199 replies to this topic

[Chris D]

I'm back on Earth. This mission is proving to be something of a bitch. The part I had to stop at to take a break is just an endless assault involving my least favorite kinds of enemies.

[Ogul]

I just finished the two Quarian/Geth side missions. Loved them. The zapper gun on the AA gun assault mission was a lot of fun (too bad you can't keep it), and I really loved the whole concept behind the one with the reaper fighters. Then I went back to the ship and got treated to some of the most fun little dialog sequences, from EDI/Joker (and EDI's sense of humor), Javik/James in the mess, and probably the most fun cutscene Ashley's ever been a part of in the Observation deck. So much fun.

[Mikha'il Tegler]

for those who've done the ending, this guy really does justice to why everyone is so outraged with the ending:

http://www.gamefront...fans-are-right/

reminds me of Knights of the Old Republic 2 in a lot of ways. Bioware created an amazing game right to the last 10 minutes. Then totally kicked you in the balls, took a baseball bat to your head, then pissed on you while you were on the ground.

[Dave Wallace]

I dread to think how the Mass Effect fanboys might have reacted to the ending of Resistance 2 if they'd been fans of that franchise.

[craggy]

finished it. got stuck on a bit last night that seemed like it should be about the mid-point to the ending. eventually got past that, and did the rest tonight.

after the credits, I stuck on multiplayer. it's pretty fun

[Ben the Obiwomble]

I dread to think how the Mass Effect fanboys might have reacted to the ending of Resistance 2 if they'd been fans of that franchise.

But did Resistance effectively claim you could change things?

[Dave Wallace]

But did Resistance effectively claim you could change things?

No, and that's a good point I guess.

But even with games like Mass Effect, isn't there always going to be a limited window within which you can change certain things, but not others?

[Ogul]

I thought we'd agreed not to dance around spoiling the ending of the trilogy in an open thread.

[Chris D]

reminds me of Knights of the Old Republic 2 in a lot of ways. Bioware created an amazing game right to the last 10 minutes. Then totally kicked you in the balls, took a baseball bat to your head, then pissed on you while you were on the ground.

I don't think Knights 2 was anywhere close to the game that ME3 was. That game was very incomplete with a weak story. Don't get me wrong, I played the hell out of it, and thought it made some gameplay improvments over the first one, but the story was crap comparitively. Also, BioWare at least didn't make Knights 2.

At anyrate I wouldn't go so far as to say the ending kicked me in the balls, took a baseball bat to my head, then pissed on me while I was on the ground. The ending left A LOT to be desired, but I'm not feeling any rage over it. I might not replay this one as many times as I did the previous ones, but I'll certainly play it again just to interact with the characters differently.

My biggest complaint?

Spoiler

I have no idea what happened to my squad. Seriously, did they all die? Mass Effect 2 definitely utilized your squad far better during the final mission and gave more weight to it. I was surprised to see that approach not taken here.

[Chris D]

Okay, so I finally read the article about the ending...and yeah it's a pretty consise explanation of everything that's wrong with the ending. I'm still not going to rage about it. I've been here in a similar position with so many endings of series I enjoy. I'll just appreciate that it was an incredibly great game until the end went and got all stupid.

[Ogul]

Still plugging away. I just wrapped up the Geth/Quarian chain and started the Asari chain. Loved the resolution to that one, I got what I think is the best case ending, which pushed by readiness well over the mark. You seem to need an unmodified readiness of 6000 to fill the green bar (which is automatically halved to 3000 if you don't multiplay), well I got it slightly above that already, and a lot more to come.

I've also figured out the whole "scanning" system and got a lot better at it. I used to just scan around in a system until the Reapers showed and then bug out, returning only after running a mission or somethign so that the coast would be clear. I learned this is a waste of time. So here are some helpful tips:

1. Don't be a ####y. Just because the Reapers show up doesn't mean you have to leave. You can avoid them fairly well, and leaving the system and then re-entering it resets their locations. I've cleared every system available so far, and while I've occasionally had Reapers right on top of my as I hit the edge of a system or a relay, I've never once actually been caught.

2. They always spawn from the same point at the edge of the system, so if you still need to scan, just leave, come back in, make as many passes as you can before they get close and then bug out. Repeat as necessary without actually moving away from the system, this takes no fuel.

3. Reapers can't get you when you're scanning a planet or anything, this freeze them right where they are until you leave the planet view (give or take a half-second of travel distance). They can only get you while moving around the system, so as long as you have a little bit of lead time on them, don't worry about spending as much time as you need scanning a planet. Attempting to scan something with a Reaper right on top of you can be a bit risky though, try to gain some distance first.

4. Once the Reapers are out, it doesn't hurt to scan to your heart's content, spam that button.

5. When you're entering a system from the sector map, pay attention to which direction the Normandy is pointing. You will enter the system as if you were entering it face first from that direction. What I mean is, even if you flew towards the system from the "east" side, if you then turn the ship in space towards east, then hit "a", you'll appear from the western side of the system when you spawn. This allows you to run around the Reaper patrols, since they always spawn in the same place.

[Ryan Landau]

Yeah I HATED scanning until I figured out the above tips. Number 5 is particularly important for those instances where you pick up something on the scanner AFTER the Reapers show up. All you have to do is leave, position yourself so you re-enter the system close to the signal, then dash in and grab it before they get close. Works like a charm every time. Only time I've been caught since is when a Reaper somehow clipped through the Normandy and then blocked its forward progress. I blame mass effect fields.

There's a rumor going around that post-game DLC to augment the ending is in the works for this Spring. Rest in spoilers:

Spoiler

Allegedly, the ending to the game was changed relatively late in development because the original ending got leaked onto the internet (wasn't able to confirm this, and it's actually different--though not contradictory--to other stuff I've heard about how the ending we got was conceived). So instead of delaying the game further they put in the color-coded nonsense that we already have and planned to release a DLC pack titled "The Truth" to make sense of it post-launch. The DLC also supposedly contains new multiplayer class/race combos, enemy sets and maps.

Personally I'm going to consider it a bunch of hooey until proven otherwise, mainly so I don't get my hopes up. There's supposed to be a Mass Effect panel at PAX in April, so if they were going to announce something it could be there.

[Mikha'il Tegler]

DLC post ending, would be nice if you could play one of the living teammates. even nicer if you could chose which one.

[Chris D]

I won't hold my breath for post-ending DLC, but I'd definitely like to see it happen.

[Dave Wallace]

DLC to correct an ending that everyone hated would just add insult to injury, wouldn't it?

"OK, here's the real ending... that'll be another £7.99 please!"

[Rory Abel]

DLC to correct an ending that everyone hated would just add insult to injury, wouldn't it?

"OK, here's the real ending... that'll be another £7.99 please!"

Unless it's free like the first bit of DLC for ME2.

[Dave Wallace]

Unless it's free like the first bit of DLC for ME2.

Yeah, that might soften the blow a bit.

[Chris D]

The weird thing is, the more I think about the ending, the more I dislike it. Yet I'd still be willing to finicially support a good fix to that ending. You know, if it was like $5. If BioWare is willing to admit the ending sucks and do the work to make up for it, I'll support them. Because I think the made an excellent trilogy of games up until those very final moments.

Edited by Chris D, 15 March 2012 - 10:54 PM.

[Ogul]

You know what I didn't like about the ending? The bit where the werewolves marry the vampires and make werepire babies. Or at least that's what I assume happens, because I haven't gotten to the ending yet, and yet it's assumed that I must have because this thread has become chock full of talk about the ending that doesn't have any spoiler tags.

[stephen broome]

The weird thing is, the more I think about the ending, the more I dislike it. Yet I'd still be willing to finicially support a good fix to that ending. You know, if it was like $5. If BioWare is willing to admit the ending sucks and do the work to make up for it, I'll support them. Because I think the made an excellent trilogy of games up until those very final moments.

In the great debates about video games as art, going back and instituting fan service endings (whether the original is bad or not) to make fans happy would demonstrate about as much integrity as Lucas constantly redoing his movies based on whatever new whims he has. Whether or not people like it is one thing, but the game and its story is either done or it's not.