1961

Unfortunately I don’t remember any of that stuff because it was 2-4 years ago. They’ve been name-dropping fan service but it goes in one ear and out the other. It doesn’t bother me though. Tom said the game’s not built solely on fan service so I’m not worried it will affect my overall appreciation.

In some ways I’m just like people skipping the first two games to jump into the third one. At least I know some of the big themes.

1962

When you’re in the Presidium Commons apartments area, be sure to visit the Blasto 6 poster and keep clicking on it every time it stops (until it cycles back to the beginning, anyway). The cinematic adventures of the first Hanar specter, his Volus boss, and his new Elcor partner are classic (and a nice callback to the previous games).

1963

Speaking of clicking on things, did they reduce the range where you get a UI hotspot indicator? I feel like I’m scouring rooms for hidden stuff a lot more than ME2. The switch from blue to red also makes it hard to see them.

One of the best things about this series is the de-emphasis on crates. It feels like a step back but I can’t put my finger on it.

1964

If anyone is tempted to buy Bioware points to unlock stuff in multiplayer, be aware that you won’t necessarily be allowed to keep the stuff you unlock.

1965

On one hand, I feel bad for them. On the other, my I-hate-paid-MP-unlocks side is gleeful.

1966

In the demo the veteran pack did not actually guarantee that you would get a rare item (even though it said so in the description) and you could get stuff you already had unlocked/maxed out.
Is this fixed in the full version?

1967

Installing as we speak!!!

Which is a day early really, it was scheduled for tomorrow in Europe. But hé, I’m not complaining… ;-)

I’ll see if my femsheps face imports good enough. I do recall feeling some discomfort with her small chances going from 1 to 2 though, and I got used to the slightly different face soon enough, so I hope it won’t be too much of a problem…

1968

The fuck? Damn you Dutch people. Still not unlocked for me up in the bitter north.

Or … are you “installing” or playing?

1969

93%, from disc. So unless it stops me from playing till tomorrow, I will play in a few minutes… :-)

97%…

1970

It will stop you.

EDIT: Sorry to say.

1971

And indeed it did: I can play it at 0.00 tonight. Which is 3 hours and 35 minutes from now. And doesn’t comply well with me having to get up at 6.00…

Aaaaaaaargh…

Oh well, at least I don’t have to go through the installationprocess tomorow. Of to watch the championsleague then!

1972

You can get around that by connecting to the internet via a proxy server from a region that has already unlocked the game. I was able to start playing a couple hours early the other night by connecting to an Asian proxy server and then running the game.

1973

Thanks, but I wouldn’t even begin to know how to do that from here. I’ll just wait it out…

1974

I loved Zaeed too. I love the way he pronounces Goddamn.

Yeah…just finished an ME2 run but it had been on hold for months so the first part of it was not exactly fresh. Last time I played ME1 was 2010, right before ME2. It would be cool if they had some kind of in-character journal entry on your private terminal that recapped the variables that matter on save game import. They highlight the handful of really major ones on the import summary screen but there are a lot of others that are taken into account, hundreds?

Random thoughts, very light on spoilers:

This is a great series. The best ever in my mind, I loved the first two and I am going to love this one. Played for 9 hours straight last night…9p to 6a. Cant remember the last time I stayed up that late playing anything.

Despite the inventory system in ME1 being from hell, like a lot of people I thought ME2 dumbed it down too much completely ditching the weapon mods and upgrades. ME3 has a nice balance.

Never really enjoyed Biotics, have played Soldier in all 3, Inflitrator and Engineer in the first two…Adept in the first one, but never finished. My face didnt import correctly either, grr…bothered me a lot at first, I am over it now.

Soldier seems kind of boring now that everyone can use every gun. I dont see why you would ever want to carry more than two due to cooldown penalties, even as a solider with the +50lb carrying capacity skill. Should have changed my class I think.

On DLC and pre-order unlockables, etc., etc. Enough already. I can not keep track off all this shit. Seriously I got a goddamn code emailed to me. There were 3 in the fucking box (and is it me or are those 25 character 360 codes just the worst on a gamepad? Hatred.). Oh and I got some extra shit from Kingdoms of Amalur, Reckoning. And maybe the ME3 demo? But what did any of that actually get me? I do know that the M55 assault rifle is utter garbage, who would use that over the two you get access to right off? The Chakram Rifle is ok…I let my minions wield it. The N7 stuff from the CE? Just meh. I do wear the hoodie around the ship though! As for actual content…not sure I have even seen any. Done a few story missions, tons of errands on Citadel, havent seen From Ashes yet.

Lastly, a difficulty level called Insanity says it all. I didnt bother with it in ME2, doubt I will here either. In ME1, I found it to be accurately labeled. Not challenging, just…insane. As in why I am choosing to do this? I started one a week or so before ME2 hit, I wanted the little 360 badge/avatar unlock you get for playing on Insanity and I think I had most/all of the other achievements. I think it said N7 or something. I gave up when I had not finished by ME2’s release date.

Have the game installed, but the Normandy’s size (4 decks with crew on them now) and a load screen for each deck…thats going to bother me very soon. I am the kind of gamer who has to talk to everyone after each plot mission…

Ashley looked really weird in her first appearance. Fast forward a mission or two and she is healing up, in bed, and she looks fine, minus the facial cuts, scrapes and bruises. Was this just me?

Love the Joker/EDI chemistry/relationship.

1975

The conventional wisdom was that it was the only way to fully appreciate the combat. Thinking about it now, I wonder if that’s still true in ME3. Enemies flank a lot more and the arenas are supposedly more wide open. I assume the AI behavior is the same at any difficulty level. So I bet combat is a lot more worthwhile even at lower difficulty. Maybe one of the experts can comment on this.

1976

The load times are apparently 20-30s on consoles. They only take 2-3 seconds on PC, installed to my hard drive, not my SSD. I barely have time to read the tips on the loading screens.

1977

Yeah, PS3 load times suck. Also, they nerfed my incinerate. It doesn’t instantly annihilate ordinary foes anymore on normal difficulty. Wah :)

1978

I think that it depends on your tolerance for reloading because the fussy cover controls didn’t allow you to evade a grenade for the umpteenth time. I’m soldiering through because I’m not going to let the game beat me but I’ll be looking to adjust grenade damage in the ini files before I start my second playthrough. It’s just ridiculous dying from full shields/health because spacebar did something unpredictable (again).

1979

I realized shortly after I got my ass to Mars that I had forgotten to bump up the difficulty to Insanity, so I won’t be joining you in mental illness on this particular playthrough. I am interested in your impressions of that mode, though.

1980

I’m glad you wrote this. If even you are questioning your commitment, that gives me a psychological out if I can’t take it anymore! But I want to give it more time with the right squad members on normal story maps.