Okay, so at the risk of being overly bloggy and boring, I just wanted to put my thoughts on this game down here. It has been kind of a strange time, as the past few weeks I've been doing nothing but taking care of a newborn and playing Mass Effect 3. (Don't get too judgy... the downside is I haven't really been sleeping.) So it has really had an effect on my psyche. It really has been one of the most intense game experiences of my life, in good and bad ways; so much so that 2 days after finishing it I'm still thinking about it and even had a couple of dreams about it.
Anyway... blog over... here is what I thought. No spoilers.
GAMEPLAY -- A -- The best in the series. Playing as a soldier (true to my original Shepard from ME1; also the default class the game recommends), I found this to be what BioWare was really shooting for with the original game. That is, a solid combat shooter with role-playing combat elements, combined with a robust conversation/travel/upgrade system in true BioWare style. Whereas Mass Effect 1, at least on 360, had huge issues with the shooter mechanics and the upgrade system, while Mass Effect 2 solidified the shooting (with still rather simplistic level design) but skimped on the upgrade system, Mass Effect 3 is the perfect combination of the two.
The upgrade system is satisfying and not too shallow but not needlessly complex, and it has a nice simple UI. The combat system makes perfect sense. Level designs have been made more varied; certainly not to the levels of a dedicates shooter like Uncharted, but still more open and vertical. The enemy set is by far the best of the series; you get to fight 3 different sets of enemies (geth/Cerberus/reapers), and all feature nice hierarchies of enemy types that are more fun to fight by far than any previous enemies. There are even a few fairly challenging fights even on Normal, usually involving Banshees or Brutes, but in general the game is still pretty easy on that difficulty -- yet still fun. So in short, best combat of the series and finally in the ballpark of dedicated third-person shooters, for the first time IMO. (I realize that playing as non-soldier might move it beyond that standard into more of an RPG, but, again, soldier is the default class, and that is what I played.)
So of course the other huge part of any BioWare game is the world traversal and conversation systems. Since as far as I'm concerned ME2 was nearly perfect (minus the horrible scanning) in this regard already (and even ME1 was among the best at this), it's no surprise ME3 was very strong too. Lots of carryover from ME1 and ME2, plenty of interesting interactions with various characters, and nicely improved Normandy and Citadel (I particularly enjoyed how characters moved around the ship and the Citadel instead of always sitting in their rooms as in previous games). Even the side quests, typically a liability for any RPG including ME1 and ME2, were pretty good in this game, in that they were usually at least a little fun and were usually somewhat plausible in the story. It generally made sense that getting this or that would yield you a certain War Asset, which it would make sense for you to want to acquire when assembling a big galactic army for the final confrontation. Sure, some of the "get this random holy book for a random elcor" type quests were lame, but they weren't such a big deal. At least not compared to the Mako or planetary scanning.
I also enjoyed that the actual mission side quests (like the N7 ones) were somewhat integrated into the story and into War Assets. In ME1 they were typically completely disconnected from everything; in ME2 usually as well.
The largest complaint is probably what Onslaught brought up which was the lack of any hub worlds other than the Citadel; by hub world I mean large or semi-large locations where you can talk to people and do some relaxing and fetch-questing. Both ME1 and ME2 were full of them (with Omega and Ilium being some of the best ones). ME3 really only has the Citadel, a really nice version of it, but that's it. So that sucks. However I'd still give the gameplay an A.
VISUALS -- B+ -- I may be a little jaded, but I didn't find myself all the impressed through most of it. I think it's one of the best-looking RPGs and shooters but mostly due to the art style and things like the skyboxes/background art. Some technical aspects show their age, like the running animations and even facial animation (which is still among the best but not as relatively impressive as it used to be). On the plus side the performance of the game was solid through all but a couple of busy Citadel areas. I still love the look of the game which doesn't really have an equivalent in other games. The Citadel and the Normandy never lose their luster to me, nor do characters like Liara, Garrus, and my female Shepard.
MUSIC -- A -- Spot on as always. I still think ME1 was more memorable however.
VALUE -- B+ -- While I play slowly compared to others (e.g., I religiously go to the Citadel after every mission, I scan the galaxy map for available areas everytime, etc.), my final play time was something like 52 hours. That's certainly a good length for a game like this and for me right in line with the other Mass Effects. On the other hand I really don't want to play it again, whereas with ME1 and ME2 I still did. This is not because the game wasn't fun, or I wouldn't want to see what happens if I select other characters or make different decisions; it really has to do with...
STORY/VOICE ACTING/WRITING -- B- -- Man. This was a big surprise for me. What makes it worse is that if the last 15 minutes weren't in the game, but something else were, it would be easily on par with the first two games IMO. Possibly even better; as the main conceit of the plot actually makes sense for the first time since ME1... compiling war assets and getting the galaxy together for the final push makes sense at this stage. Even every quest basically makes sense due to the Effective Military Strenght mechanic. Hell, even the MP kind of makes sense in context (though it is annoying that it is required to view the super-bonus ending). All this potential, however, is seriously damaged by the endings.
Personally I've never thought that endings were the be-all and end-all of a story, not in movies and not in games. Plenty of games I really loved (FF VI/VII, Halo 3, God of War II) had mediocre to poor to meh endings, yet it usually didn't matter too much to me, because it's not about the destination but about the journey. Typically I just shrug my shoulders and move on.
I don't know why Mass Effect 3 is different but it just is. Maybe it's a credit to the world and character attachments BioWare has allowed me to build through 2.99 games, but I just can't get over the damned endings. I'm not saying BioWare owes me anything, or that I want my money back or anything, but I just feel... bad about the whole thing. The buildup to the final 15 minutes was seriously nearly perfect. It was a dire situation perfectly played out, from the beginning of the game (after the silly intro) with a slow burn before the apocalyptic tension of the last few hours. By the time this tension reached an apex, I was ready for a real reward for the 150 hours I'd spent on the series. And then BioWare just took the reward away from me, with a vaguely bleak and incredibly similar set of endings that, to top it off, seem to make no sense given what has come before and/or leave a bunch of room for speculation. I don't understand it. I don't get the sudden change of tone. It's just odd. (Note: The conspiracy theory about some of the endings doesn't make this any better... even if true... and it probably isn't IMO.)
So as much as I'd love to just say, fuck it, the last 15 minutes don't matter, my real feeling is they do. And they really mar this game and the whole series.
OVERALL: I don't know. "Objectively" speaking this is one of the best games of the generation and the best Mass Effect. But it doesn't feel like it. It should be an easy A on paper. But to me, right now, it feels like a B.
