So I finally decided to install my free ME3 copy (there was that Newegg buy-for-10-get-10-back deal a while ago), and had to actually use a disc to install a game for the first time in a while. And what did it do? Installed Origin. It did copy the big stuff off the disc instead of downloading, but it just seemed silly that the first thing it did was connect to EA and ask for my Origin login. And it wastes a good 10-15 seconds each time I start it up “Connecting to EA servers” and “Checking downloadable content”. Annoying, though not enough for me to bother figuring out how to turn it off. And I guess it did provide some value since I got all the free DLC with just a few clicks, no searching through EA websites to find everything.
I’ve just started the game, and I’m enjoying the early parts. ME2 was a bit of a letdown, but so far 3 feels more like the first one. Several of the old characters back already, and some of the more annoying mechanics are much better. (Surveying for resources, for instance.) My ME2 character was an Adept, and her biotic powers seem pretty darn strong. Then I bring Liara along and we’re Warping and throwing Singularities all over the place. Nothing early has been much of a challenge, which is fine with me since I’m more interested in the story than the combat.
I do find that the initial story seems a little stretched. Yeah, Earth is attacked, that’s fine, but then you go to the Citadel and everything looks normal? The same place that got ripped to shreds in the first game is now all blase about the galaxy-wide invasion? And why aren’t the Reapers all over the Citadel, anyway? Hopefully it’ll get better and fill in the holes as I go along.
Don’t get your hopes up on the “filling in holes” count.
If they can basically bring you back from the dead, rebuilding an uber advanced space station with its own maintenance bots/aliens should be no problem.
Now if only it was so easy to reconstruct Mass Effect 3’s ending… ZING.
And right on queue, here they come!
It has been so long that i can’t even remember which side you were on, nor do I really care.
It was a light hearted joke, deal with it.
Go fuck yourself, Murbella. Ha ha, light hearted joke, get it?
It wasn’t the rebuilding that seemed weird, it’s the lack of reaction to the invasion shown in the Citadel. I’d have expected evacuation of civilians, military everywhere, etc given the Reaper’s interest in such a big target in the past. And more of said interest on the Reaper’s end, too. But I suppose that’s just one of those suspension of disbelief things, as obviously they didn’t want to figure out a new location for the main quest hub.
I do have the expanded ending DLC installed. Never saw the original, never care to given the reaction it got. Not that the expanded ending reaction was much better…
RickH
3408
At some point in the game, there is a refugee camp set up in the port area, but it seemed like those folks were limited to that area only, and the other citadel zones remained unchanged. I thought I recalled somewhere in the ME canon that the citadel was actually much bigger than the space currently being used by the council, government, and commercial sectors. So maybe they were just out of sight.
During my playthrough, I thought the juxtaposition between the planets you visited and the unchanged citadel reflected the general sense of of denial on the part of the council about the severity of the problems, and their clinging to the citadel as a “safe space” created by the removal of the reapers’ back door in ME1.
To be fair, they do hang a lantern on this if you talk to Joker at some point – he says he can’t believe people on the Citadel seem to be in denial, acting as if things are even close to normal. You should get out and talk to your crew. :)
Yeah, I actually ran across that just earlier today. The “business as usual” Citadel still feels weird to me, but it’s not the glaring plot fail that it first appeared to be.
It’s probably not necessary to limit spoilers any more, but just in case…
Stuff about the genophage
The whole Krogan genophage storyline was well done. I ended up killing Mordin and betraying the Krogan to get the help from both Solarians and Krogans. It actually felt like a real moral choice. I’m playing the game as “do whatever it takes to stop the Reapers regardless of personal cost” so it felt like the right answer in that situation, but I still felt really bad when I pulled that trigger.
Also, playing ME3 has reminded me how much I hate quick-time events. I’ve missed several because I had my hand off the mouse during a cutscene. (To get a drink! Get your minds out of the gutter.) Would 5 seconds be too much to ask? They seem to blink by in 1-2 seconds at most.
It does change as the story progresses; honestly, I have relatively few quibbles with ME3 and its presentation until the ending. Some of it isn’t as strong as it could be, but it really is pretty good until then. I’m looking forward to my livetweeting replay once I get done with ME2.
Hey, keep us posted as you’re playing, Mr. Bob! I’m happy to read about someone discovering ME3 for the first time. It’s really a wonderful bit of space opera, and to my mind, the most confident design of the three games.
In fact, I’d say it’s arguably the most confident design of anything Bioware has made. Whatever issue folks may have with the storyline or the ending, would anyone make a case that Bioware has made a better game? What would it be?
I can’t tell if it’s intentional, but I quite like your variation on the concept of “lampshading”. :)
And, yeah, I got the impression that the Citadel wasn’t too worried. Can’t they close up those funky flower petal things and turn invulnerable to space attack?
-Tom
That is a good question…I’d say it’s probably the best game, but there’s a lot of little quibbles I have with it (Ashley’s ridiculous appearance, for instance, or some of the dialogue in the Rannoch storyline just to name a couple). Replaying ME2 I’m realizing that there’s a lot of parts of it that…well, they aren’t bad, they are just not as provocative or memorable as I wish they were. When I think back to playing through ME3, I remember a lot more gutpunch moments – but then, it was the grand finale.
I didn’t come up with it, I think it’s a fairly common variation on the phrase. For instance, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMBL4rzlZjQ :)
And yeah, I think they can do that…of course, that doesn’t help them in the long run, one presumes…
I can’t remember Bioware’s other designs in enough detail to disagree with you, but I’m confident the memorably dull weapon upgrade system with its 10 levels of minor stat boosts in Mass Effect 3’s campaign is not among their best work.
Baldur’s Gate II. Still hands down the best thing they’ve ever done. I also prefer the first Dragon Age to anything Mass Effect but that’s more of a personal taste thing - I’d simply rather play a party-based tactical roleplaying game than a shooter/RPG. But Baldur’s Gate II. Man, that thing is a flat out masterpiece.
Well, I’m done. Right around twenty hours to finish out the game. I skipped a ton of the side missions and still ended up at level 47/50, so there’s certainly plenty of content. I felt like pretty much everything I wanted to see wrapped up from the first 2 games was taken care of, although I’m sure there’s a few things here and there that I missed by skipping the things I did. (Didn’t miss out on banging Liara again, though. Made sure to get the important stuff!)
Posted thoughts on the ending over in the spoiler thread, and I thought Bioware did a fine job with it. I did have the expanded endings installed (along with all the other free DLC), so maybe that’s why I felt no need to fire up the Internet with my fury.
As far as the gameplay goes, it was fine but not my cup of tea. I’m really not an FPS guy, and I only play them when I’m interested in something else about the game (in this case, story). I did enjoy the ability to use biotics heavily to minimize the gunplay, but in the end it’s still just not my thing. I did miss a few things from the previous games. I enjoyed driving my little tank around in the vehicle parts of the other games (though I know many felt otherwise), and I’d have liked to have that in ME3 too. The lack of puzzle mini-games was a bit surprising too. I’m happy enough not to have them crop up at every locked door or cabinet, but I was surprised that they were gone entirely, and I found myself actually wishing that a silly tower-of-hanoi or maze-solver would pop up every once in a while.
RickH
3417
Arise!
Through Monday, all the DLC for Mass Effect 2 and 3 is 50% off on the 360.
A full-DLC run though ME2 made for a much more satisfying game overall (including linking directly into some parts of ME3). I highly recommend the ME2 DLC, which has never been included in a retail release as far as I know, and very infrequently goes on sale.
Time for a full-DLC playthrough of ME3, I heard good things about the Citadel stuff in particular. This time, the game ends when I say it does. Or I watch the revised ending, hell if I know what I’ll pick.
Yeah, BG2 was (and even is, after all this time) a simply phenomenal game.
I liked ME3 a huge amount. I hated the ending. If I close my eyes and forget about those last 5-10 minutes, ME3 is by far the best game Bioware ever produced. But I still think they utterly squandered the ending, so BG2 wins out (and its final instalment wasn’t exactly brilliant! But the whole was a lot more rich.).
Its never going to go on sale for the pc, is it.
Rock8man
3420
Baldur’s Gate 2 is even better than Bioware’s subsequent work? God damn it. I’ll never be able to erase that game from my backlog until I actually play through it, am I? I just wish it didn’t start so shitty. Or that I didn’t hate the first game so much; that always puts a damper on any attempted play throughs.
Thanks for the heads up RickH. Honestly, after the original ending of Mass Effect 3, I can’t imagine ever going back, no matter how good the citadel DLC is. I even played through the much better revised ending that got rid of the plot holes that bothered me the most about the original ending, but it’s hard to change the emotional reaction you have in retrospect. Funny thing is, right before the ending, I couldn’t wait to play all the way through all 3 games again, this time with Renegade Femshep, I just loved the game so much.
