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[ROUGE_BLOCK]

This is (in my totally subjective opinion) the major artistic flaw of ME:A. The commentariat is obsessed with the occasionally off-key dialogue and flawed animations, but to my mind that's a footnote. Bioware made an apparently conscious decision to bloat the size of the game with tedious waypoint navigation, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. The game is huge. It would be huge even if you chopped out all the pointless padding that exists in so many quests.

I've seen posters say, basically, "well, if you don't want MMO drudgery, just skip all the tasks" - but the tasks aren't really the issue, although they aren't a highlight of the game (and I did a lot of them in my playthrough). The issue is that a lot of really good story content requires similar fetch-questy investment before it pays out. The "family secrets" quest is a perfect example, in which some of the best character work in the game is only revealed to the player after a pointless collectathon, but it's hardly the only example of bloat. Why does the lighthearted "movie night" questline require a solid hour-plus of travel, item pickup, and dull conversations to trigger? Why does every planetary vault require the activation of three monoliths at different corners of the map before it will open? Why do the generally high-quality loyalty missions often require several fetch quests before the "real" mission triggers (Peebee's in particular was so bad that I just gave up on the mission)?

I just don't understand the design decisions behind ME:A quest structure. It seems like Bioware was worried that the quest chains weren't long enough, or something - but again, the game is massive. Totally baffling. I still liked the game, on balance, but I think I would have been genuinely enthusiastic about it if they'd just chopped out about 40% of its content before release.

You've hit the nail on the head on what I also find to be the major problem with the game bloat spread to far out. Nothing can just be a simple, Hey Ryder do this for this narrative reason and Ryder is like okay! No it's got to back split into fucking three and halted by the progression of the main story so you get all these "on-hold" type scenarios and almost none of them are worth the wait.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

Where are my extra outfits for finishing a character's Loyalty Mission? That or even an option to change their look for possible DLC. Wasted opportunity. I hope that option back for the sequel.

I would bet that this is coming. But I think BioWare is a little gunshy about announcing paid DLC right now.

 

[prag16]

I would bet that this is coming. But I think BioWare is a little gunshy about announcing paid DLC right now.

In their patch roadmap post they mentioned that they were looking at the possibility of tossing us some free cosmetic DLC. I'd be willing to bet that's what this will be; a set of squadmate alternate outfits, and perhaps another casual outfit or two.

And agreed 100% about paid DLC. Don't expect any announcements until around the E3 timeframe, which is AFTER their planned two month maintenance/patch cycle.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

Shepard Trilogy cosplay DLC? I want to dress Cora as Samara and Liam as Thane.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

My BioTech Sentinel build on Insanity is literally unkillable, and I'm priming/detonating almost all the time thanks to Cora and Vetra's upgrades which allow them to shoot out ammo that primes. I've got Energy Drain (prime, detonator), Incinerate (prime, detonator) and Charge (detonator) and things are either exploding with a firey passion, or bursting into icicle pieces, thanks to Cora's Cryo Ammo. I have the Dhan Shotgun with Bio Ammo so I never have to reload, and I don't have to worry about my health depleting either because Cora's Shield Boost is constantly regenerating my health. Did I mention that Cora is the best squad mate to have? And possibly one of the best squad mates just in terms of usefulness in the Mass Effect series. I've been messing around with builds and I think this set-up I have is one of the best since it's so versatile - you have abilities that deal with shielded and armored enemies, as well as priming/detonating options. With the Sentinel profile, you gain that extra layer of armor for survivability. I wanted a build where I can be effective from afar and then get in close to blast things with a shotty and melee.

That's a pretty cool build. I'm also playing a Sentinel but I'm using Energy Drain, Incinerate, and Lance since I try to keep a moderate distance from most targets. The ability to prime and detonate at will, plus the ability to deal with shields, health, and armor all relatively effectively feels really nice and versatile. And I agree, Cora is a top tier squadmate in terms of effectiveness. Shield Boost and her cryo ammo are crucial.

+1 to this build. I posted about it earlier today, it's fucking relentless.

Here's the build in action!

https://youtu.be/4YYHsdhXfTU

I show the full build after the initial gameplay showcase.

 

[bryehn]

Pretty much every mission I've started post-patch (Xbox) has been bugged now, ranging from UI stuff to actually not filing as complete. Even going back to an older save didn't help. I'm about to bail on 23 hours out of frustration. I was into the game despite the flaws and warts, but bugged quests are too much.

Pretty bummed out, was really just getting going.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

Here's the build in action!

https://youtu.be/4YYHsdhXfTU

I show the full build after the initial gameplay showcase.

Damn dude! Beastly!

 

[Orochinagis]

Arrived at the sand planet, cool I can take my helmet final....super hot temperatures.....ok no

 

[exYle]

Here's the build in action!

https://youtu.be/4YYHsdhXfTU

I show the full build after the initial gameplay showcase.

What's going on with your Dahn there? What's it shooting?

 

[Springy]

Also can someone confirm, on Kadara

Spoiler

there's a sick person, with a turian trying to help him, and he mentions that he needs antibiotics. This is in the same building where you can get a UV light to bring back to the stoners, and their "plant" is said to contain antibiotic properties.

So my thought was, give them the UV light, and then get a sample of the plant and bring it back and heal the other guy. The stoners even say "feel free to take a sample" or whatever. But I never see the option to take a sample of the plant. And then when I go back to the sick guy, the turian just says "let me know if you find any antibiotics"

Is this just glitched? Or is that not how you're supposed to go about healing him?

Yeah, it's glitched. Happened to me. Reading around, it seems to break for anybody who

Spoiler

discovers the sick guy before the stoners. Apparently, after they offer you to take some, you're supposed to get an interact button on the crops to grab some and bring back.

 

[-NeoTB1-]

Story / Drack spoiler

Spoiler

I wish you could stand your ground a bit more of you choose Pathfinder Raeka over the Krogan scouts. Like Drack, buddy, I love you but could you not try this guilt trip bullshit on me? I've brokered an allience between New Tuchanka and the Nexus, I gave Morda the Remnant Drive and I helped you get revenge on that asshole who got the Krogan exiled in the first place! Just because I choose the save the life of the only other experienced Pathfinder in this fucking cluster doesn't mean I'm out to screw over the Krogan

Agreed. Drack is my favorite party member, but this decision was a no-brainer to me. For better or worse, he seemed to get over it pretty fast though lol.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

What's going on with your Dahn there? What's it shooting?

Heat Seeking Augmentation

 

[Rodney McKay]

After beating ME:A, I just started back into and old Dragon Age Inquisition save yesterday. I never thought I'd see the day where a Dragon Age game would have better faces than a Mass Effect game in the same generation, but that's definitely the case. I also haven't rolled my eyes at any of the dialog in the hour or two I played which is a welcome change.

Even smaller role characters are drastically better. For example comparing the Dwarf lady that briefs you when you come to a new zone (Lace Harding I think) in DA:I with a character like Suvi on your bridge and the difference is pretty impressive. It would have made more sense if ME:A was the game that came out 2.5 years ago and DA:I just came out.

I definitely prefer the ME fast paced combat over DA's, but you do get a lot more party banter since you have a team of 4 instead of 3. I REALLY miss having a sprint button in DA:I, I forgot just how slow moving around in that game is. I bought the dash skill for my warrior just so I could navigate areas a little faster. I think I like the more numerous, more tightly designed open world areas in DA:I over ME:A's few but massive worlds. Maybe if the Nomad controlled better I'd have liked driving through them more, but I never grew to love it like the goofy Mako in ME1.

Agreed. Drack is my favorite party member, but this decision was a no-brainer to me. For better or worse, he seemed to get over it pretty fast though lol.

Yeah, my next playthrough I think I'll leave Drack on the ship for that mission. I chose the one he'd be happy with but only because he was standing right there and it was really awkward, lol.

 

[aliengmr]

Agreed. Drack is my favorite party member, but this decision was a no-brainer to me. For better or worse, he seemed to get over it pretty fast though lol.

Way I saw it was:

Spoiler

The Krogan Scouts were going to be Exalted and I didn't want that shitbag Archon getting any better at exaltation. Reaka knew the risks and sacrificed herself for her people. To me experience just didn't mean much in Heleus.

I do see the other side though, the Salarians had been through hell, so Drack could have backed off a bit. I mean the Krogan got their colony and a seat at the table.

In the end, rescuing the Krogan seemed to be the best option.

 

[Madness]

Way I saw it was:

Spoiler

The Krogan Scouts were going to be Exalted and I didn't want that shitbag Archon getting any better at exaltation. Reaka knew the risks and sacrificed herself for her people. To me experience just didn't mean much in Heleus.

I do see the other side though, the Salarians had been through hell, so Drack could have backed off a bit. I mean the Krogan got their colony and a seat at the table.

In the end, rescuing the Krogan seemed to be the best option.

Spoiler

The Krogan were scouts trained in espionage, infiltration and knew the dangers. At the end of the day, they are still alive. The Salarians instead were taken out of cryo, they wake up and are tortured to death and dissected. They didn't get themselves into it. Also, if you ignore your choices, the Krogan are captured and you already see one in tubes, you don't know whether they are already dead. Raeka instead states they are pinned down. Raeka acknowledges she should not have contacted you as it puts you in a bad choicd. But the questions is a Salarian female (rare in a society of 90% males) who was trained by Alec Ryder and saves you as well on the ship, or some Krogan scouts who will probably be killed or venture out stupidly again. Yeah you face more behemoths, but it was an easy choice to make. You give the Krogans more than enough help. Think of how valuable Ryder is to humanity and the Initiative versus some Prodromos Scouts would be. I can tell the creators wanted you to save the Scouts with how much they try and build up Hayjer later.

 

[aliengmr]

Spoiler

The Krogan were scouts trained in espionage, infiltration and knew the dangers. At the end of the day, they are still alive. The Salarians instead were taken out of cryo, they wake up and are tortured to death and dissected. They didn't get themselves into it. Also, if you ignore your choices, the Krogan are captured and you already see one in tubes, you don't know whether they are already dead. Raeka instead states they are pinned down. Raeka acknowledges she should not have contacted you as it puts you in a bad choicd. But the questions is a Salarian female (rare in a society of 90% males) who was trained by Alec Ryder and saves you as well on the ship, or some Krogan scouts who will probably be killed or venture out stupidly again. Yeah you face more behemoths, but it was an easy choice to make. You give the Krogans more than enough help. Think of how valuable Ryder is to humanity and the Initiative versus some Prodromos Scouts would be. I can tell the creators wanted you to save the Scouts with how much they try and build up Hayjer later.

Woah there,

Spoiler

I didn't say the Salarians got themselves into it, I said Reaka did when she when back for more of her people. I explicitly said that I could totally understand choosing the Salarians because of what happened and thought Drack was a bit over the top with it.

My point was that my instinct was to save the Krogan because they could be exalted. I've done it both ways and kind of felt saving the Krogan scouts was the ever-so-slightly better option. Exaltation of Milky Way species was what I latched onto and wanted to stop, if at all possible.

I wasn't so much arguing saving the Krogan was the right thing, but that I personally didn't see saving Reaka as the obvious choice.

 

[Freeman76]

Coras' loyalty mission is classic mass effect, love it!

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

I think I like the more numerous, more tightly designed open world areas in DA:I over ME:A's few but massive worlds.

You may be the first person to call Inquisition's zones "tightly designed"...

 

[Freeman76]

You may be the first person to call Inquisition's zones "tightly designed"...

Haha he must be trollin...I mean I loved DAI but damn son...them maps werent tight in any way shape or form.

 

[diaspora]

Haha he must be trollin...I mean I loved DAI but damn son...them maps werent tight in any way shape or form.

Depends on the zone tbh. Crestwood, Frostback Basin, Deep Roads were fine while the rest... weren't.

 

[Freeman76]

Depends on the zone tbh. Crestwood, Frostback Basin, Deep Roads were fine while the rest... weren't.

Yeah but tightly designed and huge open sprawling space dont fit in the same sentence in that game.

 

[Madness]

Woah there,

Spoiler

I didn't say the Salarians got themselves into it, I said Reaka did when she when back for more of her people. I explicitly said that I could totally understand choosing the Salarians because of what happened and thought Drack was a bit over the top with it.

My point was that my instinct was to save the Krogan because they could be exalted. I've done it both ways and kind of felt saving the Krogan scouts was the ever-so-slightly better option. Exaltation of Milky Way species was what I latched onto and wanted to stop, if at all possible.

I wasn't so much arguing saving the Krogan was the right thing, but that I personally didn't see saving Reaka as the obvious choice.

Eh, we are just discussing. That is the best part of these games. I am not saying your choice was better than mine or vice versa. Had this game not been so poor and filler and have better and more meaningful dialogue, I would have run through again, albeit reversing everything so that I would have saves of all options. Who knows if we will even get another ME soon. Edmonton busy with their IP and post launch plans. Montreal busy with fixing this technical mess, whatever dlc and apex mp stuff. Edmonton wouldn't want to do ME:A2 if their new IP is well received or a hit.

 

[luxarific]

It was on Kadara, lol.

Also, major spoilers for finishing that quest (Ryder Family Secrets):

Spoiler

Welp hearing the last log from Liara nearly wrecked me. Was not prepared for that.

Yeah, those

Spoiler

distress messages were chilling. As much as the ending of ME3 sucked, I really loved everything else about the game. I don't think I've ever played a game that did such a good job of convincing me that everything was on the line and we were facing a enemy that was probably going to win.

SPOILERS FOR MEA Ending -

Spoiler

I almost hope a Reaper is chasing the Quarian ark. They were such a great enemy.

 

[CarbonFire]

Agreed. Drack is my favorite party member, but this decision was a no-brainer to me. For better or worse, he seemed to get over it pretty fast though lol.

His response makes at least a little sense in light of the history between the

Spoiler

Krogans and Salarians

. But agreed, there was only one choice in my mind.

 

[Madness]

It is why they need to grow some quads and just canon an ending already. Destroy works best even if Shepard doesn't survive because there is no deus ex machina mystical energy adding circuit boards to faces, and having an unstoppable Shepard AI and an army of unstoppable reapers with tons of knowledge. A quality sci-fi writer can take a destroy ending anywhere. Hell look at a Return of the Jedi and where we end up with Force Awakens. I don't want to atay in Andromeda forever. My one hope is the end of the Andromeda trilogy they receive some beacon from the Milky Way that is post ME3.

 

[MCD250]

Re: the decision between

Spoiler

the krogan and the salarians

, I fully admit that the only reason I chose

Spoiler

the krogan is because I was afraid that if I didn't I would have to fight exalted krogan from thereon out and I thought that seemed like too much of a pain in the ass, heh.

I've no idea if that actually happens though,
I just didn't want to risk it.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Drack / Story spoilers

Spoiler

I saw some posts earlier mentioni you stop getting quests from Drack if you help the Salarians. Is that true? If so, is that by design or a glitch?

 

[Ryzaki009]

Re: the decision between

Spoiler

the krogan and the salarians

, I fully admit that the only reason I chose

Spoiler

the krogan is because I was afraid that if I didn't I would have to fight exalted krogan from thereon out and I thought that seemed like too much of a pain in the ass, heh.

I've no idea if that actually happens though,
I just didn't want to risk it.

Spoiler

It does and they're a fucking pain it's like half the reason I side with the Salarians I hate enemies that get in my face. I have a sniper rifle for a reason!

 

[Frozenprince]

It is why they need to grow some quads and just canon an ending already. Destroy works best even if Shepard doesn't survive because there is no deus ex machina mystical energy adding circuit boards to faces, and having an unstoppable Shepard AI and an army of unstoppable reapers with tons of knowledge. A quality sci-fi writer can take a destroy ending anywhere. Hell look at a Return of the Jedi and where we end up with Force Awakens. I don't want to atay in Andromeda forever. My one hope is the end of the Andromeda trilogy they receive some beacon from the Milky Way that is post ME3.

You can even keep the Geth alive and around by handwaving Legions sacrifice as giving them "true sentience" or some dumb sci-fi bullcrap like that.

Just go with it so we don't have to hide from the original three forever.

 

[bonesmccoy]

It is why they need to grow some quads and just canon an ending already. Destroy works best even if Shepard doesn't survive because there is no deus ex machina mystical energy adding circuit boards to faces, and having an unstoppable Shepard AI and an army of unstoppable reapers with tons of knowledge. A quality sci-fi writer can take a destroy ending anywhere. Hell look at a Return of the Jedi and where we end up with Force Awakens. I don't want to atay in Andromeda forever. My one hope is the end of the Andromeda trilogy they receive some beacon from the Milky Way that is post ME3.

Destroy is the only ending where the final thing you see is Shepard breathing, right?

I think it is. And it's why I think it is the only canonical ending. The other 2, while 'fine' science-magic endings themselves, don't fit at all with how the story was developed and carried forward.

 

[mbpm1]

You can even keep the Geth alive and around by handwaving Legions sacrifice as giving them "true sentience" or some dumb sci-fi bullcrap like that.

Just go with it so we don't have to hide from the original three forever.

I don't care what they say, we need to have some reference to the milky way at some point

 

[edgefusion]

After beating ME:A, I just started back into and old Dragon Age Inquisition save yesterday. I never thought I'd see the day where a Dragon Age game would have better faces than a Mass Effect game in the same generation, but that's definitely the case. I also haven't rolled my eyes at any of the dialog in the hour or two I played which is a welcome change.

Even smaller role characters are drastically better. For example comparing the Dwarf lady that briefs you when you come to a new zone (Lace Harding I think) in DA:I with a character like Suvi on your bridge and the difference is pretty impressive. It would have made more sense if ME:A was the game that came out 2.5 years ago and DA:I just came out.

I definitely prefer the ME fast paced combat over DA's, but you do get a lot more party banter since you have a team of 4 instead of 3. I REALLY miss having a sprint button in DA:I, I forgot just how slow moving around in that game is. I bought the dash skill for my warrior just so I could navigate areas a little faster. I think I like the more numerous, more tightly designed open world areas in DA:I over ME:A's few but massive worlds. Maybe if the Nomad controlled better I'd have liked driving through them more, but I never grew to love it like the goofy Mako in ME1.


Yeah, my next playthrough I think I'll leave Drack on the ship for that mission. I chose the one he'd be happy with but only because he was standing right there and it was really awkward, lol.

I'm playing through DA:I again as well, as I picked up the DLC for cheap in the Easter sale. It really does feel like Inquisition is the more modern game, from faces and animation to dialogue and world design. Everything is much more polished and complete feeling. I'm also appreciating just how incredibly good some of the writing is in Inquisition (especially in comparison to Andromeda), Corypheus' line, "Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the Gods and it was empty." is legendary. Switch around the release dates for these two games and I'd be praising Bioware for all the great improvements they made in Inquisition over Andromeda.

 

[Frozenprince]

I don't care what they say, we need to have some reference to the milky way at some point

Yep.

Spoiler

Especially given how heavily they lean on it for the later narrative in this one.

They can't avoid it anymore.

 

[Kadin]

Just got the game the other day and I finished up most of what I could on Eos. Is this a pretty good taste of things to come because if so, I think I'll enjoy the game. Planet was pretty fun to explore although the Nomad is kinda rough here and there. So far I've liked it a lot more than I thought I would after some of the things I've read.

 

[prag16]

I can't understand the people in here talking up DA:I all of a sudden. If that game got released March 2017 it would have gotten brutalized every bit as badly in some quarters as Andromeda did. Possibly worse since the high fantasy setting would cause some people to see it as a more direct competitor to Witcher 3.

As bad as the quest design can be in spots in ME:A it's definitely worse in DA:I, and then way the story is gated with that power level nonsense is horrendous. And most of the zones that I actually made it to (didn't finish the game; almost died of boredom) are worse than ME's planet areas since the traversal is slower, and the side quests manage to feel even less consequential in many cases than ME:A's tasks.

I disagree that the writing is better, and I like the ME:A story and characters more.

I'm always slightly biased towards sci-fi, but for me Andromeda, while riddled with flaws, is far and away the better game.

Agree to disagree I guess.

 

[Hahs]

It's the little things that I appreciate from Bioware...

Spoiler

Prior to doing the Rising Tension mission

I was crewed up with Cora and Liam, Krogan guards acknowledged us and basically told our kind to watch out, to which Cora acknowledged, but

Immediatlely after finding out that

Spoiler

Gren doesn't talk to outsiders

I went and grabbed Drak, and upon entering again the guards acknowledged him..it immersed me a bit, and thought it was a nice touch.

Edit

Spoiler

my Ryder even asked for Drak ti back him up when trying to convince Gren to go through with the rite if passage​

..very nice Bioware -its not perfect but there are​ a few proper elements there; I'm satisfied with this!

 

[Rodney McKay]

You may be the first person to call Inquisition's zones "tightly designed"...

Haha he must be trollin...I mean I loved DAI but damn son...them maps werent tight in any way shape or form.

Maybe "tightly" wasn't the right word, haha.

I think I mean quite a few of the zones in DA:I felt more like they were more deliberately designed than ME:A's which felt more like they were made in a terrain generator and then points of interest, buildings, and chest-high cover sprinkled around. ME:A's individual action levels and hubs usually have a well designed feel to them (like the main missions/loyalty missions) but the open worlds rarely had that feel to me.

I know there are blander, large areas in DA:I too (like the Hinterlands of course), but quite a few of the zones were more medium or small sized (like the swamp area where you're fighting zombies, or the desert with all the rock structures you can climb around on). Apart from the obvious scale differences (exploring a planet vs. a small area of a country) I think a lot of it has to do with how the combat works in those games too. In DA, you can have a combat encounter happen anywhere, but in Mass Effect, you need cover and arena's where it's actually fun to be engaging enemies which is a lot harder to do naturally in an open world environment.

 

[TheChaos]

In DA, you can have a combat encounter happen anywhere, but in Mass Effect, you need cover and arena's where it's actually fun to be engaging enemies which is a lot harder to do naturally in an open world environment.

It would be better in DA's case if they fixed the battle system to accomodate the open world design better. You have these traps and glyph spells and tank characters to utlilize chokepoints but since 90% of the game takes place in a big open area you can just walk right around them.

 

[Rodney McKay]

It would be better in DA's case if they fixed the battle system to accomodate the open world design better. You have these traps and glyph spells and tank characters to utlilize chokepoints but since 90% of the game takes place in a big open area you can just walk right around them.

Very true, DA's combat did have some flaws like that in the open areas as well, they didn't quite fix that as much as they could have.

If Mass Effect wanted to move more toward open world (and less crafted combat levels) I would probably want them to do away with the traditional cover based shooter gameplay all together and focus more on mobility and boosting around stuff like some of the builds you can do in Andromeda. Maybe have one class be a tank-style class that works like the Space Marine game where you take a ton of damage and melee kills give you health back or something. Or give more classes deployable cover so you can just make it anywhere you want without requiring storage crates to litter the environment.

But I still like the combat specific levels that Mass Effect moved toward in ME2. Those main/loyalty missions were often a ton of fun to play through and were often my favorite parts of ME:A too. I loved exploring worlds in ME1 (even though the were mostly completely empty), but liked doing it a lot less in ME:A. Maybe that's because I spent a good chunk of the game doing that stuff, or maybe I just didn't like the Nomad as much as the Mako (I liked its funky physics and using it for combat too). I think the open worlds of ME:A could have used stuff like the Dragon's in DA:I too, a very powerful enemy that was unique to fight in each area. Andromeda has

Spoiler

the Architects

, but they're the same each time.

 

[Madness]

You can even keep the Geth alive and around by handwaving Legions sacrifice as giving them "true sentience" or some dumb sci-fi bullcrap like that.

Just go with it so we don't have to hide from the original three forever.

Yup, Joker and EDI stayed ahead of the Destroy blast and survived. She was shut down but Joker got her up. The Geth, near the Crucible blast site all shut down and quickly realized that if they don't escape they won't survive so just like they were searching Dark space, they are able to hightail it out of the Milky Way and survive. Bam. Reapers and their knowledge gone, Mass Relays gone. What happens next. Pick up the story 20 years later. Earth becomes a refugee planet for the stranded, they rebuild the Citadel neart Earth, the relays don't work but they are able to get messages and video at close to light speed so people still keep in touch near Thessia and Tuchanka and Surr'Kesh. The Asari become pariahs after knowledge of them hiding the beacon becomes known. The Krogan genophage cured is rapidly increasing their numbers again worrying the Turians and Salarians. Humanity is seen as saviors or as the reason they are all stranded aka why didn't Shepard do something like Control etc.

Perfect way to start the story.

Destroy is the only ending where the final thing you see is Shepard breathing, right?

I think it is. And it's why I think it is the only canonical ending. The other 2, while 'fine' science-magic endings themselves, don't fit at all with how the story was developed and carried forward.

Yeah destroy with high enough war assets, Shepard breathes amidst the Crucible/Citadel rubble. Control means he becomes the new Citadel AI and controls the Reapers forever against any threat or enemy and we all know Synthesis. Destroy is the only one that works narratively best because they remove the reapers and the relays. What threat could there be with the Control ending. And with Synthesis literally everything is technorganic. Husks become as intelligent as anyone else. Probably one of the worst thought out endings to any sci-fi I have ever read.

 

[mbpm1]

those endings are just way too fantastical for the Mass Effectverse yeah

there was not nearly enough setup to justify those

 

[Frozenprince]

those endings are just way too fantastical for the Mass Effectverse yeah

there was not nearly enough setup to justify those

Synthesis is probably my most hated ending of anything ever simply because it's literally just "Space magic" at the 11th hour for NO reason.

 

[Bisnic]

Yeah destroy with high enough war assets, Shepard breathes amidst the Crucible/Citadel rubble. Control means he becomes the new Citadel AI and controls the Reapers forever against any threat or enemy and we all know Synthesis. Destroy is the only one that works narratively best because they remove the reapers and the relays. What threat could there be with the Control ending. And with Synthesis literally everything is technorganic. Husks become as intelligent as anyone else. Probably one of the worst thought out endings to any sci-fi I have ever read.

Did they though? I just rewatched the Destroy ending, and the relays are just "severely damaged", and Hackett says they can rebuild everything. So, yeah... nothing stops Bioware from making a post-ME3 game sometimes using the Destroy ending and having the Citadel & the Mass Relays like a good old Mass Effect game, while keeping away any of the weird space magic from the other 2 endings.

 

[Frozenprince]

Did they though? I just rewatched the Destroy ending, and the relays are just "severely damaged", and Hackett says they can rebuild everything. So, yeah... nothing stops Bioware from making a post-ME3 game sometimes using the Destroy ending and having the Citadel & the Mass Relays like a good old Mass Effect game, while keeping away any of the weird space magic from the other 2 endings.

It's really easy to handwave off almost all of the "profound" changes too.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Did they though? I just rewatched the Destroy ending, and the relays are just "severely damaged", and Hackett says they can rebuild everything. So, yeah... nothing stops Bioware from making a post-ME3 game sometimes using the Destroy ending and having the Citadel & the Mass Relays like a good old Mass Effect game, while keeping away any of the weird space magic from the other 2 endings.

Honestly, they probably could keep the space magic, just give everyone magic green techno tatoos on their skin and that's it. Don't change anything else about the universe, just slap a texture on them, and a few lines of dialog about how people can interact more easily with their omni-tools and make everything else the same.
People still need to eat, work, and play, just because The Shepard infected them against their will with techno-space magic.

Even the control option you could just pull a Battlestar Galactica and have Shepard fly all the Reapers into a sun after they finish rebuilding everything ("they are too much for one man to control forever" or some BS). Maybe use advance Reaper tech to rebuild Shepard's body and download his consciousness back into it. They could rebuild his body from a corpse that burnt up in a planet's atmosphere with NORMAL technology, they can probably build him from scratch with stuff they learn from the Reapers.

 

[sangreal]

Did they though? I just rewatched the Destroy ending, and the relays are just "severely damaged", and Hackett says they can rebuild everything. So, yeah... nothing stops Bioware from making a post-ME3 game sometimes using the Destroy ending and having the Citadel & the Mass Relays like a good old Mass Effect game, while keeping away any of the weird space magic from the other 2 endings.

I believe that was one of the extended cut changes

never played the original though, so can't say for certain

the destroy ending does destroy more than just the reapers though

 

[MCD250]

I remember a BioWare writer (might have been Patrick Weekes) being asked about the Destroy ending around the time Extended Cut came out, and he said that he expected the cycle that led to the creation of the Reapers (the creation of AI that inevitably rebels and destroys organic life in the galaxy) to start again within 1,000 years from the moment the Reapers were destroyed.

That just kinda popped into my head while seeing people talk about ways that the two sides od the franchise can "connect", given that Andromeda takes place 600 years after 3.

 

[Madness]

Did they though? I just rewatched the Destroy ending, and the relays are just "severely damaged", and Hackett says they can rebuild everything. So, yeah... nothing stops Bioware from making a post-ME3 game sometimes using the Destroy ending and having the Citadel & the Mass Relays like a good old Mass Effect game, while keeping away any of the weird space magic from the other 2 endings.

Well it destroys the AI and the Reapers and smashes the Relays. They can handwave away EDI and Geth so they stay safe, and maybe restart ME4 with the rebuilding of a few relays so that travel can restart 20 years post ME3. Like I said, hire a quality sci-fi writer and you can do anything post-Destroy. Look at Gears 3 magic ending to Gears 4. Look at Halo 3 how it ended to Halo 4 etc.

 

[Frozenprince]

Well it destroys the AI and the Reapers and smashes the Relays. They can handwave away EDI and Geth so they stay safe, and maybe restart ME4 with the rebuilding of a few relays so that travel can restart 20 years post ME3. Like I said, hire a quality sci-fi writer and you can do anything post-Destroy. Look at Gears 3 magic ending to Gears 4. Look at Halo 3 how it ended to Halo 4 etc.

Yep. The key is getting a good writer though (I think the scenario writer for Andromeda would be a good pick given how high quality many of the vignette missions are writing wise).

 

[VenomousCoffee]

Keep getting disconnected from the servers while playing SP. Ugh.