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Mass Effect 3

Herkimer Jitty said:
And then Shepard wakes up and Anderson is still alive, taking a shower.
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Lol...

Anderson and Shepard? Now there's something new.
No thanks though. I'll stick to male Shepard and Alenko/Cortez options.
Although, it's interesting to note that apparently Bioware did make the gay romance between Shepard and Alenko a bit more fleshed out/detailed compared to Cortez - which was odd.
Cortez won me over with his vulnerability and loss of his husband - kinda thought it'd be nice if they gave him slightly more in terms of the sex scene and goodbye like they did with Alenko. Though yelling in London over the comm was 'ok' when Cortez's shuttle was hit and went down. Actually showed he cared - but still, Alenko got more (lol, next playthrough will be with Alenko being romanced by my male Shepard.

Oh well... it's ok either way. I'm happy they FINALLY did it.

I'm puzzled as to why they never released the DLC for ME 1 that 'completes' the gay romance option for male Shepard seeing how they only needed to input the brief sex scene (which would be easy to do) and the dialogue plus kissing scenes were already in-game (just not accessible without a romance mod).
Also, ME2 if modded can allow gay romance with a mod... no nudity, but that's not 'REALLY' necessary to at least acknowledge it.

Putting that aside (and I apologize if I rambled too much on the same notion), I finished the third game in just over 40 hours (while missing 2 small side-quests - I thought I was careful and done them all).

I think I'll replay all 3 games from the ground up later this week or next week (first I have to replay the third game) :D.

And this time I might actually put HD textures mod into the games.
The lower-resolution ones can be 'obvious' at times.
I just wonder how my poor 9600m GT will handle it.
:D
 
Deks said:
And this time I might actually put HD textures mod into the games.
The lower-resolution ones can be 'obvious' at times.
I just wonder how my poor 9600m GT will handle it.
:D
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Hells yeah. That "bit" at the end which I felt was particularly poignant was almost ruined by the fuzzy as fuck skybox.
 
Mr Light said:
Hah, I got to visit the Grissom Academy and meet Kahlee Sanders! I just read those books too. That was cool. :cool:
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She's not the only one who appears. :)

(And Grayson gets referenced too, which I'm sure will go over the head of 90% of the players...)
 
Ok! The game is over, evil has been vanquished and everyone can live happy lives forever!

No, of course not. You know and I know that wasn't going to happen. This is the official end of Mass Effect where instead of complimenting the story and all it's characters with an ending that, while doesn't have to be super happy, can leave on a satisfying note. But instead of doing that, they're taking the series out back, shooting it in the head and leaving the rotten corpse on the ground proclaiming "We're done!".

First and foremost, my number one issue.

That stupid KID.

When I first saw glimpses of this kid and how he was one of the early casualties in the game, the first thought that crept into my mind was pathos. A plot device that's intended to elicit an emotion for emotion's sake. We don't know who this kid is, why he of all the characters gets an response emotion out of Shepard, and why he continues to be the one character who Shepard visualizes the most when it comes to all those he/she has lost in the past.

And the ending where he is this GOD CHILD almost made me rip my hair out. Why? Why is this godly like being taking the image of a kid wearing a hoodie? Why is so much story being wasted on this one stupid kid when it could be put towards something more personal towards Shepard? Like the Virmire casualty. Why can't it take the image of Ashley or Kaiden? Why does the whole trilogy of Mass Effect end on a character who is only relevant to this particular game and was only used for Pathos up to this point? I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THIS KID!

Reaper Motivation

Oh, and the answer to the series long question on why the Reapers keep committing genocide on technologically advanced civilizations? It's because these civilizations might create machines who will end up destroying them. The civilizations, not the Reapers.

So the whole reason this universe exists the way it does is because of speculation into something that in of itself is contradicting. For example, the Quarians successfully developed an AI called the Geth and used them as servants. They rebelled and kicked the Quarians off their planet. That's it. They didn't try to destroy the Quarians or hunt them down to extinction. They just wanted to be free and safe. The only reason the Geth became these blood thirsty psycho machines of death was.... wait for it... THE REAPERS influence!

Mass Effect in a nutshell

Reapers: We want to ensure that life in the galaxy will be safe from your own creations since they will be hell bent on your destruction! Now please stay still while we shower you with our death rays.

Civilization: But we've already created artificial intelligences. The Geth may have kicked the Quarians off their world, but they only did it to be free of them. And we are more than capable of handling rogue AIs like the one that occurred on Luna.

Reapers: Oh, we can fix that. *tweaks* There. Now they're trying to kill you. Will you please stand still and accept our lethal death rays? We're really going out of our way to help you out here.

Civilization: Well, you see, the AI that went rogue on Luna? She's actually helping us now. In fact, she helped SAVE the galaxy from your stupid human reaper idea and it was all on her own accord. And the Geth? They are now fully self-aware and are actually letting the Quarians back to their home world, even pledging to help other civilizations across the galaxy defend themselves from beings who want to destroy life in the galaxy.

Reapers: Oh, now that you put it that way, here are three choices on how you can totally destroy all of galactic civilization. You've earned it soldier!

Civilization: You are tearing me apart Lisa!
 
Thank you, guys, for keeping all your discussion about the ending in spoiler tags. I'm still not there yet, though I'm sure I'm getting close. I'm just about to hit the galaxy map and...

Investigate Sanctuary on Horizon.
 
2 Columnists at Forbes are asking Bioware to address the concerns
with the endings

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/12/bioware-and-ea-respond-to-dlc-controversy/2/

I believe Bioware should release a free bit of DLC to all its players, one that produces an “alternate ending” for the game. From a programming perspective, it wouldn’t be much work. It would be probably a few minutes of dialogue, and fifteen minutes of cutscenes. Three sets of five minutes would be devoted to fleshing out each of the final decisions made in the game, and would give players a more hearty ending than the cookie cutter, cryptic one they received.

It seems like a win-win to me. Releasing free DLC would show that they’re not greedy tyrants exploiting the concept of bonus content. Updating the ending with more substance would show that they can admit when they’re wrong, and fans would likely breathe a collective sigh of relief as they got some much needed resolution.
 
I'm about 15 hours in thus far and aside from Freddie Prinze Jr, it's been a good experience.

Anyone want to post their Shep? Took me a while to get mine just right after my save import messed up his appearance.

SpaceThew.jpg


His less-than-heroic visage was about as close to my own likeness as I could manage with the options available.
 
I can't believe how much the ending threw away the excellent work that had been done throughout the rest of the game. Seriously. :wtf:

One thing that had already made me a bit grumpy was that I didn't know that multiplayer would play such a role in the single player game. I'm not a fan of online play, yet because I won't play it, the readiness of the fleet will never go above 50%? How is that fair when I've invested so much time into the previous games that went nowhere near the multiplayer? It directly affects the outcome, though to be fair, even the 'perfect' ending is pretty much the same as the others.

I was also disappointed that all the hard work that went into uniting the races, and scanning all of the various planets and systems all sort of goes down the toilet with the three vaguely similar bad endings. I would have thought that the final scenes would have been a bit more like the epic suicide mission in ME2, except on a much bigger scale with all of the different things in play. It just all went a bit Matrix Reloaded with the introduction of the catalyst boy.

How come the three choices at the end are the only choices we get? Why isn't Shepard making an impassioned speech about how the cycle is finally being broken, and that the races should be given a chance? The level of cooperatrion amongst the aliens was unprecedented, but apparently it didn't mean anything. These are the only three choices, and you must pick one of them! Why can't I just ignore him and rally the troops for one last push?

I chose to destroy the reapers, as I felt that this was the closest in character for Shepard. The notion of losing all of the synthetic lifeforms was a bit dire though, especially after everything I did for the Geth in ME2 and 3. And of course EDI, one of my favourite squadmates in the game, is also synthetic. Is she a gonner too?

I couldn't choose to control the reapers, as that just came across as indoctrination. The Illusive Man needed bringing down (I enjoyed killing him!), and I wasn't about to step in his shoes. The merging of organic and synthetic beings sounded like one of Deus Ex's ending from years back, but still sounded a bit too pro-reaper. In fact all the endings were a bit dystopian, which seemed like an odd turn to take at the last minute, when the Mass Effect series had never been in that style.

I didn't understand how the Normandy was flying away from that shockwave, when not long before it was in orbit of Earth. Not only that, but Tali and Liara somehow get out alive, despite just being in the mad rush to the teleportation beam in London that saw deaths left, right and centre. They didn't come up to the Citadel with me, but they didn't die either? Where the hell did they go?

Seeing the Mass Effect relays all being destroyed left me wondering for the safety of the different aliens (well Tali in particular) that survived after the Normandy crash. Oh, and of course the enormous fleet that was still in the Sol system - are they all trapped there? The FTL drives aren't the way to travel great distances in the ME universe.

There, I think I got it all out. :lol: I wasn't searching for a super duper happy ending or anything like that. All I want is for there to be a better choice for Shepard, or at least explain what will happen for each one properly.

The rest of the game was truly amazing - one of the best times I've had playing a game. I was so immersed throughout, meaning getting teary eyed at seeing particularly poignant deaths of Mordin, Thane, Legion and even Miranda who I was never keen on.

By the time I was at the makeshift barracks, about to launch into the final push, my stomach was churning. I couldn't believe how tense I felt after saying my last goodbyes to my squad, and to whoever else out there who was still alive. In particular, seeing Garrus trying to be tough but still letting on how scared he is, was very effective. It made the final battles all the more emotional, especially since I knew it was all coming to an end soon.

Everything else was so well done that it's no wonder that a duff ending knocked me back a bit. All of the emotional investment wasn't paid off properly.
 
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Seven of Five said:
I didn't understand how the Normandy was flying away from the relay shockwave, when not long before it was in orbit of Earth. Not only that, but Tali and Liara somehow get out alive, despite just being in the mad rush to the teleportation beam in London that saw death all over the place. They didn't come up to the Citadel with me, but if they didn't die, where did they go?
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But they did. Seems most likely that those guys who come out of the Normandy are dead.


Seven of Five said:
One thing that had already made me a bit grumpy was that I didn't know that multiplayer would play such a role in the single player game. I'm not a fan of online play, yet because I won't play it, the readiness of the fleet will never go above 50%? How is that fair when I've invested so much time into the previous games that went nowhere near the multiplayer? It directly affects the outcome, though to be fair, even the 'perfect' ending is pretty much the same as the others.
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That pissed me off so much. I trawled the galaxy, every cluster was 100%. I went in and out of systems to avoid the Reapers while I acquired every war asset there was. But because I couldnt get teh readiness level above 50%, my final effective strength was below 4000.
 
MNM said:
That pissed me off so much. I trawled the galaxy, every cluster was 100%. I went in and out of systems to avoid the Reapers while I acquired every war asset there was. But because I couldnt get teh readiness level above 50%, my final effective strength was below 4000.
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Supposedly you can get an EMS of 4000 without multiplayer. But you might not be able to get it based on choices you've made throughout the games. For example, recruiting Dr. Chakwas to return to the Normandy for duty seems like the right choice - but if you refuse her request, she becomes a War Asset working on the Crucible project. If you don't Renegade punch al-Jilani, she can become a War Asset. Not allowing additional refugees to stay on the Citadel increases the Citadel Defense Force's War Asset rating; allowing them to stay decreases it. So many of these little things add up that people might not ever think about.
 
Supposedly you can get an EMS of 4000 without multiplayer. But you might not be able to get it based on choices you've made throughout the games. For example, recruiting Dr. Chakwas to return to the Normandy for duty seems like the right choice - but if you refuse her request, she becomes a War Asset working on the Crucible project. If you don't Renegade punch al-Jilani, she can become a War Asset. Not allowing additional refugees to stay on the Citadel increases the Citadel Defense Force's War Asset rating; allowing them to stay decreases it. So many of these little things add up that people might not ever think about.

true, but do any of them change the readiness level? It was so disheartening really to have a total strength of over 7000 reduced so much just because I couldnt get that readiness number higher.
 
Galactic Readiness can only be raised through multiplayer and the Mass Effect: Infiltrator game for iOS devices.
 
PsychoPere said:
Galactic Readiness can only be raised through multiplayer and the Mass Effect: Infiltrator game for iOS devices.
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Which pisses me off. I can fly round the galaxy making impassioned speaches to every race, telling them they have to mobilise to defeat the reapers or die, I can make hard sacrifices to choose which assets I take and which get abandoned, I can threaten, cajole and inspire people to work towards the end result. But, if I dont want to play multiplayer or some do social media style stuff, I cant get beyond half readiness for the biggest threat the galaxy has seen.
 
You won't get much disagreement from me there, though even with a low level of annoyance I still think BioWare found a pretty cool way (within the story) to implement multiplayer. I'd even be down for buying that new iOS game if its reviews weren't horrible (I did buy Galaxy back in '09 and mostly enjoyed it, though I never did finish it).
 
I'm not quite at the end yet, so if someone could just give me a quick answer without spoilers...

Would I be able to get whatever the "best" ending is if I have two sections at 100% and the others are close to that, or does every area have to be at 100% readiness? I've got the Alliance and Terminus Systems at 100%, and the others are around 97-98%.
 
My current understanding is that you need a minimum of 4000 Effective Military Strength for what is commonly considered the "best" ending. If your Galactic Readiness and Total War Assets combined can match that, then you should be good.
 
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