rebel against each other or cause harm .. There would ultimately be peace throughout the Galaxy... Except of course that option requires everyone you know and everything you did getting Destroyed to create the new Universal Race.

[mordale]

Spoilers tags would have been nice but I guess there's probably enough already untagged in the thread .. And I feel obligated to answer your Question..

Yes, Think of it like Geth ... It would be like the entire Universe is now full of Geth ... Except they would have the brain of a Human ... I think of it like the Brain of a Human in Ideals and Values except they would have perfect Unity, they would never rebel against each other or cause harm .. There would ultimately be peace throughout the Galaxy... Except of course that option requires everyone you know and everything you did getting Destroyed to create the new Universal Race.

actually... thats a very inaccurate example. its more a fusion of both synthetic and organic qualities. like iron man's extremus upgrade, you are beyond cyborg.

and its not just one race, they're all techno-organic. krogan, turian, salarian, quarian, asari, human, etc. are all techno-organic as differant as they were organic.

[wombinator04]

Lol, I laughed so hard when I beat the crap out of that news lady at the Citadel.

[Tradewind]

actually... thats a very inaccurate example. its more a fusion of both synthetic and organic qualities. like iron man's extremus upgrade, you are beyond cyborg.

and its not just one race, they're all techno-organic. krogan, turian, salarian, quarian, asari, human, etc. are all techno-organic as differant as they were organic.

the plants too! don't forget the plants...

[Deleted]

Anyone know if it's possible to subscribe only to the multiplayer game? But not buy the main game? I liked the demo while it ended. Doesn't seem possible so far but just checking..

[scvd]

I am currently stuck on the citadel with no means of using the elevator and no save for 6 hour yesssss

[Daverid]

actually... thats a very inaccurate example. its more a fusion of both synthetic and organic qualities. like iron man's extremus upgrade, you are beyond cyborg.

and its not just one race, they're all techno-organic. krogan, turian, salarian, quarian, asari, human, etc. are all techno-organic as differant as they were organic.

Hmmm It wasn't the choice I made so perhaps I've forgotten 'Exactly' what the discussion regarding the Choice was and missed something (Which I think I have)

That Ending sounds a little more appealing now TBH ... NOW I understand why people were talking about "Their" ending being a Rip-Off of Deus Ex: HR ... I thought those people were stupid .. But it makes a bit of sense now.

[Deleted]

actually... thats a very inaccurate example. its more a fusion of both synthetic and organic qualities. like iron man's extremus upgrade, you are beyond cyborg.

and its not just one race, they're all techno-organic. krogan, turian, salarian, quarian, asari, human, etc. are all techno-organic as differant as they were organic.

so the reapers win in any case :/. i guess the only bright spot is the relationship between joker and edi no matter how strange it is lol

[wombinator04]

I'm trying to get a refund from Amazon after that waste of time experience, It probably won't happen but It's worth a try. lmao.

[Valeron]

I'm trying to get a refund from Amazon after that waste of time experience, It probably won't happen but It's worth a try. lmao.

The best you could possibly get is a 50% refund if you have opened it (if there is a tech problem with the game). But for the most part the only way to get refunds on software and video games is if it is unopened and still in its original wrapping. But good luck with it.

[lolo855]

Much like you I spent many hours on the first 2 games completing everything and in my games I have everyone alive. I worked really hard for completion and companions.

In ME3 you see them all and get some good lore (especially from the DLC) but all in all the choices I made and people I saved in the first 2 games really didn't change anything in the end. They leave you with no explanation of anyone but like 3 people and that's pretty crappy.

The philosophical ending after the credits is cool and leaves DLCs open but in all honesty they should have worked harder on incorporating the people I worked so hard on bringing along with me. That is why I hated the ending. Not the ending in it's entirety, or the journey - those were all awesome. Just the lack of information about those I cared about throughout the entire trilogy.

In layman terms - Y U NO TELL ME WTF HAPPENED TO MY JACK?

Yeah I know how you feel, I just finished the game and tbh i am dissapointed by the lack of miranda in it

After all I did to have her alive now and what I had to do to keep her alive in ME3 and then just nothing... farewell that's all...


Made me want to cry, I hope they release a DLC to change the current ending or something, or make it that you surrvived and can meet all your friends again, because I felt cheated right now, there are only 2 different endings (which aren't different at all tbh ) and all the choices you made had zero influence on that.

[JustintimeSS]

Yeah I know how you feel, I just finished the game and tbh i am dissapointed by the lack of miranda in it

After all I did to have her alive now and what I had to do to keep her alive in ME3 and then just nothing... farewell that's all...


Made me want to cry, I hope they release a DLC to change the current ending or something, or make it that you surrvived and can meet all your friends again, because I felt cheated right now, there are only 2 different endings (which aren't different at all tbh ) and all the choices you made had zero influence on that.

Exactly. The more I think about it, the more I feel cheated.

In the ending I picked, Shepard begins to do my choice and struggles. He needs strength to finish such a task and so it flashes to some people I knew (Anderson, Joker and Liara). While this was supposed to be a heart wrenching moment flashed back to those that mattered to you in life to give you the last umph and push (queue sad music), I was taken aback by the lack of people my character genuinely loved (JACK/Garrus) that would give me strength, not even making that final appearance. Like what the hell? Why would people I care about more than Anderson and Joker not show up in my final thoughts. That's a big fuck you in my opinion as a gamer and a writer.

[Flextt]

I just finished my playthrough of ME 3 as Vanguard on Normal. I purposefully started a savegame and went the whole paragon route from ME 1 through ME 2 to set up for ME 3. Yes, in all plot relevant decisions, I would take the paragon choice / make a paragon interrupt. I did it, because I find the display of Shepard as someone with deep humanist views extremely well done and because it simply fits better to me. So I wanted to deliver a small, personal review and exchange views!

Combat
- What I liked was the more dynamic combat. Biotic & tech scale much better than before compared to weapon damage, though I still expect it to be a problem on Hardcore or Insanity. Shepard moves smoother, though the cover system is worse than in comparable games, albeit less so than in ME2. The game still does not like it, if you run on a sharp angle towards cover, causing you to glitch along cover and maybe die trying, which is both frustrating and unnecessary.
- The weapon customization was a nice re-addition, since I had a lot of fun building a nuclear-rocket-launcher-sniper-rifle in ME 1. Though not as in-depth, it offers possibilities to give your weapons adjustments to your playstyle.
- The lack of enemy diversity was clearly a let-down. Although they increased the number of husk forms significantly, it still feels cheap to exclusively fight Cerberus and Reapers. Especially when considering that their combatants are pretty interchangeable. (Assault Trooper – Cannibal, Marauder – Centurion, …)
- What bugged me was that I couldn't control my squad mates sometimes. They would idle at choke points instead of going to their designated positions, forcing me to fight segments alone and ignoring my commands.

My class: Vanguard
Vanguard was still a let-down. Heavy melee has a high miss quota (or I simply suck, but at times I had problems even taking a husk out because they would strafe around me) you cannot really afford and Biotic Charge's damage and utility are heavily situation-dependent at best. The only moments I really liked playing Vanguard was when I was able to charge to an enemy to get a closer to my mission checkpoint and trigger some sort of cutscene. I also felt, that for using Shotguns you would need to be truly committed. Often high weight, low range, long downtimes and bad synergies make it feel like the worst choice possible. Biotic Charge presents itself as a gap closer, while it is basically a support tool for your squad members or a finisher for fights, because you often end up way too exposed. The fact that you encounter melee-adept enemies very often doesn't help the cause of the Vanguard for your CC possibilities will be limited as long as any kind of extra protection is up. Don't really have a lot of good to say about being a Vanguard^^<


Story
The main missions felt pretty epic. The way you are able to secure the required alliances, build up your force and then finally unleash it provided a great frame for the story. As a bit of a lore nut, seeing most major issues in ME's universe resolved was even more satisfactory. To force me into a buggy coop whose games never start at least for me feels very constructed to get a perfect game. It may have been left better to leave it out entirely. Cerberus' growth from a small, but well-organized terrorist group into a full-fledged army with cruisers and the capabilities to take on Alliance and Citadel military within 6 months felt a bit off, but I don't want to complain. I just get to kill more of them that way. Even though I let Anderson become the Human Councilor, I was sad to see that they greatly exaggerated their “1000 variables” players get to import, because Udina was in power. What's worse, they would show minor characters from DLCs simply as tokens to their customers instead of focus on such important stuff, e.g. David Archer in the biotic academy from the ME 2 DLC Overlord. Then there is the small issue with the ending. I failed the last Paragon check with the Illusive Man, so I had to drop him through the renegade check, though I doubt I could have achieved a higher paragon rating, because I did every assignment except 3 small ones on the Citadel, which I could not trigger. I played the Paragon route, because I liked Shepard's humanist ideals and belief in faith and individualism. The only choice remotely enabling me to keep that kind of style would be to turn into a reaper and control them, which still feels cheap because I expected to be able to work for a “perfect” ending given enough effort similar to the suicide mission in ME2. To make use of a deus ex machina was generally a bad move and devalued the whole series which had brilliant lore. Even though the Reapers were unfathomable before, I was content with the explanation ME 2 hinted at: That they simply reap us to build new reapers and to dominate inferior organic life. What's even more depressing: The Paragon resolution of the Quarian-Geth conflict hints at the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between organics and synthetics, which the Guardian dismisses without even mentioning or considering, seemingly putting the decisions at the end out of the context and hence, deprives Mass Effect of one of its greatest strength: Continuity of your decisions.

Technical stuff
Graphics seemed worse than in ME 2 actually. Faces were improved, but most clothing and textures overall looked very low-resolution.

Squad members
Though some people complain they were Zaeed'ed, they still talk frequently with you with more random triggers. Given the shift of focus from managing an elite team to gathering a massive armada, I am perfectly fine with the state given in ME3. The amount of promotion made for the survivor of Virmire turned out to be pitiful in both ME 2 and ME 3 however. Ashley rarely talked and did not gain any depth, except a bit of stage time as a new Spectre. In fact, a lot of reunions from previous encounters have high amounts of repetition instead of new development, like with Miranda who recounts her whole ME 2 dialogue again. Funnily enough Thane got more attention than others though he remained one of the more boring characters lore-wise. But in any case, the Mordin arc should have brought quite a number to tears.

[lolo855]

Exactly. The more I think about it, the more I feel cheated.

In the ending I picked, Shepard begins to do my choice and struggles. He needs strength to finish such a task and so it flashes to some people I knew (Anderson, Joker and Liara). While this was supposed to be a heart wrenching moment flashed back to those that mattered to you in life to give you the last umph and push (queue sad music), I was taken aback by the lack of people my character genuinely loved (JACK/Garrus) that would give me strength, not even making that final appearance. Like what the hell? Why would people I care about more than Anderson and Joker not show up in my final thoughts. That's a big fuck you in my opinion as a gamer and a writer.

Yeah imo the good ending would already have been better if you had seen flashed before you all the squad mates you saved and end up witha s lightly longer flash of your romance ( if you had one ) before it ends, and imo they should have removed the part where your ship crashes lol and let the relay excists, because right now it feels like you become the illusive man and fucked the universe in it's ass.

maybe everyone doesn't die but you send the universe back a couple of hundred years if not more, imo that isn't worth Sheppard, and tbh i would have loved an ending where he was still alive and could come back, would alos leave room for some extra story or more missions for your squad / romance etc...

I feel like i've been robbed of all my choices and that's what made ME series so great, they gotta fix this asap !!!

---------- Post added 2012-03-10 at 02:20 AM ----------

I just finished my playthrough of ME 3 as Vanguard on Normal. I purposefully started a savegame and went the whole paragon route from ME 1 through ME 2 to set up for ME 3. Yes, in all plot relevant decisions, I would take the paragon choice / make a paragon interrupt. I did it, because I find the display of Shepard as someone with deep humanist views extremely well done and because it simply fits better to me. So I wanted to deliver a small, personal review and exchange views!

Combat
- What I liked was the more dynamic combat. Biotic & tech scale much better than before compared to weapon damage, though I still expect it to be a problem on Hardcore or Insanity. Shepard moves smoother, though the cover system is worse than in comparable games, albeit less so than in ME2. The game still does not like it, if you run on a sharp angle towards cover, causing you to glitch along cover and maybe die trying, which is both frustrating and unnecessary.
- The weapon customization was a nice re-addition, since I had a lot of fun building a nuclear-rocket-launcher-sniper-rifle in ME 1. Though not as in-depth, it offers possibilities to give your weapons adjustments to your playstyle.
- The lack of enemy diversity was clearly a let-down. Although they increased the number of husk forms significantly, it still feels cheap to exclusively fight Cerberus and Reapers. Especially when considering that their combatants are pretty interchangeable. (Assault Trooper – Cannibal, Marauder – Centurion, …)
- What bugged me was that I couldn't control my squad mates sometimes. They would idle at choke points instead of going to their designated positions, forcing me to fight segments alone and ignoring my commands.

My class: Vanguard
Vanguard was still a let-down. Heavy melee has a high miss quota (or I simply suck, but at times I had problems even taking a husk out because they would strafe around me) you cannot really afford and Biotic Charge's damage and utility are heavily situation-dependent at best. The only moments I really liked playing Vanguard was when I was able to charge to an enemy to get a closer to my mission checkpoint and trigger some sort of cutscene. I also felt, that for using Shotguns you would need to be truly committed. Often high weight, low range, long downtimes and bad synergies make it feel like the worst choice possible. Biotic Charge presents itself as a gap closer, while it is basically a support tool for your squad members or a finisher for fights, because you often end up way too exposed. The fact that you encounter melee-adept enemies very often doesn't help the cause of the Vanguard for your CC possibilities will be limited as long as any kind of extra protection is up. Don't really have a lot of good to say about being a Vanguard^^<


Story
The main missions felt pretty epic. The way you are able to secure the required alliances, build up your force and then finally unleash it provided a great frame for the story. As a bit of a lore nut, seeing most major issues in ME's universe resolved was even more satisfactory. To force me into a buggy coop whose games never start at least for me feels very constructed to get a perfect game. It may have been left better to leave it out entirely. Cerberus' growth from a small, but well-organized terrorist group into a full-fledged army with cruisers and the capabilities to take on Alliance and Citadel military within 6 months felt a bit off, but I don't want to complain. I just get to kill more of them that way. Even though I let Anderson become the Human Councilor, I was sad to see that they greatly exaggerated their “1000 variables” players get to import, because Udina was in power. What's worse, they would show minor characters from DLCs simply as tokens to their customers instead of focus on such important stuff, e.g. David Archer in the biotic academy from the ME 2 DLC Overlord. Then there is the small issue with the ending. I failed the last Paragon check with the Illusive Man, so I had to drop him through the renegade check, though I doubt I could have achieved a higher paragon rating, because I did every assignment except 3 small ones on the Citadel, which I could not trigger. I played the Paragon route, because I liked Shepard's humanist ideals and belief in faith and individualism. The only choice remotely enabling me to keep that kind of style would be to turn into a reaper and control them, which still feels cheap because I expected to be able to work for a “perfect” ending given enough effort similar to the suicide mission in ME2. To make use of a deus ex machina was generally a bad move and devalued the whole series which had brilliant lore. Even though the Reapers were unfathomable before, I was content with the explanation ME 2 hinted at: That they simply reap us to build new reapers and to dominate inferior organic life. What's even more depressing: The Paragon resolution of the Quarian-Geth conflict hints at the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between organics and synthetics, which the Guardian dismisses without even mentioning or considering, seemingly putting the decisions at the end out of the context and hence, deprives Mass Effect of one of its greatest strength: Continuity of your decisions.

Technical stuff
Graphics seemed worse than in ME 2 actually. Faces were improved, but most clothing and textures overall looked very low-resolution.

Squad members
Though some people complain they were Zaeed'ed, they still talk frequently with you with more random triggers. Given the shift of focus from managing an elite team to gathering a massive armada, I am perfectly fine with the state given in ME3. The amount of promotion made for the survivor of Virmire turned out to be pitiful in both ME 2 and ME 3 however. Ashley rarely talked and did not gain any depth, except a bit of stage time as a new Spectre. In fact, a lot of reunions from previous encounters have high amounts of repetition instead of new development, like with Miranda who recounts her whole ME 2 dialogue again. Funnily enough Thane got more attention than others though he remained one of the more boring characters lore-wise. But in any case, the Mordin arc should have brought quite a number to tears.

yeah the mordin arc was so sad, I didn't have a save from ME2 where I could keep him alive, but if you want to do the good thing you lose him anyway, I cried a bit there and I am not ashamed of it. I loved the guy !

[rol3x]

Im really enjoying it, not all that far through trying my hardest not to get killed by reapers as I explore everything. The choices I make in ME3 matter a hell of alot more then they ever did in 1 or 2 (to be expected but that doesn't make it any less awesome) There was one choice in particular that had me sitting there for a good 10minutes gauging the possible ramifications or each option, I refused to save and see how it played out with both choices.
I made what was arguable the better moral choice but like shepard would in that situation I constantly thought about how It would have ended with option b and the destruction that I caused.
Great game am loving it to bits.

[Motoma]

I found it to be enjoyable, graphic options lacking and faaaar to short but still a decent game compared to most these days!

[Solidito]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyE44...ature=youtu.be

Second playthough i was just looking around and saw these background effects, was like...

Noticed a few other people noticed too.

While talking about graphics did anyone else notice how somethings were quite terrible in terms of looks yet other things were amazing? Jumped so much between being awesome and not.

[Grrwaherr]

You're all saying the game is so short. Can someone tell me how much more I have left to go without spoilers. The last Priority mission I did was the last main Priority mission for Rannoch. I have 21 hours played.