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[Spoilers!] Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut: We Asked For This

  1. #51
    Making a product that falls far below consumer expectations and then fixing it to the delight of, well, some, does not seem the best way to publicise yourself. The constant and ongoing stream of dlc for multiplayer though, now that would probably count. I doubt it's a scam, as mostly its static pictures and new audio. Enjoyed the shout out to Zaeed and Kasumi in the endings.

  2. Gamers Lounge Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member  #52
    Moe~ money, moe~ problems Mokino's Avatar
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    @Fixer, Bioware is ran by EA's VICE PRESIDENT. You can't keep blaming EA for Bioware's own messes.

  3. #53
    What does that even mean? "Bioware is ran by EA, so you can't blame EA" what?
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  4. #54
    Counts as Mephiston Fixer's Avatar
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    Beat me to it Shuma.

    This informative vid will learnify ya Mokino
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  5. Child's Play Donor Gamers Lounge Senior Member General Discussions Senior Member Homeworld Senior Member  #55
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    It's worth noting that EA delayed ME3, I think twice, because Bioware felt the game wasn't ready. We were supposed to have gotten it a year ago. I don't think EA is to blame this time.
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  6. General Discussions Senior Member The Studio Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member  #56
    Beware of Zombified Terrorists Langy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fixer View Post
    Data mining on content before the DLC showed there was a lot that was cut.

    Joker talking about making an attack run in the final mission, characters such as Zaeed screaming battle cries in the final charge.

    There was probably a much more epic suicide mission styled endgame battle lined up but in the end we got effectively a standard Mass Effect mission with the same enemies we had faced all game. We can probably blame that on a deadline and thus on EA.
    I was really hoping that the EC would do this; expanding that final mission into what it by all accounts should have been. Ah well:/

  7. #57
    Quote Originally Posted by Fixer
    What does that even mean? "Bioware is ran by EA, so you can't blame EA" what?
    I think he was saying that BioWare's CEO and co-founder Ray Muzyka is Vice President of EA, which is quite a bit different than merely stating that EA owns BioWare. However, that's not actually true. Muzyka is actually Vice President of the BioWare Label at EA, which includes BioWare Corp, BioWare Victory, and Mythic Entertainment.

    Nonetheless, a few BioWare people are pretty highly placed in the EA leadership and John Riccitello, in-between his first and second terms as EA's CEO was the head of the Elevation Partners private equity which owned BioWare and Pandemic for a few years before EA acquired them. So there's some validity to his claim.

    In any case, what I've heard seems to mostly suggest that Casey Hudson and Mac Walters are primarily responsible for what we got, good or bad.

  8. Gamers Lounge Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member  #58
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    We also have to remember that, ultimately, any corporation like EA is ultimately bound to their stockholders. The management has to maximise profit to keep them happy or they get replaced. CEOs are not really the dictators many people seem to think they are.

    And, yes, ME3 was delayed twice. I suspect the fallout from DA2 contributed to those decisions.

  9. #59
    Counts as Mephiston Fixer's Avatar
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    I'm just extrapolating from EA's past interference in affairs. One thing is for sure, once they get their claws and corporate culture into a studio, that studio and the fans of it's franchises suffer.

    Just like the poor Ultima series.
    http://spoonyexperiment.com/2012/05/...a-9-ascension/
    AND THEN ELECTRONIC ARTS HAPPENED.

    Back to the game. Saw on Youtube the alternate endings.
    Synthesis creeps me out. Husks are sentient now, banshees have free will? The guy who makes up the arm on the cannibal? Damn, that's going going to be awkward.
    Last edited by Fixer; 28th Jun 12 at 4:18 AM.

  10. Dawn of War II Senior Member Dawn of War Senior Member  #60
    Senior Member Hirmetrium's Avatar
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    You know what I like the most about these new endings? The idiots who through it was fine the first time are now realising how shit and ridden with plot holes the ending is. The new Kotaku article is a perfect example of this. It's still filled with bile and hatred and general disdain ("it's because of a vocal minority we got these shitty new endings", rather than actually accepting or discussing said viewpoint) but he goes on to critisize the very things that were wrong with the ending in the first place.
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  11. #61
    Counts as Mephiston Fixer's Avatar
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    Oh dear. Thank you for pointing out that Kotaku article.

    "Discussion is now closed"

    You know what art is? When it comes down to it, art is something that by it's aesthetics provokes an intellectual or emotional response.
    I was at MOMA while making my trip through New York. Had some nice stuff there, some pointless stuff. There was an interesting thing where they had a book printed with sequential dates for several thousand years. All of human history appearing in just a few books. All it was doing was giving a nice perspective on time and mankind's place in it. Simple, effective, nicely done.

    You know what pretentious art is? Art that pretends to be saying more than it is.
    I could bang a rusty nail into a bunch of shower tiles, hang a soap on a rope from it and call it 'Entropy of man'.
    It's a complex piece which shows the need to man to endlessly cleanse himself and return despite his eventual and inevitable fate succumbing to age, the rope symbolises his enslavement, the rust his destiny. But it's so much deeper because of the cultural ties a soap on a rope has to the safest way to avoid a nasty prison shower scene.

    Right..?

    "All the eludication undercuts Mass Effect's best theme, too. The idea of cosmicism - that we exist in a universe that's essentially indifferent to us-comes across better in the original ending."

    Fuck you and your stupid pretentious intellectual dick-waving Evan Narcisse.

  12. Child's Play Donor Gamers Lounge Senior Member General Discussions Senior Member Homeworld Senior Member  #62
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    AND THEN ELECTRONIC ARTS HAPPENED.
    Just because something happened to one series doesn't mean it happened to another, and it is illogical to assume so.

    Also, fuck Spoony and fuck Kotaku.

  13. #63
    Counts as Mephiston Fixer's Avatar
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    Just because something happened to one series doesn't mean it happened to another, and it is illogical to assume so.
    One other series maybe.
    Game series/individual games destroyed by EA Management practise and/or outright closure of the studios.

    Dungeon Keeper
    Syndicate
    Command and Conquer
    Theme Park
    Populous
    Ultima
    Ultima Online 2
    Wing Commander
    Privateer

    There comes a point when you notice a pattern. A lot of games are known to have been ruined because of imposed EA deadlines. Ultima 8 and 9 were perhaps the ur examples. Also a lot of their horrible working conditions and crunch time debacles like the whole EA spouse affair are all due to forcing people to get work done before deadlines.

    EA is the Franchisicide of the gaming world.

  14. Child's Play Donor Gamers Lounge Senior Member General Discussions Senior Member Homeworld Senior Member  #64
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    A lot of games are known to have been ruined because of imposed EA deadlines.
    They delayed Mass Effect 3 twice. Again, there's nothing saying EA is to blame for any of this. Saying they did because they ruined other things is logically unsound.

  15. Gamers Lounge Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member  #65
    Moe~ money, moe~ problems Mokino's Avatar
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    Dungeon Keeper - most of Mucky Foot left to form a new studio, nothing to do with EA
    Syndicate - was never that big despite the rose-tinted glasses.
    Command and Conquer - still going
    Theme Park - see Dungeon Keeper
    Populous - see Dungeon Keeper
    Ultima - ended, IX was a huge management mess by ORIGIN, not EA. The team in charge had no idea what they were doing without Garriot's direction. Eight was awful, but that was also a symptom of Garriot choosing to leave the series behind. He simply didn't have a good successor.
    Ultima Online 2 - was canned because the original was still going very strong and it didn't make sense to split the community.
    Wing Commander - series ended with four, imo. Prophecy was simply awful (and was ALL ORIGIN's doing, NOT EA.)
    Privateer - part 2 was a giant flop

    Fixer, your hate is completely blind. You have no idea how the videogame industry works and just want to blame everything on Electronic Arts. You do realize most of these franchises wouldn't exist without them, right?

  16. #66
    @Mokino - Command and Conquer - still going? They've rebooted generals, killed tiberium universe and comified RAverse (mind you, this one I actually liked). Not gonna forgive them for what they did with C&C because it was one of my favourite strategies.

  17. Gamers Lounge Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member  #67
    Moe~ money, moe~ problems Mokino's Avatar
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    Yes, but it isn't really dead.

    After Command and Conquer 3 they royally screwed up by wanting to finish the Tiberium universe on the cheap. So they recycled what was supposed to be a freemium Chinese MP game into an awful C&C title.

    Rebooting Generals might be a good thing in the long run. The original had good gameplay (though a complete ripoff of Blizzard's style,) but was absolutely awful storywise.

  18. #68
    Counts as Mephiston Fixer's Avatar
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    You realise of course that the entire reason that people left Bullfrog is because of EA.

    http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...839-Footprints

    For McGechie, staying at Bullfrog was becoming untenable. "The EA rule book was brought in. I remember Gary and myself getting told off for running in the corridors," he says. "That was it for me." In a pub - and Mucky Foot is a developer whose story seems primarily told in pubs - they decided to hand their notice in on a Friday. They'd had enough. "Then, on the Thursday, Guy decided he'd had 'even more of enough' and handed in his notice," McGechie says. "Then myself and Mike did it on the Thursday. By then, I think, everyone had realized."
    I have no idea why you're defending EA here. They have shitty business practises and go about asset stripping companies, selling off the names of once great franchises on terrible products and exploiting their workforce in horrible manners.

    This is another story though, and it's derailing this thread from the Mass Effect topic at hand.
    If you feel EA is not the gaming devil, we can make another thread discussing it.

  19. Dawn of War II Senior Member Dawn of War Senior Member  #69
    Senior Member Hirmetrium's Avatar
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    The fact that SC2 already has established itself as a fully dominant force in e-sports should surely make the long term prospects of generals 2 undesirable - I seriously doubt they have the time, or the talent to deliver a game anywhere near the quality of SC2.

    EA is by no means the good guy, but this blame should fall squarely on Casey Hudson (who's job it was to ensure the game shipped at a suitably acceptable level of story and quality) and Mac Walters (who's job was control of, and final say on story - which he clearly FAILED on).

    Every time somebody talks about "themes" I froth with rage. This was never about art or "themes". It was never about "closure". It was about an ending that made sense. As was mentioned in a link in the other thread, Bioware didn't just expand the ending - they CHANGED parts. They CHANGED the fact the normandy crashes - it now just gets caught by the wave. They CHANGED the mass effect relays exploding. They are already lying through their teeth. It's *puts on best Zaeed voice* goddamn' stupid.

    I'm also disappointed in that it took them 3 months to make the shittiest contentless DLC that is the extended cut. I was expecting them to flesh out the ending of the game to make it a damn sight more playable. Which they didn't. It's a bunch of voice overs and stills. Bit boring. Not surprising its free - as someone said, the entire thing feels begrudging.

  20. #70
    Counts as Mephiston Fixer's Avatar
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    To be fair, there's three different kinds of Normandy crashes now.

    There's the bad Crash where a wrecked Normandy has it's door open and you see nothing else.
    There original flavour crash where the crew ends up on the planet and the engines explode, you see them put scaffolds around the ship after
    Then the high EMS ending where the Normandy lands for some reason, then takes off again.

    What they've done is added the option for things to end up better if you worked hard enough.

    Really though there's no point for the Normandy to crash land there at all. It was all just a convoluted excuse so they could have an Adam and Even ending in Synthesis. It's bizarre that they had to do all this strange crap in order to try and fix this original stupid mistake. They could have had the Normandy land on Earth after the Catalyst explosion and had the same effect. No reason to put them on some unknown garden world in the middle of nowhere because Joker and Edi aren't going to end up as the progenitors of an entire new species.

    I guess they wanted to re-use assets.

    The original ending was a horrible mistake. It failed on pretty much every account. On choice, on closure, on narrative or logical sense, basic storytelling FUBARs like the Deus Ex Machina child in the last few minutes.

    The new ending fixes closure for characters, means your choices actually did matter and the 'what the hell?' moment of the Normandy suddenly appearing in the middle of nowhere with your teleporting crew. It's still stupid, but at the very least it's something you could leave the series from. Without knowing what happened to the crew you couldn't really move on.

    Up until the new DLC it felt like the series was in a bizarre state of limbo with the ending being so out of whack it didn't seem real.

    edit: Agree with you on the actual ending gameplay Hirm. I remember the end run from my first playthrough being boring, but London is just grey... and the same fights over and over again.
    Last edited by Fixer; 28th Jun 12 at 8:08 AM.

  21. Gamers Lounge Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member  #71
    Moe~ money, moe~ problems Mokino's Avatar
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    @Fixer, calling them "the gaming devil" is just childish. I am not saying they're a great company but that you (and many of the internet community) are blaming them for a lot of things that they didn't cause. ME3's ending is the fault of Casey Hudson and Mark Walters, not EA.

    And, yes. Generals 2 is probably not going to dethrone SC2. God, I wish someone would though as Blizzard needs a swift kick in the arse to not remain the hollow shell they've become since Activision (the more dangerous gaming corporation, imo) took over. All Blizzard does is ride on the coattails of their pre-Actiblizzard successes. SC2 is basically SC1 with some quality of life improvements and a graphics overhaul; it doesn't innovate at all.

    But that's all a discussion for another topic.

    ME3's whole endgame just feels dull. Heck, the whole invasion of Earth plot was dumb from the getgo and the whole game suffers due to it.

  22. Child's Play Donor Gamers Lounge Senior Member General Discussions Senior Member Homeworld Senior Member  #72
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    To get off of EA, I wonder if anyone is still trying to fit Indoctrination Theory into the EC. Or still cares, actually. It'd be interesting to see a poll seeing how many people still think it's real, especially since the one linked had so many "I voted IT because the ending was shit" votes.

  23. #73
    Counts as Mephiston Fixer's Avatar
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    Since the premise of Indoctrination theory was that there was going to be an ending released later that would show that everything before was a dream... I think we can positively rule that out as an option.

    It's a damn shame it wasn't picked up as a way to fix this mess. It could have been brilliant.
    Shepard face to face with the Catalyst, breaking his logic, refusing his 'choices' the world fades around him as he gains his senses, replaced by ruins. The star child gains Harbinger's glowing eyes, Shepard pulls himself up from the floor to see the Reaper in the distance. He struggles towards the beam and make it before Harbinger can fire. "SHEPARD!"

    Then, some nice game ending stuff after that. Would have been a way to make Shep even more of a badass.

    It was a really interesting exercise in storytelling though. The fact that someone managed to pull together a logically consistent, foreshadowed and completely in-cannon explanation for everything that happened in the last 15 minutes was impressive. Plus also really lucky that Bioware threw in all these things that fit with the theory so well like the vanishing child only you can see with reaper sounds. Oily marks matching the description of indoctrination from the Rachni in the dream sequence.

    On the plus side.
    There was a really douchey video someone made of every texture flaw or minor thing that meant indoctrination theory was absolutely certainly true, then congratulating himself on his own brilliance in seeing these things no one else could. IT being disproven means he is not right, and more balance comes to the Universe.

  24. Gamers Lounge Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member  #74
    Moe~ money, moe~ problems Mokino's Avatar
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    Indoctrination Theory isn't any better than "it was the Matrix" as excuses for sloppy writing go.

  25. #75
    Member Aesaar's Avatar
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    I don't think IT is real, but if it had been, it could have been incredible. Would have made for a much better ending. A damn shame, that.

  26. #76
    Member Ewokz's Avatar
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    Could have been quite a surreal and unique gaming experience if they'd had both the idea to do it, and the balls to go through with it. Maybe releasing the true ending a week or two later.
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  27. #77
    I still find it funny that the ending is SO BAD, that people would rather believe that it was all a dream. When the "it was all a dream" endings are largely considered the worst kind of endings imaginable, at least as far as i know.

  28. #78
    Quote Originally Posted by Fixer
    "Discussion is now closed"
    That's actually because of Gawker's recent change in user interface. Comments threads from yesterday (the last day before Kotaku made the switch) are now closed, since they're incompatible with the new system.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fixer
    "All the eludication undercuts Mass Effect's best theme, too. The idea of cosmicism - that we exist in a universe that's essentially indifferent to us-comes across better in the original ending."

    Fuck you and your stupid pretentious intellectual dick-waving Evan Narcisse.
    While I think cosmicism can make for interesting stories I don't understand why some people insist the Mass Effect was an example of the theme in action. It was pretty evident all the way back to the first Mass Effect that the Reapers thought Shepard was individually significant, which pretty much runs contrary to the whole idea of cosmicism, which holds that humanity as a whole is insignificant. Mass Effect has plenty of interesting themes and ideas, but cosmicism was never one of them at least not beyond the fact that the Reapers wanted organics to believe it was.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fixer
    You realise of course that the entire reason that people left Bullfrog is because of EA.
    Different management, different policies. EA has committed several sins, even several recent ones, but I honestly don't think they're to blame here and the only people who seem convinced of this are those who need to believe that BioWare is innocent and has just been tarnished by the evil corporate suits. Everything I've read or heard about the endings and how they were developed, including from people who no longer work for EA or BioWare, indicates that the responsibility lies primarily with BioWare (and Hudson/Walters specifically).

    Quote Originally Posted by Starblade
    To get off of EA, I wonder if anyone is still trying to fit Indoctrination Theory into the EC. Or still cares, actually. It'd be interesting to see a poll seeing how many people still think it's real, especially since the one linked had so many "I voted IT because the ending was shit" votes.
    Oddly enough, yes, I've still seen people trying to work Indoctrination Theory into canon, even though the changes the DLC makes it seem even less likely to be so. Honestly, it's not that surprising though. Fans who refuse to believe their favorite creators have failed them will often go to ridiculous lengths to excuse their lapses. IT is just one of those.

    Personally, I do think it's an interesting idea and one that would have worked well as a way to work in a Broken Steel-type thing. But that's clearly not what BioWare did.

  29. Modding Senior Member Tabletop Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member Forum Subscriber  #79
    Retired Compliance Fairy Gorb's Avatar
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    EDIT: nevermind. Circlejerk in full swing, and I'd hate to get what Moki got (ZOMG HOW U DEFEND THE EA DEVIL YOU MONSTAR).
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  30. #80
    Member Thorno's Avatar
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    Huh? Looks like everyone vs Fixer to me.

  31. Modding Senior Member Tabletop Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member Forum Subscriber  #81
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    Tad more complicated than that. Starblade is making a valiant effort to get conversation flowing again though and I have no idea who Ishaar Niirfa is (apologies).

    Moki is slapping both sides of arguments around because his beliefs are a bit more mixed (I don't think he appreciates generalised blame).

    Fixer is ALWAYS ANGRY, as is Hirmy I think.

    Shuma is dropping the odd "lol EA" joke; not really involving Fixer apart from perhaps siding with him by proxy? Not sure.

    Misiok, Aesaar and Ewokz have one post not related to Fixer at all each.

    tl;dr: not really "everyone vs Fixer" at all.

  32. #82
    Member Thorno's Avatar
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    Sorry, didn't mean he's getting abused. I meant it's not exactly a circlejerk is it (yet), just one guy that's gone on a bit of an anger fueled tangent.

  33. Modding Senior Member Tabletop Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member Forum Subscriber  #83
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    I would quote a (formerly) excellent show and say two and a half men, but then Shuma would be annoyed for being the half

    Nevertheless, I've derailed enough. Suffice to say that we're already back a few pages in the previous thread.

  34. Child's Play Donor Gamers Lounge Senior Member General Discussions Senior Member Homeworld Senior Member  #84
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    Starblade is making a valiant effort to get conversation flowing again though and I have no idea who Ishaar Niirfa is (apologies).
    Sure am! Let's try another topic. What modified ending does everyone now think is the "best" one? I'm tied between Destroy and Control. On the one hand, Destroy probably (but not necessarily, based on the "severely damaged" line) means Shepard has committed genocide, but on the other, when has controlling unfathomable power ever worked out for anyone in the end in sci-fi? Being God Emperor of Dune Reapers is great and all, but what if you were a renegade asshole? The galaxy doesn't seem like it'd fare too well in that case. At least the husks and cannibal arms and various body parts grafted onto different husk types aren't sentient in Control.

  35. #85
    Member Thorno's Avatar
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    Have you seen the paragon and renegade versions of control? They're both scary but the renegade one don't sound nice.

    "To provide the many with a powerful leader."

    "I will lead an army that none will dare appose."

    I would only ever pick destroy, as much as I love the geth.

  36. #86
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    Destroy is also the only clear option for me. From the very begin, its been about destroying the Reapers.

  37. #87
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    From the very beginning (for me at least) it has been about saving the galaxy, not necesarily destroying the Reapers so I choose Control.

    Destroy makes you a genocide and Synthesis may sound cool in theory but is forcing your choice on everyone.

  38. Modding Senior Member Tabletop Senior Member Boardwars Senior Member Forum Subscriber  #88
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    But Control is okay because you're only forcing your choice on the Reapers (and assuming control of a race of sentient machine warships that can devastate the galaxy)

  39. #89
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    (This post contains a mixed bag of my thoughts on the original ending as well as the new. I never did have a real opportunity to rant about the old, please indulge me.)

    Right, just gave it a shot. Maybe I was just really trying hard to like it, maybe I'll turn around in a few days or if/when I replay, but for now, I'm okay with it. In the end, and even after the end, the good still outweighs the bad for me, looking at the product as a whole. And the bad was, yes, reduced with the DLC. A perfect ending? No. Whatever. Hell, all three games had some iffy spots in their finale, be it Jumpy Skeleton Soversaren (I did not like him) or Derpy the Three-Eyed Giant Terminator. 3 has its flaws. Not only in the ending, but many on a more basic level of design. Still. It was a nice ride. If I can look past Ewoks in the final part of a trilogy that imprinted itself on every cell of my body, I can take a dumb child in a hoodie.

    (This part heavy with rant.) My biggest gripe with 3 right now would still be that the final mission felt hollow and nowhere near as satisfying as most of Suicide Mission where you really see the work of the game before it come together. There, I secured the loyalty of a dozen nutjobs, criminals, extremists, washouts, experiments, and Tali. I was rewarded with their presence, their ability, and cool outfits. I felt like I'd earned their fellowship, and earned my victory.
    Here, the resources I gathered, loyalties I secured, alliances forged, followers gained, friendships formed, over not one but three games, come back to aid me in the shape of... a progress bar. I'd have liked to see more of that prior interaction with the galaxy reflected in the final battle, the troops I secured for Hammer fighting with me, or even acknowledged at all, not just add up to a number on the war terminal and then swept under the rug.
    My one weakness, the insatiable lust for cheesy space battle scenes was satisfied, sure. Even in the original cut. But even there more could have been done. I want more than just a few establishing shots of the fleet I gathered before hell breaks loose. I want to see Geth destroyers in the thick of it. I want to see that damn main gun on the Destiny Ascension do its thing. Hell I want to see what part of the ship actually is the main gun.

    They've done a reasonable choice to explain what they were going for with the Catalyst and I'm not a fan of the whole thing but I can accept it. Don't even mind the colorful space magic, when someone as creepy advanced as the Reapers are involved, you just know there's going to be some weird shit going down. Space Magicians gonna Space Magic. It's the other thing, the lack of feedback on a more personal level, that bugged me. The lack of focus on the part I care about most: the characters I've come to care for after spending hundreds of hours gallivanting the galaxy with them. this has been, at least somewhat, alleviated now.

    The kid is still dumb, but the more through explanation of its nature at least makes more sense than, well, nothing.

    Most importantly, at least this time around, the results and implications of my final choice were laid out in front of me rather than very, very vaguely implied. This was the part I liked.
    Could be I'm just easily dragged into sentimentality, but I enjoyed watching how things turn out this time. Repeated my initial choice of Synthesis, by the way and haven't had a look at the others yet. Free Green Shit for everyone, and a happy EDI, yay. Hard to imagine of course that everyone in the galaxy would be happy about now having Green Shit implanted into them, but maybe if you told them it's Green Shepard Brand Peace Shit that'll placate them some. Enjoyed seeing the Reapers as friendly giants in the back rather than looming monsters, the Husk breaking off its attack and suddenly taking on human mannerisms got a smile from me, don't care if it was dumb.
    Anyway, no sense of "That was it?" at least.

    Closure I was promised, and closure I got.

    Harbinger got a laugh out of me calmly waiting while the Normandy comes in for evac. "OH DON'T MIND ME I'LL BE OVER HERE WAITING FOR YOU TO HAVE YOUR MOMENT. I'M FINE I GOT TIME. READY? OKAY LET'S GET BACK TO BZZZZZZZZMMMMM." And then there's Shepard's first name immortalized on the memorial wall as COMMANDER. I like to think that nobody who remembered the actual first name survived and all records were erased in the war.

    Now I can get back to MP.

  40. #90
    Member Lautaro's Avatar
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    @Gorb:

    I think that the Catalyst new dialogue implies that the Reapers are just tools, they didn't have a choice from the beginning (and I don't know if they are capable of wanting something on their own) in the Catalyst plan, so choosing Control is not much of a change for them.

  41. #91
    What modified ending does everyone now think is the "best" one?
    Control master race, my Shepard was an asshole during the whole 3 games, he wouldn't pass the chance of getting to control an indestructible force of super alien computer monsters. What's not to love about being the Immortal god emperor of mankind? Destruction is also good, but it still kills the Geth, and the Geth are awesome. Synthesis is crazy gypsy space magic so fuck it.

    Being God Emperor of Dune Reapers is great and all, but what if you were a renegade asshole? The galaxy doesn't seem like it'd fare too well in that case.
    Fuck the galaxy, anyway the best ending is the refuse ending, it's the ending i wanted from the beginning, i didn't want a happy ending, i wanted the Reapers to just steam roll everyone, unless you did everything right, then you could have a pyrrhic victory, unfortunately we didn't get that part, but i'll take what i got. Besides, it does imply that the next cycle defeated the Reapers, so that's cool too.

  42. #92
    Member Thorno's Avatar
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    He says that he gives them function, but he also says he is their collective intelligence. But then Sovereign said they are each a nation and independent.

    They're obviously a collective of independent drones dependent on cooperation between each independent platform and at the same time controlled by a master AI, who grants them independence when needed.

  43. Boardwars Senior Member  #93
    I AM LIGHTNING Master Chief's Avatar
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    The plaque part was weird, like they couldn't just put in the Player entered first name? It's not like anyone says it anyways. That would've been pretty cool.

    Anyway I chose Destroy because I wanted to blow up the Reapers. Should've had something where Shepard is alive besides the Gasp scene, they had epilogues and shit so everyone else would know Shepard's alive.

    Also I laughed at how immature the Refuse ending was, I was bored walking up to Destroy so I shot the kid just because that's what I always do when taking the slow crawl up and accidentally did the Refuse ending. God, couldn't believe a big studio would make an ending that was basically a temper tantrum. So funny.
    THE RAIN TRANSFORMED

  44. #94
    The plaque part was weird, like they couldn't just put in the Player entered first name? It's not like anyone says it anyways. That would've been pretty cool.
    Obviously it would've taken too much effort, but at least we got glorious Der Sheppard out of it.

  45. #95
    Forum Farseer Akranadas's Avatar
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    Saved the entire galaxy, didn't even get promoted from Commander.

  46. Child's Play Donor Gamers Lounge Senior Member General Discussions Senior Member Homeworld Senior Member  #96
    Adios, amigos. Starblade's Avatar
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    Shepard's parents hated him and actually named him Commander.

    Other comedy options: German, Major, Lola

  47. #97
    Member Kronoch's Avatar
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    I finished the game again, and because I really wanted to save everyone I chose the Synthesis ending. Having the reapers as benevolent guardians seems a bit more appealing to me if they still have free will, even if that last bit is up for debate. I never really hated the original endings. I thought they were a disappointing, confusing mess, but I didn't hate them. The extended cut at least presents me with actual endings, rather than marginally different 3 videos that didn't make any sense.

    I'm torn between Control and Synthesis as for which is the "best" ending. I don't want to destroy EDI and the Geth, so destroy isn't really and option. But what I don't quite understand is if the galaxy is basically a hive mind at the end of the synthesis ending. What does 'everybody is connected' mean? Is this like the borg? Or do people retain their quirks and personalities? Synthesis becomes more horrible the more I think about it, I'll go with the Control option being the best.


    I still think the worst part of the ending is the entirety of the London mission. There is one cool moment in there (TO THE BEAM), but the rest was just boring as hell. It's dark, it's grey, there's nothing to see, there's nothing to do. The London level was just so uninspired, it felt like I've played it before in a ton of other games. It should have been an immensely chaotic war zone, but instead it feels like an empty wasteland where all the important fights happen off-screen. The camp where you can do your final talks with everybody is the perfect example of the London mission. It's big, empty and quiet when it should have been packed with soldiers and materials all getting ready for the final push. I just wish it was more like the dock with all the refugees on the citadel.

    Compared to the final mission of Mass Effect 1 & 2 it's painfully dull. It put me in a bad mood for the ending.
    Last edited by Kronoch; 28th Jun 12 at 11:02 PM.

  48. #98
    If you ask me, the entire game is like that. I think i mentioned in the previous thread, but Mass Effect 3 is even smaller than Mass Effect 2. It kind of pisses me off that everyone latched onto the ending to complain about the game, in my opinion, the entire game is god awful with the exception of Tuchanka, and some parts of Rannoch. Tuchanka was definitively fucking awesome, even if i don't like the direction they took with Wrex's character.

  49. Dawn of War II Senior Member Dawn of War Senior Member  #99
    Senior Member Hirmetrium's Avatar
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    Its a shame the ending doesn't have shepard say the line "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL". That was a missed opportunity.

    Have we all agreed that, although the game is now by no means perfect, it is better than the base product?

  50. #100
    Forum Farseer Akranadas's Avatar
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    @ Shuma, Tuchanka is indeed the highlight of the entire game.

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