CK's Assorted Reviews - Today's Review - The Mass Effect Trilogy - Now With 61% More Mass Effect 2!

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

What are you talking about her AI messing up your Sniping? I've played an Infiltrator as both male and female with Tali on my squad and have never had issues sniping a target.

[Kpnut]

What are you talking about her AI messing up your Sniping? I've played an Infiltrator as both male and female with Tali on my squad and have never had issues sniping a target.

That's why I said in my game, she kept running in front of me while I was lining up the shot.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

I've never had that happen before most of the times if I miss a target it's either because I have a hand spasm and jerk the mouse or the SOB moves right as I push the button to fire. I'd recommend trying to position your squad members behind cover that way they won't randomly move around the BF. 

[Kpnut]

I've never had that happen before most of the times if I miss a target it's either because I have a hand spasm and jerk the mouse or the SOB moves right as I push the button to fire. I'd recommend trying to position your squad members behind cover that way they won't randomly move around the BF. 

Tried that, even switched her to her pistol and she still went sprinting off to kill geth with her fucking shotgun and filling the scope with her ass. She's also the only squadmate who does this as, even when they're not told to go into cover, Vega and Aria still take up sensible positions and don't run in front of me even when they're using shotguns.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

If I was a guy right about now I'd say something like "at least you had a nice view" but I can see how that would get annoying especially if you're using a slow firing rifle like the Javelin, widow, or black widow.

[Victoria K.]

 

 

I've read through the whole ME review and while I disagree about almost everything you think concerning the characters, I appreciated nonetheless the insight you provided, also I concur on the most parts.

 

That's a genuine and non pretentious work, a very detailed overview blessed with some logic coming to life from an amazing experience you felt to share and that's what make the read quite enjoyable.

 

Nice job!

 

 

Thank you Victoria, that's really nice of you to say.

 

It's really nice to find people who can still disagree with aspects of something you've written and still find the positives in it.

Like I said, I don't really mind if people find fault or think differently, it all makes for more engaging discussion! 

 

 

Yeah, really? It's not so funny with my english to have engaging discussion  

 

 

Lot of text and quoting. Quoting, text, edit, quoting, wrong quoting, I'm going to hate quoting for a lifetime.

 

 

In any case, I'd more than like to hear why you disagree with the characters.

 

 

 

 

In any case, I'd more than like to hear why you disagree with the characters.

It comes from personal taste and preferences due to individual differences, as for everything else really. That's why, I think.

 

Characters were more of a mixed bag for me in Mass Effect. While I very much enjoyed the levels of customisation afforded, in terms of what they wear and what you can equip, I found it hard to actually empathise with some of the characters, which I thought were "forced" on the player far too soon. Garrus and Wrex for example, which you both gain at the Citadel within close timing of one another. I basically had no link whatsoever to these characters, and all of a sudden they just join my squad. I mean, Garrus wanted to help in the investigation, but that is quite a step towards him joining my crew. Likewise, Wrex went from "a mercenary we should meet" to "immediate crewmember" to the point I remembered the "join squad" window opening up and being at a loss at why that was the case.

 

Agreed so far, but I wasn't very displeased because I did really like Garrus and even Tali (in ME) was okay for me. I wasn't too fond of Wrex and I left him in the Citadel for some time with no problems. But yes, we could say they did a job a bit sloppy on the joining in there.

 

 

Wrex and Garrus just never really "clicked" with me, for some reason.

 

Disagreement. Garrus "clicked". Wrex no. Personal taste.

 

 

 I think one of the factors was that, naturally, as a potential LI, Ashley and Liara were just far more developed as characters and had far more to say to me after each mission. I particularly liked Ashley's depth as a character - her motivation to suceed, her inherent mistrust of other races (not racism as some people would have it) and the fact she is a cynic and a poet.

 

Disagreement. The opposite for me. I found her quite annoying.

The character was well-written, I can't say otherwise, her writer after all was Stormwaltz, Chris L'Etoile, a very talented one who wrote big part of the game and left the franchise before the ME2 release (he wrote also in ME2). On the very first ME website back in the days (the old one in 2007) some of us got to know him very well and it has been a great loss, another milestone in the downhill process of the franchise (you already know how I think about this matter).

So the fact I dislike Ashley, you see, it's not about poor writing or something, it's a matter of personal taste. All the things you listed as appealing are to me of any appeal.

 

 

In fact, I found her mistrustful and cynical attitude far more appealing and "realistic" as a character than those where characters basically just unflailingly follow Shepard's command. It was also why I liked the confrontation with Wrex on Virmire, because it was something I immediately though - "Hey, wouldn't this Krogan have some issue with this?" and boy, did he take issue with it.

 

Big disagreement. This urging of realism in games is getting boring. In order to get a "realistic" perspective on the characters at this point you should also experience the "realism" of the world these characters are born and live in.

As you accept to play a gaming reality, you better get to accept also gaming personalities. And this is something, to be completely honest, I like and enjoy. I want to play a game, I want to be entertained by creativity, excitement or wonderment, you see these are not constant prerogatives of reality but it's damn sure for me them should be of games.

So you see I don't dislike Ashley willing she was not there, it's good she was (she's well written and all), just it's not my favorite character nor one I like much, but I can't judge the "realism" of her character, neither I'm interested to do so. It makes not sense at all to me.

 

 

It was for these reasons I didn't much care for Liara as an LI, I found her a little too naive and "silly", or just far too girly. I was impressed by how they developed her character in M2 and ME3 though, and given the handling they gave Ash in ME3, I very much regretted not choosing her as an LI early on. Not Ash's fault, but the writers. But in terms of character dynamics, she was by far my favourite.

 

Big disagreement. Aside from what said already above, I really liked Liara in ME and enjoyed her personality, something like this is refreshing in a gaming scenario more and more focused churning out badasses at any cost.

Plus I find especially attractive in women both sweetness and naïveness. She was not only a pleasant teammate for my Shepard (I played mostly as a male), but also a truly fitting LI. There's no accounting for taste, after all.

Moreover, as you can imagine, I didn't appreciate her sudden change of personality in ME2, could be "realistic" enough that someone evolves into a completely different person after some tragic events and whatnot, of course, gist of the matter: we got the badass.

Not surprising considering the turn of the entire second game. It could have been easily predictable.

 

 I also liked the bits in the elevators where the characters talked to each other. Seriously, I know some people hated it, but wow, you can't take like 10 seconds from your day to just wait for a screen to load? How is that any better than ME2 and ME3's waiting scenes, where you watch a bar loading? I far preferred staying on the elevator and listening to the ridiculous music, or hearing my squadmates interact with one another. I also loved how Garrus referenced that in ME3's "Citadel" DLC and reminisces about how much he misses those times.

 

Agreed, but the very annoying elevator for many was the one inside the Normandy to go down in the storage. The citadel ones were indeed more acceptable.

 

 

All in all, I liked the characters, but some far more than others.

 

Of course, me too.

 

 

 I suppose it can be said to be one of ME's triumphs that, further on in the series, they really make most of the characters grow on you and that is one of the testaments to the quality of the franchise in general.

 

Agreed.The sci-fi immersion and awesome storyline are the biggest for me as testament of quality of ME. Overall also the characters. In ME2 there are very interesting new characters, that's something I liked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was a pretty good graphics quality for the day's standard I think. Except for the textures loading that could take long at times.

 

Was it? I don't know, maybe looking back colours your perceptions, but I was sure I remember games looking better back then, eve if it was Unreal Tournament 3, which I think uses the same engine. I could be wrong though. 

 

You should take into account it came out xbox exclusive. Who played day one and few months on, played on xbox only, that's my case. I say the graphics was really good indeed. Only flaw the loading time textures at times.

 

You know, I have been giving this some thought, in fact, I pondered about it when I was writing the review(s). If the fact I played the games today and back to back rather than when they came out and having to wait between the franchises has somewhat influenced the way I see them. I reckon in many ways, it does. Having said that, maybe its for the better though - I do feel I've been spared a lot of the disappointment and soul-crushing I see a lot of the fans have felt from it. That and the fact because I played the games late, I didn't "buy into the promises" but then again, I tend to dismiss these anyway. But your probably right.

 

I assure you it wasn't a matter to "buy into promises", really. Not for old ME fans at least, many of us saw that coming way ahead. Many ME2 committed fans got screwed on buy into promises though, that's for sure I think.

 

Having said that, I would say that for me at least, the ME series does fall under the categories of "epic", "unforgettable" and "unique". I don't like to overindulge in hyperbole, especially so when writing a review, but it has made a pretty lasting impression. I was actually really sad the week I finished playing it and was penning this review 

 

Not suggesting to force your lexical choices that are utmost fitting, wish I could write like you. Just wanted to give an idea of the different feeling I think you could have experienced back in the days from what you have experienced now, just the possibility you also contemplated. Only thing I must clarify is none of those adjectives are in any way hyperbolic (concerning me), they perfectly describe what I felt, I find them very suitable.

 

In any case, thanks for the time to read it, and I'm glad you liked it. I hope the ME2 one is informative also. 

 

Thank you and looking forward to the ME2 one. I have some mixed feelings about ME2, will be very interesting to read your opinion about. It seems this is for you and me both the most "controversial" of the three.

[ChancellorKremlin]

Ah yes....the multiplayer......Hated it from the start especially when I found out I had to play it to get all my war assets into play in the final battle, of course it only pissed me off more when that final battle came and all that work in multiplayer meant jackshit as all it impacted was which of the three options you could get<---Pre EC now it doesn't matter if it's 50% or 100%.

Yeah, it was a very strange and jarring decision. Going to blame EA for that one, with their multiplayer obsession. I managed to tweak my game to get 100% readiness from the start, but I feel sorry for anyone who spent time playing online just to get the assets considering how they get used (or don't, to be more precise) in the end battle.

 

"His"? Let me guess, you play with defaultShep? 

 

I started writing a very bitter and spiteful reply here, but that would probably be unfair.

 

Suffice to say, I wish I was in your shoes. I really do. Either having started with ME3, or played the series back to back. With 6 years of character investment, I feel MY Shepard deserved so much more. At no point, EVER, in the series did I even think for a second the hero had to die. I imagined it would be an option, but for it to be the only one? Not in a million years.

 

You see, that character actually became much more important to me than Mordin, and definitely Legion "I want to be a real boy!", and Thane. And well everyone else, even the fucking universe. Because Shepard had earned a rest. After everything, I thought there would be hope for a future. 

 

Oh and that breath scene, what a fucking troll. They wanted to kill off Shepard. That breath scene is ambiguous enough that they can hold to that, and let players who desperately wanted Shep to live get the impression of survival. 

 

Yeah, I'm still bitter, and I hate it.

 

I'm happy for you though. The magic of the journey died during the final 20 min of ME3 for me, and not because the journey was bad, but because I have seen 2/3 of that journey countless times before ME3 was released.

Yeah, I probably should have made it more explicit I played with a default male Shepard.

 

In any case, I'm glad you held back because that would have been unwarranted.

 

I'm starting to see the nature of our disagreement is perhaps philosophical more than anything else, along the same lines of "closure" and people who love/hate it that I raised in the review. I can say now that even if I had played the games when they came out and replayed every game countless times and waited all that time between them, that I would not have been bothered by his death in ME3.

 

I'm just not that big into "happy" endings. I'm more of a "grey area" sort of person, and I found his death to be both in my tastes and far more thematic to the series than having him living would have been. I don't think its a case of "deserved" - this isn't a universe where people get what they deserve, and that's what I like, the grit. Thane, Legion, Mordin, they didn't get what they "deserved" and I'm OK with that.

 

You may agree with that just not Shep, and that's fine, I can see how if that's the stance you take, it would be disappointed. That being said, two things can "fix" that for you. The Mass Effect Happy Ending Mod, and really - you could just take the lifeline BEAware have thrown you in the form of the "breathing" scene. It's not subtle, or ambiguous - its pretty obvious they put it in there for people who "didn't want their Shep to die", like you. Take it or leave it, you have the ending you wanted.

 

Granted, you have to make some pretty hard choices to get there, but then that's how it should be.

 

Actually half the reason I hated Liara and most of the reason I hated Tali was for gameplay purposes more then storyline ones (although I hate Liara for being a Creator Pet and Tali actually for entirely gameplay purposes, the AI that controls her is retarded in my game and kept fucking up my sniping) both of their their squad wide boosts are too specialised, Liara ONLY boosts biotics and Tali ONLY boosts tech. Comparing them to Garrus and Javik (who are the closest to them in terms of specialisation, barring EDI who only boosts tech as well iirc) both of whom boost the entire's squads powers regardless of whether they're biotic or tech powers as well as having access to better weapons (assault rifles) and powers (overload, armor piercing ammo, dark channel and pull) the fact I didn't like Tali's personality in the second game didn't help matters. Also forgot to mention I hated the way they dealt with the ME2 romances (bar Garrus and Tali) in ME3, Thane was understandable as he was dying but the rest just make me feel like there was no point sinking that additional time into them.

That's weird, I never had that problem with my followers. I played purely as a "Soldier" and Liara and Tali were basically the most useful followers I had for their respective tech and biotic powers, namely Overload and Singularity. I couldn't have played without them, and I really struggled before I figured out on insanity it was basically impossible to beat the game without certain followers being in your squad. And I found in my game they never ran off but just stayed in cover wherever I told them, which was what I thought was one of the most polished features in the game. On that note, I found myself rarely using my own powers.

 

I was also disappointed by the Romances in ME3. Distraught by how they handled Ashley, I played again, this time with Miranda. Aside from one encounter here and there, the whole thing was half baked. Haven't seen how she's handled in the Citadel DLC, but because that's a DLC, it shouldn't really count. Seems like it was "Liara" or nothing, and as much as I like her, that's a damn shame if she's not your LI, pet or no pet. Your Romances deserved better.

 

Yeah, really? It's not so funny with my english to have engaging discussion  

 

Lot of text and quoting. Quoting, text, edit, quoting, wrong quoting, I'm going to hate quoting for a lifetime.

Well, you're far too modest, your handle on English is very good! Yeah, the quoting thing doesn't work very well in the WYSIWYG editor, I find it easier to use the old method and just manually open and close quote-boxes when I want to quote parts of a message rather than just a single block.

 

It comes from personal taste and preferences due to individual differences, as for everything else really. That's why, I think.

Yeah, I got the "personal preferences" feeling when I read your earlier post, and I completely agree.

 

Disagreement. Garrus "clicked". Wrex no. Personal taste.

 

Disagreement. The opposite for me. I found her quite annoying.

You'd make a good Elcor, you know that? "Measured Rebuttal: She could be annoying, but I find I tend to empathise with characters that tend to question my motives more than those that don't. Personal opinion.

 

By the way, how awesome are Elcor? I nearly lost it in ME2 when I heard Elcor Hamlet - "Morose Rumination: To be, or not to be?" lol... but more on that later.

 

The character was well-written, I can't say otherwise, her writer after all was Stormwaltz, Chris L'Etoile, a very talented one who wrote big part of the game and left the franchise before the ME2 release (he wrote also in ME2). On the very first ME website back in the days (the old one in 2007) some of us got to know him very well and it has been a great loss, another milestone in the downhill process of the franchise (you already know how I think about this matter). So the fact I dislike Ashley, you see, it's not about poor writing or something, it's a matter of personal taste. All the things you listed as appealing are to me of any appeal.

I see. I guess that is why when she returns in ME3 she's basically a totally different character, which was a huge blow for me. That's a nice way of looking at it, even if you don't like it. Kudos to that.   

 

Big disagreement. This urging of realism in games is getting boring. In order to get a "realistic" perspective on the characters at this point you should also experience the "realism" of the world these characters are born and live in.

 

As you accept to play a gaming reality, you better get to accept also gaming personalities. And this is something, to be completely honest, I like and enjoy. I want to play a game, I want to be entertained by creativity, excitement or wonderment, you see these are not constant prerogatives of reality but it's damn sure for me them should be of games.

 

So you see I don't dislike Ashley willing she was not there, it's good she was (she's well written and all), just it's not my favorite character nor one I like much, but I can't judge the "realism" of her character, neither I'm interested to do so. It makes not sense at all to me.

I don't know. I get where you're coming from in one sense, and partially agree, but skepticism is one facet of "realism" I welcome in games. Too often, I find my suspension of disbelief broken in games because certain characters (followers and NPC's) far too often make decisions I would imagine would at the very least involve asking more questions or being more mistrustful. "Sure, I'll follow you unquestioningly." So when I see some of that skepticism reflected in characters, I welcome it. Again, this is probably personal preference, it's just the way I see it.

 

That being said and done, what you said in your last sentence is a very mature attitude, and one I too often find lacking in the gaming community. It's always black and white, all or nothing. "Oh, I HATE character X, I wish he/she/it was NEVER in this game and so on..." ... personally, I much rather enjoy each character for what they are, what they contribute to the game, and then pick the one I like most.

 

Big disagreement. Aside from what said already above, I really liked Liara in ME and enjoyed her personality, something like this is refreshing in a gaming scenario more and more focused churning out badasses at any cost.

 

Plus I find especially attractive in women both sweetness and naïveness. She was not only a pleasant teammate for my Shepard (I played mostly as a male), but also a truly fitting LI. There's no accounting for taste, after all.

Moreover, as you can imagine, I didn't appreciate her sudden change of personality in ME2, could be "realistic" enough that someone evolves into a completely different person after some tragic events and whatnot, of course, gist of the matter: we got the badass.

 

Not surprising considering the turn of the entire second game. It could have been easily predictable.

Yeah, I suppose she did add a "sweet" element to ME1's characters. In some ways, the reminded me a lot of Mission Vao from Knights of the Old Republic. Both were blue and childish, I suppose. By the way, I liked her as a character, just not as an LI. I wanted something a little more "mature" and Ashley provided that for me. Again, it boils down to preference I suppose.

 

Yeah, it was so weird that the first thing I heard from her in ME2's "Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC was something about splattering someone's brains over a wall with her Biotics. I was like... wait, what? It was a very jarring transition. Plus, she aged. I don't mean that in a bad way, but her face is so young and sweet in ME1 and in ME2/3 she seems to have "hardened" a lot. I got used to it, and she becomes sweet again in ME3, but she really does change as a character. I found her a lot more "attractive" as an LI in ME3 because of that, even if the change was a little... abrupt. Creator Pet or not, I just wish they'd lavished that kind of attention on the other LI's.

 

In any case, even if she wasn't my LI, I really appreciated her character. She was probably my best friend, and I really came to like her.

 

Agreed.The sci-fi immersion and awesome storyline are the biggest for me as testament of quality of ME. Overall also the characters. In ME2 there are very interesting new characters, that's something I liked.

True, though I thought there were perhaps "too many". Any way, more on that later.

 

You should take into account it came out xbox exclusive. Who played day one and few months on, played on xbox only, that's my case. I say the graphics was really good indeed. Only flaw the loading time textures at times.

You know, I forgot it was a console port. ME1 was a damn good port, you could have fooled me. Not ME2/3 though.

 

Not suggesting to force your lexical choices that are utmost fitting, wish I could write like you. Just wanted to give an idea of the different feeling I think you could have experienced back in the days from what you have experienced now, just the possibility you also contemplated. Only thing I must clarify is none of those adjectives are in any way hyperbolic (concerning me), they perfectly describe what I felt, I find them very suitable.

Well, as I said above, your writing skill is very good if English isn't your first language. For the record, it is not mine either. Persevere and you'll manage!  

 

I get what you mean, and I share the sentiment. I'm just saying, when your writing a "review" neutrality is expected, though I make exceptions here and there.

 

Thank you and looking forward to the ME2 one. I have some mixed feelings about ME2, will be very interesting to read your opinion about. It seems this is for you and me both the most "controversial" of the three.

Indeed. To me it's definitely the "odd" one out. As always, looking forward to your comments on it.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

Now that I think about it there is another thing about Multiplayer that pissed me off. The fact that there were weapons available in MP that were not playable in SP like the Collectors Sniper Rifle GOD that pissed me off like you wouldn't believe.

[Kpnut]

Actually half the reason I hated Liara and most of the reason I hated Tali was for gameplay purposes more then storyline ones (although I hate Liara for being a Creator Pet and Tali actually for entirely gameplay purposes, the AI that controls her is retarded in my game and kept fucking up my sniping) both of their their squad wide boosts are too specialised, Liara ONLY boosts biotics and Tali ONLY boosts tech. Comparing them to Garrus and Javik (who are the closest to them in terms of specialisation, barring EDI who only boosts tech as well iirc) both of whom boost the entire's squads powers regardless of whether they're biotic or tech powers as well as having access to better weapons (assault rifles) and powers (overload, armor piercing ammo, dark channel and pull) the fact I didn't like Tali's personality in the second game didn't help matters. Also forgot to mention I hated the way they dealt with the ME2 romances (bar Garrus and Tali) in ME3, Thane was understandable as he was dying but the rest just make me feel like there was no point sinking that additional time into them.

 

That's weird, I never had that problem with my followers. I played purely as a "Soldier" and Liara and Tali were basically the most useful followers I had for their respective tech and biotic powers, namely Overload and Singularity. I couldn't have played without them, and I really struggled before I figured out on insanity it was basically impossible to beat the game without certain followers being in your squad. And I found in my game they never ran off but just stayed in cover wherever I told them, which was what I thought was one of the most polished features in the game. On that note, I found myself rarely using my own powers.

 

I was also disappointed by the Romances in ME3. Distraught by how they handled Ashley, I played again, this time with Miranda. Aside from one encounter here and there, the whole thing was half baked. Haven't seen how she's handled in the Citadel DLC, but because that's a DLC, it shouldn't really count. Seems like it was "Liara" or nothing, and as much as I like her, that's a damn shame if she's not your LI, pet or no pet. Your Romances deserved better.

I don't see the point in playing on insanity, I'm not an achievement whore and I don't like making things more difficult for myself then they need to be.Tali doesn't have Overload in any of the ME games after ME1, Garrus is the only one of your squadmates (unless you saved Kaidan in ME1) who has Overload. But I wasn't talking about their actual powers (although they are far too specialised for my tastes, which is why I prefer having Javik and Garrus with me instead) I was talking about their passive boosts from stage 6 of their class skill tree (Liara ONLY boosts biotic powers and Tali ONLY boosts tech powers) I prefer having a bit of versatility (which both Javik and Garrus offer, hell Javik's stage 6 class boost is the most versatile one regardless of your class) because I do use a lot of powers when I play the game (Engineer and Adept are two of my favourite classes and both Javik and Garrus help immensely while providing additional tech and biotic backup) even with my soldier playthrough.

 

Citadel's handling of Miranda's romance is just as badly handled as it is in the main game and Ashley's is pretty much just ignored. As you said it was Liara or nothing and that's bullshit. Kaidan's is handled a little better (although not by much) and I don't know how Garrus', Jack's or Tali's where handled. The way they try to shove Liara down our throats and the way they handle the romances makes me feel as if i shouldn't have even bothered.

[Kpnut]

Now that I think about it there is another thing about Multiplayer that pissed me off. The fact that there were weapons available in MP that were not playable in SP like the Collectors Sniper Rifle GOD that pissed me off like you wouldn't believe.

Actually continuing on from this, the N7 weapons which you could only get in SP if you bought the collector's edition are available in multiplayer, which pisses me off. If they're part of the collector's edition keep them out of the fucking multiplayer.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

That was annoying now that you mention it. I spent extra money to be able to get them in SP but they are just there in MP!!

[ChancellorKremlin]

I don't see the point in playing on insanity, I'm not an achievement whore and I don't like making things more difficult for myself then they need to be.Tali doesn't have Overload in any of the ME games after ME1, Garrus is the only one of your squadmates (unless you saved Kaidan in ME1) who has Overload. But I wasn't talking about their actual powers (although they are far too specialised for my tastes, which is why I prefer having Javik and Garrus with me instead) I was talking about their passive boosts from stage 6 of their class skill tree (Liara ONLY boosts biotic powers and Tali ONLY boosts tech powers) I prefer having a bit of versatility (which both Javik and Garrus offer, hell Javik's stage 6 class boost is the most versatile one regardless of your class) because I do use a lot of powers when I play the game (Engineer and Adept are two of my favourite classes and both Javik and Garrus help immensely while providing additional tech and biotic backup) even with my soldier playthrough.

 

Citadel's handling of Miranda's romance is just as badly handled as it is in the main game and Ashley's is pretty much just ignored. As you said it was Liara or nothing and that's bullshit. Kaidan's is handled a little better (although not by much) and I don't know how Garrus', Jack's or Tali's where handled. The way they try to shove Liara down our throats and the way they handle the romances makes me feel as if i shouldn't have even bothered.

Heh, shows you how much attention I paid to the powers. I completely ignored the boosters. In fact, after ME1, that "part" of the game was dead to me, really. I basically boosted "powers" depending on how they sounded and didn't really keep track. I think Tali's power was "Shield Drain" or something like that. I just remember playing with each squad member and if during a firefight they had a power that helped I tended to use them. Playing as a pure soldier, I didn't keep track of any of it, not even my own. I think I must have used Adrenaline once throughout the whole of ME3. I was like OK, if you want to turn this into a shooter, I'll play it as one. I think I had more fun lol.

 

I do like the challenge. I don't care for achievements, but I always like to play on the hardest difficulty. Different tastes I guess...

 

I think it goes Liara > Tali > Ashley > Miranda for female romances. I remember purposely getting Miranda killed on Horizon to see Shepard's effect. "Damn it Miranda!", one second pause, turns to Tali "What's our status?" .... I nearly broke my keyboard in anger. What's really jarring is that the quality of the writing and dialogue is really good generally, but there are parts you just ask yourself... how did this not get spotted during development?

 

Now that I think about it there is another thing about Multiplayer that pissed me off. The fact that there were weapons available in MP that were not playable in SP like the Collectors Sniper Rifle GOD that pissed me off like you wouldn't believe.

 

Actually continuing on from this, the N7 weapons which you could only get in SP if you bought the collector's edition are available in multiplayer, which pisses me off. If they're part of the collector's edition keep them out of the fucking multiplayer.

That does suck. What I hated the most was the apparent auction The Alliance must have had after they grounded me and took the Normandy between ME2-3, because I had to rebuy all the armor sets I collected in ME2. They didn't even bother to make new sets, it was like nope... we'll just make him have to buy the old sets. Again.

 

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

Speaking of the ME3 Armor I was really annoyed by how they made some of the armors Cerberus. The Ajax armor for example has the Cerberus symbol & colors yet they are the enemy why would I wear the enemies uniforms? Then there is the armors that the helmet couldn't be removed (Blood Dragon, collectors, etc. etc.) even though the dev team knew that the players wanted to be able to use those armors without the helmets since ME2 they STILL made them one piece.

[Kpnut]

 

I don't see the point in playing on insanity, I'm not an achievement whore and I don't like making things more difficult for myself then they need to be.Tali doesn't have Overload in any of the ME games after ME1, Garrus is the only one of your squadmates (unless you saved Kaidan in ME1) who has Overload. But I wasn't talking about their actual powers (although they are far too specialised for my tastes, which is why I prefer having Javik and Garrus with me instead) I was talking about their passive boosts from stage 6 of their class skill tree (Liara ONLY boosts biotic powers and Tali ONLY boosts tech powers) I prefer having a bit of versatility (which both Javik and Garrus offer, hell Javik's stage 6 class boost is the most versatile one regardless of your class) because I do use a lot of powers when I play the game (Engineer and Adept are two of my favourite classes and both Javik and Garrus help immensely while providing additional tech and biotic backup) even with my soldier playthrough.

 

Citadel's handling of Miranda's romance is just as badly handled as it is in the main game and Ashley's is pretty much just ignored. As you said it was Liara or nothing and that's bullshit. Kaidan's is handled a little better (although not by much) and I don't know how Garrus', Jack's or Tali's where handled. The way they try to shove Liara down our throats and the way they handle the romances makes me feel as if i shouldn't have even bothered.

Heh, shows you how much attention I paid to the powers. I completely ignored the boosters. In fact, after ME1, that "part" of the game was dead to me, really. I basically boosted "powers" depending on how they sounded and didn't really keep track. I think Tali's power was "Shield Drain" or something like that. I just remember playing with each squad member and if during a firefight they had a power that helped I tended to use them. Playing as a pure soldier, I didn't keep track of any of it, not even my own. I think I must have used Adrenaline once throughout the whole of ME3. I was like OK, if you want to turn this into a shooter, I'll play it as one. I think I had more fun lol.

 

I do like the challenge. I don't care for achievements, but I always like to play on the hardest difficulty. Different tastes I guess...

 

I think it goes Liara > Tali > Ashley > Miranda for female romances. I remember purposely getting Miranda killed on Horizon to see Shepard's effect. "Damn it Miranda!", one second pause, turns to Tali "What's our status?" .... I nearly broke my keyboard in anger. What's really jarring is that the quality of the writing and dialogue is really good generally, but there are parts you just ask yourself... how did this not get spotted during development?

I'd recommend doing a playthrough using a class that uses a lot of powers you'll see just how helpful the passive boosts from your squadmates classes are (Vengeful Ancient, Javik's class is the most useful out of all of them.)

 

Yeah I let Miranda die once as well and that comvinced me not to do it again, seriously do they not have people testing their game to tell them about things like that?

[Victoria K.]

 

 

Well, as I said above, your writing skill is very good if English isn't your first language. For the record, it is not mine either. Persevere and you'll manage!  

 

 

Impressive.

My english comes from video games mostly, forums, as many that didn't studied english as second language nor as third one. Being lazy don't help either, think I could practice a little more.

Thanks for the big incentive, English not being your 1st language.. that was unexpected, really.

 

Enjoyed your replies, got your perspective and view as you got mine. Even differing on many points, the value we both recognize to our own opinion and the interest and respect we greet other people's opinion it's something we have in common, something that lays the groundwork for pleasant and useful exchanges of views.

Until next time, keep up the good work!

 

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

I'd recommend doing a playthrough using a class that uses a lot of powers you'll see just how helpful the passive boosts from your squadmates classes are (Vengeful Ancient, Javik's class is the most useful out of all of them.)

 

 

 

Yeah I let Miranda die once as well and that convinced me not to do it again, seriously do they not have people testing their game to tell them about things like that?

 

It's not that they don't have people testing the games it's that either the testers are not as observant as they should be while testing or the Devs don't pay attention to what the testers tell them.

 

Edit: based on the way the Devs reacted when the players went up in arms the latter is more likely then the former.

[jxm]

Mass Effect 3...yeah, i remember how I played through this game in a frenzy one weekend it came out...and the WTF-moment at teh end, when I quit the game to look up on the Internet if I had missed something important that would lead to an ending that made sense...silly me. At least the months after that were fun when the shitstorm started, there wre some interesting discussions on Bioware Social about that, so it partly suceeded in "lots of speculation for everyone"...I'll grant it that...

 

I really like(d) Mass Effect. Especially the first though it has some gameplay-flaws. But at least it had a cool villain, some tragedy on Virmire (at least for those who liked Ashely, I always fried her without many tears), and the story, though maybe not very original, hat a beginning, a purpose, and an ending that was DAMN AMAZING!!!

 

The second though...yeah I liked it, but looking back from the ME3-experience I have to say: This is where things started to turn ugly. the story is utterly boring and feels disconnected from the whole reaper-storyline. The whole cerberus-ally-thingy felt forced. And the worst part: Too many characters with sidequests. Yes, the chars are awesome, but truly, what do their stories contribute to the main plot? To the most part: nothing. No wonder many of them only get a cameo in ME3, even Bioware realized they overdid it this time. More is not always better...

 

I'll better not go into details what I hated about the ending. Mostly now it seems to me Bioware had just never had a plan how to tell their story, how to get rid of the unbeatable Reapers (my most loved "argument" on the fansites: The endings are needed because the Reapers are unbeatable...yeah, because in fiction you cannot write whatever you want to solve any problem)... , and the urge to have every game being able to somewhat stand on its own storywise. Hell, they even promoted ME3 as the perfect entry into the series for new players. Yeah, read book 3 of "Song of Ice and Fire" first and then the rest, makes perfect sense...

 

I could go on forever. And I admit that my hate is partly beause none of the endings were in anyway upbeat or positive for me. No fairytale-ending needed, but if I fight for hours against the evil of the galaxy and do my utmost to oppose planet-destroying killer-machines I do NOT want to have to cooperate with them in the end. I want to crush them and feel good, not collaborate (without this even being justified in the trilogy thus far!!!!) with some shoehorned character nobody ever heard about before the last ten minutes...

 

But to each his own. Whoever still likes the trilogy has my envy, I simply cannot bring myself to play it again. The only instance that will happen is if Mass Effect 4 is, contrary to official statements, and entire retcon of ME3 (which will turn out to be just the indoctrination-hallucination of shepard ^^).

 

Likely to happen? Nah, I know, so I focus on other things...hopefully Pillars of Eternity will be good. And Geralt will meet Yennefer again and be with her for eternity. And the Inquisitor ends the war against the mages and marries her Love Interest at the end in the Great Cathedral of Orlais...

 

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

That's assuming you play a female Inquisitor. The one thing Bioware does good is making sure you are not saddled into playing a gender you don't want to.

[ChancellorKremlin]

Speaking of the ME3 Armor I was really annoyed by how they made some of the armors Cerberus. The Ajax armor for example has the Cerberus symbol & colors yet they are the enemy why would I wear the enemies uniforms? Then there is the armors that the helmet couldn't be removed (Blood Dragon, collectors, etc. etc.) even though the dev team knew that the players wanted to be able to use those armors without the helmets since ME2 they STILL made them one piece.

Yeah, I found that really bizarre, too. That, and the helmets thing - like maybe, just maybe, I want to take it off? Nope. But the colours and insignia was just inexplicable. It would have been cool if it had some effect on the storyline (like with Ashley at a certain key moment) but nope.  

 

I'd recommend doing a playthrough using a class that uses a lot of powers you'll see just how helpful the passive boosts from your squadmates classes are (Vengeful Ancient, Javik's class is the most useful out of all of them.)

 

Yeah I let Miranda die once as well and that comvinced me not to do it again, seriously do they not have people testing their game to tell them about things like that?

When I do a replay of the series (renegade Femshep, for the lulz and apparently amazing VA) I'll do that. I'm convinced they must not have a large pool of testers to avoid leaks, and that influences how the team perceives and expects things. 

 

Impressive.

 

My english comes from video games mostly, forums, as many that didn't studied english as second language nor as third one. Being lazy don't help either, think I could practice a little more.

 

Thanks for the big incentive, English not being your 1st language.. that was unexpected, really.

Practice makes perfect, as they say! Even if you're doing it on a forum or online.

 

Enjoyed your replies, got your perspective and view as you got mine. Even differing on many points, the value we both recognize to our own opinion and the interest and respect we greet other people's opinion it's something we have in common, something that lays the groundwork for pleasant and useful exchanges of views.

Until next time, keep up the good work!

Could not have said it better myself. A pleasure    

 

It's not that they don't have people testing the games it's that either the testers are not as observant as they should be while testing or the Devs don't pay attention to what the testers tell them.

 

Edit: based on the way the Devs reacted when the players went up in arms the latter is more likely then the former.

 

This. Whatever they're doing, something is amiss. Maybe their QA team is just bad or unobservant or too focused in one particular frame of mind, or maybe they don't have the testers they deserve. But there were so many "weird" things in ME3 that a "casual" gamer would point out it does make you think how they managed to screw up some pretty minor (and big!) things.

 

Go figure. Hopefully they'll learn from their mistakes. 

 

Mass Effect 3...yeah, i remember how I played through this game in a frenzy one weekend it came out...and the WTF-moment at teh end, when I quit the game to look up on the Internet if I had missed something important that would lead to an ending that made sense...silly me. At least the months after that were fun when the shitstorm started, there wre some interesting discussions on Bioware Social about that, so it partly suceeded in "lots of speculation for everyone"...I'll grant it that...

 

I really like(d) Mass Effect. Especially the first though it has some gameplay-flaws. But at least it had a cool villain, some tragedy on Virmire (at least for those who liked Ashely, I always fried her without many tears), and the story, though maybe not very original, hat a beginning, a purpose, and an ending that was DAMN AMAZING!!!

 

The second though...yeah I liked it, but looking back from the ME3-experience I have to say: This is where things started to turn ugly. the story is utterly boring and feels disconnected from the whole reaper-storyline. The whole cerberus-ally-thingy felt forced. And the worst part: Too many characters with sidequests. Yes, the chars are awesome, but truly, what do their stories contribute to the main plot? To the most part: nothing. No wonder many of them only get a cameo in ME3, even Bioware realized they overdid it this time. More is not always better...

 

I'll better not go into details what I hated about the ending. Mostly now it seems to me Bioware had just never had a plan how to tell their story, how to get rid of the unbeatable Reapers (my most loved "argument" on the fansites: The endings are needed because the Reapers are unbeatable...yeah, because in fiction you cannot write whatever you want to solve any problem)... , and the urge to have every game being able to somewhat stand on its own storywise. Hell, they even promoted ME3 as the perfect entry into the series for new players. Yeah, read book 3 of "Song of Ice and Fire" first and then the rest, makes perfect sense...

 

I could go on forever. And I admit that my hate is partly beause none of the endings were in anyway upbeat or positive for me. No fairytale-ending needed, but if I fight for hours against the evil of the galaxy and do my utmost to oppose planet-destroying killer-machines I do NOT want to have to cooperate with them in the end. I want to crush them and feel good, not collaborate (without this even being justified in the trilogy thus far!!!!) with some shoehorned character nobody ever heard about before the last ten minutes...

 

But to each his own. Whoever still likes the trilogy has my envy, I simply cannot bring myself to play it again. The only instance that will happen is if Mass Effect 4 is, contrary to official statements, and entire retcon of ME3 (which will turn out to be just the indoctrination-hallucination of shepard ^^).

 

Likely to happen? Nah, I know, so I focus on other things...hopefully Pillars of Eternity will be good. And Geralt will meet Yennefer again and be with her for eternity. And the Inquisitor ends the war against the mages and marries her Love Interest at the end in the Great Cathedral of Orlais...

Funny, I pretty much agree with all this, especially in regards to ME2. ME3, like you said, I think lacked storyboarding. The "end" should have been one of the first things they decided on, and then built towards that. Rather, it seems like they just kept writing and then ran out of ideas. The "deus ex machina" nature doesn't surprise me, but the way it was handled was so off base the reactions it garnered are unsurprising.

 

I still love the series, but I feel it was let down by the execution to the ending, simple as that. ME4 will probably, unfortunately, not be a retcon of ME3, or a reboot. In some ways, I'm glad they're doing something different, and I look forward to see what they do, so long as they take onboard two things - what made the original ME series great, and how they managed to screw up certain parts of it. If they remember that, then we'll be good to go.

 

Also not so sure about Geralt and Yennefer... 

[Kpnut]

 

I'd recommend doing a playthrough using a class that uses a lot of powers you'll see just how helpful the passive boosts from your squadmates classes are (Vengeful Ancient, Javik's class is the most useful out of all of them.)

 

Yeah I let Miranda die once as well and that comvinced me not to do it again, seriously do they not have people testing their game to tell them about things like that?

When I do a replay of the series (renegade Femshep, for the lulz and apparently amazing VA) I'll do that. I'm convinced they must not have a large pool of testers to avoid leaks, and that influences how the team perceives and expects things. 

Actually that's another thing (and it pertains to 2 as well) there's just no incentive to play using a renegade character anymore.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

Being Renegade in all the games seems to hurt you more then help you. BUT, ME3 is the worst of the lot you loose more war assets playing as a Renegade sure you can keep  Mordin alive if you play Renegade but in doing so you loose more then you gain and it goes the same with the Quiarian & Geth War..

[ToJKa]

You can save both Geth and Quarians with a Renegade speech check, i remember doing that with my Renegade Infiltrator. Both Krogan and Mordin too, depending on if Wrex survived ME1. His replacement does not notice the sabotage, so you don't lose their support.

 

If anyone is screwed, it's the one with little of both. The meters aren't mutually exclusive, but the events you gain points for them usually are. Except in ME3, with the "reputation" (i think it was) that increases both. Full Paragon or Renegade are well off.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

true you can manage to save your ass so to speak if you killed off Wrex in ME and if you don't juggle paragon and renegade options through out the game but if you play a pure renegade at least in ME3 you will let Samara kill herself then kill her last daughter.

 

Edit: Renegades are supposed to be callous but that scene was going just to far even for me.

[ChancellorKremlin]

I loved that scene, even the paragon one. Such a moving moment. 

 

I started using more of "Renegade" options in ME3 when I noticed in ME2 that some of the best cutscenes trigger for renegades. Arriving on the cargo dock with Miranda while pursuing her sister's kidnapper and being met by Mercs, anyone?

[Kpnut]

I use the odd renegade interrupt (headbutting a Krogan, or shutting up that Krogan who goes on and on and on and on) in ME2 as well as the odd one in ME3 (punching admiral Gerrel and I've played full renegade through Omega) but for the most part I've found that playing as renegade in ME2 and ME3 isn't worth it.