1966 réponses à ce sujet

[MissOuJ]

I just finished, and... I don't know what to say, really. That was a really intense emotional rollercoaster I just went through.

In the beginnig I felt hopeful, and even outright proud of myself when I got the Turians and the Krogans to work together. But after both Thessia and TIM's base, I think I realised there's no way this is going to end happily, and I think self-sacrifice for the good of the galaxy was the one and only way my Shepard's story would end. It was sad, and touching, and great.

And then Catalyst personified showed up. That - in my opinnion, at least - was completely unneccessary. I don't have a problem with the choises, but the way they were presented. This "space wizard" is completely meaningless - why not a discussion with Harbinger? The way I've understood the Reapers was that a) they needed organics to reproduce, and that they considered this even beneficial to organics, since they'd be "accending" to a higher plane of existence, ie merge of synthetic and organic (isn't this even mentioned in one of the endings? "the pinacle of evolution", or something along those lines?). So, why do we need the gawd child to present us with the options? It is quite clear the mass effect relay technology had to go, and I don't really have a problem with that, but again, the presentation kind of ruins it.

Also, a happy/semi-happy ending would've been appreciated, as well as "last call/contact" kind of message to your LI - or comment how Shepard feels guilty they're now (probably) dead because of him/her. You had a chance here to make me sob, and you missed it.

Otherwise, I loved the game. The improved combat, the story, the relationships... even the part of the ending where Shepard pretty much drags him/herself to the finish line. The game kept throwing me emotional curveballs, and I can't remember the last time a game (or any other piece of media) has made me so emotionally invested and made me feel so much. From Mordin's and Legion's sacrifices to the romances and funny moments and Eve's words to the Krogan about rebuilding the lost... which is maybe why the ending itself feels somewhat disappointing.

All in all, it still was an incredible experience. That's really all I can say. I won't be able to give it a numerical score, because that would in no way come close to describing the strengths and weaknesses of this game, and I feel like I still need some time to process my feelings about the ending.

So despite the problems, the technical hickups like framerate issues, loading textures, occasional freeze-ups and my feelings about the end, all I can say in the end is thank you for the ride.

Modifié par MissOuJ, 11 mars 2012 - 01:33 .

[Elmolee]

Score before game's ending: 90/100

+ The Mass Effect series have really seen improvements over the years in terms of gameplay and graphics. The voice acting has always been top-notch, enough to make many players become emotionally attached to in-game characters.

- Well, for myself, I was emotionally invested in the game as well, since my choices actually made a difference in the games, which was the overall concept for the series.........
Until the ending. Perhaps it was too sudden and out of place, with many things left unexplained. Even if Shepard was meant to die, what was the impact of his/her sacrifice? What became of the Normany Crew and Shepard's Love Interest? 

Yes, this is only a game, but forums are on fire now because players who have invested cash, emotions and long hours into the game do not see a proper form of return.
In fact, maybe employees at Bioware could be feeling a sort of similar emotion: "We worked hard to finish the series, but we are receiving negative feedback from the fans in the end."  Maybe this isn't the best description, but that's what I could think of. 

In conclusion, Mass Effect 3 is a great game. I am surprised for being frustrated at a game's ending myself. This proves that the ME series has achieved a level of emotional connection with its audience. Hence, when the players' choices and efforts don't really play a big significant role in the end, which itself does not give a proper closure, ME3 falls short of the great RPG experience it has given over the past two games in the series.

Also, on a side note, the value of replayablility has been diminished, as it seems that Shepard's fate has already been decided in three different ways, even when a player has gathered adequate war assets. Hell, I've always did different playthroughs for the previous ME games. Just...not this time.

Well....Thanks for the journey over the years. You know, it wouldn't hurt to add in alternate endings through a patch or something. Because the only major fault in the game was the ending. 

Modifié par Elmolee, 11 mars 2012 - 01:54 .

[sniperhobbit]

Score 98/100

Good
+Combat was the best out of the 3
+Seeing your actions from previous games take flourishion
+More actual story and less time spend doing loyalty and recruting well not a bad thing in ME2 I actual loved it but this ment in ME3 there was less filler and more plot progreshion

Bad
-The side quest systum was a bit strange
-The odd 1 or 2 bugs that should not take the score down but still caused a couple of frustrating moments
-No real closure, if they kept the ending but maybe carryed on or have a narator sum up what happened to every 1 after the end

[Sarox22]

Score 9/10
The last 15 mins tho ill give 0.5/10

[Anareth]

every thing up until the god child thing 10/10
everything after: 0/10

[Soilworker77]

Modifié par Soilworker77, 11 mars 2012 - 04:14 .

[JomeiJackson]

Overall 40 out of 100, game play actions and missions are the best they have every been. However figuring out missions is near impossible, the galaxy at war not being something that can be done in game through missions and the fact the ending is so depressing that you really have to ignore reality and down a bottle of prozac to even think about playing again. Makes this the lowest scoring game (ME1 85 out of 100) (ME2 90 out of 100)

While the creators have gone on record as saying you don't need to buy additional add ons (IOS) or play the multiplayer, turns out to be false unless you want to spend time mining for support using the most annoying mineral... err scan and run from Reapers mini game.  Actually game play is less, you waste more time figure out what your suppose to do or are too busy warping around for fuel and pulling missions to clear the reapers out of your way to collect assets. Honestly several elements that worked well in ME2 were omitted or replaced with something that hampers the player. The auto dialogue, so you took away choice and also consequences as well by my own surprise. (I chewed out and then smacked Admiral Gerrel around for firing on the dread while I was still on it.) Nobody commented on it, not Raan or any of the others, even Tali (which knocked me for a loop as she happened to be on the ship with me).  Nor could I comment on how psychotic Admiral Xan and Admiral Gerrel actually were and the danger they posed to the fleet. Nothing you do or any interactions have any effect down the road or even on the events going on.

The other thing is, in ME1 I assumed my other squad mates were busy pulling diversion ops or other operations against the target. Vimire was the only time it was done in game. With ME2 Collector Base missions was the best example that not everyone was back on the ship sitting around drinking coffee or tea and eating biscuits (further explain how squadmates who were not at the events could talk about them). I expected more split missions with ordering certain team mates into roles, only to find not the case. This was an opportunity that BW missed.

The Team mates didn't have to be new and the Prothean was a waste of a good plot thread that could of made for more possibilities. The squad selection should of changed as the game progressed. With one slot for the LI,
(In other words Liara is not the LI she would only be available if her skills were required, otherwise another character). I thought I was going to have Jack back or Samara, or even Miranda. Since Jack and Miranada were LI,
they should of been squadmates on the ship.  Which means most LI pathes was wasted time with anyone from ME2.

The ending of course blows all this LI effort down the drain.

The other thing is interaction with LI, I only having played Tali and currently Liara. They don't talk much, they should talk for hours after each main mission and some of the side missions about the bond you share and your hopes and maybe give Shepard a chance to talk about what Shep wants to do after all of this is over, especially since the Reapers are everywhere. Instead "Hello Shepard" "I'm busy shepard" "I'm calibrating the engine core shepard".

The biggest problem with ME3 is plot holes bigger than the Reapers themselves. Anderson is on Earth after I made him a council member in ME1? Cerberus going "bad" and using Reaper tech, especially with the dangers of indoctrination. Ex-Cerberus employees just being killed (Kelly Chambers during the Cerberus Attack) which just seemed like something a petty dictator would do. They went from vague bad guys, to not so bad guys, to one dimensional bad guys of the week. I seriously thought the galaxy was going to owe Cerberus, the
bitter pill that this "Terrorist group" had done more for the galaxy then the Council or even their own governments, a bitter pill for the galaxy to swallow. I mean Illusive Man's aim to control the reapers, was lame and insane, not only that but even he had to realize that Earth alone didn't stand a chance against something with as much resources and technological advancements as the Reapers. Simply put you can't control the Geth, you sure as
heck can't control the Reapers.

The Reapers themselves, they own the Mass Effect gates, the Citadel, it's their technology, their rules. ME1 clearly states, when their fleet comes and they get control of the Citadel, game over. The Prothean VI on Illos said the same thing, they shut down the gates and overwhelm you. Their tactics are infiltrate, disrupt, weaken, dominate and yet here they act like Bad Guy of the Week attack planets and wasting effort. Considering how Legion
predicts responses and outcomes, the reapers should of had us analysed, labeled, and ready for processing by the time we see them and five minutes later the word "Mission Failure should appear in the game"

The ending, I think someone else mentioned Bladerunner with it's multiple endings and that game was released way back when. I expected more endings, both cinematic renders and ingame cinematics. With enough endings
that I have to play ME3 for the next year or two (with DLC content which I know you will be pushing) to get them all. The complaint I feel and why I changed this review a bit. This isn't so much about "Happy Ending", as a pay off for players who put the effort into the romance section and talking to your crew. There was no epilogue and there wasn't any real difference in the ending. Leaving the player feeling cheated.as there is only one ending with different colors.


Jomei

Modifié par JomeiJackson, 11 mars 2012 - 05:02 .

[hawat333]

I'd also like to add that I appreciated it very much, that you didn't spoonfeed us the outcomes of what we saw in the endings.
It's like a Japaneese crime novel I read recently, where I could decide what I found fitting for the characters.

I do like that it's dramatic, finally this war is taken seriously and it isn't just the hero riding off in the sunset. That's a mature story, more mature than I got used to with video games. A huge plus.

Still, the teleporting squadmates and the fleeing of the Normandy requires some explanation, it's out of place in my opinion.

[Emantsal]

Agree. Simply heart breaking.... sigh...
The action/combat was great, to me. I thought the team worked better together than in the previous games. I play on casual, normal, and sometimes, hardcore (XBox).
The dialogue scenes? I understand why there were so many conversations that just played with no input. (I shudder to think of the amount of code an time to piece together those entire conversations if there were choices offered to each and every thing said!) The game had a direction it was going and too many choices in dialogue would have been a nightmare to keep up with.
Prior romances were not treated fairly. The big three, Kaiden, Ashly, and Liara - the major emphasis of this game. Those chosen in ME2 were downplayed or not really addressed, unless you chose Garrus. No closure for many of the romances (I guess from this post you can tell I'm a female games, lol) WE NEED CLOSURE!!!!! or we get depressed and crazy go on long posting rants (like this one...)
But..... the ending? sad face, sigh, heart broken... No matter what choices I made, everything goes FUBAR.
I'll be sure to keep my money in my pocket when Bioware finishes the Dragon Age series until I see the reviews. I pre-ordered the N7 edition of ME3 and it released on my birthday 3-6-12. I was so excited I rushed home, played for 4 hours, got a few hours sleep, and went into work. Then I came home and played for another two days. (I actually took vacation time to play this game...) And then the end came and????? Heart breaking..... just sigh.....

[wirelesstkd]

My Mass Effect 3 Score is 90 out of 100.

To start with, let me say this: I LOVE the endings. LOVE them. I think it was bold to go with something so disrupting to the entire universe, but I love that you went there anyway. It was fantastic.

For the game itself, my biggest complaint is that some parts feel like a giant step backward. For example, I hate the conversations that happen while the characters stand there, unresponsive to each other. I enjoyed the cutscenes and I can't understand why some very pivotal scenes took place outisde of them (for example, Tali's getting drunk scene). This whole system REALLY felt regressive to me.

For the gameplay, I really enjoyed it but I think, too, in a way it felt like a step backward from ME2. In someways it was a step forward (the rolling, the better enemy AI), but mostly it was a step backward. I think the problem is that there wasn't enough integration of shooting with the RPG elements. In other words, ME2 felt like a shooter that had RPG stuff (fetch quests, etc) in there as a support, but ME3 felt like a fetch quest/adventure game that had small bits of shooting as a support (even shooting missions had way too many "explore the cave" elements). I think this was the wrong direction to go, especially given that the shooting mechanics were stepped up so much.

I said to one friend that if Bioware was going for the Call of Duty crowd with this game, then they failed epicly. I stand by that comment

I think the biggest way to say it is that there is NO WAY I will be able to replay ME3 like I did with ME2. After getting through ME2 so many times, I kept playing but skipped the scenes, just to have the action. I don't think that's possible (in a fun way) with ME3.

Finally, I'd like to say that where ME3 lacks replayability in the campaign, it makes up for it with multiplayer. What an amazingly fun system you've put in place there. I love playing multiplayer and I can't wait to see what future DLC you come out with for it!

Modifié par wirelesstkd, 11 mars 2012 - 02:37 .

[Lugaidster]

Here's my honest-to-god review:

8.5/10

Why? I started with a 10/10 for being a Mass Effect game, I had some glitches that popped up here and there and were more frequent than I'd like (like characters in the middle of touching scenes with their heads turned like the exorcist girl) and a few gripes in the cover system not working always, so that brings me to 9.5).

Everything else looked great in the game. Although I might have not liked some specific parts of the story, overall it was amazing. Especially several epic sequences that I won't disclose for the sake of a spoiler-free review (mostly). So how did I go from 9.5 to 8.5? The ending...

I'm not on the group that wanted a happy ending (though I wouldn't mind), but it felt empty. The choices weren't what one would expect from the game (at least I). Besides, even though the game was more for the ride than anything else (or the trilogy for that matter), the fact that it was like it was ruined my willingness to play the other two again. Remember that Mass Effect was never about gameplay, if I wanted to play a cover shooter with good mechanics I'd go play GoW. I got no closure and I was left asking more than what was answered, that's why I didn't like it. It felt completely detached, hopeless and surreal (I did play and got the secret ending, but that's a cliff-hanger).

In any case, even if my score is 8.5, I totally recommend it, just don't play the ending if you liked the trilogy and have been attached to it for a long time, it'll leave you heartbroken. It is a good game nonetheless, great art, great music and a beautiful representation of the Mass Effect Universe (aside from the ending).

Cheers

[theiviaster2]

I've heard the rumors and seen the videos of the mass effect 3 endings.....
I'm glad I didn't reach it yet. All I can say...well actually ask bioware to please, pretty please change the ending. You've made a game that is so interactive and touching. Ending it that way will just ruin it. I'm sure that if you make a DLC that changes the ending to a brighter perspective/ future for Shepard, players will be ever so happy. Especially seeing shepard making it back to be with his romantic interest. Shepard already died once before and lived. He doesn't have to die now. :/

[DarthWarduke]

The ending was horrible. Mass Effect has been a series that has touched my heart and even had me choked up at times (and im a grown man)! Please Bioware fix this ending.

[RDSFirebane]

My mass effect score would have to be 90/100

I liked: Well the whole game to be honest right up until the end it was great you guys went all out and I appreciate the effort you put into it.

I disliked: The AI child idk his logic and solutions were just hard to swallow as in Me 1/2 Shep over comes the odds and manages to pull through somehow but just give's in to what the AI has to say kinda felt like he went eh I'm here why not but then you guys do that *thing* after that one ending ya you know what I'm talking about. So this may not be an issue but until I know better points have been deducted sir.

[Sanjuronord]

79/100

I love Mass Effect 1.  I love Mass Effect 2.  I will at best only like Mass Effect 3.  All the choices I've made throughout the series and none of it seems to matter.  It all comes down to the red lever, the blue lever, or the green lever.  One minute I'm charging towards the light w/ my crew behind me the next I'm picking my crayola themed ending cinematic and learning that my crew was in fact not  running behind me.  Apparantly when I charged forward they ran the other way, hopped in a shuttle and convinced Joker to take the Normandy on a beer run in the middle of the climactical battle for earth.

Part of me is glad that the Catalyst chose that kid as its avatar for speaking to Shepard because it plays in with how simple minded his beliefs sounded.  It's a shame Shepard is suffering head trauma at the time and unable to raise a decent argument.  I was certainly yelling a few at the television myself.

On the other hand, I hated that kid from the start.  The dream sequences felt so heavy handed because of him.  I'd have much rather seen Kaiden or Ashely take that focus (along with anyone else that might have died) in those sequences because there would have been a connection to those characters.  Instead I get a generic and uninteresting child who I'm supposed to care about simply because he's a child.  Well, I didn't...

I've never watched the third Matrix movie (second was bad enough) because my younger brother watched it and told me that whatever ending I had invisioned would be better than what they put to film.  This morning, I told my younger brother that I felt the same way after getting all three endings to this game.  The only difference being that I told him he should still play the game; just to go in with very lowered expectations for the ending.

I must have six or seven different Shepards that I've created up to this point and I don't know that I'll ever see fit to bring them all into Mass Effect 3.  I've enjoyed playing through each of these characters up to this point and making different choices for each but I just can't stand the thought of all of them being forced into one of those three nearly identical endings.  Although, I do chuckle at the idea of that old man telling that kid stories about some of my more seedier Shepards' exploits.

Modifié par Sanjuronord, 12 mars 2012 - 12:27 .

[shadesinbetween]

I love BioWare. I love your games, your innovative creations (live-action speaking, hell yeah) and I love your stories, the characters and development. Easily, my absolute favourite developer company for gaming, ever. My first exposure to Bioware was Knights of the Old Republic and I've been hooked ever since. Seriously, I adore you guys.
To say that I looked forward to Mass Effect 3 would be the understatement of the century. I've been on board with the Mass Effect trilogy since before the damn Xbox 360 was even out.
Having said that, after I finished the game I felt... weird. Emotionally drained. Which I realize is weird to say about a video game franchise but at the same time so much is invested in the games that it makes sense. I had watery eyes more than once playing. So for my dear Shepard to die was a little bit sad, but I was okay with it. I had the feeling at the start of the game that she would have to sacrifice herself to save the galaxy. And you know what? Not only was I okay with this, but I couldn't see it ending any other way. What *would* Commander Shepard do after the Reaper threat was gone? Mundane Spectre duty just wouldn't be the same for her.
So when the choices came up, I wasn't overly surprised that both would result in Shepard's death (although I'd be lying if I said up until that point I held onto a little bit of hope). My Shepard was Paragon, and it just seemed nature for her to choose to sacrifice herself - after all, what's one life in the wake of trillions murdered and harvested by the Reapers.
I think the biggest thing that got to me was the total lack of closure afterwards. I romanced Kaidan through all 3 game plays, and after Shepard's death in the 2nd (according to a certain letter FemShep receives after Horizon) he didn't take her passing very well. What I'm trying to say is I wanted a little more... reaction, I guess, to my Shepard's death. And I would have liked a small snippet of what all the crew members were up to after the Reaper war. Over the last 5 years these characters (Tali, Garrus, Kaidan, Ashley, Liara, etc) have become as important to us as Shepard herself. When Thane, Mordin and Legion all died I was freaking upset! I'd like to know how everyone was after the Reapers left/died, and all we get is "Commander Shepard is a legend." Uh, yeah, she was a freaking legend before the sacrifice! I would have liked to know how the krogan did now that the genophage is cured, or how the Quarians were adapting to Rannoch and working with the Geth. The no closure really throws off the ending for me.

My score would be 85/100

The Good:
1) Geth Census: OH. MY. GOD. Let me just say, mind BLOWN! I freaking loved that mission. I don't care about what anyone else has to say for it, by far one of my favourite parts of the game. It was awesome.
2)Positive way to solve the Geth/Quarian conflict. I understand that there are multiple different outcomes for this, but mine was Paragon (meaning I got the Quarians to stop attacking). I felt accomplished with that one, glad that finally these two "enemies" could work together and begin to understand one another. I loved how before Legion died he gained individuality, and that the Geth would all eventually gain it.
3) Kalros attacking the Reaper. 'Nuff said.
4) Overall combat. My experience with FPS games is pretty much the Halo franchise and one COD game... Obviously, I'm not overly into them. However, what the Halo games taught me is that when enemies get up close and personal you need to punch them with the butt-end of your gun. Thank you for adding that. I've beat down Phantoms, Brutes and a few Banshees during my game play (I think it's a panic-triggered reflex) and I loved it. I liked how I wasn't so confined to cover, too. In the 2nd it felt like if you stepped out of cover at all you would get torn to shreds. ME3 didn't mean hiding behind shelter *all* the time. And grenades. Need I say more? (Although, I *did* notice that maybe half my grenades actually went near my enemies, where as all of *their* grenades *always* got near me. Not that it mattered after a while, but it was starting to get under my skin).
5)Squad members talking with one another. I've listened to Garrus and James share war stories, Kaidan and James playing poker, and Garrus and Tali -ahem- saying goodbye. I liked how they moved around the ship, how they interacted with one another. It brought more depth to them all.
There's more to this game that makes it amazing, but I'm not going into it overly. Now on to-

The Bad:
1)No closure. Explained above.
2)The ending. Pretty unsatisfying and anti-climatic.
3)My choices in the first two games didn't make as big of an impact as I was lead to believe. I understand that the game play needs to cater to multiple choices, but still, I expected something.
4)Tali's face. WHY THE HELL NOT?! That picture on the nightstand just isn't going to do it, guys. Some of us didn't romance Tali, we just liked her as a friend, but you KNEW there was so much anticipating surrounding the mysterious Quarians and their faces. So again; why the hell not?
5)Crew members: I like to talk to my crew members. All the time. At every given opportunity. I would have liked more conversation options.

All in all, for me, this game would have easily been a 100/100 if it weren't for the ending. *Easily*
It ended on a sour note for me, and it's a pretty paltry way to end an amazing trilogy. And despite my gripes about the game I'm still a fan of BioWare. It'll just take me a little while before I pick up ME3 again.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[darkshadow136]

 Here are some polls to let your voice be heard. They can be accessed from the link in my sig for my blog review of ME3.

1. would you Boycott Bioware if they don't fix the endings
2. do you believe Multiplayer should have no impact on the single player campaign
3. Facebook Campaign demand better endings for ME3

Modifié par darkshadow136, 11 mars 2012 - 04:01 .

[Chief Martini]

For long I've strayed away from this community for many reasons.
But after finishing Mass Effect 3, its ending has guided me back upon the path to making this very thread.



Let's start with the 'happiness' factor of the endings. Neither endings satisfied most of the players emotionally. In easier terms; No one looked at the ending with a smile and though "Alas, my Shepard is happy and the galaxy is saved'". Now of course an ending in which the reapers are destroyed, galactic life prevails and your Shepard stands on the balcony of his retirement home, Love Interest by their side. But does that make it less satisfactionary? No.

Of course, 'satisfactionary' is subjective. It differs with everyone. The one player wants his Shepard to die a hero, the other wants him to live the rest of his days in peace and in love. This is exactly what the very concept of 'multiple endings' exists of. However, it wasn't used correctly. It didn't cover everyone's (or at least close to everyone's) imaginations of a 'good' ending. There weren't multiple choices and sides to the end of the galactic conflict; There was only one 'theme'; Sadness and sorrow. Death and decay. How did you feel when Shepard, dead or alive, was separated from the ones he called friends and the one he called love? When all the technology, mass relays and synthethics, were wiped from existance? The very tools that made Mass Effect into Mass Effect destroyed? Were you one of the people who thought it was perfect, a realistic and mind-swaying ending like it should be? Well, lucky you. Sadly, you're a massive minority here in the Bioware community. In fact, over 90% of the Bioware Players disagree with you. But that's okay, we're happy for you.

But to you who believe the ending was too sad; That the ending should've had happiness and love: I'm with you. And I don't want anyone spewing the words "Can't have it both ways", when we clearly can. There could've been so many endings in relation to the so many choices you've made in the previous games and the current one. Why not have both? Why not make everyone, or at least close to everyone, happy? That's the question I'm asking you here, Bioware. The question we're all asking you;




Why could we not have had multiple endings, some happy and some sad? Some resulting in reunity with Shepard's loved ones and some resulting in sacrifice?




Luckily it's not too late. For this can still be fixed; This huge amount of community-wide sorrow can still be swayed into a good thing; A massive consensus of the community assisting the developers in providing additional patch-like endings.



Why, you ask? To end this amazing journey with more fitting conclusions. To grant each and every mass effect player the chance to end Shepard's story the way they want to. To crawl closer to their preferred ending. To end this emotional and literature-worthy story properly for everyone; Every player who bought their first Mass Effect game and thought 'huh, cool', only to end up being more emotionally attached than ever before to a game- No, not a game; A tale, and the most amazing one to have ever flown through my veins at that.



Why not, you ask? To be honest, I truly do not know. The only one who would be able to answer this is Bioware, and frankly; I request and advise them to go into discussion with us; The community. To work together and form a solution instead of thousands of threads, filled with hungry fans craving for a true ending to their journey, cluttering this forum.




Come on, Bioware. Let's end the most amazing gaming trilogy to have ever been acknowledged by mankind; Properly.

-Chief

[Bronze65]

Before the ending: 9/10
After the ending: -1,000,000/10

That's all that needs to be said.

[Rothgar49]

Great game, really enjoyed playing it 9/10.

The ending though was god awful and I felt very disappointed having played 1 & 2, including all the DLC and every PC CE I could get my hands on, and the ending just cheapened the experience. My next play through will stop 10 minutes from the end (better that way)

[Aramina]

My score for ME3 (pre-ending): 95/100
last 10 minutes: 20/100

Yes, I am yet another one of the "I hate the ending" crowd.

First off, my pre-ending score. I absolutely loved the writing in this game. The emotional impact you achieved through the dialogue, music, and visuals was truly awe-inspiring. Some of my favorites:

• Mordin's death scene. I wasn't the biggest fan of Mordin in ME2. I found him more of an amusing crew member than a useful ally. I did enjoy his personal missions. After his quest in ME3, I was seeing him in a whole new light. His personal transformation, from at first supporting the genophage to now giving up his own life to cure it, was very well done. The moment when he stepped on that elevator to do whatever it took to save a wronged species catapulted him to one of my favorite characters in the series. Well done writers.
• Destruction of the "geth city" and Legion's sacrifice. Unlike Mordin, Legion WAS one of my favorite characters in ME2, and unlike my poor confused Shepard, his description of himself as a legion of geth forming a cohesive unit made perfect sense to me. Maybe my Shepard should watch some Star Trek. Anyway, back on topic. The trip through the geth city was amazing, and it really brought home the atrocities committed on them by their creators. I also loved that not all Quarians supported the Morning War, and that these were treated just as badly as those they were trying to protect. The scenes gave just enough detail to really fill in the blanks, while leaving enough unsaid to let my own imagination do some of the work. Reminded me a bit of the LotSB files. (Poor Anderson and his obsession for depressing  movies!)  As for Legion's ultimate sacrifice....wow. Just wow. Incredibly moving moment, especially when right at the end he referred to himself as "I" instead of "we". So tragic that at the last moments of his life he finally became "Legion" instead of "a mobile platform allowing itself to be named by the organics". And Tali's last words to him...absolutely beautiful. I will admit I got teary-eyed. In my opinion, this was one of the most touching moments in the entire game. I have also seen the options where you side with Legion or Tali instead of reconciling the two groups, and as someone who loves both characters they were very difficult to watch. Especially hearing Tali sobbing as her people are killed, then killing herself moments later. The emotional impact was incredible.
• Romance scenes with Garrus. I was a little worried going in how you would handle these. After all, most games end with the "let's sleep together" phase, with maybe a little dialogue afterwards. So now we have a whole game building off of a point that most others stop at. Nevertheless, I was excited that Palaven was one of the first places we go, hoping that Garrus would be there to greet me. After adding him to the team, I obsessively talked to him after every single minor mission several times to make sure I wouldn't miss anything, and when I finally progressed far enough for each new "LoveTalk" I was not disappointed. Before this game, all others I've played that allowed you to have a LI have seemed to stick to a few stereotypes for women interested in men; the men are these poor broken things that need to be nursed back to happiness by the woman. Garrus shattered these stereotypes nicely; a guy that can take on 3 merc groups singlehandedly, then go on to help rally his entire people against the Reapers needs no coddling. There was still a little nursing, but it wasn't cliché; after all, his home planet had been devastated and his family were missing. And my Shepard got to be on the receving end as well. I was as upset as my character after the failure of Thessia, and I was very happy to have iGarrus be the one to comfort her in his typical bad-*** fashion. Finally, the ending goodbye. If the Legion sacrifice is not my favorite scene, this one definitely is. The emotion conveyed by the writing, music, and voice acting all blended together perfectly, and made something amazing. If I could give this scene a 1000/100 I would.

I apologize for the length of this review, but there is so much to talk about in this game that I could go on for days. One thing I appreciated was the new planet-scanning. In the last game I ended up just modding my files to give myself resources because the "mini-game" was very boring and repetitive to me. Great job keeping in the feature, while improving it enough to make it something fun. Another big improvement was the party AI. No more was I yelling at my screen because my idiot squadmate decided to stand ON TOP of the cover when I told him/her/it to take cover behind it. I even saw a few cases of them taking cover next to a door, before I had even gone to open it! Made them feel more like a real squad and not simply zombies to be ordered around. *EDIT* (thought of more to add here) On the topic of the squad, kudos for all of the interactions during the missions and after. Everyone had so much more to say, I was literally going around to every single crew member that would pass the time of day with me after every single mission, just because I knew most, if not all, would have something new to say. And don't get me started on the Citadel talks! It was incredibly fun being able to talk to everyone when we were "off-duty" as it were. And the crew actually talk to each other now! It was so funny when I would be searching for Garrus, only to find out he's on the bridge swapping jokes with Joker. It gives the ship a sense of being really alive. The crew are more than just people stuck in the same places all the time, they move around, interact with each other, do things a normal crew would do.

Now, on to a few issues I had. Some bugs are expected in games of course, and none of them were game-breaking, but one in particular had me a bit perplexed. I had closed down my game in the middle of the "space battle" cutscene at the end, and when I loaded my game back up, my Shepard had somehow been transformed into the default and my war assets had gone down to 0%. Odd, but reloading an earlier save fixed this, so not a major complaint. The bugs that were a little more frustrating were the journal ones. Some of my quests refused to update properly, forcing me to check walkthroughs to see where I had to go to finish them because the markers were stuck on things I had already done. Not a bug, but on the same topic, some of the quests in the journal were far too vague. Once again, I needed to consult walkthroughs for some, because if I didn't pay attention to what the person was telling me I had no idea what to do. One in particular was the merc recruit one Aria gives you. I believe it was the Blue Suns asking you to get rid of the Turian investigating them. I went over to him, talked to him, and figured out that to get him to lay off them I needed to get him weapons. Great. I took a break around this point, and when I came back, I couldn't remember who he had said to talk to about the weapons. I checked my journal, and all it said was the same thing about "taking care" of him for the mercs. Nothing about who I needed to talk to next. Not sure if there really was a bug here or if this was how the journal was supposed to read. *EDIT* (sorry about more edits, but thought of some more here too) One other strange bug I had; apparently there is a small black hole on the bridge, because when I walked up just behind Joker and to his right, I would get stuck in place, with the only solutions either reloading a save or getting into a cutscene with either Joker or EDI.

One final issue worth mentioning is some weirdness with how the squad follows you when ladders are involved...which is to say, they don't. If I'm lucky, one of them is smart and follows me down the ladder, otherwise I just have to keep going without them until they magically appear behind me in an elevator (Kasumi would be proud). Or in front of me in an elevator...I don't even want to know how they managed that trick.

Now...about the ending. Obviously I'm not alone in my sentiments, and much of what I'm going to say about them has already been said, so I'll try to keep it short. What made the ending so heart-wrenching for me was not the dramatic music, or the wonderful dialogue or voice acting...it was that in a few short minutes it rendered the entire game meaningless. No matter what I may have done up until that point, I was rewarded for my efforts with basically one ending with different colors. Now, the "flavors of vanilla" aren't always a bad thing when done right. I enjoyed the end of ME2, which had a scene that was basically this. But what ME2 had that ME3 didn't was closure and a sense that what I had done mattered. If I destroyed the Collector Base, TIM was fuming. If I lost squad members, I saw their coffins on the Normandy. If I had really screwed up, Shepard died again. In short, it gave me a sense of choice, which is what this series is so good at.

The final scenes in ME3 gave me no sense of choice or closure, and instead left me feeling confused and annoyed over what I felt were some glaring plot holes. All those emotional and beautifully-done scenes that I loved so much...none of them made any difference to how the game ended. I could have let poor Tali kill herself, shot Mordin in the back like a truly heartless monster, cheated on Garrus and called it off with him, and the ends would still be exactly the same. I don't usually throw around phrases like "it ruined everything for me", but in this case it is unfortunately true. I was so excited to go through the game again (though with mostly the same choices...I can never play a good Renegade except in Elder Scrolls games). Now I feel absolutely no desire to replay this game.

I don't know if you listen to these kind of suggestions, but if you do, I have a few about how the ending could have been done with a more satisfying conclusion. It's ok to have to make some hard choices, and Shepard having to die...I would have been ok with. Not thrilled, because I am one of those people that, in the end, wants my character to get a happy ending. But I would have been ok with it if I had still been given the sense that things I had done mattered. If I had destroyed the Reapers, a sad scene of the Geth and EDI dying even as they fought to save organics. Scenes of how galactic civilization would cope now that the bulk of it was stranded in the Sol System (how exactly are the Turians and Quarians going to survive that?). I suppose if they were "synthesized" they may not have to eat anymore, but what about if the Reapers were destroyed or sent away? And what about the Normandy crew? Why was Joker looking so happy when they were stranded on an unknown planet, and after he abandoned his Commander, who he knew was probably dead? And how was my LI coping, knowing they were probably separated for the rest of their lives, not knowing if Shepard was alive or dead? For that matter, what exactly was the Normandy doing fleeing a battle when they had been told "there is no retreat"? These things seemed so out of character for them that it left me completely baffled.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that the problem I had wasn't really with the endings themselves, though certainly I wanted a happy ending for my Shepard and the galaxy (I was hoping for some nice superweapon/EMP like thing that we would have to bring to the other Reaper-controlled systems to drive them out. It wouldn't be space-magic, just something that would tip the scales in our favor.). Back on track, it was not the endings I was upset with. It was the lack of closure, especially considering this is the final hurrah for Shepard. The end didn't feel like an end at all, it felt more like a "to be continued".

Again, I don't know if this will actually be read, and I certainly don't know what plans you may have for this game. These are merely my thoughts after playing what I expected to be Shepard's final mission. I do want to emphasize that (ignoring the ending scene) this was an absolutely incredible game, no, experience. Everything I had expected and hoped it to be was delivered, and then some. Excellent writing, excellent music, visuals...the care that has been poured into this game is obvious. Well done to everyone that helped make this game.

Modifié par Aramina, 11 mars 2012 - 04:46 .

[Nathan_41]

 My Mass Effect 3 Score

Discounting the ending - 99/100

Counting the ending - 40/100

I genuinely find it impossible to submit an accurate review without making the distinction of just how much of a negative impact the ending options had on my ability to enjoy the game. I'll start with the good, and then elaborate on my reasons for why the ending spoiled the experience for me.


Positives:

* Shepard's journey is so much more personal in this iteration. With references to his/her background beyond the throwaway lines of the previous games, an opponent who serves as his/her dark mirror in the form of former N7 operative Kai Leng, interactions with the player's romantic interest beyond a series of cabin conversations and a loyalty quest and the deeply disturbing trauma that Shepard suffers while watching the invasion of Earth (which helps remind players that he/she is a person, not a blank slate robot), the series becomes that much more engaging. I've never been a fan of RPGs that give the player a character with no personality, background or personal stake in the story and then expect them to remain invested. While previous games were by no means this bad, some of the background certainly gave off a sense of informed value. This game is very much so superior in terms of Shepard's personality and involvement.

* Characters interact with each other! Even without the player's involvement! If there was one thing that Dragon Age 2 did right, it was making it clear that your party members are friends or rivals, and interact with each other in their own time, doing a great deal to make them seem more realistic. ME3 brought thattechnique to bear very efficiently, and helps drive home the fact that the members of the Normandy are more than a team, they're a family. This is reinforced by the numerous encounters with significant figures and the previous games and the solid, interesting 'moments in the limelight' they receive.

* Scanning/gathering resources isn't as much of a life-draining, demoralisingly slow process that must reluctantly be borne if you desire to have any chance at all of achieving sucess in the final battle.

* Gameplay was somewhat awkward at first (having immediately come off a finished ME2 playthrough), but was increasingly enjoyable as the game progressed. Headshots aren't quite as ridiculously easy to land as in ME2, enemies are more intelligent and aggressive, peronalised class-specific melee attacks are a nice touch for adding a sense of uniqueness to the player's own character and difficulty is increased through smarter AI behaviour instead of simply making enemies unfairly tough and brutal.


Negatives (AKA The Ending)

While it is understandable that Bioware might not want a conventional ending scene where the antagonists are defeated and celebrations commence, it must be said that the three available endings of ME3 feel much more like a slap in the face to fans of the series than professional creativity. In all three options, every single living being in a system with a Mass Relay is killed, barring any lucky handfuls of people who have a ship such as the Normandy with which to escape the blast, rendering most of the galaxy either corpses or cut-off colonies (that in many cases may not be self-sustainable) that have lost their own military forces to the battle in the Sol system.
Why is this bad? There's a multitude of reasons.
There's nothing wrong with tragic endings when executed properly, and the same goes for the bittersweet variety. But none of the endings present in the game provided any satisfaction or even closure to what I would tentatively assume to be the vast majority of fans who were invested in the story. One can quite legitimately say that it would not be right to give a disney-like happily ever after ending in a war that ravaged the galaxy, but neither is it fair to deny invested players the accomplishment of anything except the abstract reminder that 'well, at least this probably won't happen to the next cycle of sentient life 50,000 years down the line'. It feels very much like a disappointment, and perhaps in some cases a cause to revalue the integrity of Bioware creative talents and their commitment to delivering enjoyable entertainment to their fans. It raises the question of what point was there to any of the player's struggle.
As mentioned above, there is nothing wrong with having tragic and/or bittersweet endings present, but forcing several similar variants of a single option on fans which do not deliver the experience they had hoped for is an extremely poor conclusion to a trilogy that has otherwise been seen as so attractive.
It is my own personal hope that Bioware intends to or is open to the possibility of delivering downloadable content in the future in which other, more satisfying endings would be made available for ME3. Otherwise I must conclude that the overall game is greatly spoiled by the current conclusion.

Modifié par Nathan_41, 11 mars 2012 - 04:39 .

[Withidread]

70/100

I was enjoying the game until the ending. None of the endings made me feel like I saved the galaxy, they just gave me the impression that the entire effort was a failure. Made me feel similar to the way I felt when I found out about the Divinity II ending. (I didn't finish that one btw, it got spoiled for me)

[caramel_cod]

Story is the reason why I picked up ME3, and it was 99% fantastic. Literally everything up until the last five minutes made me feel like I had truly crafted my own, unique story within this universe. The callbacks to every massive and minute decision I had made in the previous games was hugely appreciated.

For the same reason, I can't understand why the ending shoehorns you into 3 equally poor choices. Why is Shepard suddenly complacent with this unexplained higher power? The Catalyst's core philosophy wouldn't make sense to Shepard, who spent a large part of his time in ME3 correcting the irrational fear of synthetics that many organics possess. My Shepard would have argued with the Catalyst, and convinced it that its beliefs are misguided.

Just as every other game in the series gave the difficult-but-achievable option for complete success and the option for complete failure, ME3 should expand its endings beyond 3 depressing, incoherent and vaguely optimstic variations of the same scene. Shepard can beat the Reapers and save the galaxy, just as all of his supporters have told him he can.

I appreciate that the writers have control over the story, but ultimately the story is OURS. It belongs to the players. That's why you work so hard to ensure that the extended universe media doesn't assume any in-game events are cannon. Don't make the mistake of ending the series in a way that undermines every narrative innovation you've made.

[Sebenon]

I decided the best thing I could do, since so many are voicing their discontent with the ending, is to post a review so here I go!

Gameplay: 8/10 the overall changes to the AI's as well as the things Shep, and companions can do actively were really nice. I found the game more of a pleasure to play than ME2, and I thought that was a pretty awesome upgrade. I did find certain things were overly complicated, buggy, or awkward, which is why I did not give it a 9 or 10.

Missions(General): 8/10 this would easily be a 9/10 but there simply weren't enough missions to keep me satisfied. I was also hoping for some semi open battlegrounds, like in the ME2 Hammerhead missions, except you can get out and run around on foot.

Missions(Plot/Character Specific): 10/10 you guys nailed these so amazingly that I was on the verge of tears even though I already knew how it was going to end. You even threw in some surprise endings that put a huge smile on my face. All in all the specific Missions/Plots related to the characters we all know and love were just brilliant. I am nothing but pleased with all the possibilities and the sacrifices, and the choices you can make in these.

Weapons/Equipment: 8/10 for variety and surprising number of choices and adding to the complexity and customization without getting TOO complicated. Sadly I think certain weapons still render others useless. Once I realized what the Geth Pulse Rifle, and the Graal Spike thrower could do I really didn't need much else. There were also only about 3 Sniper Rifles worth using. Generally I didn't find much use for SMG's as they were simply too unweildy, and any pistol worth taking was ridiculously heavy to the point where there was little point in bothering. Still I am mostly pleased with the weapons in ME3 so far.

classes/Abilities: 6/10 I am still, quite strongly, opposed to Ammo powers. Still I think you made it worth investing in them, however, I would rather not have to. Playing a Soldier is fairly boring, and uninteresting(Something I hoped you would fix). I would Imagine with any other class I would be much more satisfied as I am not bogged down by spending all my points into very boring ammo powers and instead buying really cool and fun abilities! I know the 30+minutes I played a Vanguard I had a ton of fun by comparison to the Soldier.

Ending: 2/10 Now we can say it's not so much about the End but the Journey along the way. However the Journey was ME1 and ME2 and those were both 9 or 10 in my book! Even though I didn't like ME2's ending as much as ME1 I could look past it because in neither of these two games was the ending so crucially important to the game as it is in this one. However this is the end of this Series, and every choice, every hour you have wasted, everything you invested emotionally into this game was building to this one single point. The only ending that I found even remotely satisfying is the Control Ending, but even that takes some time to adjust. Let's also not forget the inconsistencies and Shepherd's lack of Paragon or Renegade dialogue choices to sway the Catalyst(And thus perhaps result in an even better Pure Paragon/Pure Renegade ending) leave you kinda staring blankly at the screen frustrated and unsatisfied. I have to say that the ending choices(And the horrible inconsistencies associated with the ending) really do leave a player wanting for more. The end of Mass Effect 3 is simply very poorly thought out/executed... It's like Battlestar Galactica all over again. I cannot understand how the story for this game can be so amazing and simply fall so terribly flat at the end completely missing the mark and leaving most players feeling frustrated and annoyed. For that reason I give ME3 a 2, not a 1 because they at least really thought about the 3 choices!

So my final score for ME3 is 6.8/10 because this is the End and a Bad ending for the Final game in the series greatly damages the value of the game. That ending makes this, otherwise near flawless, game the worst one in the Series, for me, simply because it failed to hit the mark to such a degree. Without the ending the game would certainly get an 8/10 from the Soldier Perspective, however, I am sure if I played through with a class that didn't have a million ammo powers this would easily raise to 9/10+.

So basically with the Ending ME3 gets a D+ from me, without the ending ME3 gets a B- however for pure storytelling you get an A+ all the way! Except for that last little bit at the end! However since Mass Effect 3 really is about the end, failing to deliver something satisfying there really damages the entire series.

Modifié par Sebenon, 11 mars 2012 - 04:45 .