OK, this is new. Looks like they're doing a little ARG for Leviathan on the Bioware blog. Oh and the ANN twitter account has been "hacked" by this guy too. 
Mass Effect 3
- Thread starter PsychoPere
- Start date
Just finished Leviathan. Pretty good DLC overall! I'd rank it as not QUITE as good as LotSB, but arguably better than all the other ME2 DLC's. And I was thrilled that they bothered to record new dialogue for all your squadmembers (and Cortez and Hackett, but unsurprisingly no new Joker stuff.) Wonder if they did it at the same time they recorded the new Extended Cut dialogue.
Oh yeah, one thing, making my post-mission rounds on the Normandy, I noticed Tali chatting with Garrus on the comm each time I entered engineering. Something tells me those chats existed in the original game (since it foreshadows the two of them hooking up right before Earth) yet there were never enough missions in the game before to give you the opportunity to hear them all.
The new cabin trophy is hilarious. My miniature giant space hamster has a new friend now! 
Oh yeah, one thing, making my post-mission rounds on the Normandy, I noticed Tali chatting with Garrus on the comm each time I entered engineering. Something tells me those chats existed in the original game (since it foreshadows the two of them hooking up right before Earth) yet there were never enough missions in the game before to give you the opportunity to hear them all.
I was blown away by the Leviathan DLC, if this is the standard they're going to set for the ME3 DLC, then bravo! I hope that the practice of having the squad have new dialogue is a continuing thing, it added a lot of depth to the missions. It wouldn't surprise me if that's due to the Extended Cut, but I'd love for them to get long term plans set for the DLC so that they can record all they'll need and continue to have that be a part of the DLC.
I enjoyed it. The squad banter was very nice to have as it's absence in ME2 DLC was always a pet peeve of mine. You can definitely see that they've been using the multiplayer as a testing ground for new game-play mechanics. The escort & power cell relay bits helped shake up what would otherwise have been some fairly dull combat.
The Leviathan themselves are fairly interesting and I like how it ties together several background stories like the 'Leviathan of Dis', Kasumi's lover's greybox, the rachni acting against their will and the origin of the reaper form. It raises a few questions though; if the Leviathan need "lesser" races to create technology and facilitate space travel for them, that means they had to have evolved on a planet with just such a race. If so, what happened to that first race? Did they become the Keepers? That would seem to be appropriate. I also have the wonder if there's a connection between Leviathan and the Thorian. Their MOs are very similar, so perhaps they evolved on the same planet? I mean Leviathan couldn't been the only branch of it's evolutionary tree, could it? I mean something that massive must have requited either a prey species of significant mass and/or enormous numbers. Perhaps the Thorian and it's thralls were that prey species? The implication there of course would be that Feros is the Leviathans' homeworld, presumably with it's oceans long since dried up. That or Thorian spores were somehow transported there at some point in the past...perhaps as a handy food source?
Overall, I can't shake the slightly hollow feeling that none of this matters, given we already know how things end...though it may make me rethink choosing the destroy option in future. I mean, with all the synthetics gone, what's to stop the Leviathan from enslaving all the lesser races all over again?
Oh and as for the severed Cerberus trooper head: I named mine Murray! And if you don't get the reference, go play Monkey Island 3.
The Leviathan themselves are fairly interesting and I like how it ties together several background stories like the 'Leviathan of Dis', Kasumi's lover's greybox, the rachni acting against their will and the origin of the reaper form. It raises a few questions though; if the Leviathan need "lesser" races to create technology and facilitate space travel for them, that means they had to have evolved on a planet with just such a race. If so, what happened to that first race? Did they become the Keepers? That would seem to be appropriate. I also have the wonder if there's a connection between Leviathan and the Thorian. Their MOs are very similar, so perhaps they evolved on the same planet? I mean Leviathan couldn't been the only branch of it's evolutionary tree, could it? I mean something that massive must have requited either a prey species of significant mass and/or enormous numbers. Perhaps the Thorian and it's thralls were that prey species? The implication there of course would be that Feros is the Leviathans' homeworld, presumably with it's oceans long since dried up. That or Thorian spores were somehow transported there at some point in the past...perhaps as a handy food source?
Overall, I can't shake the slightly hollow feeling that none of this matters, given we already know how things end...though it may make me rethink choosing the destroy option in future. I mean, with all the synthetics gone, what's to stop the Leviathan from enslaving all the lesser races all over again?
Oh and as for the severed Cerberus trooper head: I named mine Murray! And if you don't get the reference, go play Monkey Island 3.
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Well I read on one of the TV tropes fridge pages for the Mass Effect games that there was a race mentioned in one of the Mass Effect games (I think it was ME 2) that was apparently clashing with one of the dominate races of a cycle who's name is similar to the Thorian that led to speculation that the Thorian used to have its own little interstellar empire. So it might not be native to Feros.
Didn't Exogeni give it that name? If so then it's probably not it's true name anymore than "Prothean" or "Leviathan" are the *actual* names of those races. It's probably just a co-incidence. More to the point, the Thor'han was a spacefaring race. If they were the same species as the Thorian, what are the odds it could have gone unnoticed for two consecutive reaping cycles? We know the Protheans on Feros encountered it, just as we can be sure the Reapers cleared the planet out. So the reapers must have known of it through them and the fact that it still exists means that the catalyst didn't regard that species as significant, otherwise they'd have glassed the planet instead of just stripping it.
Not that it means the Thorian must be native to Feros either. Like I said, some other race could have transported it or it's spores there in some previous cycle. There's no way to know for sure.
Plus, contrary to what whoever posted that idea on TVTropes said, as far as I can tell there's no confirmed instance of the Isunannon and the Thorian coming into contact. All we know is that the Thorian was on Feros long before the Protheans. If Feros is indeed it's homeworld then fine, it was there when the Isunannon were on the Citadel, however, while it's certainly a possibility, we don't know for sure that they ever went to Feros or encountered the creature there. For all we know, their survey team arrived when the Thorian was hibernating, decided the planet wasn't a viable colonsation prospect and never came back.
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Just finished the DLC pack, it was decent. Really liked the "detective" scenes in the lab trying to narrow down where you should go next.
That was fantastic, much improved over the ME2 DLC. Hopefully they will keep that up for any future DLC packs. I suppose it would be easier to record dialogue for ME3 DLC packs since your roster of squadmembers is a tad smaller.
I left that damn thing right where it was. No way in hell I was bringing that into my cabin.
I think there was a mention of it in Kasumi's mission on the Citadel, but nothing in the Leviathan DLC.
So unless they come out with a "The Adventures of Archangel" Garrus-centric DLC pack that takes place after the ending, that's something we're not going to be able to shake. Maybe it will even affect the DLC sales?
I didn't play through to the end of the game after completing the DLC (mostly because I strongly dislike that "defend the missile battery part of the London mission), but I've heard that some of the Starchild dialogue changes after meeting Leviathan. Is that true? Is there a Youtube video that shows that yet?
That was fantastic, much improved over the ME2 DLC. Hopefully they will keep that up for any future DLC packs. I suppose it would be easier to record dialogue for ME3 DLC packs since your roster of squadmembers is a tad smaller.
The new cabin trophy is hilarious. My miniature giant space hamster has a new friend now!
I left that damn thing right where it was. No way in hell I was bringing that into my cabin.
I don't recall any mention of that in the DLC?
I think there was a mention of it in Kasumi's mission on the Citadel, but nothing in the Leviathan DLC.Yeah, there is that. But that's going to be something we feel with all the single-player DLC since it has to be before the ending by necessity. Unlike the ME2 DLC where it could fit in after the ending of the main game, and in some cases (like LotSB and Arrival) was probably designed to be experienced after the ending.
So unless they come out with a "The Adventures of Archangel" Garrus-centric DLC pack that takes place after the ending, that's something we're not going to be able to shake. Maybe it will even affect the DLC sales?
I didn't play through to the end of the game after completing the DLC (mostly because I strongly dislike that "defend the missile battery part of the London mission), but I've heard that some of the Starchild dialogue changes after meeting Leviathan. Is that true? Is there a Youtube video that shows that yet?
The differences are so minor it's not worth replaying to the end. Just a few extra bits of dialogue.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-KKWwfOhkE[/yt]
I actually like that part. It's just a "survive for 4 minutes" kind of countdown, so you can either run away from the banshees, or see how many you can take down before time is up. Then again, I like how crazy challenging and non-stop the ending is.
Not as good as the ME1 or ME2 ending though. ME1 felt incredibly epic. I still remember the first time I went running up the Citadel Tower. ME2 was far more intense, you weren't really sure if everyone was going to make it (I got Legion killed the first time through).
Anyway, I'm still playing through Leviathan. I enjoyed the screaming husk head more than I should have. I kept poking it like a feces analyzer no matter how much it screamed.
I don't recall any mention of that in the DLC?
Not directly, no. However, in the main game we find out that the big secret that got Keiji killed was an Alliance raid on batarians holding reaper tech, which of course must have been the Leviathan of Dis. Hence there being a connection.
I didn't think it would be. Indeed, I'm pretty sure the devs made it clear a while ago that the only difference in the ending would be a few lines of dialogue with the catalyst. Of course that hasn't stopped people over on BSN from throwing hissy fits because they didn't get a totally new ending, but that's BSN for you.
Actually, I did wonder if there would be an extra 'slide' as part of the ending montages. Like I said, logically if you pick destroy there's very little to stop the Leviathan from trying to retake the galaxy for themselves again. If you pick control they should be kept in check but in synthesis, they should be singing kum ba yah with all the other green glowey eyed people. You'd think the nature of the slides would make it easy to insert new ones, no?
What bothered me about the London mission wasn't the combat itself, but the lack of agency. I mean this should have been the point in the game where a lot of you previous decisions bare fruit. Did you save the students from Grissom academy? If so then they should have appeared either giving you biotic artillery covering fire (and getting themselves killed in the process) or protecting a group of allied soldiers giving you coving fir and surviving. Did you recruit the Geth Primes? The they should have showed up too. Same for the rachni, Grunt, even Jacob and the non-indoctrinated ex-Cerberus troops. Cut dialogue seems in imply this is pretty much what they intended, so it's a real same it was never implemented.
So...anyone else wondering what the data miners will find in this DLC? More "retake omega" stuff or something new?
Yeah, they needed 6 more months than they were originally given. Anything and everything that people have complained about seems to have been a result of an accelerated schedule.
Having finished Leviathan, I feel it can easily match Shadow Broker. It might be better, I'll have to play through again.
^From where I stand the only thing LotSB had that Leviathan lacks is a significant character arc. Of course that's not the point of the DLC, it's a mystery/exploration story so I'd say it's at least equal to SB in terms of quality and content. Anything else is just personal preference.
What really brings it to life for me though is the inclusion of squad interaction. It's something that always made the ME2 DLCs feel just a little...off. Now that I think about it though, it was really only noticeable in Overlord & Zaead's mission,In LotSB you had Vasir and then Liara chatting with you the whole time while 'Stolen Memories' 'Arrival' dodged the issue entierly by having you play solo.
Still, if this is a sign of things to come I think we're in for a treat with future DLC.
Oh and apparantly the data miners have already turned up something. A new level called "CitHot" IIRC. That's in addition to the "OmgHub" levels that showed up in the firefight pack. Apparently they're certain it's nothing to do with Bryson's lab, so speculation ranges from a hotel to the keeper tunnels.
Personally, I think if the trend of giving the Catalyst a few more lines to say with each DLC holds up, then one of the future stories should deal with the race that first designed the crucible. I mean why else have him say "you would not know them and it'd take to long to explain" if there wasn't a story behind that. They could easily have had him say something like "they were called the Zoidbergs and they took longer than most to finally eliminate."
My pet theory is still that the keepers were behind it. Who else knows the citadel better? Who else has the enormous technical expertise to conceive of it? And who else has more of a reason than anyone to want the endless cycles to stop?
What really brings it to life for me though is the inclusion of squad interaction. It's something that always made the ME2 DLCs feel just a little...off. Now that I think about it though, it was really only noticeable in Overlord & Zaead's mission,In LotSB you had Vasir and then Liara chatting with you the whole time while 'Stolen Memories' 'Arrival' dodged the issue entierly by having you play solo.
Still, if this is a sign of things to come I think we're in for a treat with future DLC.
Oh and apparantly the data miners have already turned up something. A new level called "CitHot" IIRC. That's in addition to the "OmgHub" levels that showed up in the firefight pack. Apparently they're certain it's nothing to do with Bryson's lab, so speculation ranges from a hotel to the keeper tunnels.
Personally, I think if the trend of giving the Catalyst a few more lines to say with each DLC holds up, then one of the future stories should deal with the race that first designed the crucible. I mean why else have him say "you would not know them and it'd take to long to explain" if there wasn't a story behind that. They could easily have had him say something like "they were called the Zoidbergs and they took longer than most to finally eliminate."
My pet theory is still that the keepers were behind it. Who else knows the citadel better? Who else has the enormous technical expertise to conceive of it? And who else has more of a reason than anyone to want the endless cycles to stop?
Keepers were well established as being pretty much husks that had gone to trade school. It would have been more interesting to have the Catalyst depicted as one, though. Then again, taking the form of the child that's been haunting Shepard reinforces the idea that the Catalyst was (while not in control of Shepard) making a really hard sell. "I know you really had your mind set on destroying us, but how about you look at this shiny new model 2186 Synthesis. It's way better, oh and no one dies. Ever. Everyone becomes a glowing Highlander, except no swords now that Kai Lang is dead. I promise. I'm a child, would I lie to you?"
The more I look back, the less bad I find the ending. Not great, like the first two games, but it's clever at least.
^Well for my pet theory to work, they'd have to be faking domesticity. It'd have to be a hive consciousness that somehow evolved to bypass the cybernetic implants. Yeah, I know it's unlikely, but it is a *pet* theory and I can't help that the concept of funny looking insects changing the galaxy though passive aggressive behaviour is something I find oddly appealing.
They certainly had plenty of time to evolve and if I'm right, they're even older then the reapers. I may be wrong, but I think there was a sideways reference to them in the conversation with Leviathan. Oh, and did anyone else get a familiar vibe from that exchange? Like maybe we've seen something very similar before?
They certainly had plenty of time to evolve and if I'm right, they're even older then the reapers. I may be wrong, but I think there was a sideways reference to them in the conversation with Leviathan. Oh, and did anyone else get a familiar vibe from that exchange? Like maybe we've seen something very similar before?
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You know, the whole Intelligence thing could have worked if they'd kept it as a rogue AI who thought it was obeying its creators' wishes, but had severely misinterpreted them instead. That's basically what they've done here in Leviathan, but they made it about the Intelligence seeking an answer to ending the allegedly inevitable conflict between organics and synthetics, which just pushes the abysmal Synthesis ending.
It would have been better, IMO, if the Leviathans had instructed the Intelligence to just do whatever it took to find a means to protect organic life from dying out. Realizing that all organic life has a finite lifespan, it comes up with a way to preserve the galaxy's sentient life in an immortal Reaper shell to protect them from succumbing to entropy and inevitable extinction. The problem with this idea is, of course, that the Intelligence and the Reapers are deciding people's fate for them, and so the choice in the end would be between destroying the Reapers and leaving the galaxy free to choose its own destiny again, or controlling the Reapers and using them for your own purposes (i.e. domination of the galaxy).
But I guess something like that would have been too simple and too cookie-cutter.
It would have been better, IMO, if the Leviathans had instructed the Intelligence to just do whatever it took to find a means to protect organic life from dying out. Realizing that all organic life has a finite lifespan, it comes up with a way to preserve the galaxy's sentient life in an immortal Reaper shell to protect them from succumbing to entropy and inevitable extinction. The problem with this idea is, of course, that the Intelligence and the Reapers are deciding people's fate for them, and so the choice in the end would be between destroying the Reapers and leaving the galaxy free to choose its own destiny again, or controlling the Reapers and using them for your own purposes (i.e. domination of the galaxy).
But I guess something like that would have been too simple and too cookie-cutter.
No word at all on future DLC yet beyond the fact that it's coming. If the release cycle will be anything like it was for ME2 then we're probably looking at another 2-3 months minimum before the next major DLC. They may of course to other smaller bits and pieces in the mean time like the weapon, armour & alt appearance packs. We'll see. It's a fair bet though that one of the DLCs will have something to do with helping Aria retake Omega.
In other news, the Paragon Lost trailer is out.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_3KPFrrxfI[/yt]
In other news, the Paragon Lost trailer is out.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_3KPFrrxfI[/yt]
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