1966 réponses à ce sujet

[ChaosTheory149]

Just a few follow ups since posting my review last night...

The music of Mass Effect is, frankly, the best of any game I've ever played. Each installment has offered the "perfect" musical score for the setting, and there are several songs from each that I will always remember. It's such an important aspect of any creative media, and sadly it's often overlooked as filler, or an afterthought, or an expendable budget-saving expense. But great music can add so much to a game, whereas forgettable music adds nothing. For instance, as good as Dragon Age: Origins was, the music seemed uninspired, yet a less-critically successful game like Neverwinter Nights II (and the expansions) had amazing music for the setting. It's so very important to get right, and the music of Mass Effect is spot on. My compliments to the composers and everyone associated.

If there's a cornerstone of BioWare games that seems to have survived their indoctrination by EA, it's that they continue to write some amazing characters and companions for the protagonist. I still think of Minsc or Aribeth, for instance, and smile. Now there's a handful of others whom I'll always remember. Thanks for that!

I don't know what's in store for the franchise beyond Shepard's story, but I can't stress enough that exploring prequels to the events in these games would be really lame. I can't be more disinterested in the Protheans, and the First Contact War era is not something I'd like to explore. You *must* go forward. And while I'm sure I'm in the minority, I really have no interest in an MMO, either. This 'cheapens' the story, as I found out with Old Republic. I don't want to see a Mass Effect Online character reduced to fetch quests and corridor crawls through 50 levels.

Finally, please don't get discouraged by the frustrations with character continuation/importing. It was a huge part of my enjoyment with these games, and I hope you consider it for your future projects. Just please test it before you release it...

[WedgeWoo]

My (slightly exaggerated) thoughts can be found by clicking the image below.

[ChaosTheory149]

WedgeWoo wrote...

My (slightly exaggerated) thoughts can be found by clicking the image below.

Hah, very good...

[The Krogan Warlord]

The entire Mass Effect series has been an amazing thrill ride that gave you choices that most games can't which made it become a behemoth in gaming the world over. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Mass Effect 3 it precise, clear and included plenty of my decisions from the revious two games. But the last possibly 10 to 20 minutes of the game were the worst of the entire trilogy thus far. It was rushed, unbelievebale confusing and unprofesssionally written. It is almost as if you brought a random person, told that person half of what happened in Mass effect 3 and then leaft him to it. The biggest question ony mind and many others is... why? Why ruin a perfectly well exectued game franchise with a plot so crammed full of utter ridculousness that wasn't room for the things that could have brought tears to the eye of millions. I'm not angry. I'm not even dissapointed. I'm just deeply saddened because I have spent hours empathising and identifiying with the character I have created just see him die in the three ways with a pretty explosion to go with it. I mean WOW. Millions have spent days playing this franchise just to watch it burn. WOW.

[jmahecic]

 The good:
-combat - feels improved upon from ME2, just a bit annoying that so many functions are mapped to one button, caused confusion
-progression of the story - the story felt very alive throughout the game, the build-up is enormous, had me very excited
-very short loading times
-wonderful environments and art style
-characters and voice work

The bad:
-severely decreased number of dialogues and dialogue options, especially with crew members, felt like the world sometimes simply avoids Shepard
-side missions - very quick, yet very uninspired, actually preferred them in ME2, here most of them felt like somewhere where you can show off a character from previous game or gather items for Citadel, could've been a lot more relevant to the rest of the plot
-endings - not the choices, but the way it's carried out, very unsatisfying, already described it in the ending discussion thread
-graphics - actually seemed to be worse than in ME2, it doesn't look as sharp, I understand it might be to reduce loadign times
-interactivity - very little for shepard to interact with, even the mini games were removed, very little dialogue again (especially compared to other games)
-characters - the way most ME2 characters cannot conviently join you is a clear sign of avoiding multiple options, the story does this a few times, in an effort to reduce the work, sometimes just appears to be flat out lazy (no offence intended)

Generally, it didn't feel like Bioware put as much love into this one like it was with ME1 and especially ME2. It just misses that special ingredient. It's not a bad game by any means, in fact it's very entertaining, but when looking at the franchise as a whole, it falls short of the great love fans like myself felt for the first two games.

[Chaoswind]

Rickin10 wrote...

 Oh Mass Effect, what have you done to me?  God knows how many hours I sunk into your universe.  How I fretted, procrastinated, second-guessed my actions ,decisions over the course of 3 games and hundeds of hours.  And for what?

Good:

- Combat.  Generally the best in the series.  Enemies are now much more agressive and make you more nervous, leading you to make more decisions on the fly.  It also fits  with the more visceral, war-like and frantic  feeling in the concluding part of the trilogy.

- Inventory.  Much better than ME2, with a lot of weapon choice and more amour pieces and colours.

- Characters.  This is the high note of the game.  The banter, whether on-board the Normandy or elsewhere is very well written.  These characters that you've come to love, are full of the beauty, flaws and fun you'd expect.  EDI is a particular highlight, and example of the genius that Bioware writers can produce.  As a result, there's an almost unbareable sense of foreboding, and loss throughout that few games can achieve.

Bad:  

- Unfinished.  It's strikingly apparent how rushed the game was.  Lip-syncing and animation can vary from accetable to atrocious.  Low-res backgrounds and 'ant-people' abound.  Many of the people on the Citadel are literal waxworks.  They don't move or even breathe. The others barely change pose.  In combat, team-mates will regularly become completely unresponsive, and the game won't allow you to create a waypoint for them to go to.

-Auto-dialogue.  A huge part of what made ME ME was choice, not just the 'big' choices like whethe to ...ahem, save the rachni Queen, but also how your Shepard acted.  In ME3 shepard is basically canon.  Most conversations play out as cut-scenes, with maybe one dialogue wheel.  And on that wheel the options have been stripped to just 2 the vast majority of the times.  I also found there was barely any difference in these 2 options.  A lot of the talk on the Normandy is now 'Zaeed dialogue'. 

-Small universe.  Whereas the previous 2 games had a genuinely galaxy-wide feel to them, ME3 feels small and linear.  There a no hub worlds now (unless you count the Citadel, which is still a little small), just 'levels' where you go, kill stuff and leave.  There's no exploration like in ME1, and no Omega, Illium, Tuchanka like in ME2 to walk around, and no vehicles.

-Token side-missions.  Outside of the main missions there are N7 mission that are basically multiplayer maps with wave combat, or eavesdropping fetch quests that are a patronizing, pathetic way of making the game seem longer than it is.

-ME2 squadmates.  All those characters you helped, got to know, love...yeah, they're gone.  They turn up for cameos, and th eodd side-quest, but that's it.  No explanation how or why they left you, even if you romanced them.

- Consequences of choice.  The biggie. The single biggest failing of ME3 is the that all the promise and promises Bioware gave people all turned out to be a grand deceit.  So many apparently huge decisions you made have precious little consequence unless you count a sum of 50 war assets as such.  Did you blow up the Council? Doesn't matter.  Save the Rachni Queen? Doesn't matter.  Save the Collector Base? It doesn..you get the idea.  In fact the whole 'war assets' thing is totally pointless as you see in ....

- The End.  So, after 3 games, 100s of hours of blood sweat and tears....you get, what exactly?  An introduction to a character not previous known until 5 minutes from the end, who essentially destroys lore, contradicts the themes and actions of Shepard over the course of the series, and boils everything you've done into an irrelevance.  And, the worst part - in a game that was supposedly built on giving the player choice, and futhermore leading them to believe those choices had meaning -  ME3 railroads Shepard into an A, B, C choice, that he can barely question, let-alone reject. 

The player is then compelled to watch a cutscene that barely changes depending on which of the 3 colours he chose, which is not just depressing and confusing, but makes no sense whatsoever.  Not only does it destroy everything you've done up to that point but, rahter than answering questions, as Bioware promised, it instead opens up gaping plot-holes and gives no closure to anything.

Conclusion:

If this were any other average game, even a good one-off game, you'd shake your head and laugh it off.  But this was the culmination to a truly great series.  So much promise, so many promises broken and betrayed.  It's only on repeated playthroughs you truly see how Bioware copped out.  Whether they didn't have the time, will, or talent to properly implement what they promised in regard to 'choices having consequence', only they will know.  But rather than try to finish off their trilogy in the same innovative way they started, It's clear they didn't even try.  Just tried to pull the wool over our eyes.

Judged as on-off game ME3 is a a fun, emotional, and at times spectacular ride.  But judged in the context of what came before, what was promised, it's a shallow, sad and painful disappointment.  

7/10

Best one I have read and the score is fitting, I am normally a lurker than doesn't post (I spend from 2010 to 2012 without saying a word) and I think your post is a good representation of how I feel about the game.


BW can concider your words to be mine if they want to, but I no longer care enough to tell them point by point how exactly i was disappointed.

[EvilMind]

Rickin10 wrote...

 Oh Mass Effect, what have you done to me?  God knows how many hours I sunk into your universe.  How I fretted, procrastinated, second-guessed my actions ,decisions over the course of 3 games and hundeds of hours.  And for what?

Good:

- Combat.  Generally the best in the series.  Enemies are now much more agressive and make you more nervous, leading you to make more decisions on the fly.  It also fits  with the more visceral, war-like and frantic  feeling in the concluding part of the trilogy.

- Inventory.  Much better than ME2, with a lot of weapon choice and more amour pieces and colours.

- Characters.  This is the high note of the game.  The banter, whether on-board the Normandy or elsewhere is very well written.  These characters that you've come to love, are full of the beauty, flaws and fun you'd expect.  EDI is a particular highlight, and example of the genius that Bioware writers can produce.  As a result, there's an almost unbareable sense of foreboding, and loss throughout that few games can achieve.

Bad:  

- Unfinished.  It's strikingly apparent how rushed the game was.  Lip-syncing and animation can vary from accetable to atrocious.  Low-res backgrounds and 'ant-people' abound.  Many of the people on the Citadel are literal waxworks.  They don't move or even breathe. The others barely change pose.  In combat, team-mates will regularly become completely unresponsive, and the game won't allow you to create a waypoint for them to go to.

-Auto-dialogue.  A huge part of what made ME ME was choice, not just the 'big' choices like whethe to ...ahem, save the rachni Queen, but also how your Shepard acted.  In ME3 shepard is basically canon.  Most conversations play out as cut-scenes, with maybe one dialogue wheel.  And on that wheel the options have been stripped to just 2 the vast majority of the times.  I also found there was barely any difference in these 2 options.  A lot of the talk on the Normandy is now 'Zaeed dialogue'. 

-Small universe.  Whereas the previous 2 games had a genuinely galaxy-wide feel to them, ME3 feels small and linear.  There a no hub worlds now (unless you count the Citadel, which is still a little small), just 'levels' where you go, kill stuff and leave.  There's no exploration like in ME1, and no Omega, Illium, Tuchanka like in ME2 to walk around, and no vehicles.

-Token side-missions.  Outside of the main missions there are N7 mission that are basically multiplayer maps with wave combat, or eavesdropping fetch quests that are a patronizing, pathetic way of making the game seem longer than it is.

-ME2 squadmates.  All those characters you helped, got to know, love...yeah, they're gone.  They turn up for cameos, and th eodd side-quest, but that's it.  No explanation how or why they left you, even if you romanced them.

- Consequences of choice.  The biggie. The single biggest failing of ME3 is the that all the promise and promises Bioware gave people all turned out to be a grand deceit.  So many apparently huge decisions you made have precious little consequence unless you count a sum of 50 war assets as such.  Did you blow up the Council? Doesn't matter.  Save the Rachni Queen? Doesn't matter.  Save the Collector Base? It doesn..you get the idea.  In fact the whole 'war assets' thing is totally pointless as you see in ....

- The End.  So, after 3 games, 100s of hours of blood sweat and tears....you get, what exactly?  An introduction to a character not previous known until 5 minutes from the end, who essentially destroys lore, contradicts the themes and actions of Shepard over the course of the series, and boils everything you've done into an irrelevance.  And, the worst part - in a game that was supposedly built on giving the player choice, and futhermore leading them to believe those choices had meaning -  ME3 railroads Shepard into an A, B, C choice, that he can barely question, let-alone reject. 

The player is then compelled to watch a cutscene that barely changes depending on which of the 3 colours he chose, which is not just depressing and confusing, but makes no sense whatsoever.  Not only does it destroy everything you've done up to that point but, rahter than answering questions, as Bioware promised, it instead opens up gaping plot-holes and gives no closure to anything.

Conclusion:

If this were any other average game, even a good one-off game, you'd shake your head and laugh it off.  But this was the culmination to a truly great series.  So much promise, so many promises broken and betrayed.  It's only on repeated playthroughs you truly see how Bioware copped out.  Whether they didn't have the time, will, or talent to properly implement what they promised in regard to 'choices having consequence', only they will know.  But rather than try to finish off their trilogy in the same innovative way they started, It's clear they didn't even try.  Just tried to pull the wool over our eyes.

Judged as on-off game ME3 is a a fun, emotional, and at times spectacular ride.  But judged in the context of what came before, what was promised, it's a shallow, sad and painful disappointment.  

7/10

I really liked this one, great job. But maybe 7/10 is a bit too much

[Gulaman]

Rickin10 wrote...

 Oh Mass Effect, what have you done to me?  God knows how many hours I sunk into your universe.  How I fretted, procrastinated, second-guessed my actions ,decisions over the course of 3 games and hundeds of hours.  And for what?

Good:

- Combat.  Generally the best in the series.  Enemies are now much more agressive and make you more nervous, leading you to make more decisions on the fly.  It also fits  with the more visceral, war-like and frantic  feeling in the concluding part of the trilogy.

- Inventory.  Much better than ME2, with a lot of weapon choice and more amour pieces and colours.

- Characters.  This is the high note of the game.  The banter, whether on-board the Normandy or elsewhere is very well written.  These characters that you've come to love, are full of the beauty, flaws and fun you'd expect.  EDI is a particular highlight, and example of the genius that Bioware writers can produce.  As a result, there's an almost unbareable sense of foreboding, and loss throughout that few games can achieve.

Bad:  

- Unfinished.  It's strikingly apparent how rushed the game was.  Lip-syncing and animation can vary from accetable to atrocious.  Low-res backgrounds and 'ant-people' abound.  Many of the people on the Citadel are literal waxworks.  They don't move or even breathe. The others barely change pose.  In combat, team-mates will regularly become completely unresponsive, and the game won't allow you to create a waypoint for them to go to.

-Auto-dialogue.  A huge part of what made ME ME was choice, not just the 'big' choices like whethe to ...ahem, save the rachni Queen, but also how your Shepard acted.  In ME3 shepard is basically canon.  Most conversations play out as cut-scenes, with maybe one dialogue wheel.  And on that wheel the options have been stripped to just 2 the vast majority of the times.  I also found there was barely any difference in these 2 options.  A lot of the talk on the Normandy is now 'Zaeed dialogue'. 

-Small universe.  Whereas the previous 2 games had a genuinely galaxy-wide feel to them, ME3 feels small and linear.  There a no hub worlds now (unless you count the Citadel, which is still a little small), just 'levels' where you go, kill stuff and leave.  There's no exploration like in ME1, and no Omega, Illium, Tuchanka like in ME2 to walk around, and no vehicles.

-Token side-missions.  Outside of the main missions there are N7 mission that are basically multiplayer maps with wave combat, or eavesdropping fetch quests that are a patronizing, pathetic way of making the game seem longer than it is.

-ME2 squadmates.  All those characters you helped, got to know, love...yeah, they're gone.  They turn up for cameos, and th eodd side-quest, but that's it.  No explanation how or why they left you, even if you romanced them.

- Consequences of choice.  The biggie. The single biggest failing of ME3 is the that all the promise and promises Bioware gave people all turned out to be a grand deceit.  So many apparently huge decisions you made have precious little consequence unless you count a sum of 50 war assets as such.  Did you blow up the Council? Doesn't matter.  Save the Rachni Queen? Doesn't matter.  Save the Collector Base? It doesn..you get the idea.  In fact the whole 'war assets' thing is totally pointless as you see in ....

- The End.  So, after 3 games, 100s of hours of blood sweat and tears....you get, what exactly?  An introduction to a character not previous known until 5 minutes from the end, who essentially destroys lore, contradicts the themes and actions of Shepard over the course of the series, and boils everything you've done into an irrelevance.  And, the worst part - in a game that was supposedly built on giving the player choice, and futhermore leading them to believe those choices had meaning -  ME3 railroads Shepard into an A, B, C choice, that he can barely question, let-alone reject. 

The player is then compelled to watch a cutscene that barely changes depending on which of the 3 colours he chose, which is not just depressing and confusing, but makes no sense whatsoever.  Not only does it destroy everything you've done up to that point but, rahter than answering questions, as Bioware promised, it instead opens up gaping plot-holes and gives no closure to anything.

Conclusion:

If this were any other average game, even a good one-off game, you'd shake your head and laugh it off.  But this was the culmination to a truly great series.  So much promise, so many promises broken and betrayed.  It's only on repeated playthroughs you truly see how Bioware copped out.  Whether they didn't have the time, will, or talent to properly implement what they promised in regard to 'choices having consequence', only they will know.  But rather than try to finish off their trilogy in the same innovative way they started, It's clear they didn't even try.  Just tried to pull the wool over our eyes.

Judged as on-off game ME3 is a a fun, emotional, and at times spectacular ride.  But judged in the context of what came before, what was promised, it's a shallow, sad and painful disappointment.  

7/10

Great review, agreed with those points, inclduding the overall rating. Another thing I would put under 'Good' would be the score. ME3 has a fantastic soundtrack, probably the best of the 3 games so far.

[PuppiesOfDeath2]

The ending was really poor.  Take a look at the ending of the Harry Potter series as an example of a multipart story that focused on characters.  There is loss and death, but the main character survives with his two closest friends and they gain closure from a fight on the main stage of the story.  Ultimately, the arrogance of the villain is his undoing.  Could have done that in Mass Effect 3.

Now imagine the Harry Potter series ending like this:  Nicolas Flamel, inventor of the Sorcerer's Stone appears in a vision to Harry, out of nowhere.  He says Voldemort was invented to create wars among wizards; otherwise they would take over the planet.  Harry now must choose: (1) Kill all the wizards; (2) Kill all the muggles; or (3) Everyone would have "a little magic" but not enough to do too much harm. 

Which ending is better, the real one or the "Mass Effect 3" one?

I have no energy to replay ME3 with this ending.  Does anyone have a good recommendation for a game to play while we await some decision from Bioware about whether they are going to fix the ending?

[ckolsen]

First of all, a thank you to the Mass Effect 3 team for creating such a great game. Here is my views on the good and bad in Mass Effect 3. 
I have finished the game, and I am currently playing NG+ with my main shepard. Later this year I will probably do a run from ME1->ME2->ME3 with female shep, since I haven't really played her.

Played ME3 on xbox. 
Imported shep. from ME1 and ME2 playthroughs.
Only played single-player

The Good:
Voice Acting: This is just top-notch. I believe this is the best voice acting in a game I have played. Especially the voice of Liara, Andersson, Shepard and Vega was i joy to experience. Vega was a big surprise for me, since I was very reluctant to even talk to him (hated his looks in the time before the game came out, but once I experienced him first hand, he was a great character actually)

Gameplay/Combat: The best in the series, no doubt. It was fast paced, tactical, fun, varied, and in line with the Mass Effect universe. Bravo!

Storytelling: This is where Bioware has gotten a lot of negative feedback. I however, believed the storytelling of ME3 to be incredible. 
Example: In the "genophage" mission, you have the option of telling the krogan, how the salarians have sabotaged the cure, but something stops you from telling this, and the mission continues. Later, you get the chance to explain the salarians intentions again, but just before this, Wrex (or wreav haven't played with him), shows a very dire side to the krogans - expansionist... The line "not that we wont ask first hehe" or something like that, makes shepards decision difficult. The fact that the choice have to be made more than once, and new information warps you mind in different directions is great. I love the way Bioware wrote this, cudos to the writing team! 
There are other examples, but want to keeps this relatively short. 

Mood/Tone:
The tone of ME3 is great. From the starting screen you know that "this won't end well". I had a dire feeling all the way through the game. The dreams shepard experience gave me goosebumps, the sounds of the reapers, the child dying, the talks with Liara and Garrus - all these things together created a fantastic tone for the game. 

Music: 
Creates the tone as well - and bravo! I don't even miss Jack Wall (did I just say that? shame on me!). The music is great! Old and new tracks alike are fantastic - my favorit "A future for the krogan".

Sound design:
Love it!

EDIT:
Also:

The little things:
Like the girl on the docks in citadel, talking to the turian officer about her family which she is waiting for.
Or the refund guys reappearance. Or the comments on Garrus and calibrations. I could go on, but these little things are great, and creates a universe!


The Bad:
The are a few things yes...

Side mission:
I'm okay with a couple of fetch quests on Irune and so on, but there was a few too many, and they were very sketchy in the journal (look below). I'd rather have a few N7 like missions hidden on planets - so I could go out and "explore" for missions like in ME2. 

Journal:
Why did you change this? It isn't updating when you find the darn "power" couplings, and need to find the random guy who needs them. I ended up running around a lot, just randomly running around hoping to find people needing what I found (not that I knew what was found, because the journal didn't update this). The journal was very good in ME1 and ME2, why take a step back? It couldn't have taken that much work to do could it?? 

A-button:
Just a minor annoyance, but often the A button (not the "awesome button" hehe) would have shepard take cover instead of activating a keyboard or something else. It was very sensitive about where I should stand to activate something.

the FACE:
I mean come on, how can you miss this import function? I spend 2 hours recreating my shep face. I was happy with the final result, but wauw, I did NOT want to spend my time on the when I had just gotten ME3 installed on my xbox - I wanted to play the game! 



Conclusion:
I loved ME3, and will score it 9,5/10. I fully enjoyed the game, and story. Heck, I even cried a couple of times, this is how good I think it was. I also loved the ending - having thought about it for a while and boy, I have never spend this much time thinking about a story (in a game!) after having played it. 

Modifié par ckolsen, 03 avril 2012 - 03:28 .

[Keltikone]

Well, now I've got almost all the achieves and had a few plays, my thoughts:

The Good:

It's Mass Effect, the universe is fleshed out, the codex packed with info worth reading, the voice acting as ever, superb.
The combat, it feels more responsive, best in the series although not quite BF3.
The story: harking back to my 1st point, it's strong with engaging narrative, you feel for the characters.
The music, amazing as always.

The Bad:

A whole lotta "retconning" going on, dark mat.... look over there !
Not as many companion choices (although the ones given should really be in the good portion)
Too much fed-ex - side missions ? No, delivery boy.
More linear than the 1st 2 games, less to explore, missions not as inventive and rely too much on the combat.
Characters from the 1st 2 games glossed over mostly.

The Ugly:

The ending lacks narrative cohesion with the rest of the game, introduces a new antagonist (that may as well be the protagonist as he drives the story from the point of introduction) in the last 5 mins, and as an added bonus, rips off the final stargazer scene from someone elses work.
Final story point is "Buy some DLC!" - really doesn't work for me either.

Conclusion:

Not as good as ME2, weak ending dominates the experience of playing, its a fairly solid game but doesn't live up to it's prerelease hype or promises 7/10

Modifié par Keltikone, 03 avril 2012 - 03:35 .

[daigakuinsei]

If the theme of ME3 is "bittersweet," is a 5/10 in keeping with the theme?

Modifié par daigakuinsei, 03 avril 2012 - 04:57 .

[Little Princess Peach]

I have just this to say

I liked all the Mass Effect games but what I would of liked more in ME3 was more time with the li or more personal information about shepards background if it was supposed to be the last we saw of sheapard why not go out in a bang?

[CJL7806]

 Dear Bioware,

I must say that I have played a lot of video games, both RPGs and shooters, and this was the most brilliant trilogy/story ever written! I say that because I was connected to my character like never before. In the most emotional moments I was myself getting emotional, I was sweating and terrified in the most difficult battles near the end, and I was literally shaking through the ending and then freaked out when the earth-(or rather, galaxy-)shattering revelation and gut-wrenching decision was laid on me with the final choice.

Which brings me to the current controversy. Your ending. Let me put it this way: If the Indoctrination Theory is not correct, the huge plotholes and baffling writing and ridiculously fantastical ending cinematic make this the worst ending ever, a completely baffling, nonsensical mess of a rushed ending.

.... However, If the Indoctrination Theory is correct - and I believe it is, because in hindsight it makes everything make sense, including the dreams about the kid which were baffling me throughout - then this was quite possibly the most brilliant video game ending ever... with one caveat: it needed to be made clear afterwards.

If it is true, the fact that you don't realize that it is indoctrination is what makes it so great: you literally were able to pull the shroud over our eyes and make us believe it - just like Saren and TIM were indoctrinated. But if the Indoctrination Theory is true, there should also be no "theory": it should be undeniable in retrospect, or after the cutscene: Assuming Shep wakes after the Destroy choice because the theory is true, it should have a been a longer scene showing him waking up back on Earth with the Reapers dead and the Normandy still in the Sol system and made it obvious that he broke indoctrination. After the control or synthesis cinematics, the after-the-credits scene should not have been the "stargazer and child", but something that at least hinted at the Reaper victory and Shep's indoctrination (control) or harvest (synthesis).

Hopefully your DLC will correct that final flaw, if the theory is indeed true. And if it is, your lack of making it clear at the end of the final cutscene will ultimately be a critical mistake in how the history of this industry judges your game, unfortunately.

Regardless, even if the Theory is not true, and you just made a crap ending: the ride was still amazing, and well worth it.

90/100.  if the Theory was true and you had made it clear in a longer end cutscene like I suggest above, it would be a 101/100 and IMHO the best RPG to date.


Thanks for your amazing work,
C.J.

[Cinnabar6]

Story; 9.8/10

The story was amazing. Painful and sweet. The dichotomy in the issues that need to be resolved is intelligent and challenging every time. The whole thing has depth and intelligence.

I do not know if this belongs under "story", but I was not really crazy about the fetch quests. Maybe more puzzles to work out? For example, having hints of Intel that lead to tech / information about the Reapers that older civilizations had worked out? Or Codex entries from the first game such as those extranet rumours of nanomachine defenses around a planet or those mysterious readings on that other planet (sorry names escape me) that disappeared and could not be found again maturing into something important in the third. And as things are learned and shared with the Crucible folk, EMS improves. Maybe these could have been tied into competive missions with Cerberus with the winner getting the prize. Lose to Cerberus, you lose some EMS. I dunno, what do I know about game design?

Characters 10/10

Fully-realized people with sorrows and joys, triumphs and failures, flaws and virtues. Mordin is so layered as a character, that I am in awe. And they challenge Shepard. Love it.

Game play; 9.5/10. 

I enjoyed the combat, inventory management was fine, liked the graphical representation of what different armor mods would do,

Speaking to story, I think if some of the hints dropped in the first game became more important in the second, there would have been more cohesion from ME1 to ME3 creating frissons of recognition for people who have been with the series from the start; and since the hints come from Codex entries, people who have not played either ME1 or ME2 would not be left in the dust.  

(Aside: Is it possible to get a 4000 EMS without playing multi-player? I would really like to know because I am not a multi-player kind of person - a point of insecurity with me).

I have played both ME1 & ME2 an embarrassing number of times. Really. When one of my 360's red-ringed, my son said it committed suicide because it just could not face another Mass Effect play through. Smart Alec.
Mass Effect 3 is the first game that, at the end, I just had to sit in the quiet for a little bit and absorb what had just happened. I had enough EMS to achieve the Synthesis choice. Just mind-blowing. 

BUT if a player really worked extraordinarily hard... could Shepard not have rode off into the sunset with his/her LI (or not if there wasn't one) at his/her side? Just quietly leave everyone to do the high 5's all around and go?

Keep in mind I have grown up with Childhood's End, Rendezvous With Rama , Foundation Trilogy etc. Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Ellison; so that has probably colored my viewpoint. One of the best short stories ever IMO is "The Cold Equations".
I like that Mass Effect 3 is much more "alive" than the earlier two. I am replaying 1 and it does not have the same feeling of real. The growth has been wonderful. It is evidenced by the fact that squadmates have lives independent of Shepard. This is evident in their independent movement around the ship having conversations with each other.

Characters, story, gameplay were all wonderful.

The fetch quests perhaps not so much.
For me, the Mass Effect universe is amazing because it is really SCIENCE fiction.

And this is rather rambling because I am drafting this at work and do not have the time to properly craft it.
Thanks for reading.

[RinpocheSchnozberry]

10/10.  I went in looking to have a great time and I did.  A good RPG is pure story, and every single bit of "gameplay" that in intrudes into the story brings the experience down.  ME3 is even better than ME2 in what it offers, and how the game plays in balance with how the story is told.  ME3 is better than ME2, in that the gameplay offers more options that fit smoothly together.  Very well done.

The mix of cut to action scenes was great.  That has to stay.  A lot of the action mixed with cut scenes.  That's win.  The action never felt like it was there to be action, like the hellish Deep Roads in DAO.  It felt like all the action sections were action parts of a story, not there to hear things go boom.  Tuchanka was a great example of this kind of merging.

The Citadel was excellent.  The cars, the colors, the Presidium, Purgatory, the cargo bay, and the little overheard moments, all of that was very enjoyable.  The weakest section would be the embassies, but I guess embassies can't be too flashy.

I have no idea why I love the cars in ME so much.  The sound?  The shape?  It was great to fly around in them,  have a chase or two, a couple crashes, and a few conversations.  Very satisfying.  Garrus's kickin' back scene will remain one of my favorites for a long time.  The Phantom in Kai Leng's ride was bad ass.

Loved the overall architecture and loved how different they were from each other.  Tuchanka and Thessia really stood out.  The AY Monestary was a favorite of mine.  Sur'kesh would be the weakest, but we were seeing an STG facility there, so that's not a big deal.  Earth was great.  It definetly felt like the end of the world.  The Geth mainframe and their Dreadnaught were excellent.  I enjoy glimpses of alien worlds or planes or existance, and thses seemed liked actual other organizations of the same shared reality.

Fighting Reapers was great in ME3.  The one on Rannoc was great, with the way it was looming over you charging its lazors.  Awesome!  The one on Earth at the end was good, but the best was Tuchanka.  Tuchanka really stood out because of the blend of Giant Ass Smashing Things cut scenes and similar action scenes.

It was nice to see some of the racial history of the Krogan.  I was really, really, really torn on my favorite Shepard, and that's the mark of great story to me.  I felt dragged out of my "do good on X character, do bad on Y character" mode and into a dilemma on weather I believed that the Krogan could learn from their own mistakes, or if I was leading Shepard to make a mistake the would cost whole populations their lives.  Well done!  And the Mordin's speach...  Awesome.  "Made a mistake!"  That's going to be one of the lines that says with me.

I'm glad the wander around randomly and click on things is done with.  The Mako, the Hammerhead... they're vestiges of a much more boring age of gaming.  But!  Vehicles are great for story, so I was please to see some scenes where Shepard travelled with his team.  Rannoc's travel was great, the landing on Palaven was great.  All those sections blended the vehicle section with the story and tied it all together with the companions.  That's well done.

Thessia was a great reveal, wrapped around yet another great mix of combat and story.  The best though?  Was Shepard =after= Thessia.  Staring at the blinking light, knowing she should answer, but not wanting to.  I loved that!  It showed more sides of Shepard and definetly fleshed the character out to be more than Muscly Shoot 'em 
Up Super Hero. 

We saw "behind the Shepard" more in ME3 and I was very happy about that.  I =love= when NPCs challenege Shepard (or the DA3 protagonist, I'm just saying...) Sometime, it feels like conversations with companions are a job for Shepard or any main character... like you have to cheer them up or keep them from throwing themselves in the Boo Hoo Pit Of Tearful Cryingfulness.  I liked how Shepard interracted with Vega in the sparring and with Legion in the mainframe.  Those were great, non-standard ways of seeing those characters, their stories, having them challenge Shepard, and then having Shepard's personality projected into the game.  Very enjoyable.

The wrap up for Jacob, and Thane, and Legion, Garrus, Tali, all my old favorites was great.  I liked that the we know the shape of their futures, even if we don't know the details.  Now, you offer me some epilogue DLC that tells me more, I'm buying it.  Don't get me wrong!

Minor notes:  Planet scanning is much improved over ME2.  But the planet could spin faster.  Like, a lot faster. Flashlight sections?  Awesome. I loved the old Unreal engine flashlight maps and these were the
closest thing to them that I've played in ages.  Lost opportunity would be hearing a shriek and having a banshee jump out, but that's probably too obvious to really do.


My main complaints...  The face import bug.  I'm sure you're feeling that just as much as we are.  Happily, I took twelve million screenshots of my ME2 play through, so I recreated my Shepard's face real well.  There's also the Death Spot on the bridge for FemShep.  Behind Joker and a little to the right, I can get stuck so badly that I have to load an older save to get out.  Sometimes spastically moving the mouse and keyboard freed me... but not always.  I couldn't recreate that on my BroShep.  The little "Something to see" eye should be bigger, or brighter, or flash or something.  I think I missed 2-3 of those sections on my first play through.  Some of the cinematics seem to have an extra beat in them... like saying bye to Anderson the first time when Shepard is turning back to Anderson, and the elevator getting blown up on the geth dreadnaught.  I guess maybe some of those cover loading section, but my SSD is pretty good a load stuff fast, so I don't know what's going on there.  Maybe it's just me.



On the whole, fantasitc game.  I was very hesitant about MP, and I've been enjoying the heck out of that since launch.  Keep this stuff coming, guys and gals.  I got more money, so make me more games, kkthx.

:D:D

Modifié par RinpocheSchnozberry, 04 avril 2012 - 02:01 .

[abidingdude117]

My Score: 8/10

Synopsis:
     Mass Effect 3 features the best moments in the series, and achieves a superb level of immersion in regard to player abilities and customizations.  However, grievances like cluttered interface and NPC interactions, and a confusing conclusion, make the overall experience more frustrating than its predecessor.  In some circumstances, a step back from Mass Effect 2.


The Good:

1) The actual gameplay in Mass Effect 3 is the best in the franchise.  The more fluid movements of Shepard during combat increases realism and allows the players to better immerse themselves into the character.

2) More expansive skill trees and weapon attachments allow for a greater degree of customization than ever seen before.

3) The emotional moments really hit home.  Mass Effect 3 features some of the most gut-wrenching and all- around moving scenes in the entire franchise.

The Bad:

1) Journal entries do not update as progress is made on missions, often leading to confusion in relation to side quests.  In that same vein, many of the game's interfaces, particularly regarding the codex and e-mail systems, felt difficult to manage.

2) The introduction of side quests, particularly those given on the Citadel, feels sloppy and trivial, particularly given the importance of these missions.

3) Lack of dialogue trees in regards to speaking with squadmates on board the Normandy.  The conversations in Mass Effect 2 felt more fleshed out and meaningful, and therefore speaking with squad members appeared more rewarding, and less a chore than in Mass Effect 3.

4) As it stands, an unfulfilling conclusion to the Shepard series.  Without going into details myself, I cite this article, which was written in a very professional and respectful manner by its authors.  It manages to argue in a very academic way what many fans feel was confusing about the ending to the game.

[Mikeuicus]

I wrote quite a bit on my personal blog about Mass Effect 3. If I copy/pasted it all into one message it would be a wall of text, so here are the links.

 Mass Effect Review Part 1 - The Experience

Mass Effect Review Part 2 - The Gameplay

Mass Effect Review Part 3 - The Problems + My overall thoughts

Editorial: Why the Final Sequence of Mass Effect 3 is a failure

Modifié par Mikeuicus, 04 avril 2012 - 04:09 .

[Spacebird77]

I'm a bid ADD and tend to ramble, but I'll try to present coherent points.

I've now played two of the three endings. I knew before finishing that to get the three main ending you needed a high War Preparedness and Assets score, so I had all three available.I had both Paragon and Renegade choices available during the chat with the Illusive Man on the Citadel. My Paragon bar was full, the Renegade..... only just a sliver. Huh??

It was a little bit more than selecting which color the explosions were, but not by much. It looks like basically the same artwork with a few minor tweaks that, honestly strikes me as less varied than, say, the original Deus Ex.

I will join the chorus on the topic of aftermath. The Normandy was deeply involved in the shooting defense of the Crucible. It had no reason to be anywhere near the Mass Relay when Shepard swan dives into eternity. How the *Bleep* does it end up in the Relay Network trying to outrun the blast wave? This is.... IN MY OPINION... a gaping wound of a  plot hole.

You established in "The Arrival" that the Destruction of the Mass Relay WILL destroy the system it is in. In what way, shape, or form is it better to blow up and utterly annihilate not only Earth, which we've just spent three games and hundreds of hours trying to save ( not to mention ALL Galactic Civilization) than to have the Reapers doing what they're doing? At least the Reapers left trace evidence and records for the next cycle to learn from.

You effectively force people to play Multiplayer if they want a half decent  Effective War Assets score. To put it mildly, I loathe and despise multiplayer of any sort, and if your next game does the same thing I'll take a pass. Please bear in mind that I own all three Mass Effects and both Dragon Ages. Multiplayer like this does not allow me to set my own pace or repeat things if I choose to do so. Include a Multiplayer version? Go right ahead. Integrate it so thoroughly with the single player campaign that I can't avoid it? Assume I'm using unpleasant language for that concept.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It was a stirring, action-packed thrill ride up until the very end, which I have to agree looks badly rushed and is nowhere near the showcase of interactive gameplay you have been promising. I'm not going to demand a re-write, and to be frank if you try selling a new ending as DLC it will appear at this point that you intended that from day one. If you did, that is just cynical and a bit sleazy. If you honestly thought it was DONE done, well... I'm not the Author. Just dissatisfied with the inconsistent conclusion. Best of luck with your next project. I'm not going to whine that I won't buy from you again, as 99% of ME3 is absolutely epic.  I will not, however, be pre-ordering next time.

[sasasasue]

I have never "reviewed" anything properly before, but will attempt to do so here!

At the beginning, I really liked having Anderson as a temporary squadmate. He is a character that is there at the beginning, and (as I later found out) also there at the end of it all.
I LOVED the random little extras scattered throughout, such as BLASTO 6, and the button that you are not supposed to press on the Salarian homeworld.
I enjoyed a mission being set on Mars. It's Mars. Everyone loves Mars. My first problem came with the crucible research. We never really see what happens between us finding the blueprints, and it being used. Visiting the Scientists/Engineers etc working on it would have been an extra aspect which may have been enjoyable. You don't know the full progress of it, and you don't hear from many people you send there. How do we know it isn't a secret Cerberus Meatplant turning everyone into Soylent Green?!

On Tuchunka, the story thickened with distrust between the turians and krogan. At this point, I started to worry that I'd have to chose between the turians and the krogan. Then I had the mission with Mordin. What can I possibly say. I have never cried more for any fictional character.
Both my partner and I were playing it next to each other on the day of release, and I was further ahead, so I just had to pause the game and cry. After a few minutes I had to go over to him, he paused, I continued crying, and through the weeps all I said was "This is going to be the best game ever."
It is funny how emotionally involved you can get in the game, and how strongly it can effect your emotions. Some moments are hilarious, some leave you agonising your decisions, and some have the ability to make people cry.

I also loved the feel of Legions mission, it looked and felt very different, and was a lot of fun. Then Legion happened. More tears, obviously.

When Thane died, I did not fully get what was going on until Shep was at the hospital. Udina? Where did that come from? It felt very random, and a little disjointed. Maybe I missed some obvious clues, but it felt a bit odd.

I loved the extra aspect of meeting squadmates on the citadel. I also apriciated Aria being moved out of Omega, and the rare oppurunity to have Blue Suns support you.

And then we get onto the ending.

Anderson. As you can well guess, I also cried for Anderson. (FULL of tears that weekend it seams!) It was beautiful. TIMs last words about Earth, and then Anderson and Shep looking out onto the world they're trying to save. Like watching their last sunset. His speech was the crying trigger.

Then, the child/catalyst. ( "Indoctrination Theory" makes me feel slightly better about this, but I feel like I'm only believing it to make myself feel better. ) I suppose it does not help that I don't like children. When Shep rose up on the platform, I was still crying due to Anderson. Alarm bells rang through my mind thinking "OOOH OH GOODNESS, LAST SECTION, WWSD? (What will Shep do?)". The decision was mildly agonising, but mainly agonising because I didn't agree with the catalyst.

Visually, Mass Effect 3 had beautiful skylines.
Gameplay was good, and had a good feel. Its nice being able to move from cover to cover quite easily, and having the option to cover and pull over enemies is very useful in Multiplayer.
Multiplayer is surprisingly good considering I am not usually fond of Multiplayer FPS, (Playing Mass Effect for the RPG element.) it may well have converted me.

Overall, I would give the game 93/100.

[FataliTensei]

Rickin10 wrote...

 Oh Mass Effect, what have you done to me?  God knows how many hours I sunk into your universe.  How I fretted, procrastinated, second-guessed my actions ,decisions over the course of 3 games and hundeds of hours.  And for what?

Good:

- Combat.  Generally the best in the series.  Enemies are now much more agressive and make you more nervous, leading you to make more decisions on the fly.  It also fits  with the more visceral, war-like and frantic  feeling in the concluding part of the trilogy.

- Inventory.  Much better than ME2, with a lot of weapon choice and more amour pieces and colours.

- Characters.  This is the high note of the game.  The banter, whether on-board the Normandy or elsewhere is very well written.  These characters that you've come to love, are full of the beauty, flaws and fun you'd expect.  EDI is a particular highlight, and example of the genius that Bioware writers can produce.  As a result, there's an almost unbareable sense of foreboding, and loss throughout that few games can achieve.

Bad:  

- Unfinished.  It's strikingly apparent how rushed the game was.  Lip-syncing and animation can vary from accetable to atrocious.  Low-res backgrounds and 'ant-people' abound.  Many of the people on the Citadel are literal waxworks.  They don't move or even breathe. The others barely change pose.  In combat, team-mates will regularly become completely unresponsive, and the game won't allow you to create a waypoint for them to go to.

-Auto-dialogue.  A huge part of what made ME ME was choice, not just the 'big' choices like whethe to ...ahem, save the rachni Queen, but also how your Shepard acted.  In ME3 shepard is basically canon.  Most conversations play out as cut-scenes, with maybe one dialogue wheel.  And on that wheel the options have been stripped to just 2 the vast majority of the times.  I also found there was barely any difference in these 2 options.  A lot of the talk on the Normandy is now 'Zaeed dialogue'. 

-Small universe.  Whereas the previous 2 games had a genuinely galaxy-wide feel to them, ME3 feels small and linear.  There a no hub worlds now (unless you count the Citadel, which is still a little small), just 'levels' where you go, kill stuff and leave.  There's no exploration like in ME1, and no Omega, Illium, Tuchanka like in ME2 to walk around, and no vehicles.

-Token side-missions.  Outside of the main missions there are N7 mission that are basically multiplayer maps with wave combat, or eavesdropping fetch quests that are a patronizing, pathetic way of making the game seem longer than it is.

-ME2 squadmates.  All those characters you helped, got to know, love...yeah, they're gone.  They turn up for cameos, and th eodd side-quest, but that's it.  No explanation how or why they left you, even if you romanced them.

- Consequences of choice.  The biggie. The single biggest failing of ME3 is the that all the promise and promises Bioware gave people all turned out to be a grand deceit.  So many apparently huge decisions you made have precious little consequence unless you count a sum of 50 war assets as such.  Did you blow up the Council? Doesn't matter.  Save the Rachni Queen? Doesn't matter.  Save the Collector Base? It doesn..you get the idea.  In fact the whole 'war assets' thing is totally pointless as you see in ....

- The End.  So, after 3 games, 100s of hours of blood sweat and tears....you get, what exactly?  An introduction to a character not previous known until 5 minutes from the end, who essentially destroys lore, contradicts the themes and actions of Shepard over the course of the series, and boils everything you've done into an irrelevance.  And, the worst part - in a game that was supposedly built on giving the player choice, and futhermore leading them to believe those choices had meaning -  ME3 railroads Shepard into an A, B, C choice, that he can barely question, let-alone reject. 

The player is then compelled to watch a cutscene that barely changes depending on which of the 3 colours he chose, which is not just depressing and confusing, but makes no sense whatsoever.  Not only does it destroy everything you've done up to that point but, rahter than answering questions, as Bioware promised, it instead opens up gaping plot-holes and gives no closure to anything.

Conclusion:

If this were any other average game, even a good one-off game, you'd shake your head and laugh it off.  But this was the culmination to a truly great series.  So much promise, so many promises broken and betrayed.  It's only on repeated playthroughs you truly see how Bioware copped out.  Whether they didn't have the time, will, or talent to properly implement what they promised in regard to 'choices having consequence', only they will know.  But rather than try to finish off their trilogy in the same innovative way they started, It's clear they didn't even try.  Just tried to pull the wool over our eyes.

Judged as on-off game ME3 is a a fun, emotional, and at times spectacular ride.  But judged in the context of what came before, what was promised, it's a shallow, sad and painful disappointment.  

7/10

Good Review

[xvsero]

 My scoring on the game would be 95/100.

I was never into the idea of playing Mass Effect at all until a few months ago where I kept hearing how good this series was.
I started off the series on Mass Effect 2 about a year ago and was instantly hooked. After about two months of looking for Mass Effect I had finally found it and played only that completely disregarding Skyrim (which I did not finish until after Mass Effect). 

Now on to my thoughts on Mass Effect 3.

The gameplay started out fantastic. Even though I had played the demo and read the Game Informer article prior to the release I felt the same feelings and emotions. I played with the default looking Shepard with imported gameplay so I did not face any import faces problems. As I played even more I noticed that there were things from previous games being talked about. Certain things like the genophage were finally resolved as well as the quarians fight for their homeworld against the geth. The side missions were fantastic. I enjoyed running into familiar faces from previous mass effects especially Jack who I had romanced in my first playthrough(though this imported romance was with Miranda.) The dialog was great and I had all the choices available to me from the start (probably because I had leveled up dialog early on). Talking to my crew didnt feel the same as the previous two Mass Effects and it made me a little bit sad that I could talk to Cortez more than others. 

The deaths of my crewmates through the story made me sad (Mordin, Thane, and Legion) so much so that I did not hesitate in killing Kai Leng. It gave me the closure that I needed to move on with the fight. I felt satisfied with killing Udina as well as making that reporter lady look even more stupid than I previously had. 

The fetching side quest did not interest me that much but I sat down near the end of my runthrough and scanned all locations in an hour and gained all the suport that I needed. 

The DLC was good minus the fact that there were so many turrets. Also who doesnt love a gun that has basically unlimited ammo. 

Now on to the ending. I simply loved the ending. The relief that I did not spend all my time trying to get the necessary resources for the Crucible for it to not work. The fact that the Crucible did in fact work. The frustration of having to fight through hundreds of enemies while I did not know what was going on with the rest of the army. The closure that I recieved from talking to all my previous squadmates right before the final push. The fact that I did not die from Harbingers laser and was able to reach all the way to my destination as well as coming face to face with The Illusive Man (although indoctrinated). And finally ending the fight with one gigantic decision nicely put in to a simple decision of red, blue, and green. This and everything previously talked about being wrapped up in a simple ending made it worth the 150+ hours spent on this series. 

A side note for those who complained about the ending. The plotholes that many people talk about are not really plotholes. The fact that Joker and the rest of my squad leaving made me feel great that they were able to live and my death was not in vein. My controlling the reapers felt that even though the Illusive Man was an extremist I shared his ideas and came out with an even bigger force than I started with. The fact that the Crucible was not just a name out of the blue. FUN FACT a crucile is used to melt things at high temperatures in a tiny lit pot of some sort. Meaning it could have possibly contained the explosion of the Mass Relays without damaging anything else. While the ending were close to the same I really do not care. There were three different endings (one more than I thought there was). I had my closure before the final fight so I will not worry about anything after. The introduction of the Stargazer excited me because it left the door open for more story to take place.

[Segameister]

It'been 3 weeks-ish since my first review, where I scored this game at a 6/10. I'd like to change my review and add some more pros / cons.

Pros:
- James character was definitely well rounded out.
- I loved the character 'chit chat' over the intercoms and on the 3rd level of the Normandy. Well done, this sounds just like a suggestion I made in ME2 feedback a year or so ago - where's my credit?
- Still enjoying multiplayer.
- Music sounds even better the second time around, thanks!

Cons:
- Add on DLC: really, really thin playwise, character doesn't bring enough depth to the game.  Kinda like Kasumi, only her character was better.
- Miranda: really, that's it if she's a love interest?  That's disappointing. 
- While interesting in the first playthough, the tons of fetch quests doesn't excite much in the second playthrough, very boring.
- ENDING: still downright soul crushing, it's just so bad!  Where did this mystery 'spirit' come from?  And out of the blue at the end of the SERIES?  Why destroy the universe that had such great potential?  When are we going to see something worthwhile for an ending?

Modifié par Segameister, 04 avril 2012 - 08:01 .

[o iRusH]

i liked the whole me3 game 80/100 but i wasnt too crazy about the ending

Good: I liked how all of your old teamates came together and had an impact on the story, the combat was good and story was just great

Bad: I didnt like the ending choices its should have been more favorable to people to who played Mass effect from 1 to 3 and their chocies. Harbringer was nowhere to found. When shepard was running to the portal to take him up to the citidal harbringer should have said something like" Shepard I know this hurts you"

[Kyda]

This is going to be long…
First I want to start by saying that overall I had a really good time playing the game. I just downloaded mine to play multiplayer with my husband but I played the SP campaign with his game.

The good things:

1. The way the story develops. I liked the pace, how you are in Earth one moment and how events take you from one place to the other with that feeling of urgency. The N7 missions make sense to be taken in between and it was a great way to find some of your ME2 teammates. I can´t remember every side mission but for what I remember most of them were related to the Reapers invasion or Cerberus which made them relevant if not important. You gained something by doing that (War Assets) so they didn’t feel like an errand.
2. The dialogs that Shepard has with all her companions and people from the Normandy. You mostly have great conversations every time you finish a priority mission. Liara (even though I didn´t romance her) was one of the characters with the best dialog and so was Garrus. They felt real, like those friends that you go to talk to when you have trouble. That brings me to the next
3. Shepard felt a lot more human. Weary, tired and worried. Like finally everything she did from the past 2 games caught up with her. I could feel the last of her strength being pulled for the last stand against the Reapers.
4. The interactions between the Normandy crew (and occasional visitor) were really fun to witness. It made them more alive, as if not everything was about Shepard and she was not the center of their worlds. For instance the fact that Garrus and Tali hook up together actually made me happy because they deserved happiness after all.
5. The romance with Kaidan was great. My Shepard stayed loyal and the way things developed seemed proper (although he was a bit stubborn… haha). I can´t say if the next time (if there is a next time, I´ll get more into this in the bad things section) it will feel the same but for my paragon Shep the dialog felt right and in the end it was great to be able to share those final moments with Kaidan.
6. Combat felt fluid. For me it is not a huge thing because I consider other things first to see if a game appeals to me or not. For instance ME1 combat was fine with me. What it is a huge plus is the enemies AI? I liked that they actually try to get you instead of just popping up from cover and that´s that.
7. Interrupts: yeah! Those are awesome. I like to be able to be more personal about certain things it makes the conversations more real.
8. Planet scanning was much more fun that in ME2. I actually loved it this time. The fact that Reapers could chase you made it more interesting.
So mostly I enjoyed a lot the story and the interactions that we got. The game definitely felt emotional, you could relate to the situations and the people and buy the whole package.

Bad things:

1. The ending. I am putting it in order of priorities. The ending was just awful. I didn´t really liked what you did after Shep being risen to wherever the Catalyst was. For me after that there was a series of: what?! What?!! WHAAAT?!! I literally stared for all the credits to pass to see if there was a: “We were kidding you!! This is what truly happened”. That said, if that´s what you intended all along your biggest mistake (in my opinion) is that you can´t expect people to wrap their minds to an end if you don’t tell them what happened to your friends and the world (or galaxy) you left. You could, if you wanted, be opened about the galaxy, fine… but your companions? The people that was with Shepard all along?
So fine, Shep is dead (or not) but for me just seeing the people on the Normandy crashing in a unknown planet with your LI just smiling as he leaves the ship (forgetting that his supposed loved one just died to save them all) was like a slap in my face… so yeah, thanks for all the good times, your dead now moving on… Also plot holes are fine for a middle game where you can explain them later, but DLC is not mandatory. If I don´t want to buy that for me the ending will be forever lacking explanations as to why the Normandy was flying away in a mass rele. They were supposed to be fighting on earth, like everybody else. And the fact that the people you took with you walk out of it totally unharmed when you were torn to pieces by the bean of Harbinger is another thing. Also the fact that TIM had some sort of mental powers that made Shepard shoot Anderson doesn´t make any sense unless (and this again is speculation and not something we learn, which I think should not happen in the end of the story) Shepard had a implant from Cerberus that make him obey TIM in the end but it could not be reaper tech because TIM only gets that after Shep is back from the suicide mission.
2. The fact that your choices from the other 2 games don´t count except for a sentence or 2 of extra dialog. I could have gone through the whole game and not care as long as something was mentioned, but when the end of the story doesn´t acknowledges the difference it makes me sad.
3. The final mission was better in ME2. The ability to choose your squad members to do different things (with different outcomes) and to make groups and have them work together to get the main goal was incredible. I sort of missed that. For me it was a step backwards. So many things could have been done with the last earth mission and still get the end with only Anderson and Shepard. For me that was a pity.
4. There is quite a lot of auto dialog. It didn´t bother me that much but I found myself sometimes not wanting to say what Shepard said and that was a little frustrating. That being said Jennifer Hale is a hell of a VA and I enjoyed listening to her (at leas she wasn´t hitting on Jacob this time.. haha)
5. The way ME2 characters where treated was sad. I didn´t care much for the romances in ME2 but for those who did it was awful to see how femaleshep was really cheated (pun intended) with the continuations of 2 of them while maleshep was all dandy. This sort of reminded the last night of DAO when if you decided you wanted to save Alistair and yourself to continue the romance after you actually had to watch o.O him with Morrigan (do you really think that´s a scene I want to see?!)
6. The game seemed a little to streamline. It did feel sometimes that you were going through a corridor. It would be better if it was a little more open, if there were 2 ways of getting something done.
7. For leveling up. I prefer ME1 system. It gave you a lot more of different powers to customize your Shepard the way you prefer. In this game pretty much you fill all the powers and then you chose one of your teammates powers (for me it doesn´t make much sense for a soldier to suddenly have a biotic power)

That´s pretty much it, I can´t remember anything else at the moment. Overall ME3 was a great experience. It was going to be perfect, the perfect ending for a great trilogy. And then the end kicks in and ruined the rest of the game for me. I will need to think about it quite a lot before starting a new SP campaign because the fact that all your choices from the last 2 games are in vain and that you don´t even get closure for the characters you love (like Garrus, Liara, Kaidan, Joker, Dr. Chakwas, etc) makes it worthless. I play these games for a fun time, yes… but the attachment to the great characters is real when you have been through all this games. Maybe that´s why other games with a lousy end don´t matter that much, it´s because you never really care as much for the characters as you do after 3 games getting to know them.
Sorry about the long post!