I haven't beaten the game yet either, I'm currently up to the mission where youI haven't beat the game. I just destroyed the ardat-yakshi base.
are about to storm TIM's stronghold.
I haven't beaten the game yet either, I'm currently up to the mission where youI haven't beat the game. I just destroyed the ardat-yakshi base.
They received 402 cupcakes so it's not like they will forget how to provide quality game endings.
Also, protestations at EA's offices gets me every time.
The problem is that nothing else you did across the previous three games makes any difference to the end. You could be the biggest jerk to everyone, gotten practically everyone killed that you could in every previous instance and end out in the same place. For a series that has prided itself on personal choice all throughout the series, the end feels like a massive cop-out. Like, we couldn't think of how this could end incorporating some choice, so we just did this. It's similar to the end of DX:HR in that way, you find out you never really had any choice at all and that nothing you did previously mattered.1. You don't really know what happens to everyone, particularly your crew, besides seeing just a few of them land on a planet and earth are supposedly okay. Yeah that sucks, yeah I can resonate with people on this. So what if the endings are all incredibly similar? Each would dramatically change humanity so if you really need them to fill in the blanks for you then you need some imagination. Why do you think some stories like to end with more questions than answers?
This is true but I guess I never had expectations for this in the first place. Your actions didn't mean much in ME1 (just enough to warrant actually caring), they meant even less in ME2 and now in ME3 your choices in literally does nothing but change what Shepard says. There's only a few exceptions in ME3 (such as the Quarian and Geth conflict) where any choice alters the outcome Hell, the only thing you REALLY get to choose is who to romance and which color ending you want.The problem is that nothing else you did across the previous three games makes any difference to the end. You could be the biggest jerk to everyone, gotten practically everyone killed that you could in every previous instance and end out in the same place.
edit: Is it possible to get 100% galactic readiness? I did most of the side missions and only got to 50%.
The problem is that nothing else you did across the previous three games makes any difference to the end. You could be the biggest jerk to everyone, gotten practically everyone killed that you could in every previous instance and end out in the same place. For a series that has prided itself on personal choice all throughout the series, the end feels like a massive cop-out. Like, we couldn't think of how this could end incorporating some choice, so we just did this. It's similar to the end of DX:HR in that way, you find out you never really had any choice at all and that nothing you did previously mattered.
For the sake of the story, I REALLY hope this video is accurate. WARNING THIS VIDEO CONTAINS A CRAPLOAD OF SPOILERS, DO NOT WATCH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM
http://youtu.be/ythY_GkEBck
edit: Is it possible to get 100% galactic readiness? I did most of the side missions and only got to 50%.
I guess it kind of makes sense. My problem is that it has no effect on the end battle at all. Like you said, there is only the option of not having enough assets and having enough assets. You can get enough assets to get the breath ending without doing many of the side missions at all.The problem is that they wanted all of your decisions to matter, so they plugged them all into the calculations for war assets. This makes sense.
Because the game obviously hasn't ended.Shep gets to take a breath (which, btw, makes no sense--why only breath if you have enough assets? BLARGH).
This is true. There were lots of key areas where the story was held up by the fact that content exists. I still think it would have been highly appropriate for them to allow you to import ME2 saves where Shepard dies and basically show a cutscene where Joker tries to warn people about the Reapers and the Reapers come and wipe out the galaxy. You know, a real ending. Bioware keeps acting like this is the story of Commander Shepard, but it's not. It's the story of a sentient machine race trying to wipe out the galaxy, which they have apparently done many times before. Shepard is the key figure, but that doesn't make the meta story any less interesting or important. WHY is this cycle different? That is the fundamental question that is, as yet, unresolved.It makes perfect sense from a design standpoint that they did things this way, but it makes literally no sense from a story perspective. If Bioware had learned a lesson from games like The Witcher series, this game would have been much more awesome, but they didn't. Hell, how awesome/horrible would it have been that if you chose to kill the Rachni in ME1 you didn't have to fight them in ME3? Yeah, Bioware would have "lost" content in not having that enemy (and the player couldn't get those war assets after re-saving the queen), but it would have been great. Unfortunately, they refuse to let any work go unnoticed.
I dunno. I think it's fitting. It would actually make my opinion of the writers at Bioware a little higher than it is currently because it would have had to be doctored and intentional from the very beginning of the game. It brings up many really interesting points, all supported by actions/sounds/whatever in the game. For example, the "dream like" trance after you supposedly get hit by Harbinger's beam, with the bushes and trees from your dream. The meaning of the dreams is never explained or alluded to, I hope that it comes from a place much deeper than "this one kid died".It's a cute theory, but even if true it's poorly executed. It only works if you drastically stretch the imagination, fill in a number of plot holes, etc. It is also so obtuse that is hurts.
I can't disagree with this, because, in my opinion, Bioware DID drop the ball either way. If we accept that the ending is cut and dried, no further explanation is really necessary because the entire plot has gone to waste. If we assume that the indoctrination theory is correct, then Bioware left the end of the game out to sell it later as DLC. Both scenarios are equally disconcerting and just plain frustrating and annoying.Also: okay, so you have avoided indoctrination: so what? There is still a giant effing reaper invasion going on, and if it's all a dream, you haven't actually, you know, done anything. Either way, Bioware has dropped the ball
Meh. I still haven't activated my copy on Origin as of yet. The MP is fun and fine, but I prefer GoW Horde (which is essentially the same concept) as well as WH40k: Space Marine to it. GoW has the advantage of a much more advanced combat system. The battle in London right before you destroy the Reaper and head to the beam proved that ME combat is still a little too clunky to work for that kind of battle.Mostly, though, the multi is surprisingly fun (I actually like it better than, say, GoW horde mode).
Yeah, Javik is probably the most interesting new character in the game, in fact I'd say he's probably my favorite ME character besides Garrus and Wrex. I take him along on almost every mission and some of the conversations are simply great.Unfortunately, if that is true, it means that Bioware intentionally left the real end of the game out of the game. That, along with the lack of the Prothean character in regular versions of the game, is so ultimately disappointing that I cannot stand it. I know people say they don't feel like they are missing anything with the Prothean not there, but all I can say is "You don't know what you are missing". He adds an exceptional amount of depth to the Prothean backstory, and his perspective on almost every major event in the game is nothing less than interesting.
edit: Is it possible to get 100% galactic readiness? I did most of the side missions and only got to 50%.
Fair enough, but that's only because they had still buried, at that point, how utterly worthless your decisions were. Kill the council? Eh, whatever. Save them? Fine, thanks I guess. Anderson as councilor? LOL, no, we replaced him with Udina, bitch, deal with it.I wasn't very disappointed with the end of ME1.
I agree. The problem is that they left it there with such potential. It's really disappointing where they took it. Why the heck does Shepard die at the beginning of ME2? Dumb. Why does the council completely ignore your claims in ME2 to the extent that you aren't even really allowed in council space? Dumb. At least in ME3 they brought some cohesion to the problems and saving the council did end up having a sort of effect in that game. But still... such wasted potential.Fair enough, but that's only because they had still buried, at that point, how utterly worthless your decisions were. Kill the council? Eh, whatever. Save them? Fine, thanks I guess. Anderson as councilor? LOL, no, we replaced him with Udina, bitch, deal with it.
Unfortunately it is a key part of the plot, even if they like to pretend it isn't. They also said that the ending would be a real ending, that there would be multiple endings that were heavily influenced by your decisions throughout the series, and so forth. Either Bioware doesn't know their head from their brown eye or they just enjoy being misleading.Edit: Screw you, JohnDoe, now I want to spend friggin' $10 on DLC that should have freaking been in the game in the first place. If everyone had just agreed with my hope that it was worthless, I could have saved money and not rewarded such practices.
Apparently in one of Drew Karpyshyn's original scripts (he was one of the core writers on ME1 but was taken off ME3 to work on SWTOR [what a waste]), Javik was going to be the Catalyst. Seems like it would have been a better choice
Ah, thanks. From what I read it seems that those ideas were also drafted way early in the process and were never set in stone. Apparently also the big "enemy" was supposed to be Dark Energy.Allow me to correct you on one point. Drew wasn't taken off ME3 to work on TOR, he went down to Austin during ME2's development to transition to TOR.
And no, you need to play MP to have it higher than 50% and you need to play it constantly or it will keep dropping by 3 - 4 points each time you open the game. :/
That is some serious bullshit. You want to add multiplayer to your game? Ok, fine. I like multiplayer games. But this? This is complete horse shit and just makes me want to spend my money elsewhere.
The fact that you have to play MP constantly to keep your GR high is dumb but mutiplayer, is addicting and fun as hell.My statement in IRC still holds true. A potentially great game that is ruined by stupid stupid decisions.