As for ME's music, as much as I like the first game I think a lot of people are a bit too nostalgic about it Most of the music isn't particularly memorable there either, the artwork hasn't aged well, and the unpolished gameplay elements and technical issues are so annoying that one has to wonder how it was received so well.
I think a lot of it was the excellent world building and the cinematic approach, by the way. Even if a lot of the ingame movies have horrible motion blur and camera work
There has been an massive improvement between the first and third game, I think that really makes 1 stand out as dated. It's been surpassed in every way.
As for ME's music, as much as I like the first game I think a lot of people are a bit too nostalgic about it Most of the music isn't particularly memorable there either
ME1 didn't have better music, but the music sure as hell stood out more. Just like Megaman, it follows the rule of 3 instrument pattern, with 2 background 'choir', so it's not only easier to remember, but played the part as well in the scenes/gameplay.
You could say old school methods with new age mixes?
Other then the Lower-Afterlife, and DLC music for Kasumi, Shadow Broker, etc...I cannot recall what a single track sounded like in ME2 from the original game other then it sounded like something out of a movie. It all sounded too samey, each battle followed the same loops, and just generally sounded like what would happen if Micheal Bay decided to throw some extra cash to make every single track something you can use in trailers.
I can't comment on ME3 still, but if they at least tried to keep more of the Sci-Fi elements without shriveling back to dupstep or Epic compositions, that's already a move in a good direction.
NOTE: I honestly think EA should stop 'Epic-fying' the soundtracks of all of their games. Throwing a couple of tracks that makes you feel like you're listening to God's MP3 player is fine, but not when every tracks must get his blessing.
I can't remember a single song in ME2 / 3 but in ME1 I can remember the brilliant Noveria, the creepy tune that played in space stations and the Prothean tune when you talk to the AI. Oh yeah and the disturbing yet blood rushing tune on the same planet where that AI is.
Anyway I was playing multiplayer for AGES and all of a sudden the welcome message popped up and I "lost" everything. My unlocks and my classes. I said f*ck this sh*t and decided never to play that again.
I completed ME3 last night in a mad 7 hour rush, ignoring side quests. The game was just two distracting from work and all I cared about was the ending!
Anyway, I actually quite liked the ending. I wasn't happy with the
magic child 'catalyst',
but I liked the three choices. I spent some time thinking about what I would change and I came to the conclusion that I probably would't change much, just how the options are presented to you, and obviously the cutscene at the end.
SPOILERS!
So you have the cycle, nice bigger than big, unfathomable space opera key to it all. You have the reapers, Organics, and Synthetics.
Then the three choices: 1.control the reapers, end the war. this is a nice ending to pick if you're thinking about the current generation and you want to beat the reapers. Depending on what you chose, you could pick this option with the idea that it is a short term fix, and we can deal with the synthetic problem anther way, or that you have brokered peace and you hope for a different outcome to the reapers predictions. Still, in time, eons maybe, synthetics might destroy all organic life.
Destroy the reapers, the mass relays, and all synthetic life. This is a way of directly responding to the predicted synthetic threat. You might pick this if you never got along with the geth. Destroy the reapers for good, no ambiguity. Preserve organic life, but in a universe without the technology it has come to rely on. Still... probably going to see more synthetics created in the far future, and the risk is still there.
Merge synthetic and organic life! Break the cycle! This is my biggest peeve with the three choices. It's the only logical choice if you heed the reapers warnings... but... it doesn't make any sense. It's a fantasy deus ex machina that magically and instantly rolls out the singularity with what... the sheer will of shepherd as a mythical martyr?
I would have this last option as a possible outcome of controlling the reapers. You control the reapers, and use their technology (reapers are a synthetic organic hybrid) to bring about the singularity and fill the gaps in knowledge when it comes to uploading organic minds into a machine. Everyone evolves into a new post singularity universe like the green ending, and the cycle is broken.
Except this wouldn't work, or be a smooth process. noone else has seen what shepherd has seen, there would probably be wars and the cycle would continue. You have to have it roll out at once or it wouldn't save everyone. So we have a big green magic blast that fixxes everything and I guess I'm happy with that.
I just wish the ending showed the outcome for the various civilizations in the galaxy. I spent all this time trying to save them, did they get saved?
Final pet peeve:
in the protheans cycle, they where the only intelligent life. in 'our' cycle, Every-bloody-thing is intelligent! the four council species, krogan, elcor, volus, drell, hannar, batarians, vorcha, collectors, that shadow broker species, the freaking rachni! GJ reapers I guess..
In the prothean cycle, there were other intelligent races. When talking to Javik, he mentions other races all being known as protheans, even though they were different conquered races.
Some of the complaints are legit - there are some horrible graphical problems and there are some fatal flaws here and there, such as conversation choices and decisions that ultimately make no difference in the course of the game. You will struggle to win the game without playing both previous games, and it is very difficult to win the game without playing a fair bit of multiplayer. The DLC issues should also be pretty obvious by now.
Other than that, I'm enjoying the weapons system a lot more and the combat is improved for it. There's a somewhat greater variety in enemies, although most of the reaper husk themed enemies are still pretty annoying.
I do believe the complaints are fair. People have more commitment in mass effect than any other series. Fans have been told there choices will matter through the entire series and they have brought their Shepard from one series to the next. The ending ultimately feels to belittle the choices and commitments you've made. So while the whining might be extreme I don't think its completely unjustified.
thats sad to hear... played the other two games, and they felt really good, wouldnt say perfect, but very good games. and now getting to know that my saves wont matter that much as regards the ending of the third, feels somehow like a letdown
will give it a try nonetheless, just wont be hoping to find a perfect game :S
I just wish the ending showed the outcome for the various civilizations in the galaxy. I spent all this time trying to save them, did they get saved?
Exactly. That's what I meant about wishing it had a good meaty epilogue. Not only that, but you're picking any of the three choices on a premise that it would lead to a certain outcome. I would love to see that outcome. Maybe leave it in an open sandbox game where the galaxy looks like how you left it based on your choice. Although
that wouldn't make much sense if you decided to destroy synthetics, cause then you can't even space travel. And speaking of which, how come you can't? So synthetics are gone, it doesn't mean the knowledge is gone. Humanity still built space-ships on its own.
Complaints are fair. The ending is weaker than you'd want, but think about this:
You have a huge deviation in storylines to the point where every character could be dead or alive at the end, and multiple fleets are there or aren't, and some races aren't even in existence. Making a more expository ending with this much deviation would be a gigantic pain, so whatever the ending it would need to be somewhat weak and detached from the main narrative, thereby ignoring all the choices you made up to that point. Otherwise it would be a huge amount of work.
It wouldn't have been that bad, actually. It's largely a flip-flop, a race/character made it or they didn't. In which case you have a state for either.
Quarians didn't make it? No Quarian fleet on your map. Character didn't make it? Can't visit them wherever they'd appropriately be located.
Not knowing the outcome of all those decisions you've been making for something like 60+ (30+ if you rush it) hours of gameplay, being the core of the gameplay structure itself, is a kick in the teeth.
Seriously, it's not that hard hiring a bunch of concept art peeps, having them paint a couple of images for the races, having a guy with nice a voice narrate the outcome of stuff.
It will cost what, I couple of K's a the best? Seriously, B and E couldn't up the cash to make us feel like we did something?
I loved the game til the last 5 minutes or so. I had imported my character from 1 and 2, so I felt pretty attached to the story.
I think the endings would have been just fine if some of it just... made more sense.
Like why was the Normandy running off with the squadmates I took with me to storm Earth? And I guess my Shepard lived, you see some n7 armor taking a breath in the rubble, but how do you survive such an explosion in space? And I just wish there was a better send-off for the characters near the end, instead of somehow crashing on a random jungle planet.
And of course, more space battles with the fleets you gathered! It felt like I collected 7100 war assets for no real payoff.
I loved the game til the last 5 minutes or so. I had imported my character from 1 and 2, so I felt pretty attached to the story.
I think the endings would have been just fine if some of it just... made more sense.
Like why was the Normandy running off with the squadmates I took with me to storm Earth? And I guess my Shepard lived, you see some n7 armor taking a breath in the rubble, but how do you survive such an explosion in space? And I just wish there was a better send-off for the characters near the end, instead of somehow crashing on a random jungle planet.
And of course, more space battles with the fleets you gathered! It felt like I collected 7100 war assets for no real payoff.
I think that's what makes for the biggest support in terms of the indoctrination theory. A lot of people speculating everything after getting hit by the beam is a dream sequence/indoctrination. It's odd that the "evil" ending is the one that requires the highest score to unlock the little breathing clip. It's possible that if it is indoctrination that harbinger purposefully makes the destruction ending seem like its the renegade choice to try and persuade you, since that's the only one that guarantees the end to the reapers.
Here is some fun images to foster speculation. Some are far fetched but its fun to see (the danger and caution always being in frame when the kid is in frame is particularly amusing to me).
Seriously, it's not that hard hiring a bunch of concept art peeps, having them paint a couple of images for the races, having a guy with nice a voice narrate the outcome of stuff.
I wish they'd use that kind of cinematic more often. I loved the ones in the Homeworld series.
As for the indoctrination end, the living Shep at the end would indicate that it was indeed a dream since it is implied that he would die if he chose to destroy the Reapers and other synthetic life, as he himself is partially synthetic. If he doesn't die, then obviously shooting the tube didn't do what it was supposed to, ergo it could actually be an indoctrination dream. But I still think there's an excellent chance that it's just the byproduct of a poorly cobbled together rush job.
I broke the link so the title of the video isn't visible (posting a link to a video embeds it, and the title of the video is a spoiler for anyone who hasn't played.)
I broke the link so the title of the video isn't visible (posting a link to a video embeds it, and the title of the video is a spoiler for anyone who hasn't played.)
even if that ending is right it still has no effect on how little your actions actually effect the end
Music wise I didn't really notice anything new between games, just updates of the themes introduced in the original.
Re: that
indoctrinated theory
video, that's a reasonable assumption.
I remember in the Path of Neo, there was this scene, totally silly but hilarious and possibly relevant [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TLJb9NZN0I"]The Matrix: Path of Neo - Wachowski Brothers SPOILERS - YouTube[/ame]
Note: I think martyrdom is the only way to end this story arc. Just wan't more closure
thats what I didnt like. There's no point in indoctrinating anyone at that point. The reapers have all but won. TIM's got nothing to offer alive, nor has Shepard. both are safer dead.
There'll be more DLC. Epilogue DLC would however be an even bigger kick in the teeth; if they do decide to remedy their endings issue, it needs to be in a patch.
If that's true I'm super happy. Sounds like either wishful thinking / trolling though.
Also, for what it's worth, other than the ending I think ME3 had superb story and writing. It was really gripping and you had a sense of urgency throughout.
Also, it's not that the endings were super bad, it's just that a series like this needed something quite amazing to top it off.
I guess what some people (like me) are annoyed at is the way they spend more time talking about how they're including bimbo 'game journalists' who don't know anything about the entertainment industry in the first place, and how much they talked about they spend time on sexy time animations, instead of...you know...talking and explaining something more important.
ME is a big franchise, a love letter from SW, ST, and a whole slew of other movies in game form. Even that less then great movies called FF-Spirits Within was a progenitor to this game.
You make a franchise as big as this, where even your average smucktard 12 year old actually knows the characters names, you can't simply call it quits like they did for the ending. It's cheap.
But is it the end of the world? No, disappointing? Maybe, but hey, you can always role-play with your partner to make you happy.
However, I also think the entire of the gaming community just proved to itself and everyone else that they don't know anything and are a group of people who don't deserve the money they make. For everything that they complained about being a 'rip-off' for the day one DLC, they suddenly turned around 180 and literally 'begged' for a DLC to 'fix' the ending because they couldn't deal with it.
Either EA predicted this and just showed the entire game industry a new way to make money, or someone just got lucky/unlucky depending on how you see it.
Either way, I will enjoy the game, I will play it, I will get the DLC's that I deem worthy/interesting and at the end of the day, after a bunch of MP run's, I will go to the next game and have fond memories of my time in ME universe, and every couple of years, I'll boot up the game for a nostalgia run, maybe even have a couple of kids so they play it too, and show my daughter that you need to kick journalists in their hoo-haa to be an action gal, and that I'm an open minded guy and she can sleep with anyone expect aliens, oh no sir, my daughter ain't getting no alien tentacles anywhere near her!
So yeah, take it for what you will at the end of the day, it's not like Han shot last...(which by the way, I don't even care, seriously, who care's who shot first! Enjoy the whole series for what it is!)
I'm going to reserve judgement on the ending because I haven't finished it, but this is a different issue for me. If you're going to release, by many accounts, an incomplete/lackluster ending, so be it, sometimes developers miss the mark. What gives me a sick feeling is that they would ship a game with a lackluster ending, and then release DLC containing the "better" ending, which you would have to pay for, in addition to paying for the first 3 games, just so you can get closure
I don't have a problem with DLC where it is appropriate, add some side missions here and there, maybe new characters, whatever, but this just seems wrong. Maybe I'm overreacting, like I said, I haven't finished the game yet, but I just can't help feeling this is in very bad taste, at least as far as the "complete ending" DLC is concerned (if that ends up being the case.)
However, I also think the entire of the gaming community just proved to itself and everyone else that they don't know anything and are a group of people who don't deserve the money they make. For everything that they complained about being a 'rip-off' for the day one DLC, they suddenly turned around 180 and literally 'begged' for a DLC to 'fix' the ending because they couldn't deal with it.
Because an actual dlc made now wouldn't have been in the game when it shipped.
The biggest issue people have with some dlc, and that even I have with dlc, is the idea of taking a slice out and bring it back on release day for a hefty price, even making it a part of one of the special editions.
If bioware cares about their fans they would release it as a free update at launch for everyone who bought the game, fans that have stuck around for three games.
Bioware actually used that tactic for their EA imposed trick to combat used sales, but now they most likely figured their loyal customers that bought new were not worth that, or that enough people would actually pay extra.
There's been a bit of a history now of cutting corners since dragon age 2 and fans are starting to feel it, while a company like cd projekt made the fantastic witcher 2 without cut corners, and have released massive free updates on that.
But the reality is quite different. In reality it's all about funding. The publisher funds the developer to make X-amount of content, the game itself. That includes all sorts of things.
Then they have additional funds to continue development. It's cheaper to do so because the developer can just build on the existing game, and for a relatively low cost (to the publisher), come up with additional content. That's the DLC.
The "problem" is that when the game is done, it goes through all sorts of testing. There's usually local QA, and a QA on the publisher's side, and QA on the console-maker side (Sony/Microsoft). While all that is going on, the developers don't just sit idly. Most of the programmers can start working on DLC, and of course the artists can start working on that as well (usually even before the programmers). So that by the time testing is done, DLC is close to being done too.
Add in random delays, staggered release in different markets, etc, and you can easily get a situation where the DLC is available shortly after release, if not day-1.
But it is in fact two separate things, with two separate funding.
At least that's been my experience working on games that had DLC.
What can definitely be done better is communicating that to the players. There's a publicity element here that the publishers are really bad at.
But that's the problem you see, Protean's DLC was made post cycle, so while it may have been under-handed to bring something plot-line wise important, it still was a valid approach in many ways, dick move, but nothing to the point where you should be crying 'wolf' for and burning bridges.
People need to criticize the day-one DLC for it's worth, not if it came out or not on the first day. Was it good? Was it worth the 10-20 bucks it cost? Would it really have mattered if it was in the game? There a time where you get the right to complain about stripped content and a time where you have to stop that and look at the content of the stuff in question and judge it by that, and how important it is.
Fun-Fact: The Ash DLC, while 'fun' doesn't exactly matter in the game or overall. Shadow Broker and even Kasumi was much better then this and seem to have more 'story continuity' then this DLC. I personally think the DLC feels out of place by many standards, but that is me.
To bring in another context for the ending, Fallout-3 was another case of this, (for the ending) where the community complained and expressed it wish for an Oblivion style 'continue' afterwards ending approach, with bonus content to see what happened. They just expressed it, didn't ask for it to be DLC (although the idea was entertained, sure).
Beth got on the saddle and delivered a nifty piece of content I might say, which was robust and worked. Sure, DLC, but they delivered and were able to deliver thanks to the community actually voicing something without being a verbal diehard of fanboi spunk.
On the other hand, within the same week of complaining we go from "EVIL DLC" to "END-GAME DLC PLZ", and the community doesn't even bother to bring in some feedback about the matter other then having a war in them about 'what' the ending represents.
And the fact that Bioware keeps on throwing half-arse explanations of the ending just shows they're going to try and peekaboo their way out of this DLC too. CAN YOU BLAME THEM?! We go from 'Dream' theories, to 'Bad Theories' about the ending, even I wouldn't know what the people want.
Also, how the community at large forgot about Tali? Anyone worth their weight in Mass will know that Quarian's have been described in ME1 and ME2 on how they look (Hint: Grunt tells you Quarian's are 'something' at one point, which I might add, was done my an erotic artist at one point based upon this line). So yeah, so much for caring about lore...those twats.
My gist is simple, be critical, within reason and understanding. Fighting and shouting will only serve to amplify the misunderstanding of something, and a company will take advantage of that, and we're seeing that now. Banging your head on the wall the speed of a ADD ridden masturbating fat kid isn't helping anyone.
@Ace-Angel: I totally agree. There was this massive uproar over the day 1 DLC, and now people are demanding DLC? I think people are so mad over this that they don't realize what they're asking for. They got so mad at the ambiguity of the ending that they wanted it resolved, and now that Bioware has made some cryptic statements that may/may not be interpreted as something coming to help clear it up. If it was intentional on Bioware/EA's part to leave the ending of the game so unclear, wait for people to demand answers, and then drop some "true ending" DLC on them, then bravo. That's the shadiest thing I've ever heard of, but you KNOW people will shell out the 10-15 extra bucks to get a real ending.
Day one DLC is a meh issue for me, as long as it doesn't affect the story TOO much. This issue though, of the ending being "incomplete" in many people's eyes is different. Especially if it was intentional. I'd be fine with it if they just screwed up and made a less than stellar ending, but the thought that this was all just a ploy to sell more content makes me feel ill. I guess we'll wait and see.
Yeah, the DLC doesn't really matter. You can still beat the game without it. Sure it adds some extra flavor, and unique dialogue..but in the end its not a game changer in terms of the ending. You still have to hustle your ass off to get the 3 different endings. People's reaction to the DLC without realizing that it just added some back story, one mission, and a new character is a bit crazy.
But that's the problem you see, Protean's DLC was made post cycle, so while it may have been under-handed to bring something plot-line wise important, it still was a valid approach in many ways, dick move, but nothing to the point where you should be crying 'wolf' for and burning bridges.
Partially post, at the most unfinished content fixed up between gold and launch.
Even the character itself is in the game and the whole shebang was confirmed quite early.
It is by far the best consumer power there is; to cry on the internet, there's nothing to stop bioware from adding a few months and create a more substantial dlc that makes it worth it and gives them better PR.
People DO want dlc, no one complained about the plot-crucial dlc that bridged the gap between mass effect 2 and mass effect 3, no one complained about the dlc released for dragon age 1 a bit after release, day 1 is bad taste in every possible way.
But once again, we're praising bethesda and cd projekt for doing dlc the right way, so what is wrong with blaming bioware for their blatant mishandling of something that could be good.
And the fact that Bioware keeps on throwing half-arse explanations of the ending just shows they're going to try and peekaboo their way out of this DLC too. CAN YOU BLAME THEM?! We go from 'Dream' theories, to 'Bad Theories' about the ending, even I wouldn't know what the people want.
I don't doubt that bioware has already planned post-ending dlc, hence 'save your saves' but it's most likely not what the gamers are expecting.
Bioware probably plans to just add to length and some more pewpew, gamers wants the ending to be affected more by choices in all previous games.
Gamefront posted an awesome article about this. It seems like most game review sites are siding with the developers, but gamefront breaks it all down, and makes the complaints seem more than just, "I want a happy ending because I said so."
MASSIVE SPOILERS, basically breaks down every second of the ending.
Bioware: OK, so our fans are pretty brainy guys, writing a lot of fan fiction, imagining all kinds of extra stories for the characters. Let's close all the ongoing stories and conflicts within the game's missions first.
Then let's have an ambiguous ending and leave the exact outcome open to their imaginations. That way we can keep everyone happy and no-one will complain that the epilogue for their favorite character wasn't what they wanted.
Fans: WTF why didn't I get like a 1-hour closing cinematic specific to my preferences about how my Renegade Femshep has 3 blue babies with Liara and kicking the turain councilor's ass for the air qoutes and......
I think people are misunderstanding the thing, taking it as a "it's not supposed to be happy" when it's not about that, it'a about promises and marketing.
There are many different endings. We wouldnt do it any other way. How
could you go through all three campaigns playing as your Shepard and
then be forced into a bespoke ending that everyone gets? But I cant
say any more than that
Fans want to make sure that they see things resolved, they want to get
some closure, a great ending. I think theyre going to get that.
Mass Effect 3 is all about answering all the biggest questions in the
lore, learning about the mysteries and the Protheans and the Reapers,
being able to decide for yourself how all of these things come to an
end.
Yeah, and Id say much more so, because we have the ability to
build the endings out in a way that we dont have to worry about
eventually tying them back together somewhere. This story arc is
coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot
more different. At this point were taking into account so many
decisions that youve made as a player and reflecting a lot of that
stuff. Its not even in any way like the traditional game endings,
where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got
ending A, B, or C.....The endings have a lot more sophistication and
variety in them.
Bioware: OK, so our fans are pretty brainy guys, writing a lot of fan fiction, imagining all kinds of extra stories for the characters. Let's close all the ongoing stories and conflicts within the game's missions first.
Then let's have an ambiguous ending and leave the exact outcome open to their imaginations. That way we can keep everyone happy and no-one will complain that the epilogue for their favorite character wasn't what they wanted.
Fans: WTF why didn't I get like a 1-hour closing cinematic specific to my preferences about how my Renegade Femshep has 3 blue babies with Liara and kicking the turain councilor's ass for the air qoutes and......
Bioware: Oh damn we were so wrong about the fans.
The closure for the character subplots was great, but the overarching plot of gathering war assets to 'take back earth' was totally unsatisfying, aside for a few seconds of video of some ships, you got no payback, hell with a few hours of multiplayer you could have finished the game with what you had.
I think folks wanted the end to feel like your choices had an impact. Had they structured it more like the suicide mission in 2 it would have been a much more satisfying experience. The final push felt like it was just you fighting alone, all team hammer was, was a Mako and some radio chatter, no STG team, no Volus bombers, no Krogan, no Geth Primes, no Elcor troops. How expensive would it have been to have these guys come in at key times during the last push and help out? Especially if the teams lives hung on it.
They built up certain expectations in me by letting me collect all these war assets, and then disappointed me by making them irrelevant.
i have to say that i, going into this with no expectations, felt satisfied in the end.
only after reading all the buzz on the webs i felt a bit betrayed, and my desire to replay the game vanished.
but in the moment i finished the game, i felt realy satisfied with the ending as it was.
if they planed the fix-the-ending DLC all along, i can see they will totaly get away with it inspite of being huge dicks.
kinda sad
i have to say that i, going into this with no expectations, felt satisfied in the end.
only after reading all the buzz on the webs i felt a bit betrayed, and my desire to replay the game vanished.
but in the moment i finished the game, i felt realy satisfied with the ending as it was.
if they planed the fix-the-ending DLC all along, i can see they will totaly get away with it inspite of being huge dicks.
kinda sad
I very much doubt they have any evil plans, I think they just promised too much and ended up unable to deliver.
I very much doubt they have any evil plans, I think they just promised too much and ended up unable to deliver.
In a sense it's evil though, cutting project short without actually mentioning that the ending will be nothing what they promised due to being more afraid of losing the momentum of the hype rather than being honest with customers.
Everyone who went through the series knew what the choices in the series were all about, and how much bioware had been going on about it, and in the end people can really feel that there's something missing and replaced with what we have now, otherwise they would not have talked about all those endings that would be completely different for everyone.
They had to cut the ending that was planned and didn't bother to either extend development to make sure they get people what they promised or admitting to not delivering what they promised.
This wouldn't pass in any other consumer product, but laws does seem a bit lapse when it comes to what is actually in a game.
If any of you bought a game where the developers had promised to have extensive online multiplayer and then on playing it noticing that it's just 1vs1 splitscreen local multiplayer, would you just think
"oh this is the developers vision, I should live with that"?
Or someone bashing the disappointed fans by saying
"1vs1 local splitscreen multiplayer is awesome, you're all just whiners!"
@eld - that's been my argument to the whole thing. It's analogous to buying a television set that advertises on the box that it is capable of displaying HD resolutions. If you buy it, and find that it in fact does not display HD resolutions, you're likely to complain about the product.
In a sense it's evil though, cutting project short without actually mentioning that the ending will be nothing what they promised due to being more afraid of losing the momentum of the hype rather than being honest with customers.
Everyone who went through the series knew what the choices in the series were all about, and how much bioware had been going on about it, and in the end people can really feel that there's something missing and replaced with what we have now, otherwise they would not have talked about all those endings that would be completely different for everyone.
They had to cut the ending that was planned and didn't bother to either extend development to make sure they get people what they promised or admitting to not delivering what they promised.
This wouldn't pass in any other consumer product, but laws does seem a bit lapse when it comes to what is actually in a game.
If any of you bought a game where the developers had promised to have extensive online multiplayer and then on playing it noticing that it's just 1vs1 splitscreen local multiplayer, would you just think
"oh this is the developers vision, I should live with that"?
Or someone bashing the disappointed fans by saying
"1vs1 local splitscreen multiplayer is awesome, you're all just whiners!"
you ever heard of this guy called Peter Moleneux?
its sorta his business model :P
@ r_fletch_r
yes i played all the games, although i didnt import my saves over.
that actualy made me mad in a way the ending couldn´t, cause some of my favorite characters where completely missing from the game.
gues i´ll replay all the games when the dust is settled and all the dlc is released some time next year.
to me ME2 is still the best game of the series, mainly due to ME3 introducing nearly no new memorible characters and killing of the ones i liked.
I don't know. I am really enjoying 3. Mostly because i did carry over my ME 1 save file to 2, and then 2 to 3. I meet people that i thought i forgot, only to get their support, or reminisce on things that were or could've been. I am also quite impressed with the level of chaos in some of the levels while being attacked. I just finished Tuchanka and i was mesmerized at some of the combat and how it went. So far its a lot of fun. Still plenty to do to finish the game. But i think this one is as good as the 2nd one at least. I still have to try multiplayer.
I'll comment on my ending thoughts once i get there.
Replies
There has been an massive improvement between the first and third game, I think that really makes 1 stand out as dated. It's been surpassed in every way.
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And then topping off the fantastic ending with the faunts song which blended fantastically with the style of the rest of the game:
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All this definitely makes the ME soundtrack one of my favorites.
You could say old school methods with new age mixes?
Other then the Lower-Afterlife, and DLC music for Kasumi, Shadow Broker, etc...I cannot recall what a single track sounded like in ME2 from the original game other then it sounded like something out of a movie. It all sounded too samey, each battle followed the same loops, and just generally sounded like what would happen if Micheal Bay decided to throw some extra cash to make every single track something you can use in trailers.
I can't comment on ME3 still, but if they at least tried to keep more of the Sci-Fi elements without shriveling back to dupstep or Epic compositions, that's already a move in a good direction.
NOTE: I honestly think EA should stop 'Epic-fying' the soundtracks of all of their games. Throwing a couple of tracks that makes you feel like you're listening to God's MP3 player is fine, but not when every tracks must get his blessing.
Anyway I was playing multiplayer for AGES and all of a sudden the welcome message popped up and I "lost" everything. My unlocks and my classes. I said f*ck this sh*t and decided never to play that again.
Anyway, I actually quite liked the ending. I wasn't happy with the
SPOILERS!
Then the three choices:
1.control the reapers, end the war. this is a nice ending to pick if you're thinking about the current generation and you want to beat the reapers. Depending on what you chose, you could pick this option with the idea that it is a short term fix, and we can deal with the synthetic problem anther way, or that you have brokered peace and you hope for a different outcome to the reapers predictions. Still, in time, eons maybe, synthetics might destroy all organic life.
Destroy the reapers, the mass relays, and all synthetic life. This is a way of directly responding to the predicted synthetic threat. You might pick this if you never got along with the geth. Destroy the reapers for good, no ambiguity. Preserve organic life, but in a universe without the technology it has come to rely on. Still... probably going to see more synthetics created in the far future, and the risk is still there.
Merge synthetic and organic life! Break the cycle! This is my biggest peeve with the three choices. It's the only logical choice if you heed the reapers warnings... but... it doesn't make any sense. It's a fantasy deus ex machina that magically and instantly rolls out the singularity with what... the sheer will of shepherd as a mythical martyr?
I would have this last option as a possible outcome of controlling the reapers. You control the reapers, and use their technology (reapers are a synthetic organic hybrid) to bring about the singularity and fill the gaps in knowledge when it comes to uploading organic minds into a machine. Everyone evolves into a new post singularity universe like the green ending, and the cycle is broken.
Except this wouldn't work, or be a smooth process. noone else has seen what shepherd has seen, there would probably be wars and the cycle would continue. You have to have it roll out at once or it wouldn't save everyone. So we have a big green magic blast that fixxes everything and I guess I'm happy with that.
I just wish the ending showed the outcome for the various civilizations in the galaxy. I spent all this time trying to save them, did they get saved?
Final pet peeve:
are the complaints fair? or is it just baby boys complaining about stuff there really isnt?
Other than that, I'm enjoying the weapons system a lot more and the combat is improved for it. There's a somewhat greater variety in enemies, although most of the reaper husk themed enemies are still pretty annoying.
will give it a try nonetheless, just wont be hoping to find a perfect game :S
Exactly. That's what I meant about wishing it had a good meaty epilogue. Not only that, but you're picking any of the three choices on a premise that it would lead to a certain outcome. I would love to see that outcome. Maybe leave it in an open sandbox game where the galaxy looks like how you left it based on your choice. Although
You have a huge deviation in storylines to the point where every character could be dead or alive at the end, and multiple fleets are there or aren't, and some races aren't even in existence. Making a more expository ending with this much deviation would be a gigantic pain, so whatever the ending it would need to be somewhat weak and detached from the main narrative, thereby ignoring all the choices you made up to that point. Otherwise it would be a huge amount of work.
Quarians didn't make it? No Quarian fleet on your map. Character didn't make it? Can't visit them wherever they'd appropriately be located.
Not knowing the outcome of all those decisions you've been making for something like 60+ (30+ if you rush it) hours of gameplay, being the core of the gameplay structure itself, is a kick in the teeth.
It will cost what, I couple of K's a the best? Seriously, B and E couldn't up the cash to make us feel like we did something?
I think the endings would have been just fine if some of it just... made more sense.
Here is some fun images to foster speculation. Some are far fetched but its fun to see
Pictures are spoilers!
http://i.imgur.com/K5VDk.jpg
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/4171/me32l.jpg
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2928/me33j.jpg
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/5106/me34f.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZzlPKl.jpg
http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac305/Lifejumper/heh.jpg
funny bonus images
http://i.imgur.com/IlsrH.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EX2fE.jpg
I wish they'd use that kind of cinematic more often. I loved the ones in the Homeworld series.
ht tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbghjn7_Byc&feature=g-u-u&context=G296b84aFUAAAAAAABAA
Watch the whole thing!
I broke the link so the title of the video isn't visible (posting a link to a video embeds it, and the title of the video is a spoiler for anyone who hasn't played.)
even if that ending is right it still has no effect on how little your actions actually effect the end
Just keep in mind, the theory says that they attempted to indoctrinate him, not that he was completely indoctrinated.
Re: that
I remember in the Path of Neo, there was this scene, totally silly but hilarious and possibly relevant [ame="
Speaking of which, have they said anything about DLC other than that day-1 one?
Also, for what it's worth, other than the ending I think ME3 had superb story and writing. It was really gripping and you had a sense of urgency throughout.
Also, it's not that the endings were super bad, it's just that a series like this needed something quite amazing to top it off.
ME is a big franchise, a love letter from SW, ST, and a whole slew of other movies in game form. Even that less then great movies called FF-Spirits Within was a progenitor to this game.
You make a franchise as big as this, where even your average smucktard 12 year old actually knows the characters names, you can't simply call it quits like they did for the ending. It's cheap.
But is it the end of the world? No, disappointing? Maybe, but hey, you can always role-play with your partner to make you happy.
However, I also think the entire of the gaming community just proved to itself and everyone else that they don't know anything and are a group of people who don't deserve the money they make. For everything that they complained about being a 'rip-off' for the day one DLC, they suddenly turned around 180 and literally 'begged' for a DLC to 'fix' the ending because they couldn't deal with it.
Either EA predicted this and just showed the entire game industry a new way to make money, or someone just got lucky/unlucky depending on how you see it.
Either way, I will enjoy the game, I will play it, I will get the DLC's that I deem worthy/interesting and at the end of the day, after a bunch of MP run's, I will go to the next game and have fond memories of my time in ME universe, and every couple of years, I'll boot up the game for a nostalgia run, maybe even have a couple of kids so they play it too, and show my daughter that you need to kick journalists in their hoo-haa to be an action gal, and that I'm an open minded guy and she can sleep with anyone expect aliens, oh no sir, my daughter ain't getting no alien tentacles anywhere near her!
So yeah, take it for what you will at the end of the day, it's not like Han shot last...(which by the way, I don't even care, seriously, who care's who shot first! Enjoy the whole series for what it is!)
I'm going to reserve judgement on the ending because I haven't finished it, but this is a different issue for me. If you're going to release, by many accounts, an incomplete/lackluster ending, so be it, sometimes developers miss the mark. What gives me a sick feeling is that they would ship a game with a lackluster ending, and then release DLC containing the "better" ending, which you would have to pay for, in addition to paying for the first 3 games, just so you can get closure
I don't have a problem with DLC where it is appropriate, add some side missions here and there, maybe new characters, whatever, but this just seems wrong. Maybe I'm overreacting, like I said, I haven't finished the game yet, but I just can't help feeling this is in very bad taste, at least as far as the "complete ending" DLC is concerned (if that ends up being the case.)
Because an actual dlc made now wouldn't have been in the game when it shipped.
The biggest issue people have with some dlc, and that even I have with dlc, is the idea of taking a slice out and bring it back on release day for a hefty price, even making it a part of one of the special editions.
If bioware cares about their fans they would release it as a free update at launch for everyone who bought the game, fans that have stuck around for three games.
Bioware actually used that tactic for their EA imposed trick to combat used sales, but now they most likely figured their loyal customers that bought new were not worth that, or that enough people would actually pay extra.
There's been a bit of a history now of cutting corners since dragon age 2 and fans are starting to feel it, while a company like cd projekt made the fantastic witcher 2 without cut corners, and have released massive free updates on that.
Then they have additional funds to continue development. It's cheaper to do so because the developer can just build on the existing game, and for a relatively low cost (to the publisher), come up with additional content. That's the DLC.
The "problem" is that when the game is done, it goes through all sorts of testing. There's usually local QA, and a QA on the publisher's side, and QA on the console-maker side (Sony/Microsoft). While all that is going on, the developers don't just sit idly. Most of the programmers can start working on DLC, and of course the artists can start working on that as well (usually even before the programmers). So that by the time testing is done, DLC is close to being done too.
Add in random delays, staggered release in different markets, etc, and you can easily get a situation where the DLC is available shortly after release, if not day-1.
But it is in fact two separate things, with two separate funding.
At least that's been my experience working on games that had DLC.
What can definitely be done better is communicating that to the players. There's a publicity element here that the publishers are really bad at.
People need to criticize the day-one DLC for it's worth, not if it came out or not on the first day. Was it good? Was it worth the 10-20 bucks it cost? Would it really have mattered if it was in the game? There a time where you get the right to complain about stripped content and a time where you have to stop that and look at the content of the stuff in question and judge it by that, and how important it is.
Fun-Fact: The Ash DLC, while 'fun' doesn't exactly matter in the game or overall. Shadow Broker and even Kasumi was much better then this and seem to have more 'story continuity' then this DLC. I personally think the DLC feels out of place by many standards, but that is me.
To bring in another context for the ending, Fallout-3 was another case of this, (for the ending) where the community complained and expressed it wish for an Oblivion style 'continue' afterwards ending approach, with bonus content to see what happened. They just expressed it, didn't ask for it to be DLC (although the idea was entertained, sure).
Beth got on the saddle and delivered a nifty piece of content I might say, which was robust and worked. Sure, DLC, but they delivered and were able to deliver thanks to the community actually voicing something without being a verbal diehard of fanboi spunk.
On the other hand, within the same week of complaining we go from "EVIL DLC" to "END-GAME DLC PLZ", and the community doesn't even bother to bring in some feedback about the matter other then having a war in them about 'what' the ending represents.
And the fact that Bioware keeps on throwing half-arse explanations of the ending just shows they're going to try and peekaboo their way out of this DLC too. CAN YOU BLAME THEM?! We go from 'Dream' theories, to 'Bad Theories' about the ending, even I wouldn't know what the people want.
Also, how the community at large forgot about Tali? Anyone worth their weight in Mass will know that Quarian's have been described in ME1 and ME2 on how they look (Hint: Grunt tells you Quarian's are 'something' at one point, which I might add, was done my an erotic artist at one point based upon this line). So yeah, so much for caring about lore...those twats.
My gist is simple, be critical, within reason and understanding. Fighting and shouting will only serve to amplify the misunderstanding of something, and a company will take advantage of that, and we're seeing that now. Banging your head on the wall the speed of a ADD ridden masturbating fat kid isn't helping anyone.
Day one DLC is a meh issue for me, as long as it doesn't affect the story TOO much. This issue though, of the ending being "incomplete" in many people's eyes is different. Especially if it was intentional. I'd be fine with it if they just screwed up and made a less than stellar ending, but the thought that this was all just a ploy to sell more content makes me feel ill. I guess we'll wait and see.
it sounds a bit like buying a book, only to find out the last two chapters are a separate purchase a month after release?
Partially post, at the most unfinished content fixed up between gold and launch.
Even the character itself is in the game and the whole shebang was confirmed quite early.
It is by far the best consumer power there is; to cry on the internet, there's nothing to stop bioware from adding a few months and create a more substantial dlc that makes it worth it and gives them better PR.
People DO want dlc, no one complained about the plot-crucial dlc that bridged the gap between mass effect 2 and mass effect 3, no one complained about the dlc released for dragon age 1 a bit after release, day 1 is bad taste in every possible way.
But once again, we're praising bethesda and cd projekt for doing dlc the right way, so what is wrong with blaming bioware for their blatant mishandling of something that could be good.
I don't doubt that bioware has already planned post-ending dlc, hence 'save your saves' but it's most likely not what the gamers are expecting.
Bioware probably plans to just add to length and some more pewpew, gamers wants the ending to be affected more by choices in all previous games.
MASSIVE SPOILERS, basically breaks down every second of the ending.
http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/4/
Bioware: OK, so our fans are pretty brainy guys, writing a lot of fan fiction, imagining all kinds of extra stories for the characters. Let's close all the ongoing stories and conflicts within the game's missions first.
Then let's have an ambiguous ending and leave the exact outcome open to their imaginations. That way we can keep everyone happy and no-one will complain that the epilogue for their favorite character wasn't what they wanted.
Fans: WTF why didn't I get like a 1-hour closing cinematic specific to my preferences about how my Renegade Femshep has 3 blue babies with Liara and kicking the turain councilor's ass for the air qoutes and......
Bioware: Oh damn we were so wrong about the fans.
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10056886/1
SPOILERY IMAGE:
http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv229/Oregondiver1/xUq9t.png
The closure for the character subplots was great, but the overarching plot of gathering war assets to 'take back earth' was totally unsatisfying, aside for a few seconds of video of some ships, you got no payback, hell with a few hours of multiplayer you could have finished the game with what you had.
I think folks wanted the end to feel like your choices had an impact. Had they structured it more like the suicide mission in 2 it would have been a much more satisfying experience. The final push felt like it was just you fighting alone, all team hammer was, was a Mako and some radio chatter, no STG team, no Volus bombers, no Krogan, no Geth Primes, no Elcor troops. How expensive would it have been to have these guys come in at key times during the last push and help out? Especially if the teams lives hung on it.
They built up certain expectations in me by letting me collect all these war assets, and then disappointed me by making them irrelevant.
only after reading all the buzz on the webs i felt a bit betrayed, and my desire to replay the game vanished.
but in the moment i finished the game, i felt realy satisfied with the ending as it was.
if they planed the fix-the-ending DLC all along, i can see they will totaly get away with it inspite of being huge dicks.
kinda sad
I very much doubt they have any evil plans, I think they just promised too much and ended up unable to deliver.
Out of interest did you play all the games?
In a sense it's evil though, cutting project short without actually mentioning that the ending will be nothing what they promised due to being more afraid of losing the momentum of the hype rather than being honest with customers.
Everyone who went through the series knew what the choices in the series were all about, and how much bioware had been going on about it, and in the end people can really feel that there's something missing and replaced with what we have now, otherwise they would not have talked about all those endings that would be completely different for everyone.
They had to cut the ending that was planned and didn't bother to either extend development to make sure they get people what they promised or admitting to not delivering what they promised.
This wouldn't pass in any other consumer product, but laws does seem a bit lapse when it comes to what is actually in a game.
If any of you bought a game where the developers had promised to have extensive online multiplayer and then on playing it noticing that it's just 1vs1 splitscreen local multiplayer, would you just think
"oh this is the developers vision, I should live with that"?
Or someone bashing the disappointed fans by saying
"1vs1 local splitscreen multiplayer is awesome, you're all just whiners!"
you ever heard of this guy called Peter Moleneux?
its sorta his business model :P
@ r_fletch_r
yes i played all the games, although i didnt import my saves over.
that actualy made me mad in a way the ending couldn´t, cause some of my favorite characters where completely missing from the game.
gues i´ll replay all the games when the dust is settled and all the dlc is released some time next year.
to me ME2 is still the best game of the series, mainly due to ME3 introducing nearly no new memorible characters and killing of the ones i liked.
I'll comment on my ending thoughts once i get there.
Anyone tried the mp?