Mass Effect 3 SPOILER THREAD: LOTS OF SPECULATION FROM EVERYONE

Status
Not open for further replies.
Well this is pretty interesting I guess, and supports the ''its all in shepards head'' theory.


http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mass...9833745-1.html
I noticed the multiple voices. I didn't notice the Shep VAs, but the woman's voice did sound familiar.

I hate the kid's voice, it's so bad.

Mike Laidlaw (lead designer of DA2) came out within several days of the game being released and did several extensive interviews defending DA2 and the design decisions they made, like this one at Eurogamer, 1up and Gamespot.

They mostly come across as being in denial as to how poorly the game was being received, saying stuff like:
"It boils down to a game that challenges a fair amount of convention: it doesn't tell the usual fantasy story or present the usual fantasy combat, and in doing so it does run the risk of someone going, "Wow, this is just too different and I cannot handle it."

Or Ray Muzyka saying: "It’s interesting because the first reviews – the number of the reviews was also very polarised, awesomely so. Lots of 90+ reviews, we also got fans that I think in some cases who were expecting more Dragon Age: Origins, and there was a misalignment of expectation there.” So expecting DA2 to play like a sequel to Origins is your fault.
I know they did that. I guess I had misread the person I quoted.
 
Slightly off-topic, but is any of the expanded universe worth getting into? Deception obviously isn't, after reading LumpOfCole's comic, but anything else?

I flipped through the comic that followed with the collector's edition. As far as I could tell it was just some monsters popping out of a ship saying "rrrRRR" and "rrrr" and Aria-biotic something something and then Cerberus battle ship something and then something. Maybe I'm being a bit uncharitable with it, but it didn't exactly intrest me.
 
Why so much hate toward Kai Leng? It's not a rich character, not even a developed one, but he fits the ''james-bond-nemesis'' role quite well IMO.
 
Slightly off-topic, but is any of the expanded universe worth getting into? Deception obviously isn't, after reading LumpOfCole's comic, but anything else?

I flipped through the comic that followed with the collector's edition. As far as I could tell it was just some monsters popping out of a ship saying "rrrRRR" and "rrrr" and Aria-biotic something something and then Cerberus battle ship something and then something. Maybe I'm being a bit uncharitable with it, but it didn't exactly intrest me.

I read one of those earlier Karpyshyn novels (Revelation? Can't remember what it was called), it was pretty bad.
 
Say what you will about the ending, but the music playing while Vent God is talking is superb.

Agreed.

In fact, all of the music involved with the ending was great. Clint Mansell's second piece that played after you made your decision had me caught up in the moment, before I actually thought about what the fuck had just happened. Getting to hear another Faunts track during the credits was also a nice touch.
 
Why so much hate toward Kai Leng? It's not a rich characters, not even a developed one, but it fits the ''james-bond-nemesis'' role quite well IMO.

Because he's a fucking space ninja that gets talked up to here and beyond, and yet when push comes to shove, is one of the easiest enemies in the game.

He's so clearly designed to be BADASS that I can't help but react to him with derision.

This doesn't even bring in the cereal, pissing in a vase or the TOOTHBRUSH OF DOOM in Mass Effect: Deception.
 
Why so much hate toward Kai Leng? It's not a rich character, not even a developed one, but he fits the ''james-bond-nemesis'' role quite well IMO.

He's a huge failure at everything he does in the game and the latest book he was in he looked like a complete joke. It's like they wanted to make another Saren level character but they just fell on their face.
 
I noticed the multiple voices. I didn't notice the Shep VAs, but the woman's voice did sound familiar.

I hate the kid's voice, it's so bad.

I think they both voice more people than the main characters. Female Shepard definitely does. The symbolism of having them voice the kid could just be any kind of meta symbolism from anyone's point of view.
 
Agreed.

In fact, all of the music involved with the ending was perfect. Clint Mansell's second piece that played after you made your decision had me caught up in the moment, before I actually thought about what the fuck had just happened. Getting to hear another Faunts track during the credits was also a nice touch.
There were a many tracks missing in the soundtrack.
 
Why so much hate toward Kai Leng? It's not a rich character, not even a developed one, but he fits the ''james-bond-nemesis'' role quite well IMO.
He really, really doesnt fit in the ME universe. Im almost thinking he was put in the universe because the anime watching son of the lead designer or some other dude with a high position at Bioware wanted it.
 
Because he's a fucking space ninja that gets talked up to here and beyond, and yet when push comes to shove, is one of the easiest enemies in the game.

He's so clearly designed to be BADASS that I can't help but react to him with derision.

This doesn't even bring in the cereal, pissing in a vase or the TOOTHBRUSH OF DOOM in Mass Effect: Deception.
He's easy to beat because the whole game itself is easy. I can't see any enemy being difficult for an experienced ME player with the right class, even on Insanity. Maybe the 4 Banshees on Earth, but that's it.
Reaper laser and Reaper space tag killed me way more than regular enemies, for instance.
 
Why am I tempted to play through ME1/2 again after this? Its like I want more Mass Effect, but I want it to be good.

Can you though.. I attempted to but couldn't.... I really believe it's the difference in gameplay. ME3 to me was great compared to 2
 
I will give you that the AI could have done much better at arguing its' (whoops AI's are genderless) point. There's something to be said for not really having the time to spend twenty minutes in a video game ending explaining to the average player the reasoning why a superhuman intelligence knows more than you. I'd certainly prefer some more evidence presented but I don't think the Geth/EDI are really good indicators of the future; they just aren't old enough to have really developed.

The "age" of synthetics isn't really applicable, as the Geth have already passed to the point where they were a shared consciousness that made decisions yet didn't try to take over the entire galaxy/wipe out all synthetic life. Instead, they chose to defend themselves, but not take overly hostile action until they were brainwashed/controlled/mislead by Sovereign and Harbinger.

I suppose that the Geth could theoretically be a unique event in the grand scheme of the entire timeline of the universe, and that most synthetic AIs choose to override their creators, but again, we have no proof of the latter, only the former.

War assets were completely pointless but that's a problem with the game design rather than the overall narrative. The assets should affect how difficult it is to actually get back to earth. Ideally you could have too low of an asset number to even finish the game but that's never going to fly in today's environment; people would have been furious to find out they had to replay the game because they went through too carelessly.

Agreed, but in a game like Mass Effect where the story/choice is so stongly interwoven into the gameplay, for it to not have more of an impact on the endgame is just really weak on both fronts, hence leading to the lack-of-choice-mattering ending complaints.

As for the survival parts in the last game I'd argue those games were weaker for it. ME3 is better than the other games because Shepard is actually written like a human. Even with that there -IS- an ending where Shepard survives so even that isn't completely forgotten.

Why is having the option to survive automatically make someone not as human/well written? Desiring to survive and push past obstacles is one of the most basic human traits. No one wants to die. Acceptance of Death at the inevitable and wanting to find a way out given the possibility are different things, but we only see the former.

It might be "unrealistic" to survive so many scenarios, but that's the point of you being in Shepard's shoes. By your actions, Shepard succeeds or fails based on your choices and ability in all of the ME games....until the ending of ME3, in which he/she doesn't. He/she 'succeeds' only through the direct intervention of a space-wizard child giving him/her the options.

Edit: The other main source of dissonance is that 95% of the story is written so well, involving multiple options of reflecting upon your choices throughout the entire series, the characters, and the galaxy at large....and then comes the last 5%, the ending that comes out of left field.
 
Not sure about anyone else but my ME3 playthrough was about 30 hours. And the highest my ME2 got up to was about 28 and that's with all DLC.

My ME3 playthrough was around 37 hours. Plenty for a game like that, imo. I think ME2 ended up being around 50 for me, with all the DLC installed.
 
Why so much hate toward Kai Leng? It's not a rich character, not even a developed one, but he fits the ''james-bond-nemesis'' role quite well IMO.

Badly designed, stereotypical, annoying without any other positive attributes. Basically, kill it with fires and I won't even remember him again.
 
Not sure about anyone else but my ME3 playthrough was about 30 hours. And the highest my ME2 got up to was about 28 and that's with all DLC.
Hmm..I guess it was merely impression then. My ME3 playthrough was 32hs long, can't remember ME2's though. I thought it was around 40.
 
Yes, even though it's way shorter than both previous games :/
Are you sure? ME2 and ME3 are both around 45~50 hours to see and do everything on the hardest difficulty setting, not counting retries. ME1 is almost exactly 40 hours to do everything on Insanity, too.

edit:
The fuck are people to doing to pad out ME2 so much?
Scanning every planet until they say "Depleted," repeatedly going to check for new dialog, harder modes take longer because of all the enemy resistances, etc. Basically, giving in to all the horrible busywork and padding.
 
Mass Effect 3 is a really good game, no matter the ending.

I dunno, the side "content" was atrocious with the fetch quest madness and the only characters I didn't want to stab on the Normandy are characters that were fleshed out better in previous games. Plus knowing my decisions meant shit at the end of the day really retroactively made all those sequences bad.

The game promises this big final conflict that is your entire goal for the game, and outside of one big resource check to determine if you see a few seconds of rubble and Shepards shoulder twitch at the end, they basically mean nothing. Even the ending decision only changes the color of a few effects in the final cinematic.

Combat was alright, but not mind blowing and amazing. I had the most fun making tough decisions like sacrificing the future of the Krogans to get the Salarians to help because my Shepards entire goal was to do whatever it takes to win, and they just shit all over your decisions with things like having the Salarians show up anyways and not really impact the final sequences of the game.

The only thing I really felt like I had any real impact on was who I got to fuck.

Ninja edit:
How the hell did everyone get so much play time out of ME3? My game was just slightly over 20 hours and I did all the major side content. Only thing I thought I skipped was all the shitty fetch quest stuff and running around on the Citadel in circles, but that was only after I already did about half of them before realizing the pattern for the games filler content.
 
Not sure about anyone else but my ME3 playthrough was about 30 hours. And the highest my ME2 got up to was about 28 and that's with all DLC.

Yeah I don't know what people are on about. ME3 is the longest by far. Keeping in mind that I do everything and don't skip dialogue or anything:
ME1 = 18h
ME2 = 22h
ME3 = 30h

The fuck are people to doing to pad out ME2 so much?
 
Why is having the option to survive automatically make someone not human? Desiring to survive and push past obstacles is one of the most basic human traits. No one wants to die. Acceptance of Death at the inevitable and wanting to find a way out given the possibility are different things, but we only see the former.

It might be "unrealistic" to survive so many scenarios, but that's the point of you being in Shepard's shoes. By your actions, Shepard succeeds or fails based on your choices and ability in all of the ME games....until the ending of ME3, in which he/she doesn't. He/she 'succeeds' only through the direct intervention of a space-wizard child giving him/her the options.
Exactly. The whole premise of the series is about beating the odds. Yet in the end, that ability is ripped away from you. Building assets means nothing (save for a five second clip akin to the coda of The Grey). It would be as if Return of the Jedi offered three endings, none of which included the miraculous redemption of Darth Vader and all of which included Luke's death and the Millennium Falcon crashing on Endor.
 
ME2 and ME3 were about the same length for me, took me 26h and I did every side quest and character interaction I could find

I have no idea how people pad these games out to 40h+
 
I found ME3 went by rather quickly, I completed every side quest too and clocked something like 18 hours. ME2 was around 20 in comparison, and I've finished ME1 in 12 before.
 
Yeah I don't know what people are on about. ME3 is the longest by far. Keeping in mind that I do everything and don't skip dialogue or anything:
ME1 = 18h
ME2 = 22h
ME3 = 30h

The fuck are people to doing to pad out ME2 so much?

I dunno... ME3 forces you to visit the Citadel after every mission so that you won't miss anything.

It didn't feel that long. Definitely not longer than ME1 and it's terrible MAKO crap that takes years to do.
 
Finished it. What the fuckidty fuck just happened and why did I get a 3rd option? I had no idea what the little boy said about it, so I went to youtube to look up the 3rd option and every video only had two options. I was like WHAT!? And then after the credits, little boy talking to his grandpa. What the hell...

I kept hearing "oh the ending is not great" and I'm like, "Screw off!" trying not to listen. And then that... wow.

And how the hell you guys beating this in 15-20 hours? Snorting coke while you play? Took me ~37 hours.
 
Finished it. What the fuckidty fuck just happened and why did I get a 3rd option? I had no idea what the little boy said about it, so I went to youtube to look up the 3rd option and every video only had two options. I was like WHAT!? And then after the credits, little boy talking to his grandpa. What the hell...

I kept hearing "oh the ending is not great" and I'm like, "Screw off!" trying not to listen. And then that... wow.

After experiencing it myself, it's oddly satisfying to read the reactions of those who have just beaten it.
 
Finished it. What the fuckidty fuck just happened and why did I get a 3rd option? I had no idea what the little boy said about it, so I went to youtube to look up the 3rd option and every video only had two options. I was like WHAT!? And then after the credits, little boy talking to his grandpa. What the hell...

I kept hearing "oh the ending is not great" and I'm like, "Screw off!" trying not to listen. And then that... wow.
There are three options if you have a certain score.

After experiencing it myself, it's oddly satisfying to read the reactions of those who have just beaten it.
I call this the support group.
 
ME1-37 hours
ME2-37
ME3-35

I really took my time in each and searched for side stuff but about 4-5 hours in ME2 was due to planet scanning. This was before I knew the tricks like skip anything that's moderate or lower. I also spent a lot of time exploring the planets in ME1 and I've found at least 1 new thing in each of my 7 playthroughs of 1.
 
I dunno... ME3 forces you to visit the Citadel after every mission so that you won't miss anything.

It didn't feel that long. Definitely not longer than ME1 and it's terrible MAKO crap that takes years to do.

Eh, I can finish a very complete ME1 playthrough in ~10 hours. I think it really comes down to difficulty, familiarity with the game, and willingness/desire to just hang around and take in the world.
 
Am on phone so apologise if image is large or unshapely. But was reading through the guidebook and this cropped up. Anyone tried it?

3kncL.jpg

Apparently it just becomes one of those things you can use at Liara's terminal to get a small % bonus to a stat, and I think it also becomes a War Asset maybe? Nothing spectacular.
 
Guys. Im so sorry for ignoring your pleads of "The ending is crap". It is so bad. I am upset as well now... it's like 3 fucking games where I did EVERYTHING, thinking HARD with every choice and it ends the way Bioware wants. This is ridiculous.
 
Someone at Bioware really liked the Hyperion Cantos. Destroying the Mass Effect relays is almost identical to destroying the farcasters at the end of The Fall of Hyperion, and oh the endings.
 
Makes enough sense for me.

Yep. When Harbinger saw Shep and Garrus charging straight at him, he exploded out of fear and took all the remaining Reapers with him. The Citadel then exploded out of sheer awesomeness and the relays followed. Shep then used his biotic heavy melee to smash holes into the fabric of space-time and open up a new means of FTL travel.

Unfortunately this awesomeness caused the galactic core to go supernova, and the resulting radation gave him this strange vision where he talks to a god living on the Citadel's ass. It also caused speech defects and weird mini-adults for thousands of generations to come.

Someone at Bioware really liked the Hyperion Cantos. Destroying the Mass Effect relays is almost identical to destroying the farcasters at the end of The Fall of Hyperion, and oh the endings.

Yeah, that's what it immediately reminded me of, too. Except, you know, the ending to Hyperion was way better than this.

The two did touch on some very similar themes, if you think about it.
 
Wow, what a shitty ending.......there are no words for how bad it sucked, it's so bad that it retroactively ruined the entire series for me, which by and large I really enjoyed.
 
I propose that the next Bioware game should be a dating-sim set in an alternate Mass Effect universe, say an intergalactic college specializing in acting school. They are in the midst of preparing a space opera called... Well, Mass Effect, obviously. Shepard's job is to convince his teacher and fellow students that he's the right man/woman to get the lead role. Wacky hijinks can be appropriately added.

I guess I'm desperate for moar ME character interactions and since ME3 destroys the world, alt universe will do the trick.

Welcome... to the Dormandy.
 
Someone at Bioware really liked the Hyperion Cantos. Destroying the Mass Effect relays is almost identical to destroying the farcasters at the end of The Fall of Hyperion, and oh the endings.

I'm going to laugh my ass off if the epilogue leads into an ME4 where a suspiciously Endymion-esque main character encounters an old man who teaches him about Urf.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom