Mass Effect 3

[Amentep]

Typrically upper right is paragon and lower right is renegade dialogue choices (was it just me or did ME3 mostly do away with middle right choices?).

 

I took the upper left/upper left choices as effects of extreme reputations not a special reward (other than a reward for playing particular paragon/renegade).

 

Mind you most reputations systems in games don't make a lot of sense to me so I just roll with them.

[Gorgon]

Not true, you need high scores to resolve the Quarian wars the way you wanted for instance.

[BobSmith101]

Not true, you need high scores to resolve the Quarian wars the way you wanted for instance.

 

That one can depend on a lot of different things.

[Gorgon]

You need both involved characters to be loyal from Me2, you have to have done a previous mission before another, and you need a high paragon/renegade score. You don't get the resolution you wanted without it, but you might not get it regardless. (say if you didn't have loyalty)

 

So, yes you do need those points to have the option of chosing the conclusion you wanted.

Edited March 28, 2012 by Gorgon

[Amentep]

Ah I wouldn't know on that score, I was paragon all the way. The only paragon check I couldn't get was the

 

 

last one with the Illusive man right before the shooting of Anderson

 

[Janmanden]

Ah I wouldn't know on that score, I was paragon all the way. The only paragon check I couldn't get was the

 

 

last one with the Illusive man right before the shooting of Anderson

 

My bar was completely full of both Paragorn and Renegade, more or less half-n-half and I had access to both of those choices and

the

Renegade was actually the one with the most content and final words from TIM.. Besides feeling better as well.

 

[Nepenthe]

Ah I wouldn't know on that score, I was paragon all the way. The only paragon check I couldn't get was the

 

 

last one with the Illusive man right before the shooting of Anderson

 

My bar was completely full of both Paragorn and Renegade, more or less half-n-half and I had access to both of those choices and

the

Renegade was actually the one with the most content and final words from TIM.. Besides feeling better as well.

 

That's strange, I was nearly full-on paragon and didn't get either of the choices.

[Raithe]

Ah, but in ME3, does the strictly Paragon/Renegade actually count, or is it more based on the Reputation? They have that whole weird mixture of how Reputation is a third number which mysteriously stretches your Paragon/Renegade numbers out....

[GhostofAnakin]

BioWare seems to be locking down some of the negativity threads all of a sudden. I'm not sure what that implies, if anything, with PAX coming up.

[Gorgon]

Striking a ballance between being percieved as opressive and being under siege.

[BobSmith101]

BioWare seems to be locking down some of the negativity threads all of a sudden. I'm not sure what that implies, if anything, with PAX coming up.

 

The list of lies they spewed a couple of weeks before ME3 was released?

 

Price update for anyone in the UK Amazon with free delivery.

 

PS3

Edited March 29, 2012 by BobSmith101

[Malcador]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/03/29/mass-effect-3-ending-hinted-at-by-mass-effect-1-after-all/

 

People are reaching.

[Nepenthe]

http://www.rockpaper...ct-1-after-all/

 

People are reaching.

Yyyyeah... The 22 minute "indoctrination theory" video is what I'll cling to if they don't actually do anything to the ending, but I realise the odds are it's just me being in denial.

[Amentep]

Laying groundwork for and properly motivating the ending is one thing; the end actually being a satisfactory conclusion is another altogether.

[Humanoid]

Well while we're going on how we'd *like* the plot to unfold, my personal preference would be to have the reapers to be an illusory threat - i.e. that the denialists in the first game were right and that other interests have sent that bumbling human spectre on a wild goose chase while some real powerplay went on behind the scenes. I think the Asari would make perfect villains given how they present themselves as being too good to be true - like y'know, being the sex partners of every sentient species in the galaxy.

 

Dreaming of course, but I always prefer my game antagonists to be close and personal foes rather than big "epic" nebulously defined concepts.

[Gorgon]

I think they could have made it work if they had laid their cards bare in the middle and not attempted to surprise the player with the plot.

 

They are chiefly up against the Matrix with an architect type character at the end responsible for the workings of the system , and in a wider sense both popular and less known Sci Fi culture and canno, all of which has already been analysed and discussed at length.

 

Being an 'RPG' they are in my mind also up against the ending of DX1 and DXHR, an AI at the center of the discussion and a prominent 'father figure' of synthetic life (Bladerunner, I Robot, BSG, and many others). They should have acknowedged this legacy and written an intelligent take on the issues involved. It need not have entailed a dozen different endings, but it really needed good dialouge, not just a door '1, 2, or 3' solution. They could have had a strong card like Martin Sheen at the very end arguing out his position alongside the player for instance.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Gorgon

[Gorgon]

Attempting spoiler funtion but it's not working right now.

[Malcador]

Click on 'Special BBCode', third button from the left on the top row.

[Gorgon]

Can't edit after I posted the second time it seems.

[Morgoth]

[Starwars]

I stopped playing around the time you start getting involved with the Geth and Quarians.

 

There are times when this game is fun and engaging but it's just...errgh. When I first played ME2 I could have fun with it despite some obvious cracks in the storyline and some stupid stuff. But in ME3, the good parts of the game can no longer hold back the stupidity and how implausible some of it feels. Even if it's popcorn entertainment, I can't just flat out ignore everything. And then you have the missions that are obviously multiplayer maps, the goddamn horrendous space exploration, and the lovely fetch quests.

 

I'm fine with people liking these games but I can't for the life of me understand just how many things they get a pass on in reviews. Specifically stuff like the fetch quests. They should be slammed for including stuff like that, it's *horrendous*.

 

I think the real killer for me though is that I don't find the characters interesting anymore generally speaking. The returning cast is like... It's nice to see some of them but I mean, even though I like Garrus... I know him now. It's not particularly interesting to data-mine him as a companion anymore because he was in the other games. Newly included beefcake is a really boring character and EDI is just... no.

[GhostofAnakin]

I think another one of the things that hurts ME3's replayability (besides the ending) is for those who like to make multiple play throughs to try different squad combinations. Because you're only limited to 6 companions (7 if you got the DLC character), it narrows down the options for trying out different combinations. And while ME1 only had 6 companions as well, where ME3 takes this one step further is the fact that the linearity of how some of the main quest stories plays out, you don't have access to all squadmates until over halfway through the game.

 

Two examples of this are Ashley/Kaiden and Tali. While you get to use Ashley/Kaiden up until the Mars mission right at the beginning of the game, they're laid up in the hospital until after the Cerberus attack on the Citadel. They're not available for a good portion of the first half of the game. And Tali doesn't join your team until after you reach the Geth/Quarian mission, which is well past the halfway point of the game.

 

So in effect, the only members of your squad that you have access to for the majority of the game are Liara, James, EDI, and Garrus. It also doesn't help that, IMO, EDI and James were incredibly boring characters, and Liara and Garrus you already know everything there is to know about them since they were in all three games (Garrus as a full squadmate for all three).

Edited March 30, 2012 by GhostofAnakin

[Krookie]

I think another one of the things that hurts ME3's replayability (besides the ending) is for those who like to make multiple play throughs to try different squad combinations. Because you're only limited to 6 companions (7 if you got the DLC character), it narrows down the options for trying out different combinations. And while ME1 only had 6 companions as well, where ME3 takes this one step further is the fact that the linearity of how some of the main quest stories plays out, you don't have access to all squadmates until over halfway through the game.

 

Two examples of this are Ashley/Kaiden and Tali. While you get to use Ashley/Kaiden up until the Mars mission right at the beginning of the game, they're laid up in the hospital until after the Cerberus attack on the Citadel. They're not available for a good portion of the first half of the game. And Tali doesn't join your team until after you reach the Geth/Quarian mission, which is well past the halfway point of the game.

 

So in effect, the only members of your squad that you have access to for the majority of the game are Liara, James, EDI, and Garrus. It also doesn't help that, IMO, EDI and James were incredibly boring characters, and Liara and Garrus you already know everything there is to know about them since they were in all three games (Garrus as a full squadmate for all three).

 

This was by far my biggest issue with the game until the last hour or so of it. I was really taken aback when I saw the squad selection screen and saw there was only room for 6 squadmates. I was hoping that we'd see the return of the more awesome ones (like Legion). I would have traded away Liara/Ashely/Kaiden/James/Edi for the chance to team up with Wrex/Thane/Legion.

[Calax]

I think another one of the things that hurts ME3's replayability (besides the ending) is for those who like to make multiple play throughs to try different squad combinations. Because you're only limited to 6 companions (7 if you got the DLC character), it narrows down the options for trying out different combinations. And while ME1 only had 6 companions as well, where ME3 takes this one step further is the fact that the linearity of how some of the main quest stories plays out, you don't have access to all squadmates until over halfway through the game.

 

Two examples of this are Ashley/Kaiden and Tali. While you get to use Ashley/Kaiden up until the Mars mission right at the beginning of the game, they're laid up in the hospital until after the Cerberus attack on the Citadel. They're not available for a good portion of the first half of the game. And Tali doesn't join your team until after you reach the Geth/Quarian mission, which is well past the halfway point of the game.

 

So in effect, the only members of your squad that you have access to for the majority of the game are Liara, James, EDI, and Garrus. It also doesn't help that, IMO, EDI and James were incredibly boring characters, and Liara and Garrus you already know everything there is to know about them since they were in all three games (Garrus as a full squadmate for all three).

Edi was a much better character, when not in your party.

[Zoraptor]

Achievement unlocked: double post five minutes apart

Edited March 30, 2012 by Zoraptor