Topic: Mass Effect 3 to be more of an RPG?

[Pugnate]

WTF. I have spent the better part of an hour trying to buy the stupid DLC. My country is listed but I keep getting errors. Why not just tell me it is a region issue rather than stupid errors. No wonder people pirate DLC. Fuck EA.

[MysterD]

Sorry I mean ME3. What about 'From Ashes'. That's crap that I have to buy it!

From Ashes ONLY came w/ ME3 Retail Collector's Edition and ME3 Digital Deluxe.
It DOES NOT come any of the Regular Editions.
It's part of EA's Day 1 DLC Project $10.

WTF. I have spent the better part of an hour trying to buy the stupid DLC. My country is listed but I keep getting errors. Why not just tell me it is a region issue rather than stupid errors. No wonder people pirate DLC. Fuck EA.

Oh, that bloody sucks...Bleh.
Though, From Ashes is not really something I'd drop $10 USD on for what is about 30 mins to 1 hour of gameplay, from what I read in reviews like at RPS and GameBanshee.

[Pugnate]

I'll pirate it. If they don't want my money... what can I do?

[gpw11]

Bam!  There you go.

Finally played through the game.  Overall, combat was fantastic and the storyline was good.  Character development wasn't as good as it was in the past.  You could tell it heavily relied on ME1 and ME2 with most characters.  The sidequests were boring.  Basically, go exploring in the galaxy, find random shit, then walk around in the Citadel and try to talk to everyone.  Eventually, someone will take it and pay you for it.  Rinse repeat like 50 times.

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Ending pissed me off, though.  It's silly to get so invested in a game's ending, I know, but the storytelling just broke down at the end.  Very un-Bioware like.  My major issues:

1: no meaningful difference in the endings
2: no extrapolation or "after the fact" to add any sort of value to your choice (other than the color of the beam).  I still don't understand what the 3rd choice was (combine organics and synthetics).  I assumed it would kill everyone, but I guess not.
3: A one sentence explanation on why the Reapers do this that I had to watch twice to really "get."  They kill because ... synthetic life will take over?  why's that so bad?  The geth aren't so terrible.  And why is it inevitable?  And who decided it was?  I would have almost rather they didn't explain the Reapers at all than to give a blanket conclusion with no rationale.
4: No customization at all with what you did through the game/series.  I had maximum fleet readiness (I managed to rally every single species, and I saved everyone from ME2, etc).  Saved the Krogan?  Doesn't matter.  Save the geth?  Also doesn't matter.  Etc.  I actually don't mind a sad ending, but give us a little reward.
5: ending cutscene was horrible.  I did two different endings.  In the first one, Joker, EDI, and Ashley got off on the stranded world.  That made some sense because I didn't select them for my last mission.  But how did they get on the Normandy from London? And where were they going?  In the second ending, Joker Ashley and James crash landed.  Fancy that, cause I took James as a squad member, and he presumably died when the giant reapers showed up just before I got back on the citadel.
6: there was nothing at all with the love story.  I didn't bone anyone in ME2 so I could bone Ashley again in ME3.  That's just fine and dandy, but I'm dead and she's just chilling on the deserted island with Joker and EDI.  Make her look at a picture or something.
7: kinda breaks continuity when you kill the main character, then he is magically back at the ship after the credits roll.  I like being able to continue the game, but storyline shattered.
8: I am getting tired of the A, B, or C endings general.  Yes, choice in an RPG is a good thing, but it's getting cliche to do it like this.

I know it's silly to care so much about a story, but I've probably put like 100 hours into this series.  It's annoying when it ends so shitty.

Guess I'll wait for the DLC.

I agree with all of this.

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The real issues for me is the lack of any impact my previous choices made - The Geth, Quarians, and Rachni presence should have had some visual impact, among other choices - and the absolutely retarded end cutscene. Also, the fact that all three choices at the end kind of shifted the whole focus of the game chocies from being about the universe uniting to synthetics vs. organics...in like thirty seconds. Obviously, synthetics vs. organics was a theme throughout the games but it seemed like all your major choices were more in line with humanity standing alone or as a part of a greater galactic whole...and that was totally abandoned.

Apparently, the initial ending and entire story arch of the third game was scrapped and re-written from what it was originally intended...with the ending redone by two dudes alone.  Two dudes who apparently suck balls.   

[shock]

Interesting - I hadn't heard that.  Did they say what the old ending was?  Haha.

Also, I LOVE THIS SPOILER IMAGE:

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/077/1/d/mass_effect_3__yo_dog__by_thewonderingsword-d4t5urj.jpg

[Pugnate]

So I just started playing! I AM SO HAPPY. I just finished ME2 and ALL the DLC ever released...

Now I am on ME3 and it is like ME1... but good! I can see this was their vision for ME2 but they probably rushed it. Now it feels like an RPG again.

[Pugnate]

I am really really pleased so far. It is like the best of both earlier games put together. They had even made doors automatic in the last game.

[gpw11]

Interesting - I hadn't heard that.  Did they say what the old ending was?  Haha.

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Sort of a a bit.  The entire third game was originally planned to be quite a bit different.  There were a couple of mentions of "dark energy" in the previous games from the two Reaper characters, the Rachni, and a few other vague sources and this was going to play a huge part in both the plot and the backstory of why The Reapers would perform their "cleanse" every 50,000 years or so.  I'll see if I can find the interview with one of the writers who left between the second and third games.

I am really really pleased so far. It is like the best of both earlier games put together. They had even made doors automatic in the last game.

Oh, I know.  All in all I still think this is the best game in the series.  So much is just done right.

[shock]

Totally agree.  The combat was FANTASTIC.  I'll be playing it through again after I get my Diablo 3 fix.  I want to mess around with new squad combos.  I really liked using the same two characters for most of the game: the one with Carnage and the one with the gravity ball/Warp thing.  I tore through everything I came across with that combo + my Sentinel/sniper rifle Shepherd.  But I didn't experiment much with others.  The tech people I found mostly useless.  I should give them another chance.  Or perhaps play a more biotic-oriented character.

[gpw11]

Wait...your squadmates have powers?  My Vanguard Sheppard was too busy killing everything that moved to notice.

[shock]

They can be useful for lining up headshots

[Pugnate]

Wait...your squadmates have powers?  My Vanguard Sheppard was too busy killing everything that moved to notice.

hahahaha...

I had taken heavy barrier as my bonus in the last game. I didn't start with it here.

I love all this melee focus. I also love how the environments so far feel really open. Again, it is like the best of both games. I thought the second game was superior to the first easily because of all the balancing issues in ME1, but they made the streamlining far too obvious in ME2.

I am glad I payed the Batarian DLC in ME2. From what I understand, the game will force you to start on Earth with the consequences of that, no matter what.

WTF?

[MysterD]

While the game is AWESOME...
I just really wish ROLL [tap your Storm key] and STORM RUN [hold Storm key] were on different buttons.
Sometimes I just wanna QUICK Storm, and the dude bloody ROLLS.

[Pugnate]

What the heck is Storm Run? I am on the third ME with ME2 finished twice and I have no idea.

[MysterD]

What the heck is Storm Run? I am on the third ME with ME2 finished twice and I have no idea.

The way he runs...it's listed as Storm in the controls, if I recall...

[Pugnate]

Ohhhhh....

why not call it run?

[MysterD]

Ohhhhh....

why not call it run?

It's listed in the controls as Storm...

Anyways, I wish RUN and ROLL were on two different hotkeys.
It'd make my life easier.
It sometimes ROLLS [b/c it's a tap of that key], when I want to use RUN for a short moment.

[gpw11]

You can move using your legs in combat? My Vanguard Sheppard just used his biotic charge to fly across the map, slam into a dude, pound fist the ground to fuck his friends up and then shove a shotgun down the throat of anyone stupid enough to still be standing.


Y'all are playing this game wrong.

[Pugnate]

You aren't going to stop, are you?

[Xessive]

I play in one of two ways: close-quarters-sneaky-stealth-bastard or long-range-camp-and-pick-'em-off. Anything in between is irrelevant.

In multiplayer, a Vanguard's presence is always welcome.

[gpw11]

You aren't going to stop, are you?

Did my Vanguard Sheppard stop when faced with overwhelming odds?  No, he looked those odds in the face and came right at them with a biotic heavy melee.  And if the odds got in a couple of cheap shots, weakening his shields he'd just charge into some of their friends for a quick mid-murder rampage recharge.


God bless. 

[Xessive]

Having seen GPW in a multiplayer match I have to agree. He fight like a demon! A demon!!

The shriek of a banshee used to signal the coming of the indoctrinated Asari, now it beacons the fury of GPW's Vangaurd!

All I could see through my scope were the shredded bits of enemies, with a trail of biotic energy lingering in the air.

[MysterD]

Destructoid -> Some ME3: Rebellion DLC (for MP portion) details.

The Rebellion Multiplayer Expansion opens two new fronts against the Reapers:
Firebase Jade's jungle reservoir and Firebase Goddess on Thessia.
In-game reinforcement packs now include three new weapons as well as equipment, consumables, and six new classes: Quarian Engineer and Infiltrator, Vorcha Soldier and Sentinel, Phoenix Adept and Vanguard.
The battle continues – hold the line!

[Pugnate]

Did my Vanguard Sheppard stop when faced with overwhelming odds?  No, he looked those odds in the face and came right at them with a biotic heavy melee.  And if the odds got in a couple of cheap shots, weakening his shields he'd just charge into some of their friends for a quick mid-murder rampage recharge.


God bless. 

hahahah the god bless did it.

[MysterD]

Finished the game. For the most part, AWESOME game.

Cerberus Base

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The battle w/ Jack [Subject Zero] was just...so thrown together.
But, it felt like a battle w/ her, a major character from ME2, should've been a lot more epic, interesting, and different than *THAT*.
It felt like...just another battle w/ a Phantom.

FINAL Missions and Ending

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Well, I had my Green Bar [Military Rating] through the roof before I began to the Final Missions.

The Illusive Man - 2 of my options on the left were grayed out.
Took the top option on the right side.
I don't know - it just felt like there should've been a battle w/ Illusive Man, before a final showdown of words....

At the end, after Shepard gets beamed-up...
The boy begins talking about decisions - I was offered 3, I choose the Synthentic decision [middle].
Shepard dies, in the process.
For me - EDI, Joker, and Liara got off the ship to that Garden of Eden-like paradise.

[gpw11]

hahahah the god bless did it.

Did it to you, maybe.  The Biotic Charge, Nova, Biotic Melee and/or Shotgun blast to whatever the fuck is in front of me did it to every Geth, Batarian, Reaper, and Cerberus agent in the Galaxy.

Cerberus Base

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The battle w/ Jack [Subject Zero] was just...so thrown together.
But, it felt like a battle w/ her, a major character from ME2, should've been a lot more epic, interesting, and different than *THAT*.
It felt like...just another battle w/ a Phantom.

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I hear what you're saying, but I think it was a last minute addition to the game. There is also a battle where one of the Banshees is replaced by the Ardat Yakshi squadmate you can opt to have in the second game (if you betray your Justicar squadmate) and it's similarily anti-climactic.  I never got either in my play through.

FINAL Missions and Ending

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Well, I had my Green Bar [Military Rating] through the roof before I began to the Final Missions.

The Illusive Man - 2 of my options on the left were grayed out.
Took the top option on the right side.
I don't know - it just felt like there should've been a battle w/ Illusive Man, before a final showdown of words....

At the end, after Shepard gets beamed-up...
The boy begins talking about decisions - I was offered 3, I choose the Synthentic decision [middle].
Shepard dies, in the process.
For me - EDI, Joker, and Liara got off the ship to that Garden of Eden-like paradise.

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Shepard getting beamed up is commonly perceived as when the game falls apart and goes to shit. I still enjoyed the game and all, but the more I think of it (to this day) the more I just shake my head and say "what the fuck, Bioware?  CHARGE-NOVA-SHOTGUN TO YOUR FACE

[MysterD]

Cerberus Base

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I hear what you're saying, but I think it was a last minute addition to the game. There is also a battle where one of the Banshees is replaced by the Ardat Yakshi squadmate you can opt to have in the second game (if you betray your Justicar squadmate) and it's similarily anti-climactic.  I never got either in my play through.

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I guess BioWare probably had so many variables and probably not enough time, they just couldn't flesh them all out, in some way or fashion...
I just really they had done more w/ Jack in ME3 with her turning on you [if you got that route], since she was a major player in ME2.

End-Game Talk for ME2 and ME3

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Shepard getting beamed up is commonly perceived as when the game falls apart and goes to shit. I still enjoyed the game and all, but the more I think of it (to this day) the more I just shake my head and say "what the fuck, Bioware?  CHARGE-NOVA-SHOTGUN TO YOUR FACE

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Yeah, pretty much...once he gets beamed, it all feels VERY-VERY rushed or they are leaving A LOT out purposely.

I'll go and say them not giving you an option to battle The Illusive Man seems like a mistake.
I could understand if say there was a Paragon option [if you earned it w/ high Paragon points] and you could say win a war or words and not even battle the guy.
That'd be cool.

In ME2, at the end, I told him Illusive Man to go fuck himself. One of the things in ME3 that I really wanted -- I wanted a fight w/ him in ME3.
And...all I can have is a battle or words and shoot this guy w/ one shot and it's over w/ him?
Something...seems lacking here; an option to fight him, namely.

Granted, The Last London Level were pretty good - it just didn't have a great End Boss fight [option].
Also, it just wasn't as interesting as ME2's Suicide Mission.
Though, ME2's End-Boss was nothing special, either...

[gpw11]

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I agree - London was great, but it just didn't have that epic and climactic boss fight. There was actually good post someone made on Something Awful about how it almost seemed like London was setup for so much more - the level design leans toward a situation where the choices you made throughout the game would offer dynamic changes and events.  Like, you're fighting all these Banshees brutes and getting your ass handed to you...but if you had earned the highest support possible from the Krogan, their infantry would sweep in and fuck the Brutes up.  Things like that.  The post was pretty interesting, and the guy knew what he was talking about from a design perspective way over my head and I kinda wish he worked at Bioware.

Someone else also had an awesome post there about how Mass Effect as a whole would have been so much better if Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 switched places chronologically. It was out there a bit but made a lot of sense. 

[MysterD]

Patch 1.03 is coming w/ LONG list of patch-notes listed here.
Patch is coming tomorrow on PC (5/29); Thursday on consoles X360 and PS3 (5/31).

[shock]

Booorrrinngg - just bug fixes.

Where's my ending DLC!?

[MysterD]

Booorrrinngg - just bug fixes.

Where's my ending DLC!?

We know they just recently had the voice-actors who did EDI and Hackett's voice in the studio to work on Extended Ending DLC.
I don't think we seeing that for a bit...

Though, ME3: Rebellion MP DLC is now out and got released for FREE for those who redeemed Online Passes on their respective services:
Rebellion DLC is now out on EA Origin on PC; and XBL for X360.
Rebellion DLC should be coming soon to PSN for PS3.

[Pugnate]

Just finished the Geth/Quarian thing. Fuck. This is an incredible game. I cried playing a video game after a long time... and thank god for my reputation skill investment. Oh and it was sweet how Tali told me she loved me before I went off to fight the reaper.

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So I hit the wrong dialog option by mistake after I killed the reaper, and the geth destroyed the quarians and Tali, my romance option, killed herself. Tali is a very similar in personality to my fiance and I like Tali a lot so that was hard. I reloaded, and selected the option I intended originally and the geth gained intelligence but the quarians didn't attack them, and Tali lives. 

I went online and realized that this is a very difficult outcome apparently. I had to do 4 things a certain way in ME2 and two things a certain way in ME3 and then I had to have a high reputation bonus too.

BUT AWESOME. Love this game.

Oh and the reaper said something about doing organic life a favor by containing it. I am starting to understand where the ending is heading, and to me, it sounds pretty awesome actually, if it is the twist I am thinking.

[MysterD]

Just finished the Geth/Quarian thing. Fuck. This is an incredible game. I cried playing a video game after a long time... and thank god for my reputation skill investment. Oh and it was sweet how Tali told me she loved me before I went off to fight the reaper.

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So I hit the wrong dialog option by mistake after I killed the reaper, and the geth destroyed the quarians and Tali, my romance option, killed herself. Tali is a very similar in personality to my fiance and I like Tali a lot so that was hard. I reloaded, and selected the option I intended originally and the geth gained intelligence but the quarians didn't attack them, and Tali lives.  

I went online and realized that this is a very difficult outcome apparently. I had to do 4 things a certain way in ME2 and two things a certain way in ME3 and then I had to have a high reputation bonus too.

BUT AWESOME. Love this game.

Oh and the reaper said something about doing organic life a favor by containing it. I am starting to understand where the ending is heading, and to me, it sounds pretty awesome actually, if it is the twist I am thinking.

ME3 Ending Thoughts

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If you think the ME3 ending is going to be epic - i.e. think like BG2: TOB ending or LOTR: ROTK movie - guess again.
The last 5 minutes of ME3 and the post-Credits rolling stuff is one of the most blatant excuses to give us DLC that I've seen.
This is absolutely NOT the way to go ahead and treat their fan-base.
Like HL2 [base game] and Assassin's Creed 1, ME3's ending really poses more questions and WTF moments more so than anything.
It's as if they're purposely leaving things out for DLC; rushed the ending to ship the game; or just didn't have time to finish everything properly.
Hell, for all I know, it's probably actually all 3 of those reasons.
When Risen 2: Dark Waters [in which the rest of the game is clearly nowhere as good as ME3] has a much more complete and satisfactory ending than ME3, something's wrong w/ the world...

[Xessive]

I had a weird bug:

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Tali killed herself. I was unable to romance anybody else of course, and she still showed for the compulsory romance scene before the final battle. My Shepard got it on with a dead Quarian. It was sweet but awkward.

[Pugnate]

D, I read the first two lines of your reply. I haven't finished the game dude. I thought that much was obvious.

haha X that is one eerie bug.

[Xessive]

D, I read the first two lines of your reply. I haven't finished the game dude. I thought that much was obvious.

haha X that is one eerie bug.

Yeah.. I don't know if I'm ever gonna be the same again hehe

[MysterD]

D, I read the first two lines of your reply. I haven't finished the game dude. I thought that much was obvious.

I replied to you, knowing you haven't finished it - i.e. check my word choices there.
I don't think I really spoiled too much there that most people who ain't finished the game didn't already know, which is....
SIDE NOTE -> Pug, don't read the spoiler stuff until you finish the game...

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...That the ending sucks [in most people's opinion]; DLC is hinted at; and we already knew that planned SP DLC was coming.

I did label it before-hand w/ "ME3 Ending Thoughts".
I didn't go into plot details, final level details, character details, story details, or anything of that sort in the blacked-out "Spoiler Tagged" stuff.
I did put it in black w/ the "Spoiler" tag, just in case I might've said/typed even a tiny-little bit too much...

Sorry, I didn't mean to spoil some things, if I did.
Next time, I'll either hold my reply [for later] or blatantly put "Pug, don't read the spoiler-tagged stuff in black until you finish the game", since it basically was a direct reply to you.


EDIT:
SPOILERS on Tali

I had a weird bug:

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Tali killed herself. I was unable to romance anybody else of course, and she still showed for the compulsory romance scene before the final battle. My Shepard got it on with a dead Quarian. It was sweet but awkward.

WTF?  

[Pugnate]

hahahahahaha it is OK.... relax bud.

[MysterD]

Can't argue w/ this...

[MysterD]

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC coming out for FREE on June 26th, 2012 to PC, X360, and PS3 as a 1.9 GB download.

How much is the Extended Cut?
    The Extended Cut is available to download at no additional charge.

When does the Extended Cut release?
    The Extended Cut will release on June 26th on Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3 in North America and July 4th for PlayStation 3 in Europe.

How large is the Extended Cut?
    The Extended Cut requires roughly 1.9 gigabytes of storage.

How do I get the Extended Cut?
    The Extended Cut can be downloaded from Xbox LIVE, Origin on PC, and PlayStation Network at no additional cost.

What is included in the Extended Cut?
    The Extended Cut expands on the endings of Mass Effect 3 through additional scenes and epilogue sequences. It provides more of the answers and closure that players have been asking for. It gives a sense of what the future holds as a result of the decisions made throughout the series. And it shows greater detail in the successes or failures based on how players achieved their endings.

Does the Extended Cut change the endings?
    The Extended Cut is an expansion of the original endings to Mass Effect 3. It does not fundamentally change the endings, but rather it expands on the meaning of the original endings, and reveals greater detail on the impact of player decisions.

What save game should I load to play the Extended Cut?
    

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To experience the Extended Cut, load a save game from before the attack on the Cerberus Base and play through to the end of the game. The Extended Cut endings will differ depending on choices made throughout the Mass Effect series, so multiple playthroughs with a variety of different decisions will be required to experience the variety of possibilities offered by the new content.

Where can I learn more about the Extended Cut?
    To learn more about the Extended Cut, please enjoy the Extended Cut interview podcast with Community Manager Jessica Merizan, Executive Producer Casey Hudson, and Lead Writer Mac Walters.