Everyone thought humans were dicks and treated you like you were a dick. Alienating the player helps a bit with feeling like you're in a foreign place and maybe a bit over your head (but not too much!). I like to call it the Morrowind Effect.
Mass Effect 3
- Thread starter PsychoPere
- Start date
While I certainly have my issues with the sequels, Mass Effect 1 was essentially the story of how humanity came to power and/or dominance because of how exceptional it is. All four variations on the ending basically revolve around this theme.
While it's certainly valid to miss the feeling of humanity as the underdog, which was largely missing in the sequels, I don't think it's entirely fair to blame the sequels for continuing in that direction.
Besides, I think the series turns that particular trope on it's head in an amusing way. "Yes, you're exceptional, but you'd probably be better off if you weren't."
While it's certainly valid to miss the feeling of humanity as the underdog, which was largely missing in the sequels, I don't think it's entirely fair to blame the sequels for continuing in that direction.
Besides, I think the series turns that particular trope on it's head in an amusing way. "Yes, you're exceptional, but you'd probably be better off if you weren't."
I always saw those endings stemming more from where the player's loyalty truly lies. Are you loyal to the diverse vastness of the galaxy and all the species that inhabit it, or are you loyal to the human race with the belief that your species should be regarded as the top dog race that should be calling all the shots?
And to be honest, I don't really see how humanity is more "exceptional" than any other race in the game. Like I don't see why an Asari couldn't have done all the things that Shepard had done in the first game, or even a Turian for that matter. Shepard just happened to be at the right place at the right time.
Well this game still has a few little surprises left for me. Just played a little today with my renegade, turian romancing engineer and noticed a little easter egg on the Citadel. If you go to the docking bay holding area and look at the memorial wall, there's a photo in the bottom left that feature an image of the early X05 pre-release version of default Shepard and the words "John, call soon".
That's about as obscure as a video game self reference can get!
That's about as obscure as a video game self reference can get!
I'm about to start ME3 for the final time, my last ever (and my personal canon) play-through of the entire trilogy, including all DLC.
Just recently completed my last play-through of ME2 after 6 months of on/off playing. Rather shamefully I zipped through ME1 on the easy setting since I find the game mechanics almost unplayable now which gave more time to enjoy the actual story.
I'd almost forgotten just how awesome the Shepard character is in ME2. In terms of character development, Shepard is at his best in ME2. It's also the most epic of the trilogy and IMO has the best characters.
ME1 has the best story, while ME3 has (for me) the best game-play, so looking forward to starting the final round.
Just recently completed my last play-through of ME2 after 6 months of on/off playing. Rather shamefully I zipped through ME1 on the easy setting since I find the game mechanics almost unplayable now which gave more time to enjoy the actual story.
I'd almost forgotten just how awesome the Shepard character is in ME2. In terms of character development, Shepard is at his best in ME2. It's also the most epic of the trilogy and IMO has the best characters.
ME1 has the best story, while ME3 has (for me) the best game-play, so looking forward to starting the final round.
I finished my *definitive* playthrough a year ago when Citadel came out. It was with my very first Shepard, imported all the way through the trilogy from my first blind playthrough after picking up the game for cheep in a steam sale.
My other Shepherds may have done things a little more interestingly, or efficiently in terms of upgrades and character builds. They may be classes that I found more fun to play as--first time though, I have no clue what a "sentinel" or a "vanguard" was, so I stuck with the boring familiar soldier--and they may not have made as many "mistakes", but that first Shepard will always be my *definitive* one and who's save file I fully intend to import again into ME4 if at all possible.
My other Shepherds may have done things a little more interestingly, or efficiently in terms of upgrades and character builds. They may be classes that I found more fun to play as--first time though, I have no clue what a "sentinel" or a "vanguard" was, so I stuck with the boring familiar soldier--and they may not have made as many "mistakes", but that first Shepard will always be my *definitive* one and who's save file I fully intend to import again into ME4 if at all possible.
Outside of the PC I'm not sure how they can include the ability to import from Mass Effect 3 since Mass Effect 1,2, and 3 are on the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 respectfully where as Mass Effect 4 is likely to be on the on the Xbox One and Playstation 4 respectfully.
Hopefully with ME4 they'll do something similar to what the Dragon Age team is doing with the Dragon Age Keep system. From what I can tell you'll apparently be able to set choices for what came before in the previous games without having to worry about importing any saves. Makes sense with the jump to next gen consoles.
KotOR II basically had you go through dialogue trees that told the game the choices you made in the original game.
That's my opinion as well. Benedict Shepard was ugly, he let the Council die because he thought it would make the fight against Sovereign easier, he got Thane killed by failing to understand how the vent sequence worked, he murdered Mordin and was later forced to murder Wrex, he failed to achieve peace between the Quarians and the Geth (which I still don't understand as I had all of the requirements for peace), but he was my definitive Shepard. He spared the Rachni twice, he got the rest of the SR-2 crew off the Collector base, he saved the Collector base (which I will once again point out awards 10 more EMS points than destroying it
), he destroyed the Reapers, somehow survived (which I'm actually disappointed by), and he punched Khalisah al-Jilani twice.I had 4 characters ready to import into ME3 when it released: my definitive character, anti-definitive, pure paragon, and pure renegade. I finished off the fourth run about a month ago. I want to do at least one more run through the entire trilogy with an eclectic collection of choices, but I probably wont do that until later this year, or maybe next.
^ For the Quarrian/Geth thing, I think that even if Tali is an Admiral and you saved the other Admiral before you do the reaper base, you still need to have a high enough paragon or renegade rep to get the "shout at people till they comply" options.
I just did that bit with my engineer and I had *both* red and blue options available despite the fact she's 90% renegade. I had intended to let Tali kill herself, but it occured to me I'd not seen how Tali reacts if you're romancing Garrus, so I went with reconciliation...even if that weren't the case, I'm not sure I could even go ahead with it. I mean I also just killed Wrex too...that was a first for me and it was surprisingly difficult.
I also just played through the Omega DLC again and I'd forgotten just how annoying an experience it was. Don't get me wrong, from a gameplay standpoint it's very well put together. Very good level design, nice variety and some innovative gameplay. However, it's totally contained nature makes the whole thing feel like Shepard hit her head and dreamt the whole thing.
Nothing changes. Even Aria appears back exactly where she was on the Citadel, with just one line of dialogue and a cabin memento to acknowledge what just happened. Nyreen was a total missed opportunity. I can accept that there were technical and budgetary limitations that prevented her from being a recruitable squadmate, but I still think they squandered her. Hell, you never even get to address her death with Aria!
All through the interactions between the two, the game pretty much hits you over the head with the concept that Aria= renegade, Nyreen= Paragon. Both seem to be vying for leadership of Omega and the natural way to go seems to be that at some point, you're going to have to either choose between them, or find some compromise to get them working together. But instead her arc takes a 90 degree turn into her phobia with dealing with adjutants that ends with her unceremonious and blatantly forced suicide.
Add to all that the fact you don't get Omega as a new hub, the sloppy, often broken cutscenes, the total absence of squadmate interactions, or even reactions...yeah. Very frustrating.
That last bit wouldn't be so bad if at least it made sense. "I don't approve of some of the company you keep." What does that even mean? Does she know Garrus was Archangel? Why would that even matter? Does she think Liara is working for the Shadow Broker? Why not just say so?
I just did that bit with my engineer and I had *both* red and blue options available despite the fact she's 90% renegade. I had intended to let Tali kill herself, but it occured to me I'd not seen how Tali reacts if you're romancing Garrus, so I went with reconciliation...even if that weren't the case, I'm not sure I could even go ahead with it. I mean I also just killed Wrex too...that was a first for me and it was surprisingly difficult.
I also just played through the Omega DLC again and I'd forgotten just how annoying an experience it was. Don't get me wrong, from a gameplay standpoint it's very well put together. Very good level design, nice variety and some innovative gameplay. However, it's totally contained nature makes the whole thing feel like Shepard hit her head and dreamt the whole thing.
Nothing changes. Even Aria appears back exactly where she was on the Citadel, with just one line of dialogue and a cabin memento to acknowledge what just happened. Nyreen was a total missed opportunity. I can accept that there were technical and budgetary limitations that prevented her from being a recruitable squadmate, but I still think they squandered her. Hell, you never even get to address her death with Aria!
All through the interactions between the two, the game pretty much hits you over the head with the concept that Aria= renegade, Nyreen= Paragon. Both seem to be vying for leadership of Omega and the natural way to go seems to be that at some point, you're going to have to either choose between them, or find some compromise to get them working together. But instead her arc takes a 90 degree turn into her phobia with dealing with adjutants that ends with her unceremonious and blatantly forced suicide.
Add to all that the fact you don't get Omega as a new hub, the sloppy, often broken cutscenes, the total absence of squadmate interactions, or even reactions...yeah. Very frustrating.
That last bit wouldn't be so bad if at least it made sense. "I don't approve of some of the company you keep." What does that even mean? Does she know Garrus was Archangel? Why would that even matter? Does she think Liara is working for the Shadow Broker? Why not just say so?
I'm pretty sure I did. The only thing I can think of is that I punched that Quarian Admiral who opened fire on the Geth dreadnought while I was still on it, which may have made him not listen to my orders during the climactic moment.
Either way, the Geth died. I'm okay with that.
Nope, can't be that because I punched him too. I even berated Legion repeatedly about keeping things back. :/
Just played through Citadel and did the date with Garrus. I've been avoiding spoilers on this for over a year and I'm glad I did. It was hilarious and both VO's were in top form, clearly having some fun with it.
Just played through Citadel and did the date with Garrus. I've been avoiding spoilers on this for over a year and I'm glad I did. It was hilarious and both VO's were in top form, clearly having some fun with it.
Then I really don't know why I didn't get the red and blue dialogue options. I still have a save file from before that sequence and when I checked it earlier I had a maxed-out reputation bar. The only thing I did wrong was reprogram the Geth heretics in ME2, but I did everything else right and therefore should have been able to broker peace. It must have been a glitch then. That sucks.
The reputation system in ME3 is a bit weird. I think it's more than just having all paragon or renegade, but there's also an overall score that you can't really see in-game. Maybe your total rep wasn't enough? Mind you, if you've imported from ME2 then you should have had a good head start.
I don't think I've ever had a greyed out option with an imported character. Hell with that particular instance, I had both options available and that Shep hardly has any paragon on the bar. So yeah, it was probably a glitch.
Incidentally, I'd also reprogrammed the heretics with that Shepard.
I don't think I've ever had a greyed out option with an imported character. Hell with that particular instance, I had both options available and that Shep hardly has any paragon on the bar. So yeah, it was probably a glitch.
Incidentally, I'd also reprogrammed the heretics with that Shepard.
