Mass Effect 3

[Demiurge]

It's me, I didn't explain that very well - it's the elevator that takes you up to the catalyst, just after Anderson dies. Hackett contacts you to let you know that the Crucible has docked but isn't working, and then you try to get to a control panel but collapse. At that point, the Catalyst could literally just let you die.

Tbh the whole Catalyst thing pisses me off - having the main antagonist introduced as a deux ex machina in the last 10 minutes, never my idea of a good ending.

Ah, understood. Yes, I see what you are getting at. My take is a bit different, though I can see how you can look at it a different way.

The Crucible unlocked the Catalyst, basically inserting code into it that allowed the choices before you.

Getting the Crucible to the Citadel was what caused the elevator to come down.

Prior to that, the Intellect/Catalyst was there, but wasn't going to let you in.


There's still all sorts of flaws in that construct though - why the Prothean/Ancient Race crucible required the Leviathan's VI/Intellect/Catalyst in the first place.

Of course, while the Catalyst was the collective consciousness of the Reapers, it wasn't in direct control of them (at least that is my take). Harbinger said they were all distinct intellects in ME2.

Lots of unnecessarily compicated hookum for what could have been a straightforward situation.

I can only really see them going in three directions with this;

1) Prequal - if only to give them more time to ponder what to do with the galaxy post ME3.

2) Far future - Looking at the 3 endings historically through the prism of time, will probably give them the best chance of trying to run with a scenario where parts of all 3 endings play a part.

3) Canonize one ending over the other two

Personally, I think it'll be #3. They'll canonize 'destroy'. In terms of narrative it would have the least impact and give them the best platform to move forward in terms of keeping what they had in ME1-ME3. They'd lose the Geth, and they'd lose EDI, but beyond that, not much difference.

I remember seeing the overwhelming majority of people chose destroy, and it does leave the setting mostly intact.

I still think you need the Reapers to be gone (at least initially - they always make a come back) in the post setting.

If it were me, I'd do more with the reason behind the Reapers because right now it's pretty bogus - other characters investigating the Reaper legacy and how it interacts with the ongoing events. You could do lots with that, and continue to build the story to a more satisfying conclusion.

 

[sojournaut]

I can only really see them going in three directions with this

I could see a 4th direction, let's call it the Orson Scott Card approach: Tell a new story within the same timeframe of one you've already told.

For example, following new characters in a new story while Shepard & company are tracking down Saren (so, ME1 time frame). Or to use an in-game example, we know that James Vega had a tough mission of his own during the events of ME2. And of course, there's that 2-year gap after ME1 (though the comics have filled that in a bit).

I actually like this idea, as it suggests there may have been many such stories occurring parallel to Shepard's that are just as important and striking. You could throw in some character cameos from the main trilogy to seal the deal

On preview, this might also fit well with Demiurge's suggestion.

 

[PsychoPere]

That's likely the story direction they will take (i.e., concurrent with the trilogy or pre-trilogy), and it's the one Casey Hudson mused about before ME3 even shipped.

It definitely won't be Vega's story, though, because that's being told in the Paragon Lost anime film.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Personally, I think it'll be #3. They'll canonize 'destroy'. In terms of narrative it would have the least impact and give them the best platform to move forward in terms of keeping what they had in ME1-ME3. They'd lose the Geth, and they'd lose EDI, but beyond that, not much difference.

Of course they could also pull a minor recont. that keeps the Geth and EDI in play if they want to.

 

[Demiurge]

Hmmm... this is interesting.

The Voices of the Catalyst
http://www.ign.com/wikis/mass-effect-3/Easter_Eggs

At the ending of the game when Shepard speaks with the Catalyst you may notice the unusual voice of the Catalyst. The Catalyst actually has three voice actors and this is easier to notice if you listen with headphones. In the left speaker the Catalyst has the voice of a Jennifer Hale (Female Shepard), and in the right speaker you can hear the voice of Mark Meer (Male Shepard). The child voice is played in both.

So Catalyst is speaking to you in a weird voice that includes your own voice fed back to you?

That very much sounds like a clue to it messing with your head.

 

[Evil Twin]

Just read through the patch notes. Most of it's multiplayer stuff I don't give a shit about, however...

- Fixed an issue with Ken/Gabby and Tali/Garrus ambient dialogues not triggering in Normandy engineering

Hooray!

 

[Angel4576]

Ah, understood. Yes, I see what you are getting at. My take is a bit different, though I can see how you can look at it a different way.

The Crucible unlocked the Catalyst, basically inserting code into it that allowed the choices before you.

Getting the Crucible to the Citadel was what caused the elevator to come down.

Prior to that, the Intellect/Catalyst was there, but wasn't going to let you in.

Well yeah, I guess that could also work.

That's likely the story direction they will take (i.e., concurrent with the trilogy or pre-trilogy), and it's the one Casey Hudson mused about before ME3 even shipped.

It depends on whether they're listening to the fans - that idea frequently comes up in speculation at BSN, but always gets shot down pretty quickly, along with the prequal idea.

I suspect that after the shitstorm over the ending of ME3 they'll probably end up playing safe with the next one.

Of course they could also pull a minor recont. that keeps the Geth and EDI in play if they want to.

Well they could still come out and say that Indoctrination Theory was right all along.

Just read through the patch notes. Most of it's multiplayer stuff I don't give a shit about, however...

- Fixed an issue with Ken/Gabby and Tali/Garrus ambient dialogues not triggering in Normandy engineering

Hooray!

Yeah, Gamble and Priestly were bigging this up on Monday - saw the release notes and there's little there to get excited about on the surface of it, although they are saying that it's also putting something in to accomodate future DLC - make of that what you will.

 

[ATimson]

Just read through the patch notes. Most of it's multiplayer stuff I don't give a shit about, however...

- Fixed an issue with Ken/Gabby and Tali/Garrus ambient dialogues not triggering in Normandy engineering

Hooray!

I thought the revamped ending DLC was supposed to include that fix. Did it not actually work, or will this fix it without requiring the DLC to be installed?

 

[{ Emilia }]

It definitely won't be Vega's story, though, because Vega is the dullest character in the ME universe.

FTFY.

As long as Garrus is in it I'll play anything.

 

[Angel4576]

Badass!

 

[Reverend]

Just read through the patch notes. Most of it's multiplayer stuff I don't give a shit about, however...

- Fixed an issue with Ken/Gabby and Tali/Garrus ambient dialogues not triggering in Normandy engineering

Hooray!

I thought the revamped ending DLC was supposed to include that fix. Did it not actually work, or will this fix it without requiring the DLC to be installed?

Yeah, that's what I thought too. I definitely noticed while playing through Leviathan that the Garrus/Tali flirty dialogue now triggers when you visit engineering. I'll assume that was something they fixed in the EC, because including a fix like that in a paid DLC would be seriously out of order.

Just reading though the notes now and this rather caught my attention: -

- Singularity power re-designed:

• Singularity no longer has a maximum number of charges and will only be destroyed when the time runs out
• Performing a biotic combo on someone floating in the singularity no longer ends the singularity
• Base cooldown changed to 8 seconds
• Base duration of the singularity changed to 8 seconds
• Base power now does 100 points of damage per second to all targets that are in range, even if not floating in the singularity
• Base power sets up biotic combos on everyone that comes into range (only 1 combo added per enemy per cast of singularity)
• Rank 3 changed to a damage over time bonus (used to be a radius and duration bonus)
• Evolve 1 changed to singularity duration bonus (used to be a hold duration bonus and number of charges increase)
• Evolve 5 changed to damage over time bonus (used to be a radius increase mechanic)
• Evolve 6 now detonates biotic combos when the singularity explodes

So they've made singularity much more potent, and possibly made the human adept a viable class again. Since it doesn't specify if this is for SP or MP only, I'll assume it'll be for both.

A few other things caught my eye like Geth Pyros becoming immune to grabbing and "Fixed pathing for Banshees so they don't get stuck in a teleport routine". Sounds like credit farmers won't be able to crouch behind that little corner of Firebase White anymore. Bout time too!

Oh and this struck me as odd: -

- Concussive Shot changes:

• Evolution 3 damage and force bonus now applies to frozen and chilled targets
• Evolution 5 changed to increase damage by 50% and radius by 1 meter (used to take on the properties of your ammo power, but this did not work)
• Evolution 6 damage bonus to organics increased from 100% to 200% over 10 seconds

Maybe this is just for MP as I'm sure that worked for my main soldier Shep. Indeed, it was the only reason I ever used that power!

 

[Angel4576]

^^ Singularity is MP only. Priestly confirmed it last night.

 

[Mr Silver]

Right folks, I just picked up a copy of ME3 today, having completed ME2 last night (I read up on how to save everyone on the suicide mission - I know, I know, but I want the maximum character appearances when I import my save file).

TBH, I found ME2 to be quite lacking where gameplay is concerned. The combat system was too simple, and prone to AI stupidity (the amount of times I ended up shooting my squad because they moved directly in front of me!). I felt most of the side missions were taking a leaf out of STO's book, and I disliked the fact that you could just upgrade everything without their being any trade-off (such as only being able to take one particular upgrade over another or having penalties along with buffs).

However, the ME story is excellent. It's an addictive universe with a stellar voice cast. If only XBOX was designed to run discs with greater storage (asides from HD DVD, which went to hell when Blu-Ray blew them out of the market), then my ME experience would be ideal!

 

[Angel4576]

Personally, I found the story to be by far the best thing about ME3. Well, up until the last 10 minutes, but that's something that you'll have to decide for yourself.

Combat - is slightly more refined than ME2. The cover system works a bit better. Melee is more satisfying, and guns now have attachments, or perks to improve their performance.

The voicecast, well, is the voicecast, and again, they're excellent.

The disappointments for me were the lack of hub worlds, the simplication of side quests into 'go fetch' missions, and the massive amount of auto-dialogue.

It's a strange one is ME3 - it has some of my favourite bits from the series, and some of the worst.

 

[Reverend]

I think there was a more significant improved with the gameplay between ME2 & 3 than most people seem to think. I suppose unlike most I've since gone back and played through ME2 again and no joke, the contrast was almost as drastic and the change from ME1 to ME2. Partly it's down to the new mobility stuff--rolling, diving, moving around cover etc--as well as the heavy melee, improved NPC AI, but mostly it the variety.

There's just so much more latitude in ME3: The weapon loadout brings back the best of the ME1 system without the encumbrance of the ridiculous inventory. The enemies themselves are more varied so now you have engineers and Geth Primes that drop drones & turrets and you have a good variety of reaper units. To top it all of of course there's much more in the way power combos. Being able to detonate biotics on a unit without first having to tear down it's shields was a welcome change. Powers like cryoblast, overload and sabotage have had their utility expanded so they can now slow enemies, weaken armour, stun and cause weapons to backfire.

^^ Singularity is MP only. Priestly confirmed it last night.

That's a shame as some of those changes looked like fun, but then I suppose adept Shep is pretty overpowered as it is....maybe not as OP as in ME1--my adept was so godlike it was hilarious!

 

[Jimi_James]

Badass!

Don't interrupt him. He's in the middle of some calibrations.

Anyway, I'm in the small percentage that actually liked the original ending. While it certainly wasn't the spectacular conclusion I was hoping for, it was far from the abomination that many fans claim it to be. I didn't think the new ending added all that much, at least it didn't change my original opinion at all...and I think a bit less of Bioware now, that they caved and didn't stand by their original ending, in part because I thought it was unnecessary.

Why I liked it, the game moved me. By the time it was done, my Sheppard was a wreck, as was I, so I wasn't expecting it to end well...and it didn't. I have this wierd thing were I'll acept that everything is not resovled, if the ending is emotional in some way. So I feel the same way about ME:3 as I do about the conclusions of Lost and BSG. I still have questions about all three, but I don't care. All three endings effected me emotionally on some level...and that was enough.

I picked Synthesis...which granted is changing things for the entire galaxy and maybe that's too big a choice for one person to make, but everything that happened in all three games put me in that position to be the one to make that choice. There wasn't a Krogan up there, or a Salarian, or a Turaian. It was a Sheppard, so I made what appeared to be the best decision I had available, because it was mine to make.

My Sheppard died stopping the Reapers, along with many of my crew and each death effected me as I played, at least in this third game. To me, that was more important than having every questioned answered, or having more dialog choices in the final scene...or even getting annoyed at boiling down the entire game to three color coded choices. My experience was a sum of the entire journey, not a few minutes at the end.

I did miss the Mako though and would have liked to have seen at least one ground mission feature its return, perhaps even when you return to Earth. That Hover tank thing, just wasn't the same.

 

[Reverend]

A clearer photo of that Omega DLC preview image has surfaced. Looks like a hologram of an Earth cruiser (presumably that Cerberus one from the Invasion comic) with what looks like the tail end of Omega up in the top right corner. What's really interesting of course is that shadowy figure behind Shepard. A new race perhaps? A Quarian with eccentric fashion sense? A Turian female? Aria in Prince of Persia cosplay?!

 

[Skywalker]

That's a dreadnought, not a cruiser.

 

[Reverend]

^ I did wonder about that, but it looks like it has only one pair of main thrusters, not two like other dreadnought's.

Either way you have to wonder where the hell Cerberus got the resources to build a cruiser, never-mind a full on dreadnought! Wasn't the construction of the Normandy supposed and project Lazarus to have consumed most of TIM's extant assets? Maybe he did a kickstarter.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, Cerberus became really ridiculous in ME3. Maybe if the gap between it and ME2 had been like five years, or if BioWare had done a better job of setting them up in ME1 (IIRC, at that that Cerberus was just a cool side thing they'd added in, and it wasn't until ME2 that they decided to make Cerberus a major player).

As for the ship, I think it's a dreadnought because the 'nose' matches other human dreadnoughts. Cruisers have those two prongs poking out of the ends of their 'noses.'