03-21-2012, 03:07 PM
So the Co-Founder of Bioware had this to say: (no spoilers)
itÔÇÖs incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the gameÔÇÖs endings were not up to their expectations
I will remain optimistic. It is a little bizarre to me that *nobody* at bioware saw this coming. The ending goes (quite literally) against the very base philosophy of the entire saga, and to call a set of palette-swapped 'splosions (I don't think I am spoiling anything here) the "endings" of a 5 year epic is just, well, absurdly disappointing.
So Mr. Muzyaka has asked his "Core Fans" (of which I think I can safely say after buying all 3 games, all the ME2 DLC, and mass effect books for Odin's sake that is a category I fall in) to give feedback of the game "as a whole" and not concentrate overmuch on the ending. So, that I will do. Maybe in the process you'll understand why I was so let down by the ending.
But we'd have to start at the beginning. Mass Effect was actually one of the first games I purchased for Xbox 360. I'd played Bioware games in the past and enjoyed them immensely. I loved Kotor, Baldur's Gate, and even Shattered Steel, although I didn't make the connection until a lot later. I loved pretty much everything about it. Even driving that silly truck over planetary surfaces, trying to avoid being eaten by spaceworms (thresher maw). It reminded me of everything I loved about KOTOR, but free of any weird dancing around lucas, and with better combat. (Although I admit, I enjoyed the turn based combat of Kotor). Played through twice. Once as BroShep, Paragon Knight Errant of the Galaxy. Women wanted him and men wanted to be him. He'd track down Saren and bring him to Space Justice because it was The Right Thing To Do. I enjoyed this so much, I decided to playthrough again and FemShep was born. Queen Bitch of the Universe. She was a woman in a man's galaxy, she didn't play by the rules, and that's why she was so successful. Strong, independent, with a tough exterior. Deep inside I think lurked some doubts and insecurities, so maybe she overcompensated just a little.
You guys know me, I'm a story teller. Given a medium like this, I can't *not* get into my character's heads, seeking out their motivations, their secret fears and desires. After all, *I* have to justify the actions I choose them to make. And I could do it in a way that felt a lot more organic than previous RPG's. It was awesome, and I loved pretty much every second of it.
So natch, I bought ME2 on release day. Something you should know about me, I don't buy shit on release day. I think video games are waaaaaaaay to expensive (a relic left over from the days when I got shit for $free) and so it's a pretty rare day I spend 60 bucks on release day. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've done that. (Fallout 3, Black Ops, ME2/ME3 and...that's about it.) I've got a wishlist on amazon full of games I'm waiting to drop below some threshold known only to me that designates an appropriate price. But after the first, I didn't blink, didn't hesitate to drop my hard earned cash on Mass Effect 2 the day it came out. Aaaaaaaaaand it was awesome! Broshep dumped that weirdo Ashley for some hawt Miranda action (cue dat ass pic) and saved the human race from the Collectors By The Book. Femshep had a harder time, keeping a picture of her beloved on her desk, and secretly waiting for the day the Galaxy would be safe, and she could rest. The burden was heavy, maybe more than she could bear. But she did what she had to do, the beautiful reluctant hero. I ate, slept, breathed this game. I loved Legion and the whole divided Geth. I thought the "test tube Krogan" was a great idea, and I loved Mordin's guilt and regret over his involvement with the Genophage. Great story, even a good ending. Big reveals without taking away a lot of the mystery that made it great. And the back and forth between the Shepards and TIM, the dynamic of who is using who was a brilliant piece of writing. Just, great great stuff. And then the DLC! Wow. Just wow. Mass Effect 1's DLC was mostly shit, but ME2...hit the nail on the head, and if you ask me, kind of set the bar for DLC. I don't mind paying for extra content, as long as the price point is reasonable and the content is *actually good*. Too many software companies release this kind of halfass bullshit for DLC and then expect me to pay out the nose for it. Nah son, I'm good. But ME2 DLC? Awesome. A great addition to the series while not being required.
So naturally, ME3 has been greatly and hotly anticipated by myself. I preordered (something i never ever ever ever do) and when it arrived at my doorstep I damn near hurt myself getting the box open.
And you know what? It's really really really good. Everything I loved about ME2 is there, but more. Everything I didn't like about ME2 is pretty much gone. Some of the things I liked about ME1 that were missing in ME2 are back. Combat is smoother, the "power tree" is a great way to manage your skillset, and the story is fantastic. All the themes that have pervaded the whole series are still there: What it means to be "human", cultural tolerance, strength in diversity, the needs of the many vs the needs of the few, righting old wrongs...it's all there, beautifully rendered. And ME3 felt like a good "ending". The "meat" of the game is spent tying up loose ends, righting old wrongs, making peace...and it all feels good. You get to see your "friends" grow up and grow old. You see them look death right in the eye and not blink. Hell, even the Multiplayer, while a little vanilla (definitely could use more map variety) it isn't bad. A not wholly-unwelcome addition to the series, and a good reason to "keep playing" after you'd normally quit your playthroughs.
I guess, in short, knowing the ending would I still buy it? The answer is yes. It's a great, great game with an unfortunate last few minutes. I still maintain if you "bought it for the multiplayer" you picked the wroooooooooooong game, and if you're not a big sci-fi nerd (did you jizz your pants over the Prometheus trailer? If not, you're not that big of a sci-fi nerd) you will definitely NOT enjoy it as much as I did. Does it have it's problems other than the ending? You bet. There definitely seemed to be chunks "missing". I kept talking to Aria in the citadel waiting for her to be like "Alright Shepard, you want my army? Saddle up and help me retake Omega." And instead, nothin'. And add into that the whole running into people on the Citadel: "Oh my, the reapers have taken my home planet and I forgot to bring with me the Ancient Toaster of Power...sure wish I had that about now." Then I go to find the AToP, and the game doesn't make me fight reapers for it, or a thresher maw, or maybe cerberus had unlocked the secrets of the AToP and were going to use it to control the reapers and I had to stop them...nope! It was just "oh, were you looking for this? Yeah, it's down in docking bay D24. YOU'RE WELCOME." A bit lame.
But those are just little warts on an otherwise flawless game. (again, excepting the last 20 minutes)
Yeah, I know. tl;dr. Still, it's the XBOX 360 thread, so maybe someone was on the fence about buying ME3, or playing through the others (AND TAKING THEIR TIME, MIKEY) maybe this will tip you over the edge.
itÔÇÖs incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the gameÔÇÖs endings were not up to their expectations
I will remain optimistic. It is a little bizarre to me that *nobody* at bioware saw this coming. The ending goes (quite literally) against the very base philosophy of the entire saga, and to call a set of palette-swapped 'splosions (I don't think I am spoiling anything here) the "endings" of a 5 year epic is just, well, absurdly disappointing.
So Mr. Muzyaka has asked his "Core Fans" (of which I think I can safely say after buying all 3 games, all the ME2 DLC, and mass effect books for Odin's sake that is a category I fall in) to give feedback of the game "as a whole" and not concentrate overmuch on the ending. So, that I will do. Maybe in the process you'll understand why I was so let down by the ending.
But we'd have to start at the beginning. Mass Effect was actually one of the first games I purchased for Xbox 360. I'd played Bioware games in the past and enjoyed them immensely. I loved Kotor, Baldur's Gate, and even Shattered Steel, although I didn't make the connection until a lot later. I loved pretty much everything about it. Even driving that silly truck over planetary surfaces, trying to avoid being eaten by spaceworms (thresher maw). It reminded me of everything I loved about KOTOR, but free of any weird dancing around lucas, and with better combat. (Although I admit, I enjoyed the turn based combat of Kotor). Played through twice. Once as BroShep, Paragon Knight Errant of the Galaxy. Women wanted him and men wanted to be him. He'd track down Saren and bring him to Space Justice because it was The Right Thing To Do. I enjoyed this so much, I decided to playthrough again and FemShep was born. Queen Bitch of the Universe. She was a woman in a man's galaxy, she didn't play by the rules, and that's why she was so successful. Strong, independent, with a tough exterior. Deep inside I think lurked some doubts and insecurities, so maybe she overcompensated just a little.
You guys know me, I'm a story teller. Given a medium like this, I can't *not* get into my character's heads, seeking out their motivations, their secret fears and desires. After all, *I* have to justify the actions I choose them to make. And I could do it in a way that felt a lot more organic than previous RPG's. It was awesome, and I loved pretty much every second of it.
So natch, I bought ME2 on release day. Something you should know about me, I don't buy shit on release day. I think video games are waaaaaaaay to expensive (a relic left over from the days when I got shit for $free) and so it's a pretty rare day I spend 60 bucks on release day. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've done that. (Fallout 3, Black Ops, ME2/ME3 and...that's about it.) I've got a wishlist on amazon full of games I'm waiting to drop below some threshold known only to me that designates an appropriate price. But after the first, I didn't blink, didn't hesitate to drop my hard earned cash on Mass Effect 2 the day it came out. Aaaaaaaaaand it was awesome! Broshep dumped that weirdo Ashley for some hawt Miranda action (cue dat ass pic) and saved the human race from the Collectors By The Book. Femshep had a harder time, keeping a picture of her beloved on her desk, and secretly waiting for the day the Galaxy would be safe, and she could rest. The burden was heavy, maybe more than she could bear. But she did what she had to do, the beautiful reluctant hero. I ate, slept, breathed this game. I loved Legion and the whole divided Geth. I thought the "test tube Krogan" was a great idea, and I loved Mordin's guilt and regret over his involvement with the Genophage. Great story, even a good ending. Big reveals without taking away a lot of the mystery that made it great. And the back and forth between the Shepards and TIM, the dynamic of who is using who was a brilliant piece of writing. Just, great great stuff. And then the DLC! Wow. Just wow. Mass Effect 1's DLC was mostly shit, but ME2...hit the nail on the head, and if you ask me, kind of set the bar for DLC. I don't mind paying for extra content, as long as the price point is reasonable and the content is *actually good*. Too many software companies release this kind of halfass bullshit for DLC and then expect me to pay out the nose for it. Nah son, I'm good. But ME2 DLC? Awesome. A great addition to the series while not being required.
So naturally, ME3 has been greatly and hotly anticipated by myself. I preordered (something i never ever ever ever do) and when it arrived at my doorstep I damn near hurt myself getting the box open.
And you know what? It's really really really good. Everything I loved about ME2 is there, but more. Everything I didn't like about ME2 is pretty much gone. Some of the things I liked about ME1 that were missing in ME2 are back. Combat is smoother, the "power tree" is a great way to manage your skillset, and the story is fantastic. All the themes that have pervaded the whole series are still there: What it means to be "human", cultural tolerance, strength in diversity, the needs of the many vs the needs of the few, righting old wrongs...it's all there, beautifully rendered. And ME3 felt like a good "ending". The "meat" of the game is spent tying up loose ends, righting old wrongs, making peace...and it all feels good. You get to see your "friends" grow up and grow old. You see them look death right in the eye and not blink. Hell, even the Multiplayer, while a little vanilla (definitely could use more map variety) it isn't bad. A not wholly-unwelcome addition to the series, and a good reason to "keep playing" after you'd normally quit your playthroughs.
I guess, in short, knowing the ending would I still buy it? The answer is yes. It's a great, great game with an unfortunate last few minutes. I still maintain if you "bought it for the multiplayer" you picked the wroooooooooooong game, and if you're not a big sci-fi nerd (did you jizz your pants over the Prometheus trailer? If not, you're not that big of a sci-fi nerd) you will definitely NOT enjoy it as much as I did. Does it have it's problems other than the ending? You bet. There definitely seemed to be chunks "missing". I kept talking to Aria in the citadel waiting for her to be like "Alright Shepard, you want my army? Saddle up and help me retake Omega." And instead, nothin'. And add into that the whole running into people on the Citadel: "Oh my, the reapers have taken my home planet and I forgot to bring with me the Ancient Toaster of Power...sure wish I had that about now." Then I go to find the AToP, and the game doesn't make me fight reapers for it, or a thresher maw, or maybe cerberus had unlocked the secrets of the AToP and were going to use it to control the reapers and I had to stop them...nope! It was just "oh, were you looking for this? Yeah, it's down in docking bay D24. YOU'RE WELCOME." A bit lame.
But those are just little warts on an otherwise flawless game. (again, excepting the last 20 minutes)
Yeah, I know. tl;dr. Still, it's the XBOX 360 thread, so maybe someone was on the fence about buying ME3, or playing through the others (AND TAKING THEIR TIME, MIKEY) maybe this will tip you over the edge.
1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442