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Then of course you reach the end and jump off a cliff.
So yeah, this game has a pretty drastic quality curve. And the Intro and Ending sequences are by far the worst of all of them.
You do get some control back for most of the game (but less than what you had in ME2 and much less than ME1), but it's really not looking good for your overall impression of the game if the INTRO made you write a small blog post complaining about it.
Good luck I guess. All your points are valid, and if you care about them then I pity you your ultimate reaction to the tail end of the quality curve.
explains really well what happens throughout the story and describes the story from all the books and comics too. This is the obvious backstory I missed and it's just silly they decided to do it this way. Either way I'm gonna read through this and then restart ME3 again so it all makes sense, hopefully.
Still, the graphics have improved a lot and the environments I seen so far are stunning. It's still that "space rpg" that I love, so all good there. It's just with the story that Bioware (EA) took so many stupid twists and turns that it became utterly ridiculous. And I wish I had more choice in how I want to "play" as Shepard. Ashley got hit.. okey, so what, stop being a drama queen. Jenkins got instantly killed in ME1 and nobody cried about him. So many of the team died but then oh-no Ashley gets hit and Shepard is suddenly butt-hurt. I wasn't even doing a romance with her so it doesn't add up.
Also a small thing I really enjoyed, remember when starting up ME1 and you see the earth and that music playing and you have to "click to continue". Well they did the same pre-menu thing for ME3 but with the earth under attack. That was a really nice touch, and then they had the further menu a lot like ME2. It really feels like it's a mix of both games and I like that. I just hope there's gonna be enough exploration and nice views of space, there's so few space games these days and I'm happy at least that there's Mass Effect (for one I was a big fan of the driving around in ME1 on random planets! .. I know, it's not in ME3, but similar experiences of exploring great environments would be nice).
I'll try to help you clarify some things.
Shepard's no longer a Spectre. You don't need to read any books or comics to know that. He worked for Cerberus, right? That's one of the most infamous---and dangerous---terrorist organizations in the galaxy. Just about everyone hates them, especially non-humans. For the council, Shepard in ME2 was KIA and the surviving team was disbanded. When they learned he was alive but working for Cerberus, the Spectre status was revoked. You are now an outlaw and a rebel (not to say a terrorist in the eyes of many). This you can know in the Citadel mission in ME2, Anderson tells you that.
Shepard is guilty of association with criminals. He was "extradited" to Earth. Also, he didn't reveal much information on his former employer. That makes him even more suspicious. If they spared his life, it was because as you mentioned, he saved the galaxy before. Out of respect he is put under house arrest and not thrown in a random Council dungeon.
We mentioned before that Spectre status thing. Yoy are no longer one of them. Now, the Normandy. Why is she locked down? Well, she is a Ceberus vessel!!! Very valuable for both the Alliance and the Council. She's a state-of-the-art ship, the best thing money can buy. Some upgrades are so advanced that every government would like to own her.
Also, never forget it's a captured enemy vessel. It is not "Shepard's ship". The Normandy is a prize of war. She was never his; he was allowed to use her. She belonged to the Lazarus Cell, a Cerberus unit.
About that guy James, he's not Shep's BFF. They barely know each other. You'll find out more on this as you play ME3.
I'd say Shepard saved the galaxy once. The collector's base doesn't count, since it was mainly a human problem. The other species barely know about that and are not concerned.
Prisoner status and lockdown of the ship we discussed before.
Asking for Shepard's help does make sense. Think about it. You have a growing concern on the Reapers. They are at the gates now. Who's the galaxy's foremost expert in the topic? Well, Shepard, of course! But wait... he's a POW. Never mind, bring him in. Not that we yet fully trust him, but he has info we need. (He has to break free and escape, after all. He stole the Normandy!)
We stand together and fight! Badass or not, Shepard is a hero. He thinks of himself as one. That is the kind of statement a hero would make. Maybe you wouldn't, but definitely he would. He is a loyal soldier. Even if renegade. Note: he's loyal to humanity and the galaxy, not the stupid Council, a dumb politician representative or the Alliance brass. He understands his duty is to life itself, and the survival of the sentient species. Throughout the previous games he has come to understand this. ME3 is the final, ultimate sacrifice. He is alone in this mission.
The Council's government is full of mistakes and stupid decisions. I agree with you. They deny everything, and that will be their demise. They are protectors of the statu quo, and certainly not people of action. The galaxy will suffer the consecuences of that. Even then, that reaction is not unheard of, and even if it's not logical, it makes sense perfectly. That very same situation happened in WW2 with Neville Chamberlain, in ancient Rome before the Carthaginian invasion and even in the Harry Potter books with the Ministry of Magic. Stupid but understandable, when people are afraid.
If you really hate Ash that much, I think you can dismiss her, or don't bring her along in the first place (not really sure of this, but your choice is a standard of Shepard's team in previous games). I don't think they behave like "good friends" again like nothing. I romanced her in my first ME3 playthrough and things were tense and it took some time to rebuild trust and friendship.
The crew did not "magically dissappear". They moved on. The mission is over, some colleagues are dead and the leader was tried for treason and is in jail. You are frowned upon because you effectively worked with a terrorist organization. Nobody trusts you. What would you do?
and lol...If that's how you felt about the intro, I'm subscribing to see your reaction to the ending.
As for me. I never romanced Ash, so after the fight in ME2, any relationship/friendship i may have had with her was understandibly over with...ea/bioware pushing her onto me that hard in me3 was really annoying. but you can leave her behind at some point.
The crew. I was hugely disappointed with this aspect...barely any of my favorites/that I had throughout the first 2 could come with me on this final glorious ending...most were left as cameos. it almost ruined the series for me. I'm still put off by it, actually.
About 6hrs ingame right now and things are a lot better, now that the story is making more sense. They really should've improved the intro better, or have some video cover all the events that happened pre-ME3 so people aren't lost immediately. I also have to point out that I personally enjoy the weapons more now then in ME2, I read complaints about people thinking "they sound weak", but I feel the exact opposite .. weapons sound rather awesome. I just feel it's all much "faster action", not really a bad thing, but it feels different. A major bonus about my class (engineer) is the turret, I absolutely love setting that thing up.
Also when I got aboard the Normandy again, it looked pretty awesome. Part of it was still that look of the Cerberus ship I had, but then it's improved by new up to date Alliance technology, it's really cool.
So all in all, the introduction was done pretty bad, at least if you have no knowledge about what happened before (remember I just played ME1, ME2 + all DLCs .. so I was supposed to immediately continue with ME3 and know what had happened), I just regret they took the books and comics for pretty big story chapters that you miss if you didn't read em. But right now the game really took off and this moon near Palaven (Turian home planet) looked really awesome with Reapers attacking and me defending the whole base. The graphics improved a lot, ME2 still kinda looked like the first game (especially the faces/characters) but in ME3 that's a lot better. FPS runs smooth but I didn't expect any less from the Unreal engine. :)
Sounds/music are amazing too. And now that I know what happened storywise the game is totally awesome again ... well apart from some things (like WTF is Jessica Chobot doing ingame). Heck even that new James character isn't all bad.
Btw, I have to point out one thing, in the start of ME2 as soon as you arrive at the Citadel again, you talk to the council. In my playthrough I was able to get them to re-enable my Spectre status as a sign of gratitude, so at least for my playthrough I was still Spectre. That's why it didn't really make sense, but I suppose some book changed that story.
@Pyronoa Zoro: I shall definitely update on my experience, as I said the intro was terrible for me, and now the game is all great, but considering the negative outburst on the ending from the community I fear it's not gonna end well.
Other then that, so far? James isn't that bad now, I got Liara on my team again (yay! - I was so disappointed when she wasn't on the team in ME2) and just got Garrus. Aw yea!
Then earlier I also got Dr.Chakwas on the ship again and I just ignored (declined) that Jessica Chobot journalist. So as far as crew goes, so far so good. Though I do wonder what the max crew is, cuz I hear it's not gonna be as much as ME2 had.
http://thatgamesux.com/post/mass-effect-3-keeping-track-of-fetch-quests
It's weird since they had it perfect in ME2 and then screwed up in ME3, but why? It uses almost the exact same UI, and considering they took over so many things from ME2 I just don't understand why they reduce the quest tracking system like this.
I pretty much agree with you on everything. The weapons are better than ME2, and the mods give you some alternatives. There's also many more of them. The weight system I found hard to adapt to at first.
I also felt rushed through the intro, and it didn't completely make sense until after some time. Lots of stuff too quickly, and the controls tutorial on top of that...
Yes, the music is top notch. I bought the collector's edition which included the soundtrack, and it can stand by itself pretty well. It's more epic, dramatic and polished. Draws elements and motifs from the first game, but elaborates nicely upon them.
The whole idea of the graphics also transmits the epicness of the galactic struggle. Those Reapers and huge battles in the background look really awesome. Also Shepard is more agile and fast. He can jump! The combat is super fast and visceral---less RPG and more action-shooter, but still high quality stuff.
As for the ending, make sure you have the Extended Cut. It's free on Origin, get it as soon as possible. The conclusion to Shepard's tale was infamously divisive, you'll have to play and judge it yourself. Personally, I made a strange decision at the end that changed radically the outcome, but I won't spoil anything for you.
The game is quite fun, even when sometimes it feels a little rushed. I don't think it is completely fair to judge it only for the ending. You'll discover soon enough.
It has also MP, which helps to raise the "galactic readiness" for the final battle. It's not the best but I enjoyed it. We could play some time if you want to.
Maybe that's the point :)
I honestly think he would have. ArrivalDLC is to securely establish Shepard as willing to sacrifice anything, at least initially, to stop the Reapers, if deemed absolutely required (even if Paragon). ME3 however, challenged the character trait and keeps asking "Are you willing to sacrifice ___? Maybe ____?". When you compare Paragon and Renegade responses to this idea, Paragons get clearly weakened over time, and seem increasingly hopeless if their allies end up dying or losing (obviously, having a full-Paragon-survival trilogy save file stems that tide of deaths).
It does that for a reason imo. If you haven't played Arrival, you'd only have the Suicide Mission. Since many people had all characters survive that mission, they go into ME3 with the themes of Arrival not as prominent in their head. It might cause them to make bad choices.
Yeah, why ARE you there? :)
However (and glancing over this thread, I guess you know this now), to basically look at things, several months have passed, and Shepard is written as a character quite fine with facing human..Alliance authorities for either his involvement with Cerberus, or the Batarian incident in Arrival. He's been in holding for a few or a couple months, and probably is set to be released.
Obviously, the Arrival stuff makes a LOT more sense, making ArrivalDLC all but total canon imo. It's not fully canon, but it's the only way that Vancouver makes any real sense.
Shepard, especially a Renegade one, wouldn't give a damn if a Alliance council wanted to question them on Cerberus involvement. Arrival though? That has quite a bit more weight. And ALL Shepards are created to have at least some significant level of respect for the Alliance.
From the sounds of it, Bioware originally intended on there being a lengthy trial sequence instead of a "What do we do?" meeting with the council, and that room was meant to be a courtroom instead of a council chamber. Bioware decided on pushing players more towards the action, so they cut out the trial stuff.
So sad you won't see Zaeed in ME3 :(((((
Again, several months have passed. Vega's inclusion was briefly handled in a comic, where Anderson looks for a capable guard/minder for Shepard (because let's face it, no simple person can deal with Shepard when he wants to do something), and finds Vega based on his service record.
So yeah, you're not best friends, but he's been watching you for at least months. You're not supposed to care, but you're supposed to understand that Shepard knows him like Shepard knew Anderson at the start of ME1 (aka 'somewhat, but not intimately').
You're not in any regular prison. From the looks of it, you were allowed to walk free (with James as minder) on Earth. All they did do was ground your ship, and Shepard likely told the crew to get ready for the Reapers in the meantime (to varying results). By the beginning of the game, Shepard's patience has run thin, thus his testy beginning dialogue with Anderson.
A perceived plus about being on Earth, would be the chance to keep going "THE REAPERS ARE COMING. NO. THEY'RE COMING. SHUT UP. THEY'RE COMING. GET READY."
So that when the time comes, the council there is all like "Sheeetsheeetsheeet Shepard was right."
Honestly, look at it from their perspective. There is Shepard's personal journey, but then there's his record, that makes him less of a savior, and more of an avatar of destruction.
-Becomes a Spectre, a new 'unknown' to the Alliance
-Works with potentially Krogan, potentially Rachni, potentially Geth (hmmm like a certain other rogue Spectre..)
-Defeats Sovereign/Saren (most Alliance military still thinking Reapers don't exist, except Anderson and Hackett), with varying results. This is the ONE major *thumbs up* that the Alliance has about you, but everything else is suspect to his character.
-Dies and mysteriously returns
-Claims that Sovereign was just part of a massive army of giant robots that will kill us all
-Insists on working with Cerberus, a supposed rogue splinter group, and goes mostly off the grid
-(If Arrival DLC) Suddenly, boom a ton of Batarians dead.
All other details, especially in ME2, are suspect. Thus the trial, to see what's real and what's not. Shepard always intended on clearing his name, and this was his attempt. Hackett and Anderson worked to even get this trial to happen, instead of a full-on stripping of Shepard's rank.
You start ME1 with Kaidan and Jenkins/Ashley. You start ME2 with Jacob and Wilson/Miranda.
Regarding Ashley, just continue the game :)
The rest of the crew scatters to more properly warn the galaxy of the Reapers, or at least make peace with things before the Reapers arrive. By this point, several major entities are aware and at least tried something.
lol
She is horrible.
And even looks horrible too! Except on PC max graphics, where it is tolerable imo.
The only payoff with her is occasional lore-dialogue bits when walking into her room, and especially.... here's a sekret:
If you've been keeping up with convos with her (not sure this is required), in the period RIGHT BETWEEN Cronos Station and the Final Mission, and ONLY in this period, she'll send an easy-to-miss email to you that is one of the best in the series. But yeah, Jessica as her sucks. The character itself could have been great.