Mass Effect 3
It didn't start out great, what with me getting the game early and Bioware NOT LETTING ME PLAY IT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MARCH 8. Man, back OFF. I PAID for it, I'll play it whenever I goddamn please. Not cool.
Onto the game.
Spoilers for the entire game, and thus, for the previous ones too
OMG, it was so pretty and shiny and scary and meep! When the introductory gameplay ended, I totally teared up. Uuugh, so goddamn epic.
It felt so smooth to operate with the controls and everything, but I don't know how much can be attributed to my new computer.
To begin with, freaked me out how different my Shepard looked due to the graphic facelift. I got to put on some black lipstick, tho, that made it better. I also gave her a Janeway bun to, you know, symbolize her growth as a character.
The good
As with Mass Effect 2, I love all the little conversations and stories you hear as you walk by people. The asari commando in Huerta Memorial who had to kill the human girl she was protecting in order to survive and escape the Reapers, the salarian who miraculously got amazingly good and expensive heavy armor after he was hurt in battle, strangely enough after his friend suddenly doesn't have her really expensive car any more. The tiny acts of kindness, like the asari outside the embassies talking to the old woman with dementia who's forgotten that her son was killed in action, or the turian officer in the docking area who's looking out for the young girl who hasn't realized that her parents won't be picking her up.
I also loved the little conversations between the squad mates, both on missions and on the Normandy: it's what the other games were missing and the developers seems to have taken fan feedback to heart.
Taking down the reaper on Tuchanka: awesome. Or taking down the reaper on that other planet. The first one, because those goddamn thresher maws scared the crap out of me in the first game, damn right the reapers should get a taste. The second because Shepard is the baddest badass to ever kick ass in the universe. <333 I was impressed when she punched the Shadow Broker in the face; this was a step up.
I liked generally playing as a Vanguard. While I actually preferred using the sniper rifle to the shotgun and I barely used Bionic...man, I can't think of what it's called, rush something? NOVA, dude. Uuuugh, what a SATISFYING power, especially when you're pissed that Earth is being invaded and you just want the HUGE FUCKING BRUTE to just DIE already.
EDI. I was very skeptical when I saw the first shots of her new body, it seemed like such an over the top thing, but considering how she came to have it, I'm willing to let it slide. It meant that I got to fight with EDI by my side, that she got to grow as a character, and I sense some fan service in her and Joker hooking up. That felt a bit too easy, tho. Bam, she gets a body, and Joker's asking her out almost straight away. Hmm. That's a lot of negative stuff for something in the good column. Let's put it like this: EDI is so awesome she trandscends all the questionable stuff.
GRUNT! I was so happy to see him, and SO CRUSHED when I thought he died. Gotta love those tenacious Krogan. <3
I approve of the fact that when we finally get to meet a lady Krogan, she is AWESOME. Less so with the lady salarians. :-/ Tho, save for the asari, alien ladies seem to have an awful fashion sense.
Wrex. I cannot BELIEVE that the default start of Mass Effect 2 lacks him. The third game would have been so much less awesome without him. And the bickering while being chased by the mother of all thresher maws. XD
Mordin: Thresher maw getting closer!
Wrex: Tell me something I don't know.
Mordin: Metal in truck excellent supplement for maw's diet!
Mordin. Aww, Mordin. Still one of the greatest characters. I was skeptical that it would be good when another voice actor did him, but he turned out to be really really good. *clings to Mordin*
James motherfucking Vega. I loved him SO MUCH. New respect for Freddie Prinze Jr, he NAILED it. Am kind of sad I couldn't romance him, to be honest, even though I was being faithful to Kaidan.
The injoke of someone saying that Garrus said something about "doing some calibrations". XD XD
Garrus. Man. After Thane died, and then Legion, I was running around wanting to talk to other characters that would be sad, and got nothing. In general, when I wanted to talk to people, they didn't want to talk to me. But Garrus "I'm in the middle of some calibrations" Vakarian was all of a sudden totally supportive and awesome and awww, he took me to the top of the Presidium to shoot at things. That's true friendship, man.
And when Shepard says "there's no Shepard without Vakarian", I totally choked up. I think that Garrus it probably still my fave romance option. Maybe save for Tali. Can you romance Tali as femshep? No, I heard somewhere you could do no new romances, and since there were no same sex romances in ME2...
I don't really have a lot to say about Kaidan. I think I was a little disappointed there was so little of him considering he was barely in ME2. There was a lot more of Garrus than Kaidan, and I had the pleasure of Garrus' company in both the previous games.
Making Shepard dance, thinking "wow, yeah, she still can't dance", then meeting Jack, dragging her to the dance floor, and Jack going "Come on, Shepard, everyone knows you can't dance." XD
JACK. Her new hair, her new clothes, her new ATTITUDE and how much she loved her new life. Ugh, so awesome with character development. Just wish she could have been part of the squad.
Thane. I was surprised how hard his death hit me. Maybe because I wasn't really expecting to see him again after ME2, and then there he was, dying but relatively happy. Thane's last words being a prayer for Shepard... There may have been some gross sobbing.
After "killing" Kai Leng, and he rises behind you and you get the chance to a renegade action and you stab him, I was yelling "THAT'S FOR THANE, YOU ASSHOLE!" and then Shepard goes "That's for Thane, you son of a bitch.". EPIC MOMENT IS EPIC.
Liara making the new "beacon" in case everything goes to hell, and making the bit about Shepard...I totally teared up.
Don't have a lot to say about Liara. I like her character development and her friendship with Shepard, but feel a little confused why there was so much of her and so little of some other characters.
Jennifer Hale. Man, she's always been good, but she really upped her game for this one. I swear, there were times when she made Shepard choke up where I totally choked up. <333333
The bad
Kal Reegar. :( I had high hopes for his return.
The reputation system. While I appreciate, as someone who mainly plays as a paragon, to be able to choose the red-marked renegade conversational options, it felt too easy to gain reputation. Though, maybe that was added to by the fact that I imported my game and got to assign a lot of points at once, adding to the charisma stats?
I really miss the old conversation system. Or rather, how rarely I got to use it. Wasn't crazy about how many of the conversations I had with the characters were just conversations I watched play out, rather than conversations I could affect.
I also missed how much less renegade/paragon action stuff there was. I guess I didn't get to punch enough people in the face...and some of the paragon actions were weirdly...I don't know, they didn't really do anything except interrupt someone when they were saying something good and heartfelt.
Miranda's "confession" to Shepard about the control chip...which she told me about in the second conversation we had in ME2.
I can't believe we didn't get to see Tali's face when she took the mask off. And I can't believe there was a mindmeld with Liara where we didn't actually get to SEE anything. Or do you get that if you romance her? THE ETERNAL QUESTION, IT SEEMS. Maybe things would have worked out better for Legion if he'd been romanceable. Which, with some bitterness, brings me to...
Legion's fate. LEGION'S FATE. I don't think I can forgive them for that. Thane, fine. Thane was dying, and if I cried over the fact that he didn't get more time with his son, since he was already beating the odds with months and months, so be it. Mordin, fine. He was at the end of his lifespan and by giving his life, he was righting the one wrong he always wished he'd never had to do.
But Legion. Shepard can do all these impossible things, but they can't take a moment to try and think of another way to give the Geth Reaper powers? And did the Geth NEED Reaper powers? I mean, just getting them on our side would have been awesome on its own.
And it doesn't matter whether I side with the Geth, the Quarians or try and unite them, he has to die anyway? That's just bullshit. It's emotional manipulation. It's just there to make you feel sad as fuck, especially with EDI twisting the knife later, pointing out that just before he died, Legion had developed an individual personality.
(Though, I suppose that could arguably be another kind of bullshit. Legion was awesome because he was different and 1500 programs at once. Did he really have to conform to our view that individuality trumps all for his death to be more valid?)
Though, yes, Legion, you did have a goddamn soul. *tears up a bit again*
The ending
This gets its own category because I'm not sure how I feel about it. Just after finishing, I felt devastated. That was *it*? God knows how many hours of gameplay and agonizing over deicions to get them "right" for ME3 and that's all we get? Two options that get Shepard killed and another that gets the geth and EDI killed?
I wanted Shepard to get some REST. I was quite set on the fact that there would be an ending that led to her death, but damn it if I wasn't going to do everything I could to prevent that. I wanted to see what would happen after the Reapers were gone, how they'd start to rebuild, the new alliances in the galaxy, would the peace last without the big overwhelming threat over them?
There are some really interesting theories about indoctrination floating around, though, and while I thought they were wistful thinking at first, I think they actually have some merit.
http://masseffect.livejournal.com/1325398.html
http://masseffect.livejournal.com/1337029.html
Stuff like Shepard's clothes being different when she wakes up after being knocked out, stuff in the surroundings that previously occurred in Shepard's nightmares, that kid that no one other than Shepard saw (and dreamed about) showing up at the ending as the Catalyst? Bioware is usually SO GOOD at this stuff, and this feels like it's too much below the bar of their excellence.
I also had a spontaneous feeling of "this is way too easy" when I reached Anderson in the Citadel. The Keepers were alive and well, yet no one tried to stop me, despite them obviously being on the Reapers side.
It's encouraging that there are also hints from people at Bioware that more is going on that meets they eye. If there isn't any more to this than meets the eye, then that was just the lamest of all possible endings ever.
On the one hand, I feel like...I paid for the game. I paid for the freaking COLLECTOR'S EDITION. If there's more to the ending than this, WHY IS IT NOT ALREADY IN THE PALM OF MY HAND? Do I have to pay more?
On the other, if Shepard was indoctrinated...it's not only plausible, it's GENIUS.
Onto the game.
Spoilers for the entire game, and thus, for the previous ones too
OMG, it was so pretty and shiny and scary and meep! When the introductory gameplay ended, I totally teared up. Uuugh, so goddamn epic.
It felt so smooth to operate with the controls and everything, but I don't know how much can be attributed to my new computer.
To begin with, freaked me out how different my Shepard looked due to the graphic facelift. I got to put on some black lipstick, tho, that made it better. I also gave her a Janeway bun to, you know, symbolize her growth as a character.
The good
As with Mass Effect 2, I love all the little conversations and stories you hear as you walk by people. The asari commando in Huerta Memorial who had to kill the human girl she was protecting in order to survive and escape the Reapers, the salarian who miraculously got amazingly good and expensive heavy armor after he was hurt in battle, strangely enough after his friend suddenly doesn't have her really expensive car any more. The tiny acts of kindness, like the asari outside the embassies talking to the old woman with dementia who's forgotten that her son was killed in action, or the turian officer in the docking area who's looking out for the young girl who hasn't realized that her parents won't be picking her up.
I also loved the little conversations between the squad mates, both on missions and on the Normandy: it's what the other games were missing and the developers seems to have taken fan feedback to heart.
Taking down the reaper on Tuchanka: awesome. Or taking down the reaper on that other planet. The first one, because those goddamn thresher maws scared the crap out of me in the first game, damn right the reapers should get a taste. The second because Shepard is the baddest badass to ever kick ass in the universe. <333 I was impressed when she punched the Shadow Broker in the face; this was a step up.
I liked generally playing as a Vanguard. While I actually preferred using the sniper rifle to the shotgun and I barely used Bionic...man, I can't think of what it's called, rush something? NOVA, dude. Uuuugh, what a SATISFYING power, especially when you're pissed that Earth is being invaded and you just want the HUGE FUCKING BRUTE to just DIE already.
EDI. I was very skeptical when I saw the first shots of her new body, it seemed like such an over the top thing, but considering how she came to have it, I'm willing to let it slide. It meant that I got to fight with EDI by my side, that she got to grow as a character, and I sense some fan service in her and Joker hooking up. That felt a bit too easy, tho. Bam, she gets a body, and Joker's asking her out almost straight away. Hmm. That's a lot of negative stuff for something in the good column. Let's put it like this: EDI is so awesome she trandscends all the questionable stuff.
GRUNT! I was so happy to see him, and SO CRUSHED when I thought he died. Gotta love those tenacious Krogan. <3
I approve of the fact that when we finally get to meet a lady Krogan, she is AWESOME. Less so with the lady salarians. :-/ Tho, save for the asari, alien ladies seem to have an awful fashion sense.
Wrex. I cannot BELIEVE that the default start of Mass Effect 2 lacks him. The third game would have been so much less awesome without him. And the bickering while being chased by the mother of all thresher maws. XD
Mordin: Thresher maw getting closer!
Wrex: Tell me something I don't know.
Mordin: Metal in truck excellent supplement for maw's diet!
Mordin. Aww, Mordin. Still one of the greatest characters. I was skeptical that it would be good when another voice actor did him, but he turned out to be really really good. *clings to Mordin*
James motherfucking Vega. I loved him SO MUCH. New respect for Freddie Prinze Jr, he NAILED it. Am kind of sad I couldn't romance him, to be honest, even though I was being faithful to Kaidan.
The injoke of someone saying that Garrus said something about "doing some calibrations". XD XD
Garrus. Man. After Thane died, and then Legion, I was running around wanting to talk to other characters that would be sad, and got nothing. In general, when I wanted to talk to people, they didn't want to talk to me. But Garrus "I'm in the middle of some calibrations" Vakarian was all of a sudden totally supportive and awesome and awww, he took me to the top of the Presidium to shoot at things. That's true friendship, man.
And when Shepard says "there's no Shepard without Vakarian", I totally choked up. I think that Garrus it probably still my fave romance option. Maybe save for Tali. Can you romance Tali as femshep? No, I heard somewhere you could do no new romances, and since there were no same sex romances in ME2...
I don't really have a lot to say about Kaidan. I think I was a little disappointed there was so little of him considering he was barely in ME2. There was a lot more of Garrus than Kaidan, and I had the pleasure of Garrus' company in both the previous games.
Making Shepard dance, thinking "wow, yeah, she still can't dance", then meeting Jack, dragging her to the dance floor, and Jack going "Come on, Shepard, everyone knows you can't dance." XD
JACK. Her new hair, her new clothes, her new ATTITUDE and how much she loved her new life. Ugh, so awesome with character development. Just wish she could have been part of the squad.
Thane. I was surprised how hard his death hit me. Maybe because I wasn't really expecting to see him again after ME2, and then there he was, dying but relatively happy. Thane's last words being a prayer for Shepard... There may have been some gross sobbing.
After "killing" Kai Leng, and he rises behind you and you get the chance to a renegade action and you stab him, I was yelling "THAT'S FOR THANE, YOU ASSHOLE!" and then Shepard goes "That's for Thane, you son of a bitch.". EPIC MOMENT IS EPIC.
Liara making the new "beacon" in case everything goes to hell, and making the bit about Shepard...I totally teared up.
Don't have a lot to say about Liara. I like her character development and her friendship with Shepard, but feel a little confused why there was so much of her and so little of some other characters.
Jennifer Hale. Man, she's always been good, but she really upped her game for this one. I swear, there were times when she made Shepard choke up where I totally choked up. <333333
The bad
Kal Reegar. :( I had high hopes for his return.
The reputation system. While I appreciate, as someone who mainly plays as a paragon, to be able to choose the red-marked renegade conversational options, it felt too easy to gain reputation. Though, maybe that was added to by the fact that I imported my game and got to assign a lot of points at once, adding to the charisma stats?
I really miss the old conversation system. Or rather, how rarely I got to use it. Wasn't crazy about how many of the conversations I had with the characters were just conversations I watched play out, rather than conversations I could affect.
I also missed how much less renegade/paragon action stuff there was. I guess I didn't get to punch enough people in the face...and some of the paragon actions were weirdly...I don't know, they didn't really do anything except interrupt someone when they were saying something good and heartfelt.
Miranda's "confession" to Shepard about the control chip...which she told me about in the second conversation we had in ME2.
I can't believe we didn't get to see Tali's face when she took the mask off. And I can't believe there was a mindmeld with Liara where we didn't actually get to SEE anything. Or do you get that if you romance her? THE ETERNAL QUESTION, IT SEEMS. Maybe things would have worked out better for Legion if he'd been romanceable. Which, with some bitterness, brings me to...
Legion's fate. LEGION'S FATE. I don't think I can forgive them for that. Thane, fine. Thane was dying, and if I cried over the fact that he didn't get more time with his son, since he was already beating the odds with months and months, so be it. Mordin, fine. He was at the end of his lifespan and by giving his life, he was righting the one wrong he always wished he'd never had to do.
But Legion. Shepard can do all these impossible things, but they can't take a moment to try and think of another way to give the Geth Reaper powers? And did the Geth NEED Reaper powers? I mean, just getting them on our side would have been awesome on its own.
And it doesn't matter whether I side with the Geth, the Quarians or try and unite them, he has to die anyway? That's just bullshit. It's emotional manipulation. It's just there to make you feel sad as fuck, especially with EDI twisting the knife later, pointing out that just before he died, Legion had developed an individual personality.
(Though, I suppose that could arguably be another kind of bullshit. Legion was awesome because he was different and 1500 programs at once. Did he really have to conform to our view that individuality trumps all for his death to be more valid?)
Though, yes, Legion, you did have a goddamn soul. *tears up a bit again*
The ending
This gets its own category because I'm not sure how I feel about it. Just after finishing, I felt devastated. That was *it*? God knows how many hours of gameplay and agonizing over deicions to get them "right" for ME3 and that's all we get? Two options that get Shepard killed and another that gets the geth and EDI killed?
I wanted Shepard to get some REST. I was quite set on the fact that there would be an ending that led to her death, but damn it if I wasn't going to do everything I could to prevent that. I wanted to see what would happen after the Reapers were gone, how they'd start to rebuild, the new alliances in the galaxy, would the peace last without the big overwhelming threat over them?
There are some really interesting theories about indoctrination floating around, though, and while I thought they were wistful thinking at first, I think they actually have some merit.
http://masseffect.livejournal.com/1325398.html
http://masseffect.livejournal.com/1337029.html
Stuff like Shepard's clothes being different when she wakes up after being knocked out, stuff in the surroundings that previously occurred in Shepard's nightmares, that kid that no one other than Shepard saw (and dreamed about) showing up at the ending as the Catalyst? Bioware is usually SO GOOD at this stuff, and this feels like it's too much below the bar of their excellence.
I also had a spontaneous feeling of "this is way too easy" when I reached Anderson in the Citadel. The Keepers were alive and well, yet no one tried to stop me, despite them obviously being on the Reapers side.
It's encouraging that there are also hints from people at Bioware that more is going on that meets they eye. If there isn't any more to this than meets the eye, then that was just the lamest of all possible endings ever.
On the one hand, I feel like...I paid for the game. I paid for the freaking COLLECTOR'S EDITION. If there's more to the ending than this, WHY IS IT NOT ALREADY IN THE PALM OF MY HAND? Do I have to pay more?
On the other, if Shepard was indoctrinated...it's not only plausible, it's GENIUS.