383 replies to this topic

[TheKurichan]

I am only a few hours in, they should have ended it in mass effect 2, not into this at all.

[mik]

Stick with it, it definitely gets better exactly the same.

[SickBoy]

I don't know why I still click on this thread, especially that I'm now getting closer to finishing. For me, I can't say I loved the first little while of either 2 or 3. Seemed like it took me a while to get into the story in both. (Hell, even in ME1 to an extent)

Approaching the 30 hour mark now and enjoying it. I appreciate that the things your doing are mostly "big" (maybe a bit too big?), and that you're not going around the galaxy rescuing kittens out of trees. (Of course that probably wouldn't change much from a gameplay perspective)

[gokieks]

Announcing today that they're going to release DLC that "clarifies" the ending in "summer" to me just sounds like "please hold onto this game for 2 more months and don't get too angry at us at PAX East panel tomorrow".

[Jonnjonzz]

The ending doesn't need clarification, it needs to be rewritten to not have huge plot holes and logic a third grader could poke holes through. This also further proves the point, to me, that the ending was just cobbled together to make a ship date and that they would see if the ending was good enough for fans. If the fans were happy with the ending, they would have released this and charged for it as an epilogue. They really did think they could get away with a 5 minute end, not an ending, to a 100 hour plus story.

So this just means we have to wait longer for any DLC that might actually sound interesting, like taking back Omega.

Edited by Jonnjonzz, 05 April 2012 - 01:25 PM.

[Jonnjonzz]

So why did this never make the rounds on the news sites? I mean this is a bit shady, but when has that stopped Kotaku or any other games website. It does explain how the ending was the way iy was, pure ego.

Edited by Jonnjonzz, 05 April 2012 - 03:31 PM.

[Kirbutashi]

Not that this has ever stopped an outlet before, but probably because nothing could be verified. His PA forum account has done this before where he'll allegedly delete his posts an hour or so later.

[SickBoy]

Finished the game last night, and the ending was underwhelming for certain. However, I didn't find myself actively offended by it.

Spoiler

In particular, I don't think I agree with the ideas that "everything you've done towards peace in this series has been futile" or "what you have been doing the entire time is wrong."

Maybe we played different games I think there are definitely issues with the ending, but I disagree that the ending nullifies anything you've done.

I also don't necessarily agree that the game's perspective is that God Boy is right (or with the suggestion that you should be able to sway him). The way I see it, the Reapers have been wrong for millennia and who knows how many genocides -- the difference between life continuing and annihilation being razor thin. The choices that you're offered essentially fit that view, which has existed since the beginning of time.

If the ending was affected by development time, it's really inexcusable. This is a big deal game, and if they have to hit a date, the ending is almost something that should be addressed first. I hope to YouTube the DLC content (game is going back to the store now)...

All in all I really enjoyed the game, but I think it fell short of its promise in some ways, and not just in terms of the ending.

Edited by SickBoy, 08 April 2012 - 10:57 AM.

[Jonnjonzz]

Spoiler

I'll say this about the ending; if there was a forth option that let you tell the boy to fuck off and just just let the massive galactic force you have amassed fight and probably lose, almost every single person would pick that option. It still end up with a very bleak ending, since every ending to the game is bleak if you think about it like Bioware wants us too, but its in line with the themes of the game. But that wouldn't let them be cost effective and make one ending and toss a few color filers over it and call it done.

[SwimOdin]

I've been waiting to play the single player when the face patch was going to hit. It was supposed to be today...but it still hasn't come up on 360. How did this game launch without being able to import your Shep's face, when that (continuity) seemed to be the fundamental idea for the trilogy?

[Jonnjonzz]

So they could uphold their grand artistic vision.

[TheKurichan]

I've been waiting to play the single player when the face patch was going to hit. It was supposed to be today...but it still hasn't come up on 360. How did this game launch without being able to import your Shep's face, when that (continuity) seemed to be the fundamental idea for the trilogy?

Luckily I edited my character's face before starting mass effect 2, so my fem shep's face imported fine. Sadly the game is crap, and the story is stupid.

[thegreenburrito]

So since the patch and the new co-op DLC, the game freezes up when it is trying to connect to the EA servers. Anyone else on the 360 having this problem?

This is incredibly frustrating as now I can't even play the single player campaign to then be frustrated with the ending.

If the 1.2 update for SWTOR crashes tomorrow, man I'm going to have to write a strongly worded letter to Bioware/EA.

[joseph881]

So since the patch and the new co-op DLC, the game freezes up when it is trying to connect to the EA servers. Anyone else on the 360 having this problem?

This is incredibly frustrating as now I can't even play the single player campaign to then be frustrated with the ending.

If the 1.2 update for SWTOR crashes tomorrow, man I'm going to have to write a strongly worded letter to Bioware/EA.

Glad to hear I'm not alone. I was wondering wtf was going on. It happened twice then I kind of just gave up trying to play.

[thegreenburrito]

Glad to hear I'm not alone. I was wondering wtf was going on. It happened twice then I kind of just gave up trying to play.

I'm in the same boat, thought I was an isolated incident. I gave it the magical third try, but the same thing happened. Might try later tonight but I also don't want to break the game in half.

[thegreenburrito]

Ok just hopped on, and now I'm able to log on to the EA servers. Hopefully its working for you too joseph881

[joseph881]

Ok just hopped on, and now I'm able to log on to the EA servers. Hopefully its working for you too joseph881

Yeah, I just tried and am able to get on after a longer than usual wait. Just completed all the N7 missions.

[thegreenburrito]

Nice, I believe I'm close to finishing them up as well. I played a few co-op missions and finally have my readiness over 80%.

[SwimOdin]

I'm enjoying it a lot so far, so...that makes me worried I'm gonna be utterly disappointed when I get to the end. Maybe I should get there then stop until this DLC comes out?

[TheKurichan]

I am 14 hours in, this game is not as good as 2, though there were a couple of things I enjoyed

Spoiler

Like killing Ash, and banging Trayner

[joseph881]

I'm enjoying it a lot so far, so...that makes me worried I'm gonna be utterly disappointed when I get to the end. Maybe I should get there then stop until this DLC comes out?

When I finished it, I was kinda underwhelemed, but it's not as drastic as some make it seem.

Spoiler

You can finish it and when you resume afterward, you are right before starting the final mission and are free to roam. So what I suggest, is that you finish the game the way it is, and make a save at the point I just described earlier. Then, after they release the new ending DLC, you could possibly load that save back up and see the revised ending.

Edited by joseph881, 15 April 2012 - 07:47 PM.

[Jonnjonzz]

Its not a new ending DLC, its "clarification". From what they have said there will be no new interactive elements.

Oh and when you finish the game and resume aren't you on the mission before that last mission? Since the second to last mission locks out everything on the galaxy map after you do it.

Edited by Jonnjonzz, 15 April 2012 - 09:18 PM.

[SaitoH]

Finished Mass 3.

Really enjoyed it, but I must admit that I was disappointed with the ending. Not in what happened, but that there was no real resolution for the characters. Not a huge deal breaker, just a disappointment.

I'll give Bioware credit for making ME3 a better shooter and the multiplayer is surprisingly fun. I found myself missing things like the hacking mini game (yup) and the ground ship missions (surprisingly). Also, the level design was kinda bland compared to its predecessor --a sacrifice to repurpose the assets for multiplayer.

Good sequel, but not as good as ME2.

[TheKurichan]

Finished Mass 3.

Really enjoyed it, but I must admit that I was disappointed with the ending. Not in what happened, but that there was no real resolution for the characters.

That was my complaint too, just finished it last night.

[DistantStorm]

So I finally finished this late last night. Most of my thoughts on the ending have already been reflected by others here, so there's little need for me to go into detail. Suffice to say, overall perplexed disappointment is how I'd deem my reaction to the ending.

Although I did think that at least, from a purely aesthetic angle- the final scene of gameplay was well done. In the sense that Bioware delivered a setting, visually and musically, that conveyed the "epic-ness" and astronomical magnitude of the situation. I don't really agree with what happened when I got there, but it fit the scale of the moment.

And now the wait for the "extended" conclusion. Should be interesting to see how that plays out. The MP will hold my interest for a while longer yet. Beyond that, off to the Witcher 2.

[mik]

I can't tell you how pissed off it made me that Shepard was slowly lumbering through that entire final sequence. I understand the rationale, but making me walk so sloooooooowly while absolutely nothing happens is not engaging on any level. Then when the cutscene of Shepard shooting started, she was suddenly walking completely normally. wtf.

[Kirbutashi]

18 months!

ugh

[Fahrenhype]

Just ordered it from the Amazon Gold Box deal. I was not terribly impressed with Mass Effect 2, so maybe lower expectations will help compared to whatever anyone else was anticipating. Is the whole "galactic readiness" thing really only achievable with the co-op horde mode or can it be managed just with the campaign?

[gokieks]

You can raise it either through playing the MP (which honestly is quite excellent) or through the iOS game/datapad apps.

It also barely makes a difference, so feel free to ignore it completely.

[SwimOdin]

Welp, beat it. It was alright.

[SickBoy]

Listening to the podcast, reminded that while I wasn't thrilled by the ending, the big disappointment from the game is that your actions in previous games don't have enough impact on the third game. There were a few decisions I made in the first two games, regarding the Geth, the Rachni and the krogan squadmate in ME2 that I had hoped would produce real differences in the ME3 world. I understand why they didn't, but I think only a vocal minority would complain about their choices locking out significant content in the previous games.

I think bracing for a potentially disappointing ending may have made both issues (ending and lack of carry-over consequences) smaller for me. But in retrospect, if someone was to ask me "what sucks about ME3," my first answer wouldn't be "the ending." Ending would be on the list, mind you.

Still really enjoyed the game despite the various problems with it.

[MangamanX]

Meh, I tried both ME2 and ME3 on gaikai.com and all I have to say is this: I like the character customization.

There's something to be said when I'm on that thing for about a good 2 hours just making several femsheps. Maybe I should get therapy.

[gokieks]

You should look into games that actually have good character creation tools. Because ME's is downright terrible.

[Fahrenhype]

About three hours in, just finished Pavalen Moon. I'm still not a huge fan of the basic structure of these games vs. the more open world WRPG's but I understand it is a necessity for the galactic romp tale they are telling. It still feels like the shooting mechanics could be better considering the volume of killing you do, and the lack of peripheral options compared to something like Deus Ex HR or Fallout. I know I gotta get way further into this to see what the uproar is about, but I found ME2's story so hilariously bad at the end that maybe my expectation level is low enough to not care nearly as much as a lot of people do. They are at least doing a good enough job of making your imported choices reflect in cut scenes and character appearances early on. That is the one thing they have gotten right overall (well, minus the face importing) compared to other games. I was always interested see where the save importing went in Shenmue before Sega turned into... well, Sega.

Also, am I "misremembering" since it has been so long or was weapon and armor management a much more integral affair and more interest in the first Mass Effect than subsequent games? Seems pretty rote here, and I remember that being the case in ME2 as well.

[gokieks]

Mass Effect had a pretty in-depth weapon/armor/mod management system. It was also, unfortunately, saddled with the absolute worst UI for item/party management ever put into a game.

[MojoBox]

The inventory UI was so bad in ME1 that it forced you to ignore the whole system for your own sanity. When I play ME1 now all I do is change everyones equipment after the item ranks have gone up a couple levels and then liquidate my entire inventory. It was horrible.

[gokieks]

I can't help it because I'm OCD when it comes to playing RPG, so this is how I tracked items and gear in ME1:

<img src=http://www.gokieks.com/files/ME_Spreadsheet.jpg>


The whole Mass Effect series is honestly a case study in bad UI design, but the inventory management in ME1 really goes so far above and beyond anything else (except maybe Borderlands PC).

Edited by gokieks, 02 May 2012 - 03:46 PM.

[gamer812]

Whoa, that's some dedication there. I just went by the numbers.

[Fahrenhype]

Way further into the game. It is good but I get the impression that the cameos of many of the characters introduced in ME2 aren't that prominent because of how many crazy permutations the ending of that game could have. I was really surprised by how long it took to get a fifth full time squad member.

The combat has gotten better as a Vanguard. Some nice shotguns to use in conjunction with the biotic lunge, and having first person optical scopes for the assault rifles is a good improvement (don't remember those being in the first two games). Cryo ammo is incredibly useful against some of the larger enemies that take a good bit of damage. The $50K armors are pretty sweet as well.

It might be a matter of expectations playing a role, but since I was never as enamored with ME2 as a lot of people, this game isn't disappointing to me like it is for some. I'm guessing things can and will get stupid as the story progresses though.

[Fahrenhype]

Finished. This trilogy is pretty much the video game equivalent of the Matrix. That isn't a compliment.