Mass Effect 3: Blue Oyster Cult Was Wrong

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Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

So I completed the game for the first time an hour or two ago with my default MaleShep - Paragon as heck gun-toting galactic peacemaker extraordinaire. Did everything right (or at least as right as possible, what with the few unavoidable either/ors the game throws at you) as far as I could tell, had a fuckton of assets and even bothered to raise galactic war readiness to 100%. It was a long, generally satisfying ride, with some of the best highs and lows of the entire series, and I was looking forward so very much to the big payoff at the end.

All I can say is that I suspect BioWare have been looking a little too much at what others have been doing in the past few years, and forgot that it's sometimes okay not to go along with the rest - especially if a slightly different approach has always worked out very well indeed for you in the past. BioWare RPGs, in my mind, are not supposed to necessarily end on what is essentially a downer. My biggest complaint isn't that they've basically closed off all possibilities for developing the ME universe further, or that the transhumanist angle came in too late and wasn't developed properly/felt out of place, but that they have made it largely impossible for the player to actually feel good about wrapping up this trilogy. Although I can appreciate the drama and ambiguity of ME3's conclusion, in the sense that it makes for more interesting science-fiction than a clich�d fairytale happy ending and, for better or worse, has evidently resonated very strongly with the playerbase, I can't help but feel somewhat cheated. Worse still, ME3's possible endings actually make me hesitant to play through the game again - and I get the impression that they have the same effect on many others. That BioWare apparently had not anticipated this response boggles my mind.

Even so, I do wish to stress that up to the end, it is a great third instalment in the series as far as I'm concerned. While playing I got the impression that there's a lot more non-interactive dialogue compared to the previous titles, which I thought was a pity, and I believe the game takes just a little too long to open up, but other than that I have no real material criticism to offer. I'm very impressed by just how much content and attention to detail there is in ME3, the combat and character-building aspects appear to have been quite sensibly refined since ME2, there's tons of lovely touches in characters' facial animations during dialogue/cutscenes, some very memorable writing, and, as I said, some of the best highs and lows of the entire series. Even if the finale is a letdown, you'll feel like a goddamn champ if you cure the genophage and broker peace between the quarians and geth. Here's hoping that BioWare will be moved to create a more pleasing (set of) ending(s), so that ME3 can eventually be called close to perfect without any reservations.

A Nice Boy posted:

Two quick questions:

1. Side quests: I've read that you want to do as many side quests as you can before doing priority quests because some side quests can fail if you don't. I'm at the part when you go back to the citadel and the game really opens up, and I have like 15 side quests. I pop back into the Normandy, but I can't find any of the systems to do them in, aside from a few.

My question: Do the side quests that you CAN DO pop up when you highlight systems? There are a few I can do right now, like recovering the artifacts for the Blue Suns mission, but a lot of them like Benning: Evidence don't show up anywhere. I finally got annoyed with wandering the galaxy map and looked online, and about half my missions aren't available.

So: When side missions become available, do they automatically show up on the galaxy map as a blinking system?

Some systems will only become accessible a little later on. Many of those will seem 'empty', i.e. there's no marker for any mission; that's where scanning comes in. You fly around a system, sending out scanning pulses until you detect something to pick up. There's no landing required, but if you detect something on a planet's surface you'll have to do a surface scan for a hotspot a la ME2. Since scanning more than once will alert the Reapers to your presence, and they won't leave until you've finished a mission (you can escape easily enough by flying to the edge of a system or a mass relay, though) I find it's best to start out doing the systems surrounding the one with the mass relay and abuse the quick-save function for if you scan in the wrong spot.

Also, a few missions will have pickups for the side-quests, so be sure to look around every area very carefully.

quote:

2. Second: I'm doing an insanity run as a soldier, and I'm not going to lie, it's been rough so far. Just finished From Ashes, and with most of the tough battles so far I've had to be really tactical and find good cover or other ways to beat it. It's been fun so far, because in the old ME's I played 'em on normal and basically just blasted everything and didn't care about being careful...Now I have to be insanely careful and really think about how to approach every battle.

That being said, some things like Atlases and Turrets are giving me hell. As a soldier, is the game going to get way harder, or is it about like this the whole way?

The first playthrough I mentioned was as a Soldier on Hardcore, and I found it quite challenging as well. A few enemies - Banshees above all - remain kind of nightmarish until the very end, since they take inordinate amounts of punishment and will hunt you down very quickly, but in general I thought the game became easier as I progressed through the levels. Having the right people with you helps, too. For example, fragile though she is, Liara's Singularity + Warp combo is highly effective in many situations.

FairGame posted:

gently caress that; given the people you show up with at the endgame location, Your away team is loving dead. A galaxy without Garrus and Tali is a stupid galaxy.

I took Garrus and Liara and thought "what the heck this can't be right, they can't be dead". Sure enough, though, I get to the final cutscene and watch Liara exit the crashed Normandy entirely unscathed. Perhaps the galaxy isn't so stupid after all. :unsmith:

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 03:54

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 15:13

Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

lemonadesweetheart posted:

I finished the game last night and have been thinking a lot about what they could've done instead.

[snip]

It's like someone decided, well we want you to die so here are three options were you will die (or get a 10s cut scene if you play our multiplayer and farm all the war stuff).

Anyway I would have much preferred if they just turned off the reapers/told them to gently caress off for a cycle and then had a little montage of scenes based on your choices through-out all three games. It's not like it's a stretch they kinda did one just before the start of the end anyway. You wouldn't even need to pay voice talent if you're a cheap poo poo.

Going a little off-topic here, but this made me think of Planescape: Torment's ending. I always took issue with that as well, since it basically throws out both choice and morality, and forces the player to accept death, either in the form of non-existence or damnation. I've never understood why TNO cannot (try to) strike a deal with TTO to leave each other in peace. Especially for an evil-minded TNO, it makes no sense to give up his life just like that. Considering also that the issue of his amnesia-upon-death has been solved, I've never seen any obvious reasons for TTO to refuse such an offer. And such a conclusion, I think, is almost exactly what you're suggesting here: bargain with the Catalyst to withdraw the Reapers so that both the old, "ascended" life as well as the new will have a future, perhaps on the condition that there will be no more great wars between organics and synthetics.

Geisladisk posted:

My biggest problem with the writing is not the ending, which, while disappointing, was honestly pretty predictable.

[snip]

Also, most people seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole "reapers are on Earth/Your homeworld murdering your friends and family and/or turning them into robot space zombies". They seemed annoyed at best - Like when Garrus points to the big god drat fireball on Palaven and goes "Yeah that's where I'm from, my dad and sisters are down there." - He then proceeds to not give a poo poo and no mention it at all the rest of the game.
Hell, the only time I remember seeing anyone display any emotion or distress over the whole thing is when you walk in on the pilot crying about his dead husband.

I don't think this is true at all. Concerning Garrus, he brings up the family situation multiple times throughout the game, updating you on what's new (or what isn't) and being pretty agitated about it the whole time. Of course, you do have to regularly talk to him on the Normandy in-between missions to hear it all. As for everyone else, it's true perhaps that most people don't seem quite worried enough - Joker comments on this when you chat with him on the Presidium. However, later on, he also basically tells you that are people doing their best to ignore the war as much as possible out of sheer desperation. He even admits to doing the same. Walking around the Citadel after the Cerberus attack, you can hear people whimper and cry. You can also overhear conversations about how people have been affected or are being affected by the war. When it comes to people you know, it's probably important to note that they are professionals, and that not all of them have really experienced the consequences of the war yet. Allers is clearly very shocked when she hears about Bekenstein, however, and Liara is absolutely devastated after witnessing the carnage on Thessia. Hearing about Shepard's failure leaves the asari Councilor visibly confused and terrified, to the point of suddenly breaking off the call. Too little, too late, perhaps, but I don't think it's fair to say that nobody's emotional over the whole thing.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 13:24

Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

Charlie Mopps posted:

LIara is really crushed about Palaven though. But you're right, she seems to be the exception.

May I draw your attention to my post higher up on this same page?

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 15:28

Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

I already linked this in the spoiler thread, but I'm going to link it here too because it's the one legitimately excellent, saving grace of ME3's final moments: the ending cutscene music. Close your eyes, listen to it, and imagine the conclusion to this mighty trilogy that you have spent years hoping for.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 16:40

Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

Aristobulus posted:

I'm going to mention as a sidenote these were touches I thought made the characters seem so much more developed and natural - in ME1 or ME2, that same scene would've had you approach Liara standing in her lab/room on the Normandy, and she would complain at you about it, here in ME3, she's not standing in the same spot when you enter the room, she's already in the process of just grieving on her bed.

Absolutely. Throughout ME3, I was constantly impressed and pleased by the much more refined interaction with your squadmates, as well as the interactions between them. The Normandy felt much more alive, and your squadmates much more like actual characters instead of animatronics that would only activate when Shepard spoke directly to them. I already said this in my first post in this thread, but I'd like to reiterate that I was genuinely wowed by all that tertiary content and all the attention to detail in so many of the cutscenes. In particular, I was extremely pleased to see how much more effort has been put into animating characters' eyes and eyebrows this time round. It seems like such a small thing, but it makes a huge difference.

Honestly, the overall quality of ME3, with all its little yet highly effective improvements, makes it all the more a pity that you don't get that same, rich feeling of satisfaction when you see the credits roll as you did after completing the previous two games.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 17:56

Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

kuddles posted:

I feel like the whole game was like this. For instance, yes, the levels were essentially just typical cover-shooter dungeons but they did a much better job of hiding that and making you feel like you actually were in these epic environments. In one level you are in a building that breaks into an underground cave that then turns into a giant hallway of ancient ruins. In another, you fight in a war-torn urban environment with a giant Reaper overhead until it culminates at a giant museum/cathedral. Meanwhile, 90% of the levels in the first two games were basically cramped corridors going one way and they just told you it was either a spaceship or space station.

Aside from the level design, most if not all missions also benefit from those comparatively minor touches that are so prevalent throughout the game. In ME1 and ME2, there's very little talking going on in missions outside of cutscenes and conversations, but in ME3 there's tons of radio chatter. There's also many more small set-pieces, with things flying overhead and Reapers stomping around/shooting stuff in the background, to give a much more powerful illusion of not merely taking part in active warfare, but in doing so at the same time as many others.