Mass Effect Franchise bitching thread
- Thread starter The Technomancer
- Start date
Marketing is not exactly Bioware's strong point.
MrTroubleMaker
Member
What could have beenThe_Technomancer said:
yeah, it wasGravijah said:The end of Mass Effect 1 when you are running towards Sovereign is still one of the coolest parts in a game ever. Sigh.
HDgaming42
Member
You're not kidding.Wallach said:
It gets worse. This is what was pitched back at E3 2006. Mass Effect 1 came close in many ways--exceeded it in others--I kind of thought 2 would get closer to that vision, not further away...Wallach said:What could have been
After playing ME1 I thought, "That wasn't as good as I expected, but it has potential."Mr. B Natural said:
After playing ME2 I thought, "This wasn't where I would expect Bioware to take this series, but I fucking love it!"
Although, it's probably bad for me to be reading this thread, reminding me of all the things I didn't quite love, but managed to look past while playing.
NullPointer
Member
Peter.Simpson909 said:
Typographenia
Member
NullPointer said:
I'm currently playing Mass Effect 1 on PC for the first time.
I'm stuck on that Krogen battle in the mines while rescuing the scientist.
Died well over 20 times so far, and I am really finding the unskippable minute long cutscene before the battle every single time infuriating.
Sure, make the cutscene mandatory the first time.
But don't place a long unskippable cutscene before a difficult battle. If the player dies once, let them skip the cutscene next time, or put the damn checkpoint right before the battle.
Better yet, don't place such a difficult battle so early in the game.
I'm stuck on that Krogen battle in the mines while rescuing the scientist.
Died well over 20 times so far, and I am really finding the unskippable minute long cutscene before the battle every single time infuriating.
Sure, make the cutscene mandatory the first time.
But don't place a long unskippable cutscene before a difficult battle. If the player dies once, let them skip the cutscene next time, or put the damn checkpoint right before the battle.
Better yet, don't place such a difficult battle so early in the game.
Does anyone know the name of the song used in the "Dirty Dozens"/Cinematic trailer for Mass Effect 2?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=JdVehCAe6b8
It's the same song used for the Blur sequence played on the menu screen if you let it idle for a few minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=509nw-LHxBE
It seems no one knows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=JdVehCAe6b8
It's the same song used for the Blur sequence played on the menu screen if you let it idle for a few minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=509nw-LHxBE
It seems no one knows.
Mutanthands
Member
I can understand where most of you are coming from with your disappointment in ME2, but I don't think it could have gone down any other way.
ME1 was a janky shooter game with an inventory management scheme from hell, cheezy dialog, and laughable romance options. And despite that, it was my, and many people's, game of the generation. It was magic of the type that give you something like The Empire Strikes Back: ther right fictional setting, the right people, the right mood, the right time.
It's nearly impossible to catch that sort of magic twice. I honestly think that if absolutely nothing changed with Bioware and Mass Effect team between ME1 and 2, odds are greater than 50:50 that ME2 would have been just as disappointing for many.
Of course, there was no way that the circurmstances would have stayed the same. It's been a brutal generation for development houses, and if Bioware was still independent and partnered with Pandemic when Pandemic basically shit the bed early this generation, there's a good chance that Bioware wouldn't be around right now. So something like the sale to EA was going to happen eventually.
So now Bioware no longer has unlimited Microsoft exclusive money behind the series. Bioware is relatively high on the EA totem pole, but they still have to toe the financial line. Mass Effect is a seller, but not an Assassins Creed/GTA/RDR type seller. So it's not going to get that type of budget. Not without broadening the appeal. And even then, it's EA. They haven't made much (any) money this generation.
Clearly, EA is driving most of the changes to the series. It's sad, but from a business perspective, necessary. I hate it, but what else you gonna do?
So, I played and enjoyed Mass Effect 2. Enjoyed it quite a bit. I anticipate I will play and enjoy Mass Effect 3 as well. I enjoy the Mass Effect universe, and playing around in the world that was created with such detail in the first game.
At the end, the experience will feel a little empty, but it's purely due to the missing the magic from the first game.
Forget Paris.
ME1 was a janky shooter game with an inventory management scheme from hell, cheezy dialog, and laughable romance options. And despite that, it was my, and many people's, game of the generation. It was magic of the type that give you something like The Empire Strikes Back: ther right fictional setting, the right people, the right mood, the right time.
It's nearly impossible to catch that sort of magic twice. I honestly think that if absolutely nothing changed with Bioware and Mass Effect team between ME1 and 2, odds are greater than 50:50 that ME2 would have been just as disappointing for many.
Of course, there was no way that the circurmstances would have stayed the same. It's been a brutal generation for development houses, and if Bioware was still independent and partnered with Pandemic when Pandemic basically shit the bed early this generation, there's a good chance that Bioware wouldn't be around right now. So something like the sale to EA was going to happen eventually.
So now Bioware no longer has unlimited Microsoft exclusive money behind the series. Bioware is relatively high on the EA totem pole, but they still have to toe the financial line. Mass Effect is a seller, but not an Assassins Creed/GTA/RDR type seller. So it's not going to get that type of budget. Not without broadening the appeal. And even then, it's EA. They haven't made much (any) money this generation.
Clearly, EA is driving most of the changes to the series. It's sad, but from a business perspective, necessary. I hate it, but what else you gonna do?
So, I played and enjoyed Mass Effect 2. Enjoyed it quite a bit. I anticipate I will play and enjoy Mass Effect 3 as well. I enjoy the Mass Effect universe, and playing around in the world that was created with such detail in the first game.
At the end, the experience will feel a little empty, but it's purely due to the missing the magic from the first game.
Forget Paris.
MrTroubleMaker
Member
Peter.Simpson909 said:
Billychu said:
It's just a model replacement.Mr_Zombie said:
ProfessorMoran
Member
Billychu said:
What makes humans superior is a developed brain and hands that can manipulate objects, humans are significantly slower and physically weaker than apes and most large predators, being bipedal is actually a disadvantage in terms of traversal, it's kind of silly that most of the advanced species in the game are humanoid.
EmCeeGramr
Member
I don't have a problem with humanoid aliens as a stylistic choice, since that's the 80s-era sci-fi that they're going with.
My problem is that it's super obvious that they went with it partially to make it easier to animate characters just like humans.
Think about it: the elcor and hanar never move from their spot and don't have any real animations. The elcor were going to have mouths, but BioWare realized that they could make them seem more "alien" by adding those vertical flaps... which means they didn't have to make a complex mouth, just simple head bobs. The hanar are floating in mid-air in a default pose, tentacles never moving, and despite the fact that they're supposed to be using anti-gravity packs to float, you never see these.
Also, going into ME2 you interacted with those species less.
My problem is that it's super obvious that they went with it partially to make it easier to animate characters just like humans.
Think about it: the elcor and hanar never move from their spot and don't have any real animations. The elcor were going to have mouths, but BioWare realized that they could make them seem more "alien" by adding those vertical flaps... which means they didn't have to make a complex mouth, just simple head bobs. The hanar are floating in mid-air in a default pose, tentacles never moving, and despite the fact that they're supposed to be using anti-gravity packs to float, you never see these.
Also, going into ME2 you interacted with those species less.
Mutanthands
Member
ProfessorMoran said:
You have the Elcor and the Hanar to represent the quadripeds and whatever the fuck the Hanar are (aqautics).
In games that pretends to depend on human interaction, spending 9/10 of your time communicting with big stupid jellyfish, Shakesperian quadripeds, and plant masses like the Thorian does not encourage immersion in the world. Human beings like to look in a mirror. Its a common conceit of fiction, science or no.
EmCeeGramr
Member
I think there were like two on the Citadel having a conversation that you couldn't overhear and you couldn't interact with them at all.Snuggler said:
I remember really loving it when Thane described Kahje and how the hanar are totally different when you see them underwater. I almost hope we don't actually see it in ME3, because I'm sure it'd be a huge letdown of awkward animation or lazy shortcuts.
AdventChild
Neo Member
Nessus said:
Easy battle on normal, even without teammates :S
AdventChild
Neo Member
Tilian said:
Yep. Because of this video, I loved Mass Effect.
Frankenstrat
Member
painey said:I can't be the only one who thinks Garrus, Liara, Tali and Kaiden/Ashley are shitty characters and they keep coming back
I think garrus is alright, and liara is pretty meh. Agree with you on the other two fronts. And yeah, Thane and Legion were probably the best characters from the second one.
Lostconfused
Member
Considering that they were still making that game I am sure most of that stuff was placeholder and was there for the purposes of the demo.subversus said:
AdventChild
Neo Member
Shepard Commander.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
I think Ashley is the most interesting character in the series. She's certainly the most complex, and she's the only squad character aside from Shepard that actually helps drive the plot. Even as a romantic option, she's more interesting to relate to and has a better progression over the course of the game.painey said:I can't be the only one who thinks Garrus, Liara, Tali and Kaiden/Ashley are shitty characters and they keep coming back
Liara on the other hand couldn't have been more "default alien". Everything she did was just going through the motions; she was Bioware's "wouldn't it be cool to sleep with a blue chick?" fantasy character and absolutely nothing more. Even the way she fell in love with you makes no sense. She just announces it out of the blue and can't explain it. At least in ME2 they gave her purpose as a broker, however they completely overhauled her character to do it.
Tali is only interesting if you sleep with her. I like Garrus, but he's got the same "default alien" problem Liara had. He's the Carth Onasi of Turians. Kaidan IS Carth Onasi.
sixteen-bit
Member
ME3 should have space three-ways-COOLIO- said:
Heavy's Sandvich
Member
Just finished Mass Effect 2
Awful.
Awful.
UnluckyKate
Member
Heavy's Sandvich said:
ME2's ending apreciation is based on a lot of random parameters that the games failed to explain to you.
It's not about loosing team mates, it's about don't knowing why or what did you do wrong.
Plus, final boss is a terribly lame joke
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
EmCeeGramr said:
Squadmemebers all use the same "skeleton" for animations, even the Krogan. That's why all of your secondary squadmates were interchangeable on loyalty missions (and stayed in the background never saying a single word, even when they have damn good reason to, such as taking Grunt on Mordin's loyalty mission). If you look closely they all animated 100% identical in cutscenes. This is also why you can do stuff like this (NSFW).
It's true that most of the important races are like this to keep things simple for the animators, but I don't think this is in any way why you don't interact with many Hanar/Elcor in ME2. Certainly they had no problems in ME1 since they didn't move, it's not like they couldn't have just done that again in ME2. I'm more inclined to believe it's just a coincidence.
HDgaming42
Member
Thread was going off the rails. Needed more bitching.Typographenia said:
SkylineRKR
Member
UnluckyKate said:
You can say that again. One time I lost 3 dudes, the other time I lost 1. Did all the loyalty missions every time... it seemed to me that its just some sort of Russian Roulette going on there.
And the story is shit. There are like what, 4 story missions? The rest is recruitment and dealing with personal drama ie. said loyalty missions. Cut that out, keep the handful story missions in and you've got something that could've been DLC for ME1.
But ahh... I did enjoy the game for what it was; an half assed RPG, or broken TPS thats lacking any challenge?
Graphics were very good though.
TheRagnCajun
Member
Forkball said:
My bigger beef is that I kept expecting to see consequences for my decisions and it never happened. So many characters are set up to be a liability and nothing happens.
'Are you sure you want to revive this Krogan? He looks dangerous!' nothing happens
'Jack is hostile and reckless! We can't recruit her!' nothing happens
'I don't trust an AI to run my ship, bad things could happen' nothing happens
'This illusive man seems seedy, we can't trust him!' nothing happens except him asking politely if you could recover some tech for him at the end of the game.
'
Relaxed Muscle
Member
EmCeeGramr said:
I remember that, with also the fanart talk an all...
...it was at least....ackward.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
SkylineRKR said:
You're supposed to pick good people for each job. The problem is the game deliberately withholds which people are good for each job, and in fact actively sabotages some of your attempts. Jacob suggests that he's good for the vent job. Wrong. Jack isn't comfortable being led by Miranda, and Jacob has no real experience leading a team, but despite this, Miranda and Jack are fantastic choices for the fire-team leader, yet Miranda says "We need someone who can command loyalty through experience" for it.
But really there was no way they could have made it good. If they told you what the good picks were nobody would make a bad decision, but if they don't it just seems random and annoying. The possibility of any member of your squad dying also means they can't individually play an important role in the story, either of this game or the next. Mordin and Samara/Jack are the only characters who are actually instrumental in the completion of the mission, the rest could have been exchanged for any random mercenary in the galaxy with no real problems. The fact that you can optionally not recruit several of them but still do just fine in the end is sort of damning in those respects.
When you actually think about what happened at the end of the game, it kind of makes the Collectors the worst, most ineffectual villains ever. They had one manned spaceship, a couple of defense drones and some foot soldiers, but they can be defeated by your spaceship even with no upgrades (i.e. a run of the line alliance frigate, since your maneuverability/stealth was completely immaterial to the final fight) and crew of a dozen armed dudes. How it was supposed to be possible for the collectors to be a threat to Earth or any major galactic power (as opposed to raiding undefended colonies on the fringes of their territory) is anybody's guess.
SkylineRKR
Member
I think I did choose the right people for the right jobs, going after suggestions or a FAQ. Based on my own intuition I let Tali hack, right? yet she would be sucked.
Then a friend, a complete ME nut, told me that waiting too long before you take on the final mission has some sort of influence on the outcome as well. Everyone has their take on it which only adds to the fact the game is nothing more than vague about it. While its pretty much vital for your ME3 progress (probably not as you will win in 3 anyway, but still.. I think I want Tali to stay in my ME3 for example).
Then a friend, a complete ME nut, told me that waiting too long before you take on the final mission has some sort of influence on the outcome as well. Everyone has their take on it which only adds to the fact the game is nothing more than vague about it. While its pretty much vital for your ME3 progress (probably not as you will win in 3 anyway, but still.. I think I want Tali to stay in my ME3 for example).
SkylineRKR said:
You picked the wrong second-squad leader.
Here's a breakdown:
FIRST CHOICES:
Pick wrong tech expert -> Tech Expert dies
Pick wrong second squad leader -> Tech Expert dies
SECOND CHOICES:
Pick wrong biotic -> Random team member you bring with you during that sequence dies
Pick wrong second squad leader -> Second squad leader dies
ESCORT CHOICE:
Send non-loyal member to escort -> Escort member dies
LAST CHOICE:
Fail to leave enough heavies to hold the line -> Lightest characters begin dying
Bring non-loyal team members to final fight -> Non-loyal team members die
Oh, and if you pick any non-loyal members to perform any roles, it equivalent to picking the wrong choice. So if you lost the loyalty of Tali, she is no longer the correct choice for the role.
Waiting does not affect the survivability of your squadmates, only your crew.
UnluckyKate
Member
Mr_Zombie said:
But it's the best Geth out there. Even the best character on the game. No reason he would hurt ai core
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
I've already plunked down cash for ME3, mostly to see how it wraps up. I haven't dared read anything about it or watch new trailers. I'm just hoping for a slight injection of ME1 awesomeness in ME3. ME2 is still a great game, but the fourth quarter of that game is a little... meh.