[Wut the Melon]

Haven't played it yet, but I have played ME1 and ME2 and I will definitely pick up this one. I think what you shouldn't miss is that both Mass Effect and The Witcher are fun games in their own right, and sometimes you can over-criticise or over-compare the two. As a fan of both series, I always find it funny to see BSN complaining about the lack of creating an own character in The Witcher and these forums about how little your choices matter as far as how the game plays out is concerned. Both series focus on different aspects; The Witcher focuses more on choices&consequences, whereas Bioware is mostly concerned with making the story very cinematic. I can enjoy either, though I admire CDPR as a company much more and I think that, in focusing on the game they want to make instead of a game that's going to sell well, they have made The Witcher series the more ambitious and original of the two. I'm not sure I'll play another BioWare game after ME3 (maybe Baldur's Gate or another BW classic), because I'll probably want more than just fluent gameplay and a cinematic story next time - and if there's one thing I'm not expecting ME3 to do very well in, it's innovation and originality. I'm counting on CDProjekt Red to continue to be as ambitious and innovative as they are, and, if they will, they've got my money and fanboyism secured.

[Ward Dragon]

Geophase said:

I thought the shooting mechanics were an improvement over the others, but the RPG aspects felt really dumbed down, and the story was dreadful! It shouldn't be 'what can CDP learn from ME3', it should be 'What can bioware learn from the Witcher 2'. ›››

Be careful what you wish for. They're liable to do something superficial like give Shepard Witcher eyes and then wonder why that didn't work to attract new fans

[rtt132]

There are a lot of things wrong with Mass Effect 3. Huge plot holes and unexplained facts, lack of side quests or freedom. Extremely streamlined gameplay and character progression, etc.

The story itself wasn't all bad, it's certainly better than the abomination ME2 was, but far from ME1. I can say visually ME3 is worse than ME2. The texture work at times is okay, but on occasions it's abysmal. The whole game felt like had an established ground to be something great and it feels like wasted potential.

There are glimmers during the game in a few scenes of what it could have been if Bioware was the old company every rpg fan used to love, but that level of development died with the release of DA:O.

So the loyal fans received a punch to the face. That is all.

[Pangaea]

Geophase said:

I thought the shooting mechanics were an improvement over the others, but the RPG aspects felt really dumbed down, and the story was dreadful!

This says everything we need to know about BioWare's priorities.

(Plus DLC-mania)

[slimgrin]

Not through with the game but I need to post some fresh impressions:

-god I hate the beginning. Compared to the other two games, it sucks. Period.

-every time Bioware wants you to care, cue sappy piano music. Just annoys me. Geralt's last discussion with Cedric in
the forest blows any emotional moment in ME3 out of the water.

-Diana Allers. WTF. I don't even wanna know what Chobot did to get a gig at Bioware.

-the space bar: one button to rule them all, probably the biggest complaint from PC users regarding the cover mechanic. Bioware didn't listen.


But then there are the good parts:

-the citadel is bigger, alive, and more interesting to walk around in than ME2.

-level design in general is much less linear than ME2. They've opened areas up a bit.

-lots of care regarding visuals, good character design...except Shepard. EDI is awesome though. I love her retro look.

-so far, there have been a couple of pretty heavy decisions handled with more sophistication than anything in ME2.

-combat is still solid, if not innovative.

-superb sound design. I don't mean the music ( miss Jack Wall )

-great humor. I gotta say, the writing team for this game handled humor about 1000 times better than they handled drama.

-lots of nods and easter eggs to Mass Effect veterans. This ain't a game for newcomers.

[gotthammer]

I was real happy w/ the game until the last few minutes. Like many others on the BSN forums, it really is the ending that ruined it for me.
With the amount of 'pretty' (nice locations/vistas, cinematics, etc.)/'fan service' throughout most of the game, I forgave most of the 'little annoyances' (the control issues coming from the 'one button rules them all' thing, some plot issues, sappy/cheesy dialogue, etc.)...it really was just the ending and the choices for the ending that got to me.

re: invasion of Earth
I initially thought 'huh?!? how'd that happen?', but having read accounts of surprise attacks in history, it isn't so bad (as I understood it, once in-galaxy, the Reapers leapfrogged relays to get to targets of priority, Earth included. kinda like 'blitzkrieg', I suppose: attacking in-depth, then consolidating once penetration is achieved...or something like that)

I'm kinda hoping/wishing that CDPR would make it's own space opera, using all the lessons learned from The Witcher series (as well as what Bioware did right and wrong w/ the ME series).
Methinks it would be 'epic' (esp. if the graphics quality/attention to detail is as good as, if not better, than The Witcher 2)

[Saoe]

Yes ending was a bit short and didnt say much about what happen after etc. gameplay was alright but they could work on those graphics a bit more not just port them from ME2

[Mrowakus]

gotthammer said:

I was real happy w/ the game until the last few minutes. Like many others on the BSN forums, it really is the ending that ruined it for me.
With the amount of 'pretty' (nice locations/vistas, cinematics, etc.)/'fan service' throughout most of the game, I forgave most of the 'little annoyances' (the control issues coming from the 'one button rules them all' thing, some plot issues, sappy/cheesy dialogue, etc.)...it really was just the ending and the choices for the ending that got to me.

I agree there were a few golden moments in the narrative... but they are not enough to make up for many wrongs.

Quote

re: invasion of Earth
I initially thought 'huh?!? how'd that happen?', but having read accounts of surprise attacks in history, it isn't so bad (as I understood it, once in-galaxy, the Reapers leapfrogged relays to get to targets of priority, Earth included. kinda like 'blitzkrieg', I suppose: attacking in-depth, then consolidating once penetration is achieved...or something like that)

The thing is, after starting the invasion with Earth one has to ask important question - how the hell mankind managed to hold up so long fighting against a foe that could not be vanquished with conventional weaponry, who defeated the majority of your forces in 5 minutes... literarly. And because Reapers generally try to remove traces of ancient civilizations, why are they so bad at that? London still stands by the end of the game.

While we are at the Reapers, why not start their invasion with the Citadel - the main financial and administrative hub in the entire galaxy? Without it, the Alliance has no place to coordinate their logistics, so why leave it intact, when it is so easy to take it over? Plus, it was actually instrumental to your plans in ME1, remember? And why not disable all those Mass Relays - after all it's not only your own tech - you made those devices!. This way, you could take out whole galaxy sector by sector, shattering trade and military routes, and preventing that pesky Shepard from interfering with your plans... There's so much wrong in the story in this game - a plothole upon a plothole.

Quote

I'm kinda hoping/wishing that CDPR would make it's own space opera, using all the lessons learned from The Witcher series (as well as what Bioware did right and wrong w/ the ME series).
Methinks it would be 'epic' (esp. if the graphics quality/attention to detail is as good as, if not better, than The Witcher 2)

Yeah, that would be nice, but I wish they did not make it into space corridor shooter, but a proper RPG.

[gregski]

Someone posted this on Eurogamer in a thread about the rage-over-ME3-ending"

https://www.dropbox....m579mBP/me1.PNG
https://www.dropbox....LqGmxxM/me2.PNG
https://www.dropbox...._2EJJTD/me3.PNG

So, "get-your-perfect-ending" DLC anyone?

[Mrowakus]

gregski said:

Someone posted this on Eurogamer in a thread about the rage-over-ME3-ending"

https://www.dropbox....m579mBP/me1.PNG
https://www.dropbox....LqGmxxM/me2.PNG
https://www.dropbox...._2EJJTD/me3.PNG

So, "get-your-perfect-ending" DLC anyone? ›››

The worst part is - there are actually people who will buy it. Rewarding a dev for incompetence - the new trend in gaming.

[227]

gregski said:

So, "get-your-perfect-ending" DLC anyone? ›››

Alternate way of reading those tweets:

"All physical products purchased through our Origin Store come with a 14-day unconditional guarantee. If you don't like it, you can return it within 14 days of its delivery for a prompt refund -- no questions asked!"

Source.

All they'd have to do is play coy for another week to avoid mass returns of preordered games, right?

[yayodeanno]

Organize a charity fund raising, this will entitle you to demand an alternative ending.

http://retakemasseff...ect-childs-play

[gregski]

yayodeanno said:

Organize a charity fund raising, this will entitle you to demand an alternative ending.

http://retakemasseff...ect-childs-play ›››

Yeah, I heard about that but I'm not sure what to think of it.

[Monimonster]

Quote

-great humor. I gotta say, the writing team for this game handled humor about 1000 times better than they handled drama.

Yeah there was some good funny moments in the game, I loved that.

Quote

-the space bar: one button to rule them all, probably the biggest complaint from PC users regarding the cover mechanic. Bioware didn't listen.

The spacebar was really a nightmare, and the worst part for the pc.

Quote

The thing is, after starting the invasion with Earth one has to ask important question - how the hell mankind managed to hold up so long fighting against a foe that could not be vanquished with conventional weaponry, who defeated the majority of your forces in 5 minutes... literarly. And because Reapers generally try to remove traces of ancient civilizations, why are they so bad at that? London still stands by the end of the game.

That bugs me aswell, since other planets attacked seem to fall so quickly. These reapers cant really reap.

Quote

gotthammer said:
I was real happy w/ the game until the last few minutes. Like many others on the BSN forums, it really is the ending that ruined it for me.
With the amount of 'pretty' (nice locations/vistas, cinematics, etc.)/'fan service' throughout most of the game, I forgave most of the 'little annoyances' (the control issues coming from the 'one button rules them all' thing, some plot issues, sappy/cheesy dialogue, etc.)...it really was just the ending and the choices for the ending that got to me.

Same here, I can forgive a lot of stupid things, but not the lazy, uncomplete endings

[Mv.c9]

Ward Dragon said:

Are you referring to the original Deus Ex here? If so, then I have to disagree since I think the original Deus Ex had one of the best endings out of all videogames ever It actually tied in very well with everything that the game had established and foreshadowed up to that point, and I loved it for letting me choose which side I trusted and then making that decision actually matter. Of course that got thrown out the window with Invisible War, but I think everyone just pretends Invisible War doesn't exist ›››

I mean Deus Ex: HR. The very recent one. The old ones were a legend!! And the new one was pretty good too but it had one problem, and it was the very bland ending that you chose by pressing buttons instead of being based on your actions.

gregski said:

Someone posted this on Eurogamer in a thread about the rage-over-ME3-ending"

https://www.dropbox....m579mBP/me1.PNG
https://www.dropbox....LqGmxxM/me2.PNG
https://www.dropbox...._2EJJTD/me3.PNG

So, "get-your-perfect-ending" DLC anyone? ›››

That SON OF A B . . . I hate it when BioWare tried to milk us all in every possible way. First the crap about day-one DLCs and now this. Damn it! they use to be such great company back in MDK2 era . . . so much potential, but now they have decided to join the ranks of greedy corporates and make-more-money-i-dont-care-how band! Sick! Just SICK!

[Costin Moroianu]

Quote

That bugs me aswell, since other planets attacked seem to fall so quickly. These reapers cant really reap.

The only planet that falls completely is Thessia, and that's already close to the end of the game, and the Asari have the weakest ground force of them all.

[Mrowakus]

Costin Moroianu said:

The only planet that falls completely is Thessia, and that's already close to the end of the game, and the Asari have the weakest ground force of them all. ›››

You don't actually believe it do you? When you have to make up stuff in order to explain the most rudimentary failings of the story, that's the best indication storytelling sucks hard.

[Costin Moroianu]

Mrowakus said:

You don't actually believe it do you? When you have to make up stuff in order to explain the most rudimentary failings of the story, that's the best indication storytelling sucks hard. ›››

Believe? We have codex entry as to why Palaven does not fall ( it's the Turian/Krogan alliance you make ).

The Batarians are wiped out, the Hanar homeworld can fall. The Elcor homeworld falls. Hell half the galaxy falls. This is told in the game.

When I do say completely though, is when there is no shadow of a doubt the entire planet has fallen. The Hanar retreat under the sea. The Elcor still fight on their homeworld, the Volus have Turian forces on theirs.

As for the Batarians....well they are losing badly but have not lost the entirety of Kar'Shan.

[Ward Dragon]

yayodeanno said:

Organize a charity fund raising, this will entitle you to demand an alternative ending.

http://retakemasseff...ect-childs-play ›››

gregski said:

Yeah, I heard about that but I'm not sure what to think of it. ›››

On another forum I asked some people who had donated what that whole thing was about. They said it wasn't really to change the ending but rather to channel their disappointment about the ending into doing something good so that they'd feel better overall. If that's the goal of it then I don't see anything wrong with it. I personally believe Bioware was already planning to make DLC expanding upon the end of the game before the game even came out so I don't think this charity thing will convince them to do anything that they weren't already going to do. But if it makes people feel better by helping sick children then I think that's fine.

Mv.c9 said:

I mean Deus Ex: HR. The very recent one. The old ones were a legend!! And the new one was pretty good too but it had one problem, and it was the very bland ending that you chose by pressing buttons instead of being based on your actions.

I definitely would have enjoyed a more fleshed-out ending in Human Revolution.

It was kind of based on your previous choices though. The options available to you depended upon who you saved in the final section of the game (if you never talked to a person who requested you to do something, then that thing was not available as a choice when you get to the end). But considering that Eliza is pretty much just asking you how you want to report the news about the event, the buttons are stupid. It would have made more sense to just tell her via dialogue choices what you wanted her to do (aside from the self-destruct ending of course).

And I still don't understand how telling the truth is supposedly going to cause anti-technology dark ages. I ended up going with the Sarif ending because as a prequel I think that ending fits the best with how the original game started off.

[SystemShock7]

Well, my thoughts are, I am not getting it.
ME1 was great, loved it (may be it was that there wasn't much fanfare for the PC port, I picked it up months after their PC release and was pleasantly surprised by a console port); ME2 was entertaining to an extent (played through it once), but left a lot to be desired in comparison to ME1 story-wise. To me, ME3 looks like a shooter with even bigger story holes than the 2nd, and I'm tired of shooters, and don't play multi-player. Add Origin to that mix, and I am done with Bioware.