Mass Effect 3

[JimmyTheCannon]

Oh, almost forgot.

Spoiler: show

I'm still disappointed that we never got a final showdown with Harbinger, after he was the main antagonist of the second game.

[Stofsk]

And Stofsk, I'm not gonna wax thunderous here, but I do want to point out that there's a significant difference in impact and tone/feel between watching the endings on Youtube and playing through the endgame to get to them. When viewed in the context of the decisions you've made and the battles you've fought, I feel that these endings make a lot more sense than when viewed on their own. Ironically, the one ending I wasn't happy with was precisely the one you cited,

Spoiler: show

what I call the "Fuck You" ending,

as I felt more could have been done with that concept if they felt like including it (and besides, I would assuredly not have known about it if someone hadn't told me before I got there). I have noticed that the reactions from people whom I know to have played the endings are almost universally more positive than the reactions from people I know to have simply looked them up. That's the ultimate in selection biases, of course, but still.

Sure, the impact would have been greater had I played through the game to get them, no question about that. Unfortunately, that bridge was crossed and burned up behind me, so I can't play ME3 with a fresh and uncluttered perspective.

Spoiler: show

As for the 'fuck you' ending, I kinda agree with you, that they could have done a little bit more with it, but I really find it powerful how Liara becomes the real hero in the ME series with that time capsule. It goes back to ME1 where Shepard was the hero but he literally couldn't have done it without Liara on his team. And literally, it is almost word-for-word what a LOT of people wanted to see in the game, and frankly it floors me that it wasn't in the original game at all.

Incidentally, ME3 was released in March not January :P

Like Charon, I will not be buying DA3 sight unseen. But should another Mass Effect game come down the pipe, the production of this ending has dramatically increased my chances of buying it, as I know, if nothing else, that Bioware cared enough to try and satisfy me with this game, at great cost to themselves. Whether they were 100% successful or not, that's a step no other company I know of would dare to take, and I tip my hat to them for taking it.

Well Bethesda did it for Fallout 3 when they released a DLC for it. The precedent had already been established by the time ME3 came along, which is funny because when this controversy kicked off it's like the 'pro-original ending' crowd simply forgot or weren't aware of it, despite Bethesda being an AAA studio that released an AAA title that got rave reviews but had a really stupid ending that was fixed in DLC.

[General Havoc]

Yes, but Bethesda fixed Fallout 3's ending with paid DLC, which is a very different thing than a free DLC pack simply done to placate the fans. Bethesda selling players a better ending to Fallout 3 is, in my mind, not the same sort of thing as what Bioware did, and I give Bioware significantly more props for it as a result. People were already chomping at the bit at the notion of having to "buy the real ending" of Mass Effect. Thankfully, that did not happen.

[Josh]

Okay, having recently been gifted a copy I'm starting in now. I do like how the game just picks up skill-wise where you left off in ME2.

I guess there's less random loot in this game and also no more hacking skill minigames.

[Josh]

Whelp.

Honestly not sure how I felt about this one, having just finished a renegade/fuck you ending.

Also, something about the graphics setup literally gave me headaches. Bad ones. Kind of dims my enthusiasm for replays. Even lowering the brightness to minimum (and thus inducing some screaming frustration with the final battle on Earth scenes where I'm flailing around in the dark while banshees and brutes are dancing on my head) didn't help.

And they still haven't done a musical score to match the first one.

[Stofsk]

And they still haven't done a musical score to match the first one.

OMG I know right. My favourite example of this is the character creation music for each game. The first one is amazing, it is deeply invocative and has that sense of menace to it that told you 'shit is about to get real in this game'; the second one is utterly mediocre and forgetful, which is about par for the course for much of the second game's OST; and the third one is trying to be like the first one but has too many influences from the second game's musical cues (it feels like the guy who did the track for the kasumi mission had a hand in it).

EDIT:
Thought I'd post them so we can compare and contrast.
[youtube][/youtube]
vs
[youtube][/youtube]
YAWWWWWN
[youtube][/youtube]
Better, but still not as good.

[Josh]

[youtube][/youtube]

It's nostalgic, inspired by the Dune and Blade Runner soundtracks. To me, this piece really encapsulates the feel of the first game- space is big and broad and full of wonders, but also potentially dark and dangerous. BUT with courage and honor and teamwork, we're gonna get through this.

That's what the original soundtrack says to me, in a very visceral fashion. The music at the end, when Shepherd comes limping out of the wreckage of Sovereign, it's perfect.

Then there's this number:

[youtube][/youtube]

I ended up getting very tired of the endless Mako missions where you had to drive to every corner of the map and climb impossible hills to find some stupid mineral deposit, but the music was so perfect for the exploration theme.

Mass Effect was the first space RPG for me that actually felt like it was taking place in a galaxy, since there were so many worlds you'd go to rather than having a very few as in the KOTOR games. The soundtrack suited this perfectly and gave a real 'vast journey' vibe to the game. These bits of music still make me nostalgic for the original, nostalgic enough that I'm half tempted to reinstall and play through it again.

The two sequels have just had mood music. "Oh, this is a scary scene! Scary music!" or "This is a dramatic moment! Dramatic music!"

But I honestly can't think of a single tune from either of the sequels, and that's sad because the first game probably has one of my all-time favorite soundtracks.

So anyway, I just tried the Leviathan DLC and it wasn't bad. Nothing outstandingly great, for me it's not up there with Overlord or Lair of the Shadow Broker, but not nearly as bad as that goofy one with the Batarians and the mass relay either. If you liked the game, you'll probably like Leviathan.

[rhoenix]

http://blog.bioware.com/2013/02/21/mass ... announced/

Final ME3 DLC has been announced. Citadel for single player (which costs money, and apparently involves Wrex and Shepard's personal apartment on the Citadel somehow), and Reckoning for multiplayer (which is free).

[White Haven]

Omega was a mixed bag for me. Some neat elements and Oleg Petrovsky had a few glimmerings of being an interesting character whenever the writers stopped making him twirl his moustache, but the whole 'we don't want to pay voice actors, so Shepard, come alone' bit was incredibly obvious and cheap in ME2, thank you very much.

[rhoenix]

Omega was a mixed bag for me. Some neat elements and Oleg Petrovsky had a few glimmerings of being an interesting character whenever the writers stopped making him twirl his moustache, but the whole 'we don't want to pay voice actors, so Shepard, come alone' bit was incredibly obvious and cheap in ME2, thank you very much.

More effort was put into some DLC than others, true. On the other hand, there are many, many good storylines that were only superficially resolved in the ME games - the scenarios in the Omega DLC aren't much different.

[Josh]

Hunh, I'll have to go back and look at the DLCs.

Also I didn't know that Wrex and Shepherd had an apartment together. THE PLOT THICKENS.