Same. I initially liked the Salarians tidbit, because I played Shepard throughout the series as a cynical no-nonsense military lifer who hates politicians and loves his grunt bros, which meant I wound up with a 75/25 renegade/paragon split of sorts. So, it made sense for the char I played as: military joins because to hell with the politicians. But from a "tough decisions" standpoint, it felt like a copout from the game.
Mass Effect 3 SPOILER THREAD: LOTS OF SPECULATION FROM EVERYONE
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Same. I initially liked the Salarians tidbit, because I played Shepard throughout the series as a cynical no-nonsense military lifer who hates politicians and loves his grunt bros, which meant I wound up with a 75/25 renegade/paragon split of sorts. So, it made sense for the char I played as: military joins because to hell with the politicians. But from a "tough decisions" standpoint, it felt like a copout from the game.
Not really retarded at all. Lots of potential reasons why a synthetic program like that would exist. If it was created by a post-singularity organic species they may want to prevent any other species from ever reaching that point technologically.
Plus ME3 is space fantasy so any explanation is really viable for their endings. Waves of mass matter conversion on a galactic scale is ok but wanting to maintain a neverending cycle of order is retarded?
I liked the ending on the whole. The backlash to the endings is really surprising... is it just because there isn't a 'everyone lives happily ever after' ending? Or are people really convinced it's all hallucination/indoctrination? If any of that's true then Shepard is either dead on the Citadel or dead from the laser.
Considering the entire theme of the third game was sacrifice they were -revving you up- the merge ending to take place. My favorite part is that all of the endings destroy the mass relays; props to Bioware for being willing to shakeup their universe in a 'backwards tech' direction.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
oh, and Harbinger should totally just have destroyed Shepard at 'the conduit' (a name that drops out of nowhere btw), leaving the world to be saved by Conrad Verner and Garrus.
(end sequence)
after credits scene is a bar with all three. Maybe not Conrad though.
case in point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzYLTbQQEZQ
(end sequence)
after credits scene is a bar with all three. Maybe not Conrad though.
case in point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzYLTbQQEZQ
I almost thought you were going to say, "You're already dead" in Japanese.
Anata wa sudeni shinde iru. (Or w/e it is.)
BuckRobotron
Member
Don't see it mentioned much, but funniest stuff to me was Wrex repeatedly trolling the Salarians, talking about having them for lunch or some such. Cut to stiff as boards, slowly blinking Salarian guards. Listening to Tali and Garrus argue about their relative combat merits near the end was funny as well.
Best (non-LI) quiet moment I would say is with Thane, chilling and at peace. If ever getting back to ME2 I'd probably put him in the squad more often than I did previously.
And regarding Vega, overall feeling toward the character was "meh" but I thought the voice acting was top-notch and oddly fit the character well. Oddly I say in retrospect, as I had no idea he was voiced by Prinze Jr until I read it much later.
Best (non-LI) quiet moment I would say is with Thane, chilling and at peace. If ever getting back to ME2 I'd probably put him in the squad more often than I did previously.
And regarding Vega, overall feeling toward the character was "meh" but I thought the voice acting was top-notch and oddly fit the character well. Oddly I say in retrospect, as I had no idea he was voiced by Prinze Jr until I read it much later.
Metroidvania
People called Romanes they go the house?
Haha, that reminds me of the conversation with Liara and Joker about whether or not her tentacles actually move. I supported Liara, but I wonder what would have been said had I sided with Joker.
Thins is, all of the 'sacrifices' were blunted or even negated by player choice and Paragon/Renegade options. Only death that couldn't be prevented was Thane and Mordin. Everything else is able to be changed/directed by Shepard's choices....except the ending, which ignores all of your choices/reputation/galaxy readiness, except for a few small caveats.
EDIT: All of this kinda boils down to "TAKE BACK EARTH", which didn't even matter, since you talked to Anderson 4 or 5 times, and he was fine each time. He's all like "yeah, it sucks, we're doing okay, keep doing what you're doing." And this is weeks after the reapers hit Earth en masse, judging by the codex and conversations with Hackett. There was no sense of urgency in the actual getting back to Earth.
Shepard tells her that Joker won't stop bugging until he gets the answer. She ended up saying they were just semi-flexible cartilage that doesn't move or something.
edit: That, lol. ^
all according to keikaku.
Empty Space
Member
Shepard tells hes never going to stop and she tells Joker that they are cartilage like appendage an no they do not flop around.
Edit: Damn it
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
Missed that one as well, apparently. I would have sided with joker though. Liara being LI and all, I would kinda like to know those things before her face turning into a facehugger.
Really hard to rank the squadmates as some of them changes a lot across the 3 games.
Those I liked:
-Mordin : He was smart, funny and useful in battle. His sex advices were hilarious. His change of heart in 3 his weird though.
-Legion : I liked his quest and the knowledge about the geths he brings with him.
-Wrex : A big badass. In 3 he's a bit weird though. He asks something outrageous like curing the genophage to get his help. Luckily the convenience of the plot makes it work.
-Miranda : She's a bitch all right but at least she doesn't try to hide it. She will do what is required to get the mission done. In 3 she's a bit boring though and her plot is more or less a repeat of her plot and lines in 2. Super useful in battle.
Those I don't mind/are ok:
-Garrus : Never found him special but he didn't offend me. His rogue agent personality is cool I guess.
-Tali : She didn't have a personality in 1 but in 2 she got a bit better. Her drunk scene in 3 is hilarious.
-Jack : Hated, hated her in 2 but I like what she became in 3. Instead of swearing and acting like an out patient she's actually helping others.
-Grunt : Always felt like a replacement for Wrex. The plot also overused the "Okeer imprinted me with..."
-Kasumi : I like how she looks and her graybox plot was interesting. Had trouble having sympathy for her about her boyrfriend as this plot is rushed a bit. Shadow strike was somewhat useful in battle. I liked hearing about the rare items she stole.
-Zaeed : Space gladiator. He's selfish but he's at least badass. His mercenaries stories were always fun to listen too.
-Kaidan : Super boring plot wise in 1 until you reach the part where he mentions he killed his instructor. Whiny bitch in the beginning of 3 because you worked with Cerberus. Banter with James and Tali was good though. He's also super useful in battle for my team.
-Jacob : ZZZ but at least he didn't do anything to offend me.
-EDI : Many of her lines were hilarious. The joke about purging the oxygen supply on the Normandy was fun if only to see Shepard's reaction. Her relationship with Joker gave me the creeps though.
-Javik : Loved how he was condescending with everyone. Unfortunately that's pretty much all I got from him. Never used him in battle much as I was an adept myself.
Oh my god shut the fuck up tier:
-Liara : Never liked her. She always seemed like to know the solution to everything and acted like an information kiosk. Very happy she gets owned in 3 by Javik and burned by the revelations on Thessia.
-Samara : Hated the Justicar concept and how the writing team shoehorned an explanation about why she would work with Cerberus. Her whole code thing got on my nerve fairly quickly. Would have much prefered to get Aria instead.
-Ashley : Space racist. Told her to shut up quickly in 1 when she started to talk about her dislike of aliens and how she wasn't racist at all. Also judged me when I said I didn't like her religion stuff. Died on Virmire in my game.
-James : Dudebro. Used him only when I had no other characters to use.
Those I liked:
-Mordin : He was smart, funny and useful in battle. His sex advices were hilarious. His change of heart in 3 his weird though.
-Legion : I liked his quest and the knowledge about the geths he brings with him.
-Wrex : A big badass. In 3 he's a bit weird though. He asks something outrageous like curing the genophage to get his help. Luckily the convenience of the plot makes it work.
-Miranda : She's a bitch all right but at least she doesn't try to hide it. She will do what is required to get the mission done. In 3 she's a bit boring though and her plot is more or less a repeat of her plot and lines in 2. Super useful in battle.
Those I don't mind/are ok:
-Garrus : Never found him special but he didn't offend me. His rogue agent personality is cool I guess.
-Tali : She didn't have a personality in 1 but in 2 she got a bit better. Her drunk scene in 3 is hilarious.
-Jack : Hated, hated her in 2 but I like what she became in 3. Instead of swearing and acting like an out patient she's actually helping others.
-Grunt : Always felt like a replacement for Wrex. The plot also overused the "Okeer imprinted me with..."
-Kasumi : I like how she looks and her graybox plot was interesting. Had trouble having sympathy for her about her boyrfriend as this plot is rushed a bit. Shadow strike was somewhat useful in battle. I liked hearing about the rare items she stole.
-Zaeed : Space gladiator. He's selfish but he's at least badass. His mercenaries stories were always fun to listen too.
-Kaidan : Super boring plot wise in 1 until you reach the part where he mentions he killed his instructor. Whiny bitch in the beginning of 3 because you worked with Cerberus. Banter with James and Tali was good though. He's also super useful in battle for my team.
-Jacob : ZZZ but at least he didn't do anything to offend me.
-EDI : Many of her lines were hilarious. The joke about purging the oxygen supply on the Normandy was fun if only to see Shepard's reaction. Her relationship with Joker gave me the creeps though.
-Javik : Loved how he was condescending with everyone. Unfortunately that's pretty much all I got from him. Never used him in battle much as I was an adept myself.
Oh my god shut the fuck up tier:
-Liara : Never liked her. She always seemed like to know the solution to everything and acted like an information kiosk. Very happy she gets owned in 3 by Javik and burned by the revelations on Thessia.
-Samara : Hated the Justicar concept and how the writing team shoehorned an explanation about why she would work with Cerberus. Her whole code thing got on my nerve fairly quickly. Would have much prefered to get Aria instead.
-Ashley : Space racist. Told her to shut up quickly in 1 when she started to talk about her dislike of aliens and how she wasn't racist at all. Also judged me when I said I didn't like her religion stuff. Died on Virmire in my game.
-James : Dudebro. Used him only when I had no other characters to use.
I played the first two on the 360 and this one on the PC so I couldn't import from my previous saves. I actually believe this game is a better game for it though; it has a much better unified theme and plays out really well. It's also the best game in the series from a narrative standpoint because of this; the themes are well presented and Shepard given some measure of humanity for once.
From what I understand your readiness/choices do affect who survives in the credits and whether Shepard is breathing in the 'destruction' ending. What other impact should your choices really have on the ending? I don't understand what people expected from the end of the game specifically.
I thought there was a way to convert a 360 save to PC.
GrandHarrier
Member
THERE IS NO SHEPARD WITHOUT VAKARIAN.
Thus, since Garrus wasn't with you on the Citidel, none of that could have happened.
It all makes sense.
Thus, since Garrus wasn't with you on the Citidel, none of that could have happened.
It all makes sense.
Metroidvania
People called Romanes they go the house?
All you see on the crew member side is Joker, your LI, and one other squadmate/EDI getting off the Normandy in an unknown jungle world. No info at all on any of the other squadmates, races, the galaxy at large, etc.
All you see for the Earth is with a really low readiness rating, Earth is burning. Otherwise, you see two generic soldiers cheering.
And you see Shepard take a half-second breath in after a slow pan if you were really high up on the readiness scale after picking destroy, which gives you no real information, nor why Shepard can ONLY survive if you pick destroy, when the spacegodchild says that since you are half-machine, you die, same as the other two endings.
That's your reward for going through 3 games, getting invested in the world/characters?
There's no closure to anything in the game that was supposed to be the end of a Trilogy. Not even a DA-style text parade epilogue.
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
The best characters are Garrus (my space homey, and the best scenes in the game involved him), Mordin and Legion. I also really like Zaeed for some reason.
I didn't care much for Liara in ME1 or 2, but liked her quite a bit in ME3.
I didn't care much for Liara in ME1 or 2, but liked her quite a bit in ME3.
PinkCrayon
Member
This single image in the game negated just one of the many fallacies perpetrated by Space Ghost Kid:
I wonder if the writers of the ending even read the damn script. The only rational explanation is that they outsourced the ending to some foreign developer.
yup. that's really all I can say. yup.
This single image in the game negated just one of the many fallacies perpetrated by Space Ghost Kid:
I wonder if the writers of the ending even read the damn script. The only rational explanation is that they outsourced the ending to some foreign developer.
Or, go with the whole 'indoctrination attempt/dream' etc scenario for the end.
Yeah, it's fucked up, but not as fucked as the current ending on face-value.
indigo-cyclops
Member
Yet wasn't there someone in here arguing that such evidence doesn't matter as the ending is still logical?
Space-Merlin really pisses me off.
Fixed.
As has been said before, it's not that it wasn't a 'happy' ending which pissed people off, it was just poorly fucking done. Everything about the Starchild scenario is jank and full of holes, even moreso than the typical Mass Effect scenario. The actual execution is akin to someone pulling out the carpet from under you, just as you thought it was over. Add to that a lack of resolution for the characters people cared about + the ignoring of just about everything that the player does throughout the trilogy, and it's a recipe for disaster.erragal said:
So you're upset there aren't -enough- details about the goings on in the universe immediately after your world altering decision? Considering that no matter what conclusion you choose the galaxy is irreovcably changed by the loss of the mass relays it would take them hours to properly convey the impact.
He can't survive if you merge because you're basically using your DNA as the pattern with which to imprint synathetics with (And I'm assuming the strange synthetic hologram is the pattern the organics are imprinted with). You die for the control ending because you're basically uploading yourself into the reaper mainframe; you have no need for an organic body any longer.
Why do you need a reward at the end? What about enjoying the characters and the journey itself...they spent the entire game repeating to you how 'this could be the end' 'we may never see you again' etc. and now people are surprised that's what happened? Is there really some right to have a 'perfect ending' where everything turns out the same? That would be the truly bad ending there by ignoring what suits the narrative in favor of fanservice.
Empty Space
Member
The argument some people make is that the relationship between the Geth and Quarians was on bad terms till recently and even if Geth were always fighting in self defense that was evidence that only had 300 years of history behind it and the reapers worked in terms of millenia. EDI can also be considered a poor example since shes been unshackled for less then a year and when she made the initial shift from VI to AI she was violent.
People really hate a holographic projection of what is either a post-singularity organic entity or a massively intelligent synthetic collective? Either way what is 'janky' about the existence of such an entity in a world that somehow has personal manipulation of matter -BEFORE- information singularity? Pretty sure it's less farfetched than biotics/omnitools in every possible fashion.
Half of ME2 and ME3 were more or less successful attempts at fan service.
bigace33
Member
If you have Javik in your party he actually joins Wrex in the conversation about the Salarians. It is hilarious.
HarryHengst
Member
The best ending revealed:
It's a rational argument as well. The 'young' synthetics in the game (EDI, the Geth) have minute information processing capabilities compared to the Reapers. Additionally they are able to realize that appearing hostile to ALL organics at their current status is completely nonbeneficial to future survival. If at any point being hostile towards all organics was necessary to their future survival there's absolutely nothing that would keep them from being hostile.
One must also take into account post-human entities. The current state of the ME3 universe doesn't seem to have any but at some point humans will start uploading their consciousness and then you end up having a huge change in the balance between synthetic intelligences and organic ones.
I didn't care for much of the ME2 narrative (Outside of Jacob's sidequest...that was a nice little sidestory) but what part of ME3 did you find overly fanservicey? Was really happy they made saving the Geth the paragon choice; wiping out the Quarians is probably the most satisfying part of the whole game!
I wasn't too crazy about Vega's nicknames. Just seemed like that was his "thing" to make him interesting.
I actually still kind of liked him though. Some of his conversations were FemShep (or Lola) were pretty funny since he would always get embarrassed whenever she hit on him (just to mess with him).
Pollux
Member
The best ending revealed:
Wait, is your Shep Zaeed...?
Metroidvania
People called Romanes they go the house?
It's not about reward so much as it is about throwing away series precedents. Should an ending' style be changed from the games before it simply to produce an "edgy" ending to a trilogy? When ME1 and ME2 had you surviving odds that were also desperate, such as saving Wrex in ME1 or surviving the Collector Base with all your squad intact, why is the ending for Mass Effect 3 so radically different?
We're thrown into a scenario at the end of Mass Effect 3 that directly contradicts what the player has the potential to 'fix'. The Geth and EDI are both in-game examples that this can work. Yeah, the Starchild says the synthetic singularity will be inevitable, but we have no proof of that, only of proof of the direct opposite.
For a topic that is so central to the ending theme (synthetics inevitably reaching killing singularity), we aren't really shown it in ME3. And the starchild doesn't even go into detail about it, just states it and demands we accept it as fact without evidence.
I don't care about perfect endings, I was perfectly content with sacrificing Shep for the greater good of destroying the reapers. But that's not what we got. We got a hackneyed, forced ending that completely is divergent from what we've been experiencing as the player all game. Yes, the reapers are gone, but not through any sort of hard work of collecting war assets or brokering deals between the races. It's a Deus Ex Machina at its finest.
Otherwise, why bother collecting any of the war assets at all? What is the point? There's barely any attempt at any sort of catharsis, be it "happy", bittersweet, or grim/dark.
But we as the player aren't shown nearly enough evidence that this singularity WILL AND MUST occur. We get Overlord, in which an autistic human was dumped into a strange and unfamiliar environment, and a rogue VI on the moon, which later turns out to be EDI. That's it.
Lifejumper
Member
Well this is pretty interesting I guess, and supports the ''its all in shepards head'' theory.
http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mas...cret-of-the-Catalyst039s-voice-9833745-1.html
BSN said:
http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mas...cret-of-the-Catalyst039s-voice-9833745-1.html
I didn't say overly fanservicey, and a decent ending wouldn't have been overly fanservicey either.
HarryHengst
Member
While i would love for it to mean something, im pretty sure it was just convenient to use both of Shepards VA, as they were already recording lines.
Blue Ninja
Member
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.
I guess I'm desperate for moar ME character interactions and since ME3 destroys the world, alt universe will do the trick.
Blue Ninja
Member
Say what you will about the ending, but the music playing while Vent God is talking is superb.
Pretty much the only superb thing about the whole mess, though.
Pretty much the only superb thing about the whole mess, though.
UnluckyKate
Member
I didn't. First, they always been so greedy. I told them " don't go to war " in ME2. They still did. Then I saved their people. Then I stopped the Geth, showing evidence they were wrong for many centuries and yet, when enemy stops fireing, they just want more power and keep shooting at dead stuff.
So glad they god slaughter to the last
Look closely at the Wall.
Jibbajabbawockky
Member
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: "Its 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.
The player's only real interaction with their entire race is with four or five admirals of which three or two depending on game are racist idiots. Not that the game offers you an option to have the racist guys attack by themselves.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
The best ending revealed:
I don't see Bioware on there.
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.
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.
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.
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