Mass Effect 3

[mur'phon]

Nothing worked in Alpha Protocol.

 

Quite a few things worked better in AP than any other game I can think of (limited recurring characters, choice and consequence, the dossier system etc). Though AP as a whole unfortunately didn't work for most, it's still the game I wish every RPG-writer was forced to play.

[mimartin]

I wish every RPG-writer was forced to play.

perfect choice of words, since that is about the only way to get someone to play it. If you want RPG-writer to see brilliant writing in a Obsidian Entertainment game... I would force them to play Fallout 3 (to see what not to do) and then play Fallout: New Vegas to see how it should be done. Sabre made me finish AP, I will admit decent story to great story, but the utter frustration you had to put up with to see the story, well that would only be worth the time and effort in a Star Wars game, see TSL.

[mur'phon]

I don't want them to play it just to see great writing (every author has been reading quality books, most of them don't become great authors).

I want them to play it so they can:

Copy the mission structure (having the order you do missions affect the missions to a fair extent).

Realize that sticking with a limited cast and letting you interact with them in several hubs makes you care about them (having Albatross send in the cavalry in Taiwan if you befriended him in Russia for instance).

-It also makes even fetch quests interesting (gathering intel for Scarlet comes to mind)

-It also allowed the dossier system to work.

-Oh, and let them react to your actions if they know about them (If you ghost missions, they won't know you did it.)

Copy the perks system.

Adopt the timed conversations, and then use it to stress you the hell out where appropriate (Ice cream man, being one good example)

Slap the player gently on the wrists for playing like a gamer, not a spy (like going to a meeting with a civilian in full combat gear).

Realize that if a mystery is better left unsolved, don't solve it.

 

Oh, and understand that it's perfectly fine to give the player a dozen choices for the final mission, instead of simply adding an ending-o-tron.

 

edit: Ooops, massive rant, guess I'm really annoyed that those ideas seem to have been ignored.

[Taak Farst]

Again, I join a seemingly small group here. Because I liked Alpha Protocol.

[HED]

I loved Mass Effect 3, except for the beginning and the ending. It was like a sandwich on stale bread.

 

The first game remains my favorite in the series. Rarely has a game nailed atmosphere as well as that one.

[Prime]

Yeah, you'd think everyone had stopped playing Mass Effect by now and have forgotten about it completely

Now I have finally gotten around to playing ME3 and once again I have fallen in love with the ME universe. I am looking for a few opinions, so fire away!

 

1. Which DLC is worth getting, if anything? Obviously I've heard a ton about the ending, but I have stayed pretty spoiler free. Is the extended cut DLC make much different?

2. I'll probably get the Citadel DLC as I like the sounds of one last hurrah with the characters. Is it better to playing it during the original run or go back afterwards as it sounds like the tone is very different?

3. Miranda or Ashley? I was with Ashley in ME1 and ended up with Miranda in ME2, but I know she isn't in ME3 much. Does the Citadel DLC make the Miranda relationship any better?

[Qui-Gon Glenn]

@Prime: ewwwww on your taste in femmes.

 

That said, Citadel is fun and I thought Leviathan was well done too. Omega is garbage.

[Achilles]

1. Which DLC is worth getting, if anything? Obviously I've heard a ton about the ending, but I have stayed pretty spoiler free. Is the extended cut DLC make much different?

From Ashes pretty much mandatory for context. Leviathan is also highly recommended, as it answers a lot of questions that have been around since ME1. Omega can be skipped. Citadel is fan service (e.g. distraction from the actual game, imho). EDIT: Also, I'm not a fan of the Extended Cut. I realize that I'm in the minority, but the vanilla game gives you enough to fill in the gaps yourself. The Extended Cut not only fills in gaps (that arguably didn't need filling), but adds some stuff that messes with pacing, etc.

 

2. I'll probably get the Citadel DLC as I like the sounds of one last hurrah with the characters. Is it better to playing it during the original run or go back afterwards as it sounds like the tone is very different?

I would recommend playing through without it, then watching as many (or as few) of the Citadel DLC clips on YT as you feel you need to make an informed decision. Based on the reviews I read, you can get the parts worth having from youtube without ever spending a dime.

 

3. Miranda or Ashley? I was with Ashley in ME1 and ended up with Miranda in ME2, but I know she isn't in ME3 much. Does the Citadel DLC make the Miranda relationship any better?

Can't speak to the Miranda/Citadel part, but I will say that the pay-off for the trilogy-long relationship with Ash was pretty satisfying.

 

I hope that helps

 

PS: this isn't too spoilery, but I will mention that the Leviathan DLC is presented in parts. You can do all of it at once or you can do some of it, go do other stuff, and then come back. I highly recommend doing it the latter way for the sake of the narrative.

[HED]

Also, I'm not a fan of the Extended Cut. I realize that I'm in the minority, but the vanilla game gives you enough to fill in the gaps yourself. The Extended Cut not only fills in gaps (that arguably didn't need filling), but adds some stuff that messes with pacing, etc.

 

As somebody who didn't like the original ending, the Extended Cut didn't really fix any of the issues I had with the ending.

[Totenkopf]

Now I have finally gotten around to playing ME3 and once again I have fallen in love with the ME universe. I am looking for a few opinions, so fire away!

 

1. Which DLC is worth getting, if anything? Obviously I've heard a ton about the ending, but I have stayed pretty spoiler free. Is the extended cut DLC make much different?

2. I'll probably get the Citadel DLC as I like the sounds of one last hurrah with the characters. Is it better to playing it during the original run or go back afterwards as it sounds like the tone is very different?

3. Miranda or Ashley? I was with Ashley in ME1 and ended up with Miranda in ME2, but I know she isn't in ME3 much. Does the Citadel DLC make the Miranda relationship any better?

 

I actually agree w/much of tone of Achille's post on this. Omega was a diappointment and should have been better, given possibilites. Like you I haven't played Citadel, and am mixed on whether to bother or not. Have looked at a little of it on YT, but also trying to avoid spoilers. While extended cut isn't horrible, it only fleshed out what was obviouis to many people already anyway. Leviathan and Ashes worth it, story wise, skip Omega.

[Me_Who_Else]

I actually agree w/much of tone of Achille's post on this. Omega was a diappointment and should have been better, given possibilites. Like you I haven't played Citadel, and am mixed on whether to bother or not. Have looked at a little of it on YT, but also trying to avoid spoilers. While extended cut isn't horrible, it only fleshed out what was obviouis to many people already anyway. Leviathan and Ashes worth it, story wise, skip Omega.

 

 

I actually liked Omega. Just the ending was..meh (Me3 tends to have ****ty endings XD). The best one was the Citadel. Had some great lines and was fun to play "todays entertainement: random acts of violence".

[Rogue15]

bought this game new at walmart tonight for $10!

[Achilles]

I actually liked Omega. Just the ending was..meh (Me3 tends to have ****ty endings XD). The best one was the Citadel. Had some great lines and was fun to play "todays entertainement: random acts of violence".

Omega did a couple of things that bugged me. One of my pet peeves with DLC is they have a tendency to 1) break the narrative and 2) loudly broadcast the fact that they are DLC (i.e. new weapons, mechanics, weapons, etc that you don't see anywhere else in the game).

 

From Ashes - Not only smoothly integrated with the narrative, but was largely responsible for explaining the narrative (+1 good DLC, -1 crappy business practice from Bioware/EA). Didn't break rule #2, either.

 

Leviathan - Again, fit in nicely with the narrative. Wasn't there for the sake of being there. It actually moved the story forward and helped tie up some loose ends from the previous games. The doctor's lab kinda wore the "Hi, I'm DLC" nametag, but didn't violate my personal space while doing it.

 

Omega - Stop what you're doing. Go do Aria's thing for the next few hours. New baddies (not seen anywhere else in the game). New mechanics. When I got done, I was back where I started and couldn't remember what I was doing before I walked up to talk to Aria (a very clear sign that rule #1 has been violated). Did it fit the narrative? ....yeah...kinda...? Vanilla ME3 kinda told you something was gonna go down with her, but I think a price is paid when the writers spend time, money, and energy to ratchet up the tension in order to propel you, the hero, the not-so-secret protagonist of this story toward a pay off in Act III only to brutally redirect you to a completely ancillary narrative and then try to return you to your regularly scheduled adventure some hours later.

 

and finally, Citadel - Every review that I saw (which is not to say "every review that was created") pretty much came right out and said, "Hey, if you think in terms of narrative, let alone care about it, you may want to totally skip this one. It pulls down its pants and poops on your lawn at the lamest possible time...but if you haven't played the game in 6 months, don't care about playing beginning-to-end ever again, and want to have one, last kick-ass good time with your squad, then please insert your dollars here". I then found all the funny bits on YT, had several good belly laughs, and hoped that I would forget about the attempted funny parts that fell flat the next time I slept.

[Totenkopf]

I actually liked Omega. Just the ending was..meh (Me3 tends to have ****ty endings XD). The best one was the Citadel. Had some great lines and was fun to play "todays entertainement: random acts of violence".

 

It wasn't horrible so much as failing to live up to potential. From much of the commentary I've seen, it might be best to think of Citadel as just an R&R from the ****storm that is rest of story. As always, one prob w/much of the DLC is sticker tag. If the DLC is gonna cost almost as much as getting the game.....it should have to meet a higher bar than some of it has. Caveat emptor, I guess.......

[DarthParametric]

Omega was Bioware Montreal's test run for ME4. So not only does it have to handle all the baggage associated with the ME3 ending, it's also being made by the multiplayer-focused B-team. Should be awesome.

[Qui-Gon Glenn]

@DP: in the grand scheme, the MP is the only good thing that came out of ME3. Obviously my opinion.

[DarthParametric]

More power to you, but I tend to prefer SP in my SP RPGs.

[Qui-Gon Glenn]

More power to you, but I tend to prefer SP in my SP RPGs.

 

I agree, and bought the CE for the SP. Then I took an ending to the knee.

 

After that, dismayed at how little I wanted to ever replay that, I found the MP. Not the game I wanted, but it is Mass Effect.

 

So I am grateful that I liked it, and that it still has an active player base. I understand your story though.

[HED]

As much as I despise the ending, ME3 has some tremendous moments before that. The ending of the Tuchanka campaign is especially memorable.

[Lynk Former]

Mass Effect 3 has a great linear storyline.

 

 

 

*trollolololol*

[Dread Advocate]

As much as I despise the ending, ME3 has some tremendous moments before that. The ending of the Tuchanka campaign is especially memorable.

 

Indeed. That's why when it comes to emotional impact, ME3 is my favorite of the trilogy. I don't despise the ending (or, at least, the EC - the vanilla ending is pretty bad), but it was definitely very unsatisfying. I can think of other games that had vomit-inducing endings, but we must not speak of them for they don't exist.

[DarthParametric]

at least, the EC - the vanilla ending is pretty bad

I have never understood this. It's the same ending. The only difference is a 2 minute addendum that basically says "oh, they just magically fixed those relays" and "the Normandy didn't crash, they just stopped briefly on an alien planet to have an impromptu funeral service before leaving again". Still the same space ghost, still the same "synthetics kill you so you won't be killed by synthetics" reasoning, still the same RGB choices.

[Hassat Hunter]

perfect choice of words, since that is about the only way to get someone to play it. If you want RPG-writer to see brilliant writing in a Obsidian Entertainment game... I would force them to play Fallout 3 (to see what not to do) and then play Fallout: New Vegas to see how it should be done. Sabre made me finish AP, I will admit decent story to great story, but the utter frustration you had to put up with to see the story, well that would only be worth the time and effort in a Star Wars game, see TSL.

*facepalm* for this post.

 

F:NV is definitely not the way you want a STORY driven RPG to work. Really. You think someone should make stories work like that?

Nope, just no.

And that story or C&C thriumps AP? Nope.

[Dread Advocate]

I have never understood this. It's the same ending. The only difference is a 2 minute addendum that basically says "oh, they just magically fixed those relays" and "the Normandy didn't crash, they just stopped briefly on an alien planet to have an impromptu funeral service before leaving again". Still the same space ghost, still the same "synthetics kill you so you won't be killed by synthetics" reasoning, still the same RGB choices.

 

That's not how I feel about it. Plain and simple.

[HED]

Yeah, as I said earlier in the thread, none of my real issues with the ending were fixed by the Extended Cut. Though I suppose I appreciate the fact that BioWare made the EC in the first place.