2915 réponses à ce sujet

[ArkkAngel007]

Comsky159 wrote...

What kind of legal system is this anyway, where Shepard just gets an all expenses paid holiday in response to an act of genocide? He wasn't even court-martialed from the military. After killing a few hundred thousand civilians he's prevented from shooting **** up for a few months.

Seems more than a little odd.

Same legal system that will cover generals who lie about frakking to a soldier's family and let the perpetrators remain in the service.

Political shots aside, he wasn't court martialed for a few reasons.  First, Anderson vouched for Shepard.  Secondly, the Alliance is aware of the Reapers as much as the Council, but aren't jaded to think that ignoring the problem will result in that problem from coming into fruitation.  Finally, it would have been genocide in either case.  If Shepard stood by and did nothing, then he/she would have intentionally allowed the Reapers to roll in and kill everything (in a quicker fashion, mind you).

[matt-bassist]

AxisEvolve wrote...

I don't want to be "that guy". But what this is really about is putting action before story. "Let's jump straight into the Reapers F---ing things up. Yeah!!!"

They are marketing the game at a more general audience and despite having the "Action, RPG, and story" elements, they still don't include the trial which should have been one of the most important decision points of the whole game.

Hmm i just had a thought - what if this is "Action" mode? pretty much everyone agrees that its rushed, not very BioWare-like and seems like all its doing is trying to get us to "the action". Maybe the demo is auto-locked to the Action mode, and *THAT'S* why it plays out the way it does.

It doesn't bog you down with pointless things like talking, exposition, character development or tension. No. You just get pushed along quickly to the explosions, shooting and killing stuff!

[Iakus]

Il Divo wrote...

iakus wrote...

It does, because Shepard appears to be suffering the consequences that one can logically deduce came from the events of Arrival.  Hackett made it clear there would be fallout from it, even if the evidence is shoddy.  In this opening, we see the consequences of that fallout.  All we missed was the actual hearing or whatever.  Yes, I'd like to have seen the process in action, but what we've been shown is not a huge logical leap.

1)Hackett warned there's be repurcussions for the destruction of the Alpha Realy
2t)rial we don't get to see where Shepard defends himself.
3) Shepard is beached

That, for me, is the key distinction. Arrival, and ME2/Reapers in general, are why I'm on trial in the first place. That's where I was given the opportunity to more fully review my past actions, to argue for why everything in the past two games happened, and my Shepard's reasoning. Skipping past all that, which includes role-playing opportunities as well as establishing the setting, is a far bigger offense, imo. What did my Shepard say when they asked him about the Batarians? About the Reapers? Cerberus? I have no idea, yet this is intended as my character.

And believe me if those opportunities don't come along I'll be pretty upset too.  But I can live without having to do them in a courtroom setting.

Imagine KOTOR2 where as the Exile you get to apply your own role-playing interpretation why you followed Revan and fought in the Mandalorian Wars and why you came back to the Council.  the Exile's "trial" was one brief flashback, but you got to talk about the war and your views of it throughout the game.  This trial isn't be-all/end-all of Shepard's personality.  Nice if we can get it, no question.  But not an absolute necessity.

If the goal was to get Shepard back on Earth, there were far easier methods of doing so without the the issues the Arrival dlc created, no trial necessary. It could have been as simple as my Shepard has Hackett arrange a meeting with the Alliance to force them to speak with him. The ME2 transition is more easily understood because ME1 did not leave a single narrative thread for us to explore. Beyond "Reapers", I doubt anyone could have told me where ME2 would have gone, based on ME1's story. The same can't be said for the Arrival-ME3 transition, which left a clear source of drama and conflict for the player to explore.  

This is the part where I sday if the goal of Mass Effect 2 was to seperate Shepard from his/her support structure there were far easier methods of doing so without the protagonist dying in the opening scenes:P

Modifié par iakus, 13 février 2012 - 11:51 .

[Aaleel]

kylecouch wrote...

Aaleel wrote...

izmirtheastarach wrote...

Aaleel wrote...

anyone elsewould have been tried, court-martialed and discharged.

Meaning you were not, and will not be. There is not trial, and no mention of a trial. Shepard just wants to know when he will be put back on active duty.

That's what I said.  People are acting like the trial got skipped, but I'm saying there hasn't been a trial at all. 

Also, Vega is Shepard's personal guard, so Shepard is still in some type of custody. 

The trial WAS skipped BECAUSE it didn't happen. Anything relating to one is talked about in a past tense...meaning it has already happend.

No some people are talking like the trial happened and they didn't get to take part in it.  I don't think the trial has even taken place at all in the ME timeline.  It would have had to have taken place in the chronology of the game for it to have been skipped in the demo.

[TheRealJayDee]

kylecouch wrote...
But see...heres the main point...we are not shown or told this...they just expect us to assume a great many things leading up to this scene. Making the player use their "imagination" to "fill in the blanks" is NOT proper story telling. There was a link in this thread in the early pages that linked to the infamous Prequal reviews of Star Wars. The Bioware strategy is the same Lucas used for those movies...which is to Tell us...rather than show us. But ironiclly they don't tell a whole lot eaither, so they fail on both accounts. Instead we are reduced to having to invent our own interpritations of things which may or may not be correct. Never...at any point in a proper story...should a reader/ player have to assume or invent their own conclusions. It is the job of the author to create the story for us to experience, instead of having to do their job for them in order to enjoy their product. I personally feel if you at any point...have to invent or assume a part of someone else's story for it to make sense...then the author has failed in his task.

That was one of my biggest problems with DA2, I had really hoped things like this wouldn't be repeated.

Modifié par TheRealJayDee, 13 février 2012 - 11:49 .

[Doctoglethorpe]

kylecouch wrote...

JSwisha wrote...

Squallypo wrote...

kylecouch wrote...

Exactly...and just as a said earlier on this page...the fact that we have to basiclly invent our own conclusions means that Bioware failed their job as the author.

and that they have failed even more for not bothering to let us know how things really are, we not asking for specific plot lines but i mean seriously... this has gone overboard. nothing makes sense 

As long as it makes dollars, it doesn't have to make sense, right?

Apparently not...

I re-draw attention to this as an example of what Bioware has done with this.

Perfect.

[Il Divo]

iakus wrote...

And believe me if those opportunities don't come along I'll be pretty upset too.  But I can live without having to do them in a courtroom setting.

Imagine KOTOR2 where as the Exile you get to apply your own role-playing interpretation why you followed Revan and fought in the Mandalorian Wars and why you came back to the Council.  the Exile's "trial" was one brief flashback, but you got to talk about the war and your views of it throughout the game.  This trial isn't be-all/end-all of Shepard's personality.  Nioce if we can get it, no question.  But not an absolute necessity.

But you can find many players who have criticized KotOR 2's story for giving the Exile an elaborate backstory without first providing the player with all the details, in advance. For all of KotOR 2's strengths, it certainly presents us more difficulties than either KotOR or Jade Empire, where the sum of your characters' background up until this point are fairly straightforward.

Regardless, KotOR 2 also had a few key differences that shouldn't be neglected, the primary issue being that it was an original protagonist in an original setting.

Mass Effect 3 occupies a different issue. The Arrival dlc set something specific up for ME3's intro, which players (rightfully) believed would play out. The problem isn't simply one of being able to understand the events as they happened (though that's also a concern). The main problem is that it essentially dumps a great source of character conflict and world building. What plot threads did Episode V set up? We knew by the end that Luke had to go back to finish his training. We knew that Leia had to try to rescue Han. And we knew that Luke had to confront the revelation that Vader was his father. Lucas could have written Episode VI so that these events already happened and the viewer learns about them in a different fashion. But I highly doubt anyone would have been pleased by the end result by skipping key aspects of the narrative, which seems to be the ME3 approach.

This is the part where I sday if the goal of Mass Effect 2 was to seperate Shepard from his/her support structure there were far easier methods of doing so without the protagonist dying in the opening scenes:P

And you would be right. I simply prefer not having to deal with the disconnect between "what did my character do" and "what am I doing now".

Modifié par Il Divo, 13 février 2012 - 11:55 .

[Iakus]

izmirtheastarach wrote...

You're kind of going in circles here. And I hope you understand the reason people are annoyed is because control was taken from them, and we really still don't know what exactly happened to Shep between Arrival and ME3. Shepard knows, but we don't. It's very RPG-lite.

Oh I understand the annoyance.  I share it to a certain degree.  I'm just not as annoyed by it as some others are.  To me the Mass Effect series has been guilty of far greater narrative and roleplaying crimes in the past.  This one pales in comparison.

[Terror_K]

Just to repeat something, because I think it bears saying: trial or no trial, that doesn't excuse the fact that the intro, as it stands, is horribly paced and rushed, is filled with too much auto-dialogue and almost no ways to roleplay or reflect your Shepard in the slightest, and is just clumsy. Frankly, as much as I'd like the trial, it's absence is one of the least of the intro's problems.

And, y'know, as much as I'm labeled as a "whiner" or "hater" for my concerns about ME3 and BioWare's direction lately, almost everything from when Shepard rouses from that nearby explosion and Anderson gives him/her the gun looks extremely good, all the way up until the titles appear. About the only other place I have a complaint during that section is when Anderson and Shepard are moving through the rubble and it's just a long cutscene with no input from Shepard (particularly when they're talking about going to The Council about the attack... that's a moment where players really should have a say on matters). It's just the lead-in to the Reapers arriving that's just awfully paced and seems to trip over itself to make sure the Reaper attack happens ASAP and glossing over too much prior to that that is none-the-less brought up (Vega, Anderson's position, why Shepard is there, the VS, etc.).

Modifié par Terror_K, 14 février 2012 - 12:00 .

[TheRevanchist]

Aaleel wrote...

kylecouch wrote...

Aaleel wrote...

izmirtheastarach wrote...

Aaleel wrote...

anyone elsewould have been tried, court-martialed and discharged.

Meaning you were not, and will not be. There is not trial, and no mention of a trial. Shepard just wants to know when he will be put back on active duty.

That's what I said.  People are acting like the trial got skipped, but I'm saying there hasn't been a trial at all. 

Also, Vega is Shepard's personal guard, so Shepard is still in some type of custody. 

The trial WAS skipped BECAUSE it didn't happen. Anything relating to one is talked about in a past tense...meaning it has already happend.

No some people are talking like the trial happened and they didn't get to take part in it.  I don't think the trial has even taken place at all in the ME timeline.  It would have had to have taken place in the chronology of the game for it to have been skipped in the demo.

Yes exactly...it didn't happen...thats what we are upsest about... because this conversation basiclly tells us "You're going to be put on trial for this."  

[Tyrannosaurus Rex]

iakus wrote...
It does, because Shepard appears to be suffering the consequences that one can logically deduce came from the events of Arrival.  Hackett made it clear there would be fallout from it, even if the evidence is shoddy.  In this opening, we see the consequences of that fallout.  All we missed was the actual hearing or whatever.  Yes, I'd like to have seen the process in action, but what we've been shown is not a huge logical leap.

1)Hackett warned there's be repurcussions for the destruction of the Alpha Realy
2t)rial we don't get to see
3) Shepard is beached

logcial chain of events we can logically figure out without having to see it (though it would be better if we could

ME2's death and ressurection was so far beyond illogical you can't even see it from here.

1)Shepard dies 
2)Space magic which gets no explanation is deployed
3)Shepard the cyborg zombie reports for duty

If Shepard going on trial was a "big deal" how about coming back from the dead?

THis is why to me ME3's intro is but an annoyance compared to what we've already seen in the series

ME2's intro was terrible because it was never explored or used beyond being a reset button. Had the resurection meant something the intro would have been decent (if unorthodox).

ME3's intro is less than stellar because the intro itself feels rushed and certains thing that should have been seen by the player happens off-screen. I also feel like ME3 could have benefitted from being more slow paced.

That said, I agree with you that ME2's intro was the worst.

[Aaleel]

kylecouch wrote...

Aaleel wrote...

kylecouch wrote...

Aaleel wrote...

izmirtheastarach wrote...

Aaleel wrote...

anyone elsewould have been tried, court-martialed and discharged.

Meaning you were not, and will not be. There is not trial, and no mention of a trial. Shepard just wants to know when he will be put back on active duty.

That's what I said.  People are acting like the trial got skipped, but I'm saying there hasn't been a trial at all. 

Also, Vega is Shepard's personal guard, so Shepard is still in some type of custody. 

The trial WAS skipped BECAUSE it didn't happen. Anything relating to one is talked about in a past tense...meaning it has already happend.

No some people are talking like the trial happened and they didn't get to take part in it.  I don't think the trial has even taken place at all in the ME timeline.  It would have had to have taken place in the chronology of the game for it to have been skipped in the demo.

Yes exactly...it didn't happen...thats what we are upsest about... because this conversation basiclly tells us "You're going to be put on trial for this."  

I know, I wanted a trial in the game after all the build up in Arrival.  I just made a general statement that I didn't think the trial had taken place yet.  I wasn't making an excuse for the poor opening.  

[izmirtheastarach]

kylecouch wrote...

The trial WAS skipped BECAUSE it didn't happen. Anything relating to one is talked about in a past tense...meaning it has already happend.

This still puts us back to last night, when we were told by Bioware that the end of the trial is what starts the game.

[Comsky159]

Shepard should never have knowledge that we don't. We should never have to play catch-up with a character we're supposed to be role-playing.
It's an introduction to a straight shooter, not an RPG.

[Terror_K]

Lizardviking wrote...

ME2's intro was terrible because it was never explored or used beyond being a reset button. Had the resurection meant something the intro would have been decent (if unorthodox).

ME3's intro is less than stellar because the intro itself feels rushed and certains thing that should have been seen by the player happens off-screen. I also feel like ME3 could have benefitted from being more slow paced.

That said, I agree with you that ME2's intro was the worst.

I'd actually sum it up like this:-

ME2's intro content was weak, but the pacing and execution was decent. It did well with poor material.
ME3's intro content was decent, but the pacing and execution was weak. It did poorly with decent material.

Modifié par Terror_K, 14 février 2012 - 12:03 .

[AlanC9]

Il Divo wrote...

But you can find many players who have criticized KotOR 2's story for giving the Exile an elaborate backstory without first providing the player with all the details, in advance. For all of KotOR 2's strengths, it certainly presents us more difficulties than either KotOR or Jade Empire, where the sum of your characters' background up until this point are fairly straightforward.

I could have dealt with having the unknown backstory. It was when the Exile kept on having to talk about the backstory that I had problems.

(I also couldn't quite figure out why blowing people up with a Mass Shadow Generator was worse than shooting them with blasters, but that's a whole other issue)

Modifié par AlanC9, 14 février 2012 - 12:05 .

[Tyrannosaurus Rex]

Terror_K wrote...

Lizardviking wrote...

ME2's intro was terrible because it was never explored or used beyond being a reset button. Had the resurection meant something the intro would have been decent (if unorthodox).

ME3's intro is less than stellar because the intro itself feels rushed and certains thing that should have been seen by the player happens off-screen. I also feel like ME3 could have benefitted from being more slow paced.

That said, I agree with you that ME2's intro was the worst.

I'd actually sum it up like this:-

ME2's intro content was weak, but the pacing and execution was decent. It did well withpoor material.
ME3's intro content was decent, but the pacing and execution was weak. It did poorly with decent material.

I would say...
ME2 = Abysmal due to lack of context with rest of story.
ME3 = Lackluster due to poor execution.

[Il Divo]

AlanC9 wrote...

I could have dealt with having the unknown backstory. It was when the Exile kept on having to talk about the backstory that I had problems.

(I also couldn't quite figure out why blowing people up with a Mass Shadow Generator was worse than shooting them with blasters, but that's a whole other issue)

Good point. I hadn't really thought about that. Maybe it had to do with the lingering dark side aura already present from the Trayus Academy?

[Iakus]

Il Divo wrote...
But you can find many players who have criticized KotOR 2's story for giving the Exile an elaborate backstory without first providing the player with all the details, in advance. For all of KotOR 2's strengths, it certainly presents us more difficulties than either KotOR or Jade Empire, where the sum of your characters' background up until this point are fairly straightforward.

Regardless, KotOR 2 also had a few key differences that shouldn't be neglected, the primary issue being that it was an original protagonist in an original setting.

Mass Effect 3 occupies a different issue. The Arrival dlc set something specific up for ME3's intro, which players (rightfully) believed would play out. The problem isn't simply one of being able to understand the events as they happened (though that's also a concern). The main problem is that it essentially dumps a great source of character conflict and world building. What plot threads did Episode V set up? We knew by the end that Luke had to go back to finish his training. We knew that Leia had to try to rescue Han. And we knew that Luke had to confront the revelation that Vader was his father. Lucas could have written Episode VI so that these events already happened and the viewer learns about them in a different fashion. But I highly doubt anyone would have been pleased by the end result by skipping key aspects of the narrative, which seems to be the ME3 approach.

The Exile's an original character, but not in an original setting.  It's Star Wars, during and after the Mandalorian Wars.  Canderous even talks about the battle at Malachor V.  All KOTOR 2 did was expand on it and put the Exile into a prominent role.

In both cases, you did what you did Exile worked with Revan and used the Mass Shadow Genreator, Shepard worked with Cerberus and destroyed the Alpha Relay.  in both cases you (presumably) get a chance to defend your actions.  Or regret them.  Or whatever.  But while both get a trial/hearing thingee, neither seem to really get their "day in court"

The repercussions of Shepard's actions should be like dialogue to me.  I wouldn't want it all in one rush then forgotten about.  Like Shepard's ressurection.  I want it spread across the whole game.  If SHepard has to deal with that on and off throughout the game, I'll forgive the lack of trial.

Also, one can also say the Arrival events did play out.  It got swept under the rug, just like many of Shepard's actions from the first game 

"Ah, yes, 'Bahak' " and all that.  After meeting the Council in ME2 does it really suprise anyone that the Alliance would quietly cashier Shepard out rather than face the public embarassment of a court martial? 

[Il Divo]

iakus wrote...

The Exile's an original character, but not in an original setting.  It's Star Wars, during and after the Mandalorian Wars.  Canderous even talks about the battle at Malachor V.  All KOTOR 2 did was expand on it and put the Exile into a prominent role.

But that's not really relevant. The point would work if we had control of the Exile in KotOR 1. Much like the ME1 to ME2 transition, KotOR 2 could have been about anything in the world, since KotOR 1 had closed all the plot threads. 

KotOR 2 was also a far more character-focused story than ME3. The culmination of KotOR 2 was centered around the Exile, his/her existence as a wound in the force, and efforts in the Mandalorian Wars. While Shepard is a key character, once the actual Reaper invasion takes off, it's far from clear if we'll have even remotely the same opportunity for that kind of exposition. The climax of KotOR 2 involving Kreia and Malachor V depends on your character's backstory. It's far more character-driven than Mass Effect, to the point where the comparison doesn't hold too well.

The repercussions of Shepard's actions should be like dialogue to me.  I wouldn't want it all in one rush then forgotten about.  Like Shepard's ressurection.  I want it spread across the whole game.  If SHepard has to deal with that on and off throughout the game, I'll forgive the lack of trial.

This still presumes that it's going to have the same degree of importance later on, which we really don't know. Again, given how ME3 is going to be more about stopping the Reaper invasion once its underway, I'm inclined to say we're not going to deal with it later on.

ME1 gave a hearing for Saren and afterwards you had the opportunity to discuss your perceptions with your party members. This worked far better than if the player had simply been made aware of the trial in the aftermath. This is even more critical in ME3, where Shepard being on trial for his actions, is a culmination of everything the player has done in the last two games. No one believed him about the Reapers in ME1. No one wanted to deal with him regarding the Collectors in ME2. ME3 was a great opportunity to force every major political figure to look Shepard in the eye and confront him.

Also, one can also say the Arrival events did play out.  It got swept under the rug, just like many of Shepard's actions from the first game 

I disagree. Mass Effect left no plot threads untouched except Reapers. Could Bioware have shoe-horned in some other Reaper lead for him to follow? Maybe. But as it stood, I thought Shepard's final line regarding stopping the Reapers was very lacking, since I (as the player) had no idea what leads I was going to follow.

[Gibb_Shepard]

Lizardviking wrote...

Terror_K wrote...

Lizardviking wrote...

ME2's intro was terrible because it was never explored or used beyond being a reset button. Had the resurection meant something the intro would have been decent (if unorthodox).

ME3's intro is less than stellar because the intro itself feels rushed and certains thing that should have been seen by the player happens off-screen. I also feel like ME3 could have benefitted from being more slow paced.

That said, I agree with you that ME2's intro was the worst.

I'd actually sum it up like this:-

ME2's intro content was weak, but the pacing and execution was decent. It did well withpoor material.
ME3's intro content was decent, but the pacing and execution was weak. It did poorly with decent material.

I would say...
ME2 = Abysmal due to lack of context with rest of story.
ME3 = Lackluster due to poor execution.

ME2 told you everything you needed to know. ME3 has skipped a **** load of details. Thats enough to make ME2's intro far superior.

[tishyw]

Haven't played the demo, but are we at least told why the Council suddenly believe that the Reapers exist when previously they didn't? I thought Earth was the Reapers first target, so it's not like their rampaging around the galaxy before our 'trial' would tip the Council off.

[Terror_K]

Lizardviking wrote...

I would say...
ME2 = Abysmal due to lack of context with rest of story.
ME3 = Lackluster due to poor execution.

Well... I'm not one to usually defend ME2, but I think it did a better job of connecting with ME1 than ME3 seems to be doing. My problem with ME2's disconnected feeling from the original actually comes from about the time you first get to travel where you like. At least in ME2 we had Miranda speaking with TIM to establish some of Shepard's key choices in ME1, particularly regarding the game's climax. We then see the SR1 looking for remaining Geth and possibly answers for Shepard about The Reapers, and we have Pressly, Chakwas and Joker there, as well as your L.I. (or VS if you don't have one). Then it hits the fan and it's two years later.

In ME3 there's almost nothing to connect to the previous game directly. You get greeted by a new guy who treats you like a best friend, meet an Admiral that's likely a Councilor in your game with no explanations for his role, then rush past the VS just so The Reapers can attack. There's no indication as to the state of your crew, almost no way to express yourself, no moments that really reflect on Shepard's past deeds, and the events of Arrival seem insignificant just so you can get to the Reaper 'sploshuns!

The thing is, almost everything from the moment Shepard picks him/herself back up and Anderson gives her a pistol actually looks really good, all the way until the Normandy leaves Earth and we see the titles. It's well-paced and has an epic feeling, with a nice environment and some decent moments here and there. About the only issue I have is the large cutscene where Anderson and Shepard are making their way through the rubble and there's no dialogue choices there at all. There really should be, particularly regarding Anderson mentioning going to The Council, since different Shepards should have different reactions to that. Beyond that, it's pretty good... it's just the stuff before the attack that's so damn rushed and clumsy.

Despite the fact that I said a trial wasn't directly responsible for the intros failings, it would at least A) Improve the pacing, allow us to express ourselves and our Shepard more with dialogue choices, and C) have the game acknowledge, define and reflect our Shepard (kind of like Miranda and Jacob going over things with Shepard enroute to Minuteman in ME3 did). As it stands, it seems like every Shepard I take through is going to be exactly the same all the way up until the opening titles, with whoever the VS is being the only exception.

[Errationatus]

didymos1120 wrote...

You talking about Kai Leng?  Because he was created for ME3 first, and put into Retribution because of that fact.

Not specifically.  In that bit you quoted, I'm talking about the at least three new LI's now present when we already had LI's waiting in the wings.  WTF was wrong with simply expanding those characters instead of sh!tcanning them into triviality so the space could be used for new ones like that pointless rather out-of-the-blue reporter (who's Chobot dating at EA/Bioware, anyway?)?  It's just part and parcel of this really uneasy feeling I've been getting the closer this game gets.  Like Liara said in ME1, it's nothing I can put my finger on specifically, and I've no evidence to lay out and show you, but as it accumulates in my subconscious, the dread just grows.

I really hope I'm wrong.

More on topic:  Personally, I think the trial would have been a lot of exposition we didn't need.  In any decent story, exposition is leery, the more characters explain things, the less people listen.  Good writers try to avoid it if possible, or layer it, if they can't.

[Tyrannosaurus Rex]

Terror_K wrote...

Lizardviking wrote...

I would say...
ME2 = Abysmal due to lack of context with rest of story.
ME3 = Lackluster due to poor execution.

Well... I'm not one to usually defend ME2, but I think it did a better job of connecting with ME1 than ME3 seems to be doing. My problem with ME2's disconnected feeling from the original actually comes from about the time you first get to travel where you like. At least in ME2 we had Miranda speaking with TIM to establish some of Shepard's key choices in ME1, particularly regarding the game's climax. We then see the SR1 looking for remaining Geth and possibly answers for Shepard about The Reapers, and we have Pressly, Chakwas and Joker there, as well as your L.I. (or VS if you don't have one). Then it hits the fan and it's two years later.

In ME3 there's almost nothing to connect to the previous game directly. You get greeted by a new guy who treats you like a best friend, meet an Admiral that's likely a Councilor in your game with no explanations for his role, then rush past the VS just so The Reapers can attack. There's no indication as to the state of your crew, almost no way to express yourself, no moments that really reflect on Shepard's past deeds, and the events of Arrival seem insignificant just so you can get to the Reaper 'sploshuns!

The thing is, almost everything from the moment Shepard picks him/herself back up and Anderson gives her a pistol actually looks really good, all the way until the Normandy leaves Earth and we see the titles. It's well-paced and has an epic feeling, with a nice environment and some decent moments here and there. About the only issue I have is the large cutscene where Anderson and Shepard are making their way through the rubble and there's no dialogue choices there at all. There really should be, particularly regarding Anderson mentioning going to The Council, since different Shepards should have different reactions to that. Beyond that, it's pretty good... it's just the stuff before the attack that's so damn rushed and clumsy.

Despite the fact that I said a trial wasn't directly responsible for the intros failings, it would at least A) Improve the pacing, allow us to express ourselves and our Shepard more with dialogue choices, and C) have the game acknowledge, define and reflect our Shepard (kind of like Miranda and Jacob going over things with Shepard enroute to Minuteman in ME3 did). As it stands, it seems like every Shepard I take through is going to be exactly the same all the way up until the opening titles, with whoever the VS is being the only exception.

I agree with you that ME2's intro was better bridged to the last game than ME3's intro. And I also agree that everything that happens after the Reapers attack is well done.

But my point with that statement was that I still feel ME2 has the worst intro simply because of how poorly the rest of the game handled the events that transpired. Shepard died and was brought back, and apparently I am supposed to accept this as no big deal.