Spoiler-Talk: Mass Effect 3 and the future of the franchise - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=Medevilae;39074198]I was about to say "ME3 combat mechanics + ME1 weapon customization would be godlike" Then I realized that ME3 had ME1 level weapon customization, it was just implemented in an odd way[/QUOTE] I don't see my shotgun overheating with everyshot but killing Colossai, do you?

[QUOTE=Nitro836;39070012]And curse Bioware and/or EA to infinity after the ending? Agreed, though, despite the shortcomings, it's a solid space opera game trilogy that EA took in it's casual-catering grip and dumbed down.[/QUOTE] The only reason people rage about it so much is the game from day one has been completely about "you shaping the galaxy." Everything you do no matter how small has some effect later down the road. That is why all three games choices are transferred over...but ME3 ending just makes all the choices you made and makes them completely irrelevant.

[QUOTE=Stopper;39069327]I fucking hate this. Every time I see "Mass Effect" somewhere, I get this urge to play through the entire trilogy. Again. For the n-teeth time.[/QUOTE] I haven't played any of them. My friend insisted of spoiling me about the ending for ME3 though. Is it still worth trying em out if I know what happens at the end anyway?

[QUOTE=Fhux;39074060]I just started playing it for the first time after going through the earlier games the past two weeks. Right now it feels like a good game, but a horrible Mass Effect. Shepard even does most of the talking himself, which is my main gripe with it at the moment. I don't get to participate in conversations, I just watch someone else do it for me. Completely throws me out of the experience.[/QUOTE] This is something that is being overshadowed by the ending but is just as bad. ME1 was an rpg, you the player controlled the entire conversation. ME3 feels like a singleplayer campaign a ka Bad Company. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Black;39078213]I haven't played any of them. My friend insisted of spoiling me about the ending for ME3 though. Is it still worth trying em out if I know what happens at the end anyway?[/QUOTE] Play 1 for the story and characters. It's a brilliant RPG and has a standalone ending.

how about creating animations that are not stiff or reused thrice over for a new engine might make the story elements of the next game not look like shit

[QUOTE=chunkymonkey;39073804]Now it's generic and boring as fuck.[/QUOTE] What the fuck, people loved the combat in ME2 and nobody said this and it's almost the same without rolling. Stop fucking circlejerking about how bad this game is.

[QUOTE=TheJoey;39083065]how about creating animations that are not stiff or reused thrice over for a new engine might make the story elements of the next game not look like shit[/QUOTE] Well that's not really fair. Yeah, ME3 reused a frightening number of animations (and had some really mediocre ones to boot), but the animation quality has no relation to the strength of the narrative, but rather how it's portrayed. Example: Dragon Age: Origins has a very strong (if not original) story, but the animations are pretty damn mediocre. Does this weaken the actual story itself? No. Hell, we can even find an example in the Mass Effect series. The first game had extremely limited animation work, and conversations were about as static as you could possibly get. And yet, it has the best main plot of the series by miles. There's even a couple scenes in Mass Effect 3 that contain better camera work and animation than just about the entirety of the first game. If we're going to continue to criticize Mass Effect 3, let's try to be fair about it.

Wow. I've never watched the Quarians get obliterated in the game. That video was rough. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Black;39078213]I haven't played any of them. My friend insisted of spoiling me about the ending for ME3 though. Is it still worth trying em out if I know what happens at the end anyway?[/QUOTE] Oh hell yeah. The games themselves are quite an experience.

Truth be told ME3 was the most fun I've had in a shooter this year. If you thought it was generic then it's more than obvious you played Soldier (like the vast majority of players). In 2 and 3 all ability cooldowns became a lot shorter and made their use an extremely important factor in the game. I had fucktons of fun just lifting an entire squad of enemies all coming toward me off the ground then blasting them all into walls and ripping any survivors apart with a shotgun pistol or just flinging people around like it's nobody's business. For christ sakes you can straight up headbutt massive robots as a krogan in MP

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;39083301]Well that's not really fair. Yeah, ME3 reused a frightening number of animations (and had some really mediocre ones to boot), but the animation quality has no relation to the strength of the narrative, but rather how it's portrayed. [/QUOTE] sex scenes. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] and romance was a HUGE, HUGE deal in all mass effect games, even greater in ME2 and 3. it will no doubt have a much larger impact in the next mass effect title due to how much bioware loves their forced romances.

[QUOTE=TheJoey;39083443]sex scenes. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] and romance was a HUGE, HUGE deal in all mass effect games, even greater in ME2 and 3. it will no doubt have a much larger impact in the next mass effect title due to how much bioware loves their forced romances.[/QUOTE] I can't wait for 4 to drop all the RPG elements and just become a straight up shooter the fact that the MP devs are working on it on Frostbite says all

[QUOTE=TheJoey;39083443]sex scenes. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] and romance was a HUGE, HUGE deal in all mass effect games, even greater in ME2 and 3. it will no doubt have a much larger impact in the next mass effect title due to how much bioware loves their forced romances.[/QUOTE] Yeah, but I could just turn around and say "Grunt's Fight Against the Rachni" as an example of great animation. Cherry picking stuff like that doesn't make for an argument on either side (though the Liara one was remarkably well done; they actually made a kiss look like a kiss and that's no small feat). What I'm trying to say is that this isn't a black and white issue here. Mass Effect 3 had great animations, just as it had terrible or lazy animations. It's not just one or the other.

I just mentally replace all the starchild bs with the dark matter plot thread they completely fucking dropped. Because 'mass effect technology is accelerating the death of the galaxy and we believe that our way is the only way to save it, do you agree or do you think you can somehow do better' is a hell of a lot more compelling than 'hey shepard this is your ptsd speaking, lol it's totally inevitable that robots rise up against their creators you should be familiar with this overused trope by now'

[QUOTE=kanesenpai~;39083504]I can't wait for 4 to drop all the RPG elements and just become a straight up shooter the fact that the MP devs are working on it on Frostbite says all[/QUOTE] and no doubt the desperate fanbase that still likes ME3 despite it being nothing like the original will continue to say "ME4 is perfect" and "it's not fair to criticize x because y". and bioware will continue to pat themselves on the back. let's be honest. mass effect is no longer relevant. it's dead. dragging it on to 4 is a bad idea.

[QUOTE=kanesenpai~;39083504]I can't wait for 4 to drop all the RPG elements and just become a straight up shooter the fact that the MP devs are working on it on Frostbite says all[/QUOTE] Well this is just failed logic. Frostbite is a game engine. Saying that Frostbite = Full-on Shooter is about as nonsensical as saying that Unreal Engine 3 = Full-on Shooter. An engine is a tool and has no bearing on the type of game made for it. Besides, Mass Effect 3 had MORE RPG elements than Mass Effect 2 by a considerable degree, and players (generally) responded very well to this. This is my problem with these Mass Effect arguments; People keep letting their bias get in the way and it hurts their own arguments. Try to avoid being a fanboy or a hater and just look at both sides of the argument here.

Also this is something that all three games were horrible about: clipping Like, I don't mind it on Shepard because that's customizable. But when you have a cutscene closeup of Aria's head and her collar is halfway through her spine, for fuck's sake people. I know a lot of games are shitty about this but still

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;39083547]Besides, Mass Effect 3 had MORE RPG elements than Mass Effect 2 by a considerable degree, and players (generally) responded very well to this. [/QUOTE] this is definitely not true. abilities and levelling was streamlined to complete simplicity. the biggest offender of this sort of thing before this was skyrim. people complained about it. choices were made to not matter, or get blended down into simple numbers for your "war assets". people complained about this as well. there was no exploration. people complained about this. im someone who came into mass effect very late, at the end of mass effect 2's life. i enjoyed mass effect for what it was, but when i look at the sequels and how they gradually chip away at the huge content block that ME1 was until it becomes literally a straight line (ME3), i still can't understand how someone who enjoyed ME1 can sit there and say "yeah ME3 was more of an RPG and was nearly perfect aside from the ending". you've got to be kidding. it's got to be one huge joke.

[QUOTE=DarkMonkey;39083620]Also this is something that all three games were horrible about: clipping Like, I don't mind it on Shepard because that's customizable. But when you have a cutscene closeup of Aria's head and her collar is halfway through her spine, for fuck's sake people. I know a lot of games are shitty about this but still[/QUOTE] fixing that would require [I]work[/I] this isn't a word that fits casey hudson's vocabulary

[QUOTE=TheJoey;39083639]this is definitely not true. abilities and levelling was streamlined to complete simplicity. the biggest offender of this sort of thing before this was skyrim. people complained about it. choices were made to not matter, or get blended down into simple numbers for your "war assets". people complained about this as well. there was no exploration. people complained about this. im someone who came into mass effect very late, at the end of mass effect 2's life. i enjoyed mass effect for what it was, but when i look at the sequels and how they gradually chip away at the huge content block that ME1 was until it becomes literally a straight line (ME3), i still can't understand how someone who enjoyed ME1 can sit there and say [B][U]"yeah ME3 was more of an RPG and was nearly perfect aside from the ending". [/U][/B] you've got to be kidding. it's got to be one huge joke.[/QUOTE] Woah now, I didn't say that. Mass Effect 3 has a heap of problems, and it's sure as hell not as strong of a traditional RPG as Mass Effect 1 was. As for the abilities and leveling, Mass Effect 2 had very little of this. Each skill (and there were few) had 4 upgrades, and they didn't alter much. Mass Effect 3 had at least 6 skills per character (8 for Shepard I believe), with 6 tiers that each offered a choice as to how you wanted that skill to develop. I'd argue this is actually stronger than Mass Effect 1's system of "gradually increasing stats" because of the choice it gives. That one's up for debate though. As for the choices, it depends on the situation. Rannoch and Tuchanga reflected your choices and past pretty admirably, while the intro, ending, and multiple other areas did a piss-poor job of it. I started the series with Mass Effect 1 and bought and played the sequels on the day they released. To this day, I still love the series as a whole and accept that each one has its strengths and weaknesses, with Mass Effect 3 regrettably having more problems than either 1 or 2.

I'd like to see a "Mass Effect: Origins" game. You choose which race you want to be and each one has a different beginning. I'd love to play as a Turian.

[QUOTE=Hikkotch;39084507]I'd like to see a "Mass Effect: Origins" game. You choose which race you want to be and each one has a different beginning. I'd love to play as a Turian.[/QUOTE] I think the problem with any future Mass Effect games comes down to finding a way to create a significant threat. We've already faced down the Reapers, and each game in the trilogy had its own "Big Bad." Mass Effect 1 had Sovereign, Saren, and the Geth. Mass Effect 2 had Harbinger and the Collectors Mass Effect 3 had the Illusive Man and the Reaper Armada Once you've faced three consecutive galactic threats, how do you top that in a future game? Dragon Age 2 might have had the right idea (conceptually, if not in execution) when it came to downsizing the narrative and focusing on a small element of a larger picture, but I somehow don't see this working in the Mass Effect universe unless we go way back to the Krogan rebellions or the Geth uprising.

Dude I would play the shit out of a game where you get to be a warlord during the krogan rebellions

[QUOTE=Mastahamma;39083434]If you thought it was generic then it's more than obvious you played Soldier (like the vast majority of players).[/QUOTE] What is wrong with playing Soldier? Do you not like bullet time?

[QUOTE=Raidyr;39085932]What is wrong with playing Soldier? Do you not like bullet time?[/QUOTE] I think all he means by that is that the series will feel significantly more like Gears of War (or a similar TPS) if you play soldier instead of one of the more 'unique' classes, that's all.

[IMG]http://filesmelt.com/dl/tumblr_lztrxfzDNn1r3ye2no10_500_Soldier1.png[/IMG] I actually prefer the soldier class. I tend to relate to Shepard when he's a basic human surrounded by biotics, tech experts, people like that.

[QUOTE=The_J_Hat;39083346]Wow. I've never watched the Quarians get obliterated in the game. That video was rough. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] Oh hell yeah. The games themselves are quite an experience.[/QUOTE] I quite enjoyed it even got Tali to [sp] jump off a fucking cliff[/sp]. I fucking hate Quarians.

[QUOTE=The Castro;39088441]I quite enjoyed it even got Tali to [sp] jump off a fucking cliff[/sp]. I fucking hate Quarians.[/QUOTE] Holy shit thank you yes I thought I was the only one that felt this way.

[QUOTE=The Castro;39088441]I quite enjoyed it even got Tali to [sp] jump off a fucking cliff[/sp]. I fucking hate Quarians.[/QUOTE] In my first save it was [sp]Raan instead of Tali[/sp] and there was no way in hell I was gonna choose her over Legion. Legion is my bro, all 1,186 of them.

I liked the combat mechanics in the third game, and that's about it. The story started to get a bit dumb, what with your choices not meaning a damn thing, and fucking space ninjas (seriously?). Meanwhile, your squadmates (arguably one of the best parts of ME2) became boring and never had anything to say. Gone was all the cool dialogue that helped establish setting as well as their character (and yours), replaced with pointless one-liners. Speaking of characters, one of the most important characters, Javik, was DAY ONE FUCKING DLC. A FUCKING PROTHEAN AND YOU DON'T INCLUDE HIM IN THE BASE GAME? Fuck... As for the endings, they are a dead horse I don't intend to beat, but fuck were they bad. Not sure how you guys can say Mass Effect 3 was great except for the ending... it was pretty average overall, with above average combat mechanics, if you don't count the ending. With the ending... let's just say I tell all my friends not to bother playing the 3rd game. I don't want to ruin the magic of Mass Effect for them like it did for me.

I don't think ME3 would even receive nearly as much flak as it gets now if it weren't for the obnoxious amounts of hype surrounding it. It was being made out as some revolutionary epic video game series finale with super-deep choices that will all matter in the end and great characters and all that guff, when it was really just an above-average (at best) third person shooter with RPG elements and some neat little choices that let you hear a different piece of dialogue down the road. Basically, ME3's biggest problem is that it's pretentious as fuck.