142 réponses à ce sujet

[Phaedon]

ACT I: The Invasion

The Intro
My personal guess is that, once again, it will be in TIM's office, possibly explaining why TIM is after Shepard now. Game Inforner also says that at some point, we'll see the glimpse of several Earth cities (London, Tokyo, and I swear that there is a screenshot of a location with Mayan Pyramids (Mexico?)). There's a good chance that James Sanders and the Virmire Survivor will be introduced at this point.

The Trial
I believe that the trial will take place in London, as it is the city that will be attacked and shown in the trailer. Considering that the Normandy has been taken apart by the Alliance, I suppose that Shepard has docked there for at least a couple of days. I don't really think that what we should expect is really a trial, since there is little evidence connecting Shepard to the Aratoht destruction. At this point, the player will probably be reminded of their Shepard's past actions and choices and probably the events of Arrival, perhaps Lair of the Shadow Broker, too,though I doubt it. According to the articles that we have gathered, the Alliance admirals are still a bit sceptical about the Reapers (Yeah, Admirals, hence why I don't think it's a trial). 

The Arrival
In the middle of the trial, the Reapers attack the city that Shepard is in. Considering that a playable mission at that point would almost be required (you can't have cutscenes for 10 minutes straight), the Reapers have already deployed their ground troops. Now, as the player will realize, those are husks of various races, some of which are hybrids. The Cannibal for example, is a human-batarian-reaper hybrid, according to the PlayStation 3 Magazine. Keep this in mind, because that means that Protoreapers do exist. And they do look like cuttlefish. Shepard will have to fight his way to the Normandy and escape death. If James Sanders is not introduced at an earlier point, he'll escape with Shepard.


ACT II: Fight for the Found

The Next Step
Now, after a brief cutscene of Shepard looking back at Earth, it's time to act. The Normandy has been refurbished, and I think that we can agree that at least James Sanders is aboard. We already know that most, if not all, of the previous crew will return in some form, so I don't see why a part of Shepard's squad wouldn't be already aboard. Now, Shepard realizes that he needs to gather the rest of the species to save Earth.

Palaven
Palaven was confirmed by a Belgian magazine a few days ago. The turians are the most (military) powerful species in the galaxy, so they'll be a great help. If you ask me, we can be sure that General Pertinax will be the one leading the Hierarchy army. Casey Hudson said that species will need more than just a loyalty mission to join you. Choices that might have an impact on Palaven are saving/killing the Council, the Rachni, and Garrus, as his family, Solana and his mother, are there. The turians used to have a problem with Seperatists, but other than that, I don't know what else would motivate them to join you.

Sur'Kesh
Sur'Kesh, the salarian homeworld has been confirmed for quite some time. It's absorbed in some sort of debate over the genophage. Whether new data about the second genophage was uncovered, or the salarians want to use the krogan as weapons, it is unknown why this debate has been brought up again. Saving the genophage cure and Mordin should be very important. We also know that Cerberus attacks Shepard on that planet. Kai Leng, the best Cerberus assasin is very likely to be leading the attack, but I doubt that he'll die just yet.

Thessia
Thessia hasn't been confirmed yet, but I think that we can be certain that it will be featured. The Asari are, along with the turians, salarians and the humans the politically dominant societies. Justicars are probably very important religious instruments. So yeaaah, if you picked Morinth over Samara, you are done.

Tuchanka
We know that at some point, Shepard will lure a Reaper into a Thresher Maw's nest. He will also be accompanied by a krogan transport. That seems as enough indication to me that Tuchanka will be featured. Wrex has been confirmed to return (unknown if permanent or temporary squaddie, but I bet that he will be a temporary one), so it's a great chance to revive some Krogan-Turian-Salarian conflicts. After all, the genophage cure would have an important impact in Tuchanka. If you ask me, the 'Lure Reaper into a nest' thing is one of the red herrings that Shepard will follow during this part of the game.

Rannoch -
The Migrant Fleet -
It has been confirmed that Legion will return and that we'll visit Rannoch. Geth-Quarian war has also been confirmed by various sources. Now, my theory is that we'll try to prevent or stop the war, and if you go paragon, Quarians and the Geth live together in Rannoch. The Migrant Fleet hasn't been confirmed, but it makes sense, imo.

The Rachni
The Rachni are important, and there are some hints that we'll visit their new homeworld, thanks to that asari messenger. So, why not.

TIM's base
Cerberus needs to be dealt with at some point, and Mac Walters hints that TIM's base will be important. I am not sure if this will fit in the second or the third act though.


ACT 3: Feces Hit the Fan

You have gathered all of the species, or at least, as many as you could, and it's time to retake Earth. 
The Fleet arrives in Sol
Another scene that has been confirmed is the one in which ships of various races arrive throught a relat. Sounds like a big unified fleet arriving to retake Earth to you as much as it does to me? Well, now there are some locations that need to be visited before the big finale.

Mars
Mars, confirmed to make an appearance, is important for Humanity. That's where we discovered the mass effect technolodgy, and some prothean artifacts. Don't ask me about it's strategical importance, I don't know why we'll visit it.

Getting within the atmosphere
The Reapers probably have a fleet orbitting around Earth. No matter how big it is, there will always be a 'hole' in their defences. The Normandy needs to get to Earth, and the unified fleet will fight to give her that chance. This is possible the point when the 'You will have to sacrifice some species' things happens, since some fleets may need to be sacrificed. Still, there are various ways to retake Earth, according to Casey Hudson.

Sheattle-Vancouver
Referred to as a megacity that was created when Sheatlee and Vancouver expanded on top of the other, I am uncertain if it will only be seen in the beginning, be one of the most important battles, or perhaps even be the final battle for one of the possible ways of retaking Earth.

New York
New York will also make an appearance. Same with Sheattle-Vancouver here, though there is a greater chance that it will be where the final battle takes place.

London - The Final Battle?
London, hasn't been the final battle location in many movies and novels. Plus, it deserves more important problems than bedbugs. It also appears in the trailer. So yeah, another candidate for the final battle.

The Ending(s)
We know that in at least one ending Shepard will be alive (or at least succeed) and I bet that he can die in another one.

Other important plot-points that might appear but they haven't been confirmed yet:
Illos, Vigill and the Protheans
It only makes sense that the Prothean plotpoint that was dominant in ME1 will reapper at some point.

The Mass Effect Planet
We have seen a Reaper appear from within a planet in a Prothean vision (this may also be a hint for ME3), and there is an unkown planet in the ending of all the trailers. Is it Alchera? Mars? We don't know, and we may never find out.

More Cerberus
TIM is going to be one of the major antagonists, so we are bound to see a couple of missions related to Cerberus.

[Someone With Mass]

The Shadow Broker had interest in Prothean artifacts that could help against the Reapers. Maybe that's why we're going to Mars.

[The Elder King]

nevermind

Modifié par hhh89, 25 avril 2011 - 06:17 .

[Vez04]

[Phaedon]

Someone With Mass wrote...

The Shadow Broker had interest in Prothean artifacts that could help against the Reapers. Maybe that's why we're going to Mars.

It's one of the parts of the 'Protheans-Reaper mystery' plot points, I think. We need to learn more about the nature of the Reapers and the Protoreapers, as well as their motives.

Modifié par Phaedon, 25 avril 2011 - 06:18 .

[Fiery Phoenix]

Nice work as always, Phaedon. If there is one thing I want from the plot of ME3, it's for it to feel seamless and well connected. I can't say ME2 gave me that feeling, so I hope ME3 does a better job at it.

[Phaedon]

Fiery Phoenix wrote...

Nice work as always, Phaedon.

Thanks. 

[Welsh Inferno]

Nice read. I honestly hope they don't reveal much more story info before the game is released though. I know i wont be able to avoid the spoilers!

[CroGamer002]

And so does:

[Phaedon]

^Heh, thanks, Mesina.

[Ramirez Wolfen]

Cool stuff, man.

[habitat 67]

Great thread as usual, detective.
C-Sec would be proud to have you.

(Didn't know Palaven was confirmed, so now I'm really excited).

[VolusNamedBob]

I can see this as being the most likely structure, but I get the feeling Bioware is going to throw a curveball at us.

Not that that's a bad thing.

Modifié par VolusNamedBob, 25 avril 2011 - 06:35 .

[Phaedon]

The good thing is that, even with only the confirmed plotpoints alone, we know that ME3 will be: a.Longer than ME1 (I was really worried about it's duration when they said that it took them 6 months to make an environment from scratch), b. More interesting than ME2 (Or at least it will have a larger scale).

PS: Thanks to everyone as always

Modifié par Phaedon, 25 avril 2011 - 06:42 .

[Kronner]

Hopefully, it is not gonna be so simple. I mean, get allies - win is kinda lame combination.

Modifié par Kronner, 25 avril 2011 - 06:48 .

[JeffZero]

Phaedon wrote...

The good thing is that, even with only the confirmed plotpoints alone, we know that ME3 will be: a.Longer than ME1 (I was really worried about it's duration when they said that it took them 6 months to make an environment from scratch), b. More interesting than ME2 (Or at least it will have a larger scale).

PS: Thanks to everyone as always

Good work on this, Phaedon. There sure do seem to be a fair few confirmed locations already. But I can see why -- one of the major things the more hardcore fans have awaited is a trip to the various homeworlds. We've been to Tuchanka but that's about it, although if we'd never visited Rannoch I could see the justification for considering the Migrant Fleet as such.

[Phaedon]

Kronner wrote...

Hopefully, it is not gonna be so simple. I mean, get allies - win is kinda lame combination.

Pretty much all dramas follow Freytag's pyramid.


Think of a few of your favourite storyline and break them to parts like this. See?

Of course, moving from one stage to another needs to be almost seamless.

EDIT: Falling action segments are rather short nowadays, though.

Modifié par Phaedon, 25 avril 2011 - 06:53 .

[Thompson family]

The reasoning works, Phaedon, but here's the question you raise that fascinates me the most: The Quarians/Geth.

In theory, there's no reason the Quarians can't go back to their homeworld — other than the fact it leaves them surrounded by Geth living in asteroids all around them.

How can Shep possibly create enough trust between them to allow the Quarians to leave their non-combatants on the homeworld, surrounded by Geth, while the Quarian fleet and presumably the Geth fleet also join the bigger fight?

Remember in the aftermath of Tali's treason trial: The "old Warhorse" admiral says that if the Migrant fleet is to play a role, they must have a homeworld where they can leave the non-combatants.

Modifié par Thompson family, 25 avril 2011 - 06:58 .

[Phaedon]

Thompson family wrote...

The reasoning works, Phaedon, but here's the question you raise that fascinates me the most: The Quarians/Geth.

In theory, there's no reason the Quarians can't go back to their homeworld — other than the fact it leaves them surrounded by Geth living in asteroids all around them.

How can Shep possibly create enough trust between them to allow the Quarians to leave their non-combatants on the homeworld, surrounded by Geth, while the Quarian fleet and presumably the Geth fleet also join the bigger fight?

Remember in the aftermath of Tali's treason trial: The "old Warhorse" admiral says that if the Migrant fleet is to play a role, they must have a homeworld where they can leave the non-combatants.

So, essentially, if you don't convince the Quarians to live on Rannoch they die?

[Thompson family]

Phaedon wrote...

Thompson family wrote...

The reasoning works, Phaedon, but here's the question you raise that fascinates me the most: The Quarians/Geth.

In theory, there's no reason the Quarians can't go back to their homeworld — other than the fact it leaves them surrounded by Geth living in asteroids all around them.

How can Shep possibly create enough trust between them to allow the Quarians to leave their non-combatants on the homeworld, surrounded by Geth, while the Quarian fleet and presumably the Geth fleet also join the bigger fight?

Remember in the aftermath of Tali's treason trial: The "old Warhorse" admiral says that if the Migrant fleet is to play a role, they must have a homeworld where they can leave the non-combatants.

So, essentially, if you don't convince the Quarians to live on Rannoch they die?

They don't join you in the final fight -- with could, ultimately, amount to the same thing. Or the Geth/Quarian war goes on and neither fleet joins.

[J.G]

Sounds good to me.

[Phaedon]

I also forgot to mention that the Citadel is a possible plotpoint.

[DarthCaine]

I seriously doubt any of our ME1 or ME2 choices will have an important impact, or that that they will have any effect on whether a species "joins"

[Phaedon]

DarthCaine wrote...

I seriously doubt any of our ME1 or ME2 choices will have an important impact, or that that they will have any effect on whether a species "joins"

And, why is that?

1. Casey Hudson has said that they'll go crazy with variables and choices in ME3...
2. ...which is the only non-importable game in the trilogy so they can do that.
3. Several of the confirmed features so far are altered by previous choices.