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[Brawndo Addict]

Throwing my hat into the ring of playtime stats for ME 2. Last time I went through it, I pushed the difficulty all the way down to casual and skipped all cut scenes/dialogue, did all the loyalty missions and some of the side missions (no dlc), and was probably around 17-18 hours of playtime. I redid the collector base mission a few times to adjust the deaths to my liking, left the game open while doing something else like emails or calls, etc, so the actual total was 20.5 or so.

EDIT: I don't think I can accurately recall the amount of time I spent with the game open but not playing so my figures are probably not accurate enough.

So yeah, sub 18 hour playthroughs are possible, but you're skipping all the dialogue and the combat is probably on one of the easier settings. I don't think that really counts as a knock against it, especially in a dialogue heavy game such as this. You're not really playing the game as intended.

Anyway, time to bounce from this thread to avoid the inevitable poster who 'forgot' to spoiler tag their discussion. See you all on the other side.

 

[DTKT]

Alright I'm about 14 hours in and I can confirm that the dialogue does get better. Through the first few hours I was getting a little worried. The introduction is not too good, it feels rushed with bad dialogue, and the next two missions don't get much better. They only give you two dialogue options in situations where you should have more. I felt the first 4 hours just kinda seemed like a micheal bay movie and I was getting a little worried that Mass Effect 3 was gonna end up like gears of war. But DO NOT PANIC the dialogue does in fact get much better particularly after you start to recruit crew members. After the first initial missions and after you get to explore the Citadel and start some side missions the game starts to feel like good ole Mass Effect again. The weapon customization and upgrade system is awesome, feels alot like ME1. I think they did a good job again at polishing the combat and cover system, and the skill point system is definitely better than ME2, but still not amazing. Most of the technical things they changed/added I really cannot complain about. Overall I think they did a great job at combining the good parts of ME1 and ME2. You have to take the game for what it is, and its really good. It may not be your typical in-depth, spreadsheet type RPG, but so far I am liking this better than ME2 and am really enjoying it. It is definitely a quality game you just have to let go of your strict definitions of Shooter and RPG and just enjoy the last episode of a trilogy that the gaming community won't soon forget.

There is no reason for the FIRST HALF of the game to be weaker. You think a developper like Bioware would reach for quality instead of being fine with "OK" content.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I forget which moment this is.

The one in ME1 where you're at the first Council hearing and when it becomes clear that you have no real evidence against Saren and that Anderson has some kind of past grudge against him. Your closing remarks, no matter Paragon, Renegade, or Neutral, all come out as a big huge unprofessional tantrum for a career soldier; "Saren is a racist who wants to kill all humans!!!!" or "YEAH WELL YOU DUMB POLITICIANS MADE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY YOU'RE BLIND TO THE TRUTH."

It's immediately followed by the councilors all looking at each other like they just feel sorry for you, and it's total wahjah overload.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Alright I'm about 14 hours in and I can confirm that the dialogue does get better. Through the first few hours I was getting a little worried. The introduction is not too good, it feels rushed with bad dialogue, and the next two missions don't get much

better. They only give you two dialogue options in situations where you should have more. I felt the first 4 hours just kinda seemed like a micheal bay movie and I was getting a little worried that Mass Effect 3 was gonna end up like gears of war. But

DO NOT PANIC the dialogue does in fact get much better particularly after you start to recruit crew members. After the first initial missions and after you get to explore the Citadel and start some side missions the game starts to feel like good ole Mass

Effect again. The weapon customization and upgrade system is awesome, feels alot like ME1. I think they did a good job again at polishing the combat and cover system, and the skill point system is definitely better than ME2, but still not amazing.

Most of the technical things they changed/added I really cannot complain about. Overall I think they did a great job at combining the good parts of ME1 and ME2. You have to take the game for what it is, and its really good. It may not be your

typical in-depth, spreadsheet type RPG, but so far I am liking this better than ME2 and am really enjoying it. It is definitely a quality game you just have to let go of your strict definitions of Shooter and RPG and just enjoy the last episode of a trilogy that the gaming community won't soon forget.

So it´s just like FF13... play half the game to get to the good parts... no excuse.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

I was honestly not expecting such blatant lying from their part, the high res thing was incredible, going as far as to state on reddit (more than once) that the game would have higher res textures.

Also, claiming that the demo was an earlier incomplete build... seriously *sigh*

which is what I meant with 'NDA until release' being a clear sign of trouble.

Although I think I'm an ignore-list favorite. Maybe I'm just overly paranoid.

 

[Riggs]

The dialogue getting better does NOT justify the dialogue being bad early on.

That's the same awful arguement posed by FF13 fans. "but it gets better 30 hours in!" Yeah! That's THIRTY FUCKING HOURS IN. NOPE.AVI.JPG

About 93% sure you have not even played ME3, 7% chance of being right though. Prove me wrong.mkv

 

[Dresden]

Throwing my hat into the ring of playtime stats for ME 2. Last time I went through it, I pushed the difficulty all the way down to casual and skipped all cut scenes/dialogue, did all the loyalty missions and some of the side missions (no dlc), and was probably around 17-18 hours of playtime. I redid the collector base mission a few times to adjust the deaths to my liking, left the game open while doing something else like emails or calls, etc, so the actual total was 20.5 or so.

So yeah, sub 18 hour playthroughs are possible, but you're skipping all the dialogue and the combat is probably on one of the easier settings. I don't think that really counts as a knock against it, especially in a dialogue heavy game such as this. You're not really playing the game as intended.

eh, my playthrough was on insanity and I did most of the stuff in the game.

 

[Mr Scrufff]

So it´s just like FF13... play half the game to get to the good parts... no excuse.

IMO the good parts begin after 4-5 hours, and since the game as a whole is 40 hours or just 15-20 for the bare main quest, its not half the game at all

 

[Roddslayer]

Anybody have an idea when From Ashes will be available on Xbox live to download? I have a code from Gamestop but it's telling on xbox.com that the code is invalid.

 

[Moaradin]

So it´s just like FF13... play half the game to get to the good parts... no excuse.

He only said he was 14 hours in, not that it took 14 hours to get to the good part. From what I understand, the game opens up and become typical Mass Effect after the first couple missions, or "4 hours". That is not even close to half the game.

Edit: LATE. Damn you slow ass phone!

 

[Bisnic]

So it´s just like FF13... play half the game to get to the good parts... no excuse.

"A few missions" is not half the game. Have you even played it?

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

eh, my playthrough was on insanity and I did most of the stuff in the game.

I wish the ME games had a completion percentage stat like Rockstar games. I bet the people saying they did everything or most everything in the game in less than 20 hours probably would have a 64% completion stat.

 

[Brawndo Addict]

eh, my playthrough was on insanity and I did most of the stuff in the game.

Yeah I just edited in that I don't think my figures are accurate. It was a while ago and the way I play games I often leave them open while I do something else like email. The more I think about it, casual + skipping dialogue should have made my playtime much lower, so I think I had extended breaks much longer than I typically do.

Now I'm leaving for real, I swear, honest.

 

[Bowdz]

Though its still the 5th of March here in the Uk

Im out

See you all in the 9th

Your avatar may be the second greatest image I have ever seen behind this one.

The dialogue getting better does NOT justify the dialogue being bad early on.

That's the same awful arguement posed by FF13 fans. "but it gets better 30 hours in!" Yeah! That's THIRTY FUCKING HOURS IN. NOPE.AVI.JPG

Agreed. I am curious to see how big of a difference there really is, but I am a little disappointed that Bioware didn't come out of the gates swinging.

 

[Derrick01]

"A few missions" is not half the game. Have you even played it?

People have been saying 10-15 hours. That's a significant chunk of time and is roughly 40-50% of a ME game.

I wish the ME games had a completion percentage stat like Rockstar games. I bet the people saying they did everything or most everything in the game in less than 20 hours probably would have a 64% completion stat.

ME2 pretty much does. There's a % tracker on each system so it's hard to miss something out there, and there's only a small handful of side quests on the citadel, illium and omega.

Meanwhile when I did my 7th ME1 playthrough a week ago I found 2 new things. Every time I play that game I find at least 1 new thing that I hadn't experienced yet. It's amazing.

 

[Dresden]

I wish the ME games had a completion percentage stat like Rockstar games. I bet the people saying they did everything or most everything in the game in less than 20 hours probably would have a 64% completion stat.

k

Yeah I just edited in that I don't think my figures are accurate. It was a while ago and the way I play games I often leave them open while I do something else like email. The more I think about it, casual + skipping dialogue should have made my playtime much lower, so I think I had extended breaks much longer than I typically do.

Skipping dialogue and knowing where to go really does shorten playtime. Not scanning (I think I almost completely got by on the minerals I got from importing my ME1 save) much helps a ton, too.

 

[Bisnic]

People have been saying 10-15 hours. That's a significant chunk of time and is roughly 40-50% of a ME game.

And this guy said 4 hours. Really it depends on what they all mean by "its starts feeling like Mass Effect, dialogue wise".

 

[Riggs]

Your avatar may be the second greatest image I have ever seen behind this one.

Agreed. I am curious to see how big of a difference there really is, but I am a little disappointed that Bioware didn't come out of the gates swinging.

You just stole my heart

 

[Symphonic]

People have been saying 10-15 hours. That's a significant chunk of time and is roughly 40-50% of a ME game.



ME2 pretty much does. There's a % tracker on each system so it's hard to miss something out there, and there's only a small handful of side quests on the citadel, illium and omega.

10-15 hours for the main storyline. There were a couple shitty missions in ME2 as well, probably around 3 hours worth or so. Same type deal here.

 

[EatChildren]

Lack of choices will bother me, but whatever. I'll judge it when I play it and I'll probably be too drunk to give a shit at the time.

 

[Mr Scrufff]

I don't know if this is because I am playing it before release, but my custom Shepard would not import correctly into ME3, everything except the custom appearance imported fine, but for some reason it said it couldn't identify the character code.

 

[Dave1988]

It's okay that for a game all about choice and character that the dialogue gets better 15 hours in?

Nice.

Lol, Bioware.

 

[Vamphuntr]

Enjoying reading this thread. Can't wait for the reviews to come out and watch the meltdown happen.

 

[Riggs]

It's sad I will be at midnight release for this game, but mainly going just to get MLB The Show 12 early. No idea what is wrong with me.

 

[Dresden]

I don't know if this is because I am playing it before release, but my custom Shepard would not import correctly into ME3, everything except the custom appearance imported fine, but for some reason it said it couldn't identify the character code.

Do you have a character that started in ME1? Think you're unable to import appearance into ME3, it didn't generate a face code in ME2 either.

 

[Tony Redgrave]

Spoiler

EmCee suggested the opposite, actually.

Oh, and here I was getting all hyped.

 

[ttocs]

The game isn't even out yet except for a few people who either got an early copy or did the time zone PC thing and everyone is already pissed at the games writing. Calm down, wait for your turn to play, and then decide. The same thing happened when ME2 was released with people complaining it wasn't the same as 1 and yet we were blessed with an awesome game nonetheless.

 

[shinobi602]

Enjoying reading this thread. Can't wait for the reviews to come out and watch the meltdown happen.

I expect a lot of

loldon't believe da HYPE!
lolzreviewerspaidoff
EAcheckscleared

 

[Photolysis]

WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS HERE. DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE NOT CERTAIN.

Spoiler

Okay, if you're reading this, last chance to stop. No? Okay then.

I just watched a scene on Youtube where Shepard sided with the Geth, causing the destruction of the entire Quarian fleet, and Tali to commit suicide in response. It's a beautifully done scene with some absolutely outstanding music, and great voice acting... except for one particular line: Shepard's "No"... I can't believe they would go with that take. It's just so flat in comparison to what you'd expect. The emotion Shepard displays afterwards is spot on though.

I wouldn't say that line ruins the scene for me, and hell it's not like I'll probably see it myself, but it does detract from what is otherwise a very well done moment.

I'll also reiterate, the musical score in this game is amazing.

 

[Hawk269]

Some of you are playing the PC version early with the VPN trick...can we get any impressions from you PC gamers already playing?

Is there really better textures like someone tweeted about before? It was tweeted that the final game on PC will come with hi-res textures that were not part of the demo.

Appreciate any feedback anyone can provide.

 

[chickdigger802]

lol that ios game is coming out today at 11pm.

http://www.shortform.com/jeffZ/my/watch/4509291_mass-effect-infiltrator-ipad-2-hd-sneak

gameplay looks... hmmm...

 

[Derrick01]

I expect a lot of

loldon't believe da HYPE!
lolzreviewerspaidoff
EAcheckscleared

Don't worry I'm sure your "UGHHH GREATEST GAME EVER HYPPPPEEEE excite.gif" on every review will more than balance things out.

 

[Lostconfused]

The one in ME1 where you're at the first Council hearing and when it becomes clear that you have no real evidence against Saren and that Anderson has some kind of past grudge against him. Your closing remarks, no matter Paragon, Renegade, or Neutral, all come out as a big huge unprofessional tantrum for a career soldier; "Saren is a racist who wants to kill all humans!!!!" or "YEAH WELL YOU DUMB POLITICIANS MADE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY YOU'RE BLIND TO THE TRUTH."

It's immediately followed by the councilors all looking at each other like they just feel sorry for you, and it's total wahjah overload.

I also like the fact that less than an hour before that you have the option of saying "Don't bring up the damn vision because it's insane and no one will believe it, at all."

 

[chickdigger802]

saw this on gamefaqs.

not too shabby in res.

 

[LumpOfCole]

lol that ios game is coming out today at 11pm.

http://www.shortform.com/jeffZ/my/watch/4509291_mass-effect-infiltrator-ipad-2-hd-sneak

gameplay looks... hmmm...

I hear the iOS game has little to no dialog options at all. That's just crazy - even the shitty Jacob Galaxy game had dialog options.

 

[Dave1988]

I hear the iOS game has little to no dialog options at all. That's just crazy - even the shitty Jacob Galaxy game had dialog options.

It's just following the example ME3 set forth.

 

[shinobi602]

Don't worry I'm sure your "UGHHH GREATEST GAME EVER HYPPPPEEEE excite.gif" on every review will more than balance things out.

Yup everyone's got their favorite games. Someone's gotta do the dirty work of clearing all the premature unfounded hate.

 

[DTKT]

I expect a lot of

loldon't believe da HYPE!
lolzreviewerspaidoff
EAcheckscleared

Am I so cynical to think that an exclusive review from IGN is pretty much a guaranteed high-score? I mean, IGN is the biggest mass market videogame outlet. You would assume that the first visible score to come out for ME3 would be at least 9 right?

 

[vaelic]

I have not pre-ordered this yet. Is there any one place that is better to pre-order from?

looking for an answer. trigger finger here...

 

[rozay]

Honestly I'm expecting the entirety of ME3 to be like Arrival was dialogue wise (bad). If it's better, great.

 

[Mr Scrufff]

I can't say anything about PC, I got it early on the 360. But it does look good. Less buggy than the demo and the atmospheric stuff looks incredible at some parts. Overall a definite improvement to ME2

 

[thetrin]

lol that ios game is coming out today at 11pm.

http://www.shortform.com/jeffZ/my/watch/4509291_mass-effect-infiltrator-ipad-2-hd-sneak

gameplay looks... hmmm...

I wonder if the datapad app is out today as well.

 

[shinobi602]

Am I so cynical to think that an exclusive review from IGN is pretty much a guaranteed high-score? I mean, IGN is the biggest mass market videogame outlet. You would assume that the first visible score to come out for ME3 would be at least 9 right?

So when dozens of other reviewers give it 9s and above? Then what?

 

[-GOUKI-]

where is the fucking reviews >:O!?!?!

 

[codhand]

So yeah, sub 18 hour playthroughs are possible, but you're skipping all the dialogue and the combat is probably on one of the easier settings.

I did a about a 16-18 hr run last week, skipped most dialog, Normal, Recruit only, beat Overlord and LotSb, only had two survivors.

I honestly still get the gist of most of the conversations even when skipping, especially if you've played more than once already.

 

[ttocs]

looking for an answer. trigger finger here...

Amazon? Because they deliver to your house? Plus they have release date delivery for no extra charge.

 

[-GOUKI-]

WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS HERE. DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE NOT CERTAIN.

Spoiler

Okay, if you're reading this, last chance to stop. No? Okay then.

I just watched a scene on Youtube where Shepard sided with the Geth, causing the destruction of the entire Quarian fleet, and Tali to commit suicide in response. It's a beautifully done scene with some absolutely outstanding music, and great voice acting... except for one particular line: Shepard's "No"... I can't believe they would go with that take. It's just so flat in comparison to what you'd expect. The emotion Shepard displays afterwards is spot on though.

I wouldn't say that line ruins the scene for me, and hell it's not like I'll probably see it myself, but it does detract from what is otherwise a very well done moment.

I'll also reiterate, the musical score in this game is amazing.

link please

 

[Mr Scrufff]

I did a about a 16-18 hr run last week, skipped most dialog, Normal, Recruit only, beat Overlord and LotSb, only had two survivors.

I honestly still get the gist of most of the conversations even when skipping, especially if you've played more than once already.

Haha I hate when I am watching someone and they are skipping the dialogue in ME. "NO, don't skip that. C'mon man you gotta play it like its a movie, just enjoy the movie"

 

[Dark Stalkers]

So when dozens of other reviewers give it 9s and above? Then what?

They got paid off too.

 

[Moaradin]

So when dozens of other reviewers give it 9s and above? Then what?

EA payin' errbody.