1966 réponses à ce sujet

[DalishRanger]

Hm. Will try to be brief, as it's late and I don't want to forget to give feedback. I played on the Xbox:

What I liked
- Combat: Despite it not being the focus of the series for me, I liked the mods, leveling up system, and pretty much everything with combat. Combined the best of ME1 and ME2.
- Characters: I loved the intereactions with my crew and squad. My Shepard has always considered his crew family since he doesn't have any, and ME3 *really* made that feel like the case, for both LIs and friends. I especially enjoyed that I could buddy up with and help Cortez move on, even if I wasn't interested in him romantically. Both old faces and new ones were overall very enjoyable.
- The overall plot: The unification was great, loved the basic concept - even actually kind of enjoyed scanning and exploring this time around.

What I disliked
- The interface: Didn't like the style of the new menu. Aside from feeling asthetically off compared to the last two, it was harder to read flashing for new entries. Not good.
- Journal: Oh god, the journal. Until the end, this was perhaps the *only* thing I hated. I don't mind the codex being on the same section. That's fine. But with the sheer number of quests you can stumble upon, the journal was extremely klunky. One tab for EVERYTHING? At least put the completed missions in another tab so I don't have to sort though a GIANT wall of text by the end of the game. Also, considering we could pick up quests from overhearing NPCs without US (the player) being able to hear it... The journal entries are very vague and confusing out of context. If we didn't hear the original conversation - which is likely - many journal entries don't leave enough to go on. I had to start writing down notes/checklists to keep track.

What I hated
- The ending. Yup, add me to the list. Really, I am fine with tragic or bittersweet endings. I'm fine with philisophical endings. I'm even one of the few people on here who seemed to like DA2 for what it was, ending included. Most of the game was amazing until the last five minutes. It just felt tacked on, out of place, and left more questions than closure. And if going for the philosophical approach, it was poorly executed here.

I could deal with Shepard sacrificing his/herself, if it was done well. But there was no closure for a vast majority of the characters we've come to know and love, too many vague areas, and barely anything on the "child" VI... thing. Was it part of the first evolved race? Why did it look like that boy? What is earth going to do with MILLIONS above it suddenly displaced from home?

This is honestly the first time I've ever been so completely disappointed by a Bioware ending, and I've been around since Baldur's Gate. Count me among those asking for a patch or DLC to modify/add more endings with more sensible outcomes.

[sirgippy]

7/10. I totally loved the game up until the last ten minutes. If there had been a satisfying simple ending of destroying the reapers, likely would have been 10/10.

[legionaireshen]

the game could be a 10/10 but sidequest and ending fails so I can only give it 9

so many sidequest are just planet scan, me1 and me2 are a lot better than this, i want to resolve sidequest by talking and shooting, not scaning

the ending fails for three reason

1. all those ems, galaxy at war stuff doesnt have a huge impact on the ending, instead of ranging from total defeat to total victory, all ending now is pyrrhic victory
2. normandy, just doesnt make any sense at all
3. no epiloge to tell me the consequence of my choice, there are so many choices made in the trilogy and should at least have a dragon age style epiloge

apart from that, everything is good, even mp

[Rossa14]

Score - 60/100

I don't really do reviews so i'll try to not have it too wordy and a text-wall..... But anyway:

I have been a big fan of the Mass Effect franchise since it's launch (don't let the profile fool you, i have a couple different EA profiles and played 1 & 2 across 360 and PC many times + Bought the DLC for both platforms). I have always loved the universe you guys created, the characters you populated it with, the idea that choices we make can change the story. You turned me, a big shooter fan, into someone who doesn't mind the occasional RPG; but with all that comes high expectations, as it would with many long time fans.

The ME3 story itself is wonderful, the meat of the game is brilliant; i loved (almost) every minute of it. I think the way you guys handled certain relationships like the LI and even that scene with Garrus on the roof....i loved all that. But it gets a bit difficult when we then get to the ending of a brilliant trilogy such as this. It needs to be handled exactly right or you can effectively make your fans feel like they were robbed; and it saddens me to say that i think the fans got an ending that was not up to par with what we all expected.

The endings currently in the game don't have that good feeling you should get after spending a few years investing yourself in the story and characters. I am not saying we should get a super happy moment with them skipping into the sunset, no, just that we should have closure and see that those who survived the attack continue to live happy lives...especially those who survived from your crew. Without that closure you feel somewhat annoyed and disappointed.

It is also worth mentioning that as developers you have always given us the idea that the choices we make have an impact; and i think that is where a major fault lies with these ending. To us, the fans, it felt like those choices we made didn't matter at all; so we almost get the feeling of "why exactly did we invest our time in those choices?". It has driven people to go so far as saying they wont replay any games from the trilogy, because what's the point if the destination is all the same in the end? There is nothing we can change by going back and making that critical choice, it's all just the same.

I love Mass Effect and i always will; but please Bioware, don't leave the Shepard Trilogy like that. We either need something after the current endings to show what happened to the universe or we need an alternate ending which can provide the fans with what we want; an ending that leaves no doubts about what happened to him/her, their crew and the universe that fought hard against the Reaper invasion. After years of investment, we need at least that much.

On a side note:
Also wanted to add that i do have faith in you guys, i really do. The game - for the most part - is absolutely brilliant and i know you said a while ago that keeping our saves would be smart; so i know you are planning something good. I wont lose hope, but please don't let us down BW!

Modifié par Rossa14, 09 mars 2012 - 06:10 .

[thedistortedchild]

All in all this is an excellent game, up until the last half hour. I would suggest playing it, but I wouldn’t suggest finishing it. 80/100
to read my entire review go to my blog.

Modifié par thedistortedchild, 09 mars 2012 - 05:26 .

[Shssay-san]

I thought ME3 was wonderful.  I had a lot of fun playing it, and it was obvious that the development team went to great lengths to provide their fans with an epic, emotional expierence.  There are people, places, and themes I would have liked to see more of, but this is just a petty point considering all of the content that was put into the game already.  

I really appreciated how the team  listened to what their fan community wanted and tried to put it into the game.  There was more than one occasion where I saw something that had been specifically asked for on these forums (like the relationship between Joker and EDI).  I'm especially glad that they listened to the rest of the Kaidan fangirls.  All the interactions I had with him in ME3 completely made up for his absence in ME2!^^

The interactions with all of the characters were very well done.  You really got a sense that they not only cared about Shep, but each other as well.  It was great to walk into different parts of the ship and see the characters interacting with each other.  It added a whole new layer of realism to everyone.

The environments were amazingly well-done.  I loved the towering Reapers that were tearing across many of the maps raising hell while I was fighting through.  In addition the team really made environments more varied and interesting to navigate.  They were definitely successful in getting away from the miles of hallways Shep was navigating in the previous games.

Like most fans whose comments I've been reading on the forums, the only major complaint I had with the game is the ending.  I'm betting that after six pages of hearing people complain about this you probably want to feed me to a Reaper but I wanted to put my two cents into the debate.

The biggest issue I had with the ending was the ambiguity of it all.  I knew going into ME3 that this was the end of Shepard's story.  We aren't going to hear much (if anything) about this character again.  With that in mind,I was expecting an ending that provided me with answers to most of the questions I could ask about Shep's fate and the fate of her crew.  But this ending left me with far more questions than answers...questions that are probably never going to be answered since ME3 was the end of Shep's story.  What happened to everybody?  Are they dead?  Will Shepard ever be reunited with Kaidan and the rest of her friends, or does she bleed to death underneath that rubble?

I have a list of questions as long as my arm, and if there were going to be a ME4 or DLC that provided me with answers I would feel a lot better about the way things ended.  But it's been made clear that there will be no ME4 featuring Shepard, and I have no idea what kind of DLC is in the works, so I'm just left hanging.  I think that's why so many fans found the ending so jarring.  I realize that the questions about the bigger issues would be answered in a ME4 whether it featured Shep or not.  That's probably why the ending was left so ambiguous.  But the questions about the smaller issues and the characters centered around Shepard probably won't be answered.  Unless we get the DLC that so many people are clamoring for on the forums.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed and waiting anxiously to see if we get it, as well.

That being said, 99% of this game was fantastic and so much fun.  It's definitely a testament to why I think Bioware is one of the best game developers in the market right now.  Thanks for all your hard work.  It was an honor serving with Shepard's crew.

Modifié par Shssay-san, 11 mars 2012 - 05:05 .

[WheelsWithinWheels]

My score: 0/100

What I want to say has been said many a time over, so I'll keep it short. The ending was... attrocious. I say "ending," because to my mind, there's pretty much only one - a vague, nonsensical pile of mush that pretty much evacuates itself all over the rest of the game, leaving the whole thing a dripping, noxious mess. The "Catalyst" character feels like a lame Deus ex Machina (literally,) who steps in at the last moment to force you into a set of crappy choices based on a flawed premise.

But the problem isn't that the ending is depressing, it's that it violates the whole tone of the Mass Effect storyline. From the beginning, Mass Effect felt like a tribute to classic space operas - a sleek, glitzy future of technological marvels and somewhat stereotyped aliens. Shepherd was the hero, zooming around in his cool ship and performing feats of derring-do. And that's what I liked. I enjoyed the idea that not only could one kick-ass soldier make a difference, but they could win and win big. Sure, Shep might take a hit or two along the way, but ultimately they would come out on top.

The ending honestly felt like a bunch of guys who worked on the Modern Warfare games came in at the last minute and wrote a "Grim 'n Gritty" ending for the series. But honestly, it just doesn't work. I want a happy ending, unrealistic or no. I get enough depressing existentialism in real-life. I don't need it in my video games, too.

[ClockworkSpectre]

So where should I start....

Like so many of the others that have posted here, for the most part I was enjoying the game till near the game.  That being said, there were still problems even before that.  But, I suppose I will start with what I did like.

>the banter between characters, this was really well done and entertaining.
>weapon customization and character customization, though the later still didn't live up to ME1.
>The combat system was great, though to much depended on using the same button (space bar for me), it took awhile to get used to but the combat was still fun.
>Walking in on Garrus and Tali.... oh god that part was great.

Now for the what I didn't like, what I was disapointed with etc.

>the "exploration" was the worst of the three games.  Seriously, wtf where they thinking, at least in ME2 you could scan planets and find places go land and do something, not just fire a probe and get something without any more effort.  As annoying as the handling on the mako was in ME, I really enjoyed being able to find a planet and go down and check it out, even ME2 had that, even if it wasn't as free feeling, at least you could land.  I had high hopes ME3 would have a fun exploration aspect to it, but rather it failed misserably.
> The game was to damn short.  Just before it was clear to me that the game was nearing an end (the dialog with hacket before the cerberus station) I was thinking to myself that this will be a long game.  Then I realized it was nearing the end I felt like WTF.
>The mission journal was just plain crap.
>The number of steps, the interaction between shep and his/her love interest, whether new or carried over, was far to abrubt and should have had more steps, or something.  I carried over Liara from ME and ME2 as the love interest and half the time in ME3, if I went to her room or talked on the citadel, it was like she couldn't care less if shepard was there.  I haven't had a chance to carry over another LI over from another play through yet, but I doubt the others would go much better.
>The reapers took multiple centries to conquer the protheans, but this time around it seems to be taking less than a year?.... Really.... this just seems far to rushed.
>There where far to few paragon/renegade actions.
>There was far to much auto-dialog, not enough chances to "play it your way".
>In many cases, decisions made in ME and ME2, ended up meaning nothing.  Also, some story aspects just seem to have been dropped or ignored, like the research data that tali collected in ME2, and the implactions from ME2 that many 'others' where researching similar things.
> For a series of games that highlights being able to make your own choices and have many different outcomes, ME3 fell far short.
>And then there is the big one..... the endings.......... there is almost no words for the disapointment I experienced.  Seriously it was like they slapped some junk together because they didn't have an ending thought out, or where running out of time.  No epilouge or anything, no way to keep your shepard with its LI, not even a way to imply it.   And really, why the hell is the normandy out of system when the energy wave or whatever goes out.  So much of it just doesn't make sense, like a grade school kid wrote the story and no one bothered to examine it before release.  I can understand an ending where shepard dies, but really, all the possible ends he/she dies(I know that there is the one end where shep is under some ruble, but seriously would he/she actually still survive?)?

Really this game seemed to have thrown out many of the aspects that made the previous games so great, much of the game seems hastelly put together, and honestly I feel cheated, and very disapointed.  As it stands, I don't think I could even justify buying another Bioware game again after this, maybe I would change my mind if they provide a DLC that fixes so many of the glaring issues, AND FOR FREE.  I really get the feeling that Bioware was fully aware of what a disapointment they were getting ready to release and thats why preordering was pushed so hard.  It should have just been delayed another 6 months or whatever, the disapointment from that would have been far less than what I feel now after having played the game.

In the end, I could not justify recomending this game to some one who did not buy it yet, even if they had played ME and ME2.  I would just tell they forget ME3, it will ruin the first two games for you.  So if I was asked to give Bioware a one line response to the game, it would be "Get your s*** together and show your player base you actually care.".

[McBeath]

Will add my thoughts to the list.

Overall Gameplay- 9/10
Art- 8/10
Characters- 9/10
Story(in regards to trilogy)- 6/10
Resolution of choices and ending- 2/10

The Great
Gameplay for sure, it's very much improved over the other 2 games. I felt that the character balance was good, weapon selection was fun and the combat was much more fluid than before. The art was good too considering the age of the engine, it was much cleaner and less prone to poor resolution(360).

The Alright
The story was ok, it was good at points though it was a little too detached from the whole Earth thing. I felt like I always wanted more on how Anderson was doing at home, or more specifics of how he was fighting. For being in the "top 3" of the command chain I felt in the dark alot of the time. The Crucible was OK, but kinda feel apart in the end when we learn about it's history.

The Bad.. and I mean BAD.
Pretty much the story just falls apart here when it comes to the endings. The whole reason for the Reapers killing us to save us is just confusing when you consider that the person(s) who created the Reapers also had the Crucible... which can just turn us into synthetics to save us?!!?!? So why not just do that millions of years ago and not commit mass genocide?

In all fairness it really seemed like the writers were going for something dark and different from the norm... though this is very hard to hit on the head. I think they overshot the mark and just ended up alienating the players in the end. The geth for example... why let me work so hard to let them and the Quarions co-exist only for force me into killing them a few hours later? It was a complete waste of resources on your part, and time on mine.

All and all I did enjoy parts, but the enjoyment I had was greatly lessened by the endings. A good ending, while perhaps not "realistic" or in keeping with the artistic views of the writers, would have been much more satisfying. Frankly the world is a dark place already, the main reason for entertainment is to step away from that into a better place where heroism can carry the day and the "guy always gets the girl'. Different and original? No, but there is a reason that those themes are so well recieved.

In closing I think at least an explanation from the writers or project lead would be nice. Perhaps I didn't catch what you were going for and there is no shame in that, but at least explain why you did it.

Cheers. McBeath.

[tkdnova]

 5/10 
i loved the the way everything seemed to connect from the enitre trilogy was amazing 

untill the last 15 min

the last 15 min completly destroyed the game for me threw everything i did in the trash all my choices throught all the games ment nothing and the ending just left more questions to be answered (and they probaly wont be answered) 
like now that the relays have been obliterated how do all the other species get back to their homeworlds how do we keep in contact with them what happens to the galaxy after the game nothing is explained. why is the normandy running away when they had nothing to be concerned about. the ending was completly random made no sense and ruined the game for me in many ways 

5/10 after the ending 
10/10 before the ending 

[Parker Stephenson]

I had really high hopes and I had a ton of hype for mass effect 3, I couldn't wait to kick some reaper *** but I feel like I got cheated this game, unlike the gears of war series where I had closure and felt good about the campaign and how it was laid out, ME3 failed to give me that. I'm actually really sad about that I really put a lot of time and effort into my Shepard characters male and female, the romance portion of this game was a 10/10 I loved it really had an emotional side to it rather than hey we might die so let's get it on. The gameplay itself was amazing 10/10 on action combat, mods, armor, and weapons. Multiplayer I wish they'd left out because that would've given them a lot more time to focus strictly on campaign which is what mass effect is all about, I'd give that part a 1/10. The story was truly amazing up to storming the citadel beam, I didn't like to see my Shepard being able to dodge reaper beams on rannoch but not able to running down a street in London... But the endings were all just absolutely horrible 0/10 is what they deserve and not enough explanation as to why the mass relays must e destroyed? Why was the Normandy already in the mass relay system when the choice was made? Synthesis, control, and destroy?? Those shouldn't have been your options... As for Shepard dying... This I just can't stand for, mass effect always had a way for your character to survive, no matter my choices (in my gameplay) she/he died regardless, I'll call shinnanigans on that... In ME1 you survive a reaper part crashing into the citadel, in ME2 you survive a suicide mission, so I'll be damned if you can't survive in this game, as for war assets and galactic readiness BioWare made this way to complicated to comprehend, I was honestly really upset for this turn out because as everyone says all your choices as a veteran of the mass effect series is all for nothing... No matter if your paragon/renegade or even mixed, this really effected me on this series... ME1 and ME2 is what bioware needs to go back and take a look at how the end of those games left the gamer feeling, because I had the feeling of OMG I have to play this again, as for ME3 I don't even want to waste my time because no matter what I do the outcomes will always remain the same, and not to be per dramatic or anything but I was so mad and angry at the endings I was about to cry because bioware really managed to put my all time favorite game series into the dirt on this one, I felt my Shepard was actually part of me throughout the series and personally I took the ending as if bioware gave me the middle finger and said "thanks for the money a**hole" and slapped quickly drawn up endings onto a game that deserves a lot more thought and depth, even in the game your LI even talks about having future children, well guess that won't happen since they seemed to care solely on the death of Shepard, and as I said earlier this won't do... So I ask BioWare please fix this, otherwise this game will go down as one of the largest upsets in gaming history because everyone loved ME1 & 2 and you got us with that hook off of the get go, so don't leave us out to dry with these endings please and thank you

[recentio]

I'd have a hard time giving the game an overall score because my reactions to different parts differ wildly. For the record, I have ME3 for PS3.

Graphics: Good -- I've seen much better on the PS3, though. Some animations are a bit awkward, but considering the scale and sheer number of animated dialogues, this can slide.

VA: Great and sometimes incredible, with a few glaring exceptions including the epilogue -- the final bitter taste left before the "BUY DLC!!!" message box pops up. <_< The vast majority of the acting was great, though.

Sound/Music: Good. I will definitiely buy some of the songs on the soundtrack, if not the whole thing. However, the melancholy piano theme that plays over the stupid kid scenes is ruined by everything that kid stands for -- forced sentimental hogwash.

Writing: Either flipping amazing, good, or horrifyingly bad depending on the scene. Very uneven writing quality. The majority was very good and the progression of conversations and NPC actions on the Normandy were outstanding, IMO. But the stuff with that kid, the Normandy crash, the final "choice"...  That ultimate hopelessness really eviscerates the value of the great moments that come earlier in the game.

Gameplay: Fun! :happy: Getting in and out of cover is a bit touchy, but ME3 combat and level design are easily the best of the series. Party banter and mission dialogue really add to the narrative as you play through the levels.

RPG Elements: I loved the system for customizing my weapons and character development. Not too much or too little intricacy for my personal tastes. <3 Some autodialogues went on for quite a number of lines, but I generally really enjoyed talking to other characters throughout the game.

Would I recommend ME3? Probaly not in it's current form. I'd warn my friend that it's fun until the endings, which are nearly identical and all bad for your crew. Anyone who feels any attachment to Shepard's crew is unlikely to enjoy their unavoidable doom or eternal separation from him. And, let's face it, Shepard's final choice was not built up to philosophically throughout the trilogy or even in ME3. The final organic-vs-synthetic issues are not concepts explored or even hinted at earlier. (Also, I disagree with the tenant that only organic life has "choice." Physics is physics, be it in a brain or a CPU. And, I disagree with the knee-jerk assumption that cybernetic intelligence is destined to anahilate biological intelligence.) I think it's impossible for that moment to be a profound or even sensible climax without proper setup (see: Deus Ex). If my friend were still interested, I'd tip them off that there will probably be a lot of used copies very soon.

Do I regret buying ME3? No. I knew I would get a mixed bag when I purchased it, thanks to spoilers. Most of the game is a lot of fun and very well done. It's just there's a very big "but..." that comes after that.

Conclusion: I think I could block out all the junk with that kid and the outlandish final scenario if it were just possible for Shepard to stay with his crew or for his final squadmates to share his fate -- to live or die by his side at the end. That would be just enough of a change to settle me. Building relationships (romantic or otherwise) that are all doomed to be severed feels hollow and depressing...

Modifié par recentio, 09 mars 2012 - 06:35 .

[Hambrick]

To be perfectly honest I would rank this as one of the greatest games I've ever played. I'm a devout BioWare fan, and I physically own everything you've put out (Save for that Sonic Game).

The emotional attachment to characters should set the bar. How everything tied in was absolutely PERFECT!

Until the ending...
Throw me in the crowd, but it's true. The game was almost flawless. But in the end, it destroyed it. I don't care about happy endings, I care merely about closure. More like the epilogues from Dragon Age if that was a last resort. But in those last 15 minutes, I've lost a lot of hope in this company.

[Glondor]

My score: 95/100
Loved:

• The character arcs and vignettes. Shooting bottles with Garrus, the overwhelmingly sweet moments of friendship with Liara, helping EDI realise her own humanity. Playing through ME3 was like a non-stop reunion with dear friends. One of my favourite things about the series is seeing how the characters have changed and made it really sad that this was my last adventure with them.
  
  
•  Especially loved the romance with Tali; the way it worked into every bit of dialogue. I really felt the relationship between her and Shepard rather than it seeming like I had unlocked a few extra lines and a cutscene. It was so perfect, I don't really want to play through any other variations.
  
  
• Crew members interacting with each other, moving around the ship, Citadel, etc. Sooo much better than ME2 and it made the Normandy and crew that much more real.
  
  
•  (The in-jokes about previous games: "I am Garrus Vakarian and this is my favourite place on the Citadel!", "issues with an imperfect creator who might be perceived as a warped father figure")
  
  
• The combat was fantastic, the extra mobility is so worth it and made the spaces that much more interesting than duck into cover, shoot, advance, repeat.
  
  
• Loved upgrading the weapons and mod system without having to deal with inventory overload; a nice blend of both ME1 and 2's mechanics.
  
  
• The (musical) score was incredible as were the cinematics.

Hated:

• The ending. Since Virmire, the goal of ME to me was to defeat the Reapers. I didn't need multiple bitter, barely-different variations on how to do it, just because some AI is worried that synthetics will destroy organics. I didn't buy it and from the dialogue it seems that Shepard didn't really buy it (heck I just solved one synthetic-organic conflict in which the organics, not the synthetics, were the aggressors and one of my most loyal crew members is an AI). At best, the ending felt unneccesary and vague; at worst, it introduces a whole bunch of unresolved questions and plot holes (so Sovereign had to activate the Citadel, even though that's where the Reaper control program resides and apparently can move the Citadel anyway? What was Saren needed for then?)
  
  
• Also my choices throughout all 3 games didn't seem to make a difference to the ending. They just got bundled up into 1 number that determined which of combination of sub-endings I got. I don't feel there's any point in playing through my renegade shepard from 1 & 2 since the end will be the same.
  
  
• The journal didn't update. Too often I would have completed an objective for a side mission but the journal text would say I need to go out and find the item in question

Modifié par Glondor, 09 mars 2012 - 06:46 .

[Da Don Giovanni]

I'll make this quick.

Mass Effect score = 85/100

I liked everything about ME3 except, the endings and the galactic readiness scale only going up by playing multiplayer.

Other than that, great game, would like to see more BioWare involvement with the community, particularly in regards to the universal backlash against the endings.

Some explanation/cannon would be appreciated.

[VonFaart]

What can I say... Seemingly endless boring dream sequences in slow motion. Like trying to run in molasses. Overlong expositional dialog & an utterly unsatisfactory ending. Every character (including Shepard) dies...

I feel completely ripped off.

[Iztiak]

Made a threat before I saw this. My review of the ending.

How could you do this? How could you possible do this? I loved this game.

I loved this series.

It was an amazing series, beyond any book I've read(And I read a lot), better story than any game i've played. I emphasized with Shepard, and felt so attached to every crew member...

But not only that, the series let me imagine that there was something else out there. Hope that there would be something out there like this, that we could get into space, and that we wouldn't be alone in this universe.

I don't believe that there is, really. If there is we'll never see it. I really liked thinking about it though.

Hell, I could imagine that humanity could progress to the point that we could get along with other species!...That our race wouldn't be infinitely limited to racism and war and making others miserable.

I mean ****, even if I'll never live to see anything amazing, this game helped me escape, I could imagine a world like the one I'll never see.

I loved the characters, the races, ESPECIALLY the mass relays and the Citadel. That despite incredible differences, thinking that humanity had the potential for something like this.

It was literally the best science fiction I've ever seen or read. I felt as attached to the characters as my own friends.

God, it's pathetic. But I felt more for this series than probably a good many other people did.

And the endings... Felt like an utter betrayal. All I wanted, I just would have liked one happy ending. Or ambiguous ending. I tried so hard. First playthrough I was at 6700 readiness and 100% from multiplayer. I just wanted one single thing to cheer me up from the horrible things I have going on right now.

And by god, it was the saddest thing I've ever seen. Shepard and Tali/Liara/Garrus/Ashley/Others never see each other again. Tali dies alone, Shepard never sees her again.

None of the other races will ever get the chance to cooperate and strive for something better. The relays are gone, and so is the incredible citadel.

And there's no hope for that to ever happen again. No new races in 50,000 years. No new citadel.

It was sadder than if the reapers had won. I've never felt so awful after playing or reading something I loved so much.

You showed us the fictional apex of the entire universe and then killed it, and salted the earth so it could never rise again.

I just would have liked one ending with Shepard with his friends. One single ending that I could imagine Shep going to Rio with Jacob, having another shooting contest with Garrus, helping Tali build her home on Rannoch.

You didn't have to show any of that... I just would have liked to been able to imagine it after I closed the game, and I drag myself through my boring 9-5 job.

Why did you guys do this? I am incredibly depressed.

TL;DR

The full game, minus the ending? 95/100

The ending... Literally made me feel nauseous.

My choices really didn't matter.  Why didn't you have different endings? Good ending, and a bad ending, and a bittersweet, and a depressing ending, and even "the reapers win" ending? Our choices should have mattered, and a happy ending shoudn't have been entirely impossible. These was supposed to be our choices... They should have made a difference.

Modifié par Iztiak, 09 mars 2012 - 07:31 .

[Qutayba]

I'm a very loyal Bioware fan and will remain so. Their writing and polish are consistently high. Minus the endings, I would say this is their best game in years. I have been raving about it to my friends (but preparing them for the endings). I gather that this thread was stickied in part because the devs want constructive criticism, so I'll just bullet point where I think they excelled and where things could have been (or could be) improved.

+ Dialogue and Characters: A+

Great writing as usual. I didn't find any of the characters annoying. On the contrary, I felt attached to them all, and was deeply invested in how their stories played out. I found the quests that finished the story arcs for the old companions very satisfying (some tragic, some not). The new squad member, James Vega, was kind of blah, but that may be because he has to compete with characters you already know well from past games. Bioware manages to get both pathos and humor into their dialogue. I laughed and cried out loud, and that's not just a figure of speech.

+ Level Design: A

There are some fantastic levels in this chapter. Some are just downright creative: walking in zero grav or entering the collective mind of the Geth. And the combat spaces are great. There are opportunities for both the player and the AI to flank or find higher ground and defensive positions.

+ Opponents and AI: A

Bioware's AI has gotten so much better over the years. Enemies use cover really well, as well as flanking and surrounding the player's squad. Some of the enemies are downright terrifying. As squishy as they are, a husk rush gives you a sinking feeling because you know you're going to have to abandon cover to deal with them. And the banshees that just slowly and inexorably waft toward you really gave me the creeps.

+ Combat and Story Pacing: B+

Generally, the pacing was just right. But there were a few moments where the pacing wasn't quite right. For example, about 2/3 through the main plot my journal was suddenly full of all these new side quests. Yes, they help you improve readiness, but they came at a time when the main plot seemed to be pushing you to wrap up side quests and move toward the endgame. The final combat gauntlet through London also felt really slow for some reason. It was challenging, certainly, but it felt like the momentum was slowing down right at the point where things need to be speeding up toward the conclusion.

+ Interface and UI: B

No bugs really, but some strange choices. Systems with major plot planets never showed a "percentage completed" stat, and it was often confusing whether it was that way because it was a plot system or because your forgot to scan it, so there was some wasted visits until I learned which was which. Likewise, the journal and "e-mail" was a big step back from ME2: It was all just one big disorganized list. You should be able to get rid of e-mails that are no longer relevant so you can find the ones with new plot info more easily. And why not have main plot and side quests on different tabs. The ME2 method worked just great. (These are some things that deserve to be addressed in a patch, I think).

+ The Endings: C

Yeah, I found the endings very troubling, too, like many, many fans. I think the problems are on three main levels. First, emotionally there needs to be some sense of hope or closure, even if there's a lot of tragedy. Given how bleak the overall story and tone was in the whole game, there needed to be some kind of catharsis. It doesn't really come. Yeah, Joker survives, but you have no real sense of whether you *really* saved the galaxy. You get more of a sense of dread that you've made things worse in all three endings.

Second, while I'm made to understand that certain calculations were working behind the scenes to determine how much the ending dialogue played out, the impact of your choices, if any, were opaque. It felt like the reins of the story were completely taken from the hands of the player, and you're left to wonder if your choices really made any difference at all. Come on, Bioware, you've done this fine in most of your other games. What made you abandon the whole notion of an RPG at the end?

And third, the endings just didn't fit with the overarching themes of the amazing story, and, in my opinion, this is the most disappointing dimensions of the ending. The Reapers are a Lovecraftian terror of an vast and malevolent cosmos. They are rigid, ruthless, and embody the prison of the past (they quite literally personify the traditions of the civilizations they destroy). Shepard represents humanity and life in all its passion and chaos. A paragon Shepard tends to find strength in diversity, a renegade Shepard tends to emphasize the will to struggle and survive. The story wonderfully flips the valences of order and chaos. Order is stale and inflexible logic, life is wonderful chaos. There are also themes of power, choice, responsibility, and, of course, sacrifice (and that theme as just done wonderfully in the ME3 story).

So, in the endings, your choices are domination (proving the Illusive Man right), destruction (not just of the Reapers, but a Luddite destruction of all technology), or homogenization (implying that diversity is the problem rather than the unusual strength of this cycle). In all three cases, the message seems to be that organics and synthetics cannot ever get along, period, no exceptions. Was this series really just about how we use technology? Or, like all great science fiction, was it trying to bring a new lens to human nature?

Maybe the writers felt painted into a corner, but it feels to me like they took a sudden sharp left turn at the end. It not only didn't fit, but it undermined much of what makes the story so great.

I don't think that's a reason not to play this great game, but the complaints about the ending aren't just coming from adolescent whining. Not sure what Bioware can do. I think artists should be able to stand behind their choices, and I'd support them. But I couldn't honestly call it an ending worthy of Bioware's writing standards.

Modifié par Qutayba, 09 mars 2012 - 07:01 .

[sgreco1970]

It looks like Mass Effect, Shepard looks like Shepard, I can hear joker's voice.... but it doesn't feel like Mass Effect.

The personality, the soul of ME seems to be missing here. Its palpable. I don't find myself absorbed in the story this time around, and the gameplay is very bland and generic. The PC controls are clunky, movement is frustrating, and enemies just seem so generic and consist of uninteresting waves like a 1982 video arcade game I just find myself bored.

I also seem to be lodged in an unforgiving, linear funnel. Good storytelling has never required such rigidity before, why am i to believe it suddenly does now?

In my opinion, this series has gone the way of DA2 and that means the real bioware is truly gone forever.

I weep for the loss, miss the old days, and sadly terminate my long standing relationship with bioware. No more preorders, no more deluxe editions, no more anything, frankly. The last of the epic storytellers is dead. R.I.P.

[shep214]

Mass Effect 3 being the end of a phemonal series had such high hopes and expectations.

the gameplay was fun for sure, there were tons of sidemissions but i didnt mind them as much as the new scanning reaper system (it was annoying as hell). Since this series had huge character development i was anticipating there to be excellent answers and final closures to the characters. Unforuntately there wasnt, you do some missions with them and chat but when that final battle comes, and i had imagined they would all be their fighting with you, instead you essential end the game with 2 characters and the rest completely forgotten. take note i chose to sacriface myself.
these characters either made a brief or no showing at the end
wrex
grunt
jack
jacob
zaeed
samara
and the rest of your squad that you did not pick for the mission

it seems these characters had such great developments and are completely sidelined, the player never knows what becomes of them.

The final mission was also kinda meh, the tachunka mission was by far more epic. As others have said it seems the game ended with more questions then more answers. Im curious if they were rushed at all to finish the game and kinda of settled for a half-assed ending.

other then those things the game had its funny parts, sad moments, and omni-blade stabbing action. overall Id give it a 90/100.

The game was building up to so much but once the end came around, all that build-up quickly went out the door.  

[Wes3010]

99.9% of this game was the best I've played.  Rarely does the third game in a trilogy rise head and shoulders above the two that came before, but Mass Effect 3 did until the last 0.1% of the game.  Gameplay, graphics, story arcs, etc were easily a 10/10.  Then I made the suicide run into the Citadel Beam.

I do not know who brought the black hole to the idea room the day endings were discussed and decided upon, but it did its job.  It took the experiences of this wonderful game series, drew into its singularity all the meaning and accomplishment from them, and rendered Shep and crew's efforts moot. 

How do you create such genius spanning 99.9% of a three game series, and somehow leave your story telling / game making pride at home the very day you head in to complete the most important part?  The ending is a complete let down from what came before.  I stood down a Reaper to retake the Quarian Home World.  I ended the genophage.  I completed a suicide mission into a Collector ship with 100% survival.  I orchestrated alliances between Turian and Krogan, Geth and Quarians.  Yet in the end my more than capable hands are tied with three choices that differ only in the means of delivery.  Any of the three lead to the same basic cinematic, with one or two crew members exchanged, and Shep left dead / alone.  It is strongly perceived by myself, and by others if you read the many forum posts condemning the endings, that Bioware phoned it in at the end of the game.

Essentially all the exposition on choices having meaning on what happens at the end of the game / series is nullified.  The ending leaves those hundreds of hours of gameplay and choices having the same effect as a shuttle craft performing a strafing run on Harbinger.  The last 0.1% of the game is below average.  A 3 or 4 out of 10 is what I would score.

I looked forward to many replays of this game until I made it to the end.  I thank you for your time and the great art that was the first 99.9% of the series, but the last 0.1% has left a bitter / betrayed taste that I shall not forget, nor shall my wallet.

[Zofiya]

Score for most of the game: 9.5/10 (one of the best games I've ever played)
Score for the ending: 0/10 (one of the worst endings ever)

I really loved the majority of the game.

• First and most importantly: I forgive you guys for Horizon. The reunion with Kaidan was spot-on: it was appropriately terse at the beginning, it progressed as he and Shepard felt each other out, and even the way things were sort of glossed over with "are we good?" was in character for Kaidan. It was fantastic the way he was trying to figure out how to forgive her even when he was looking for forgiveness himself, and when I took him along to the Cerberus base and he saw the Project Lazarus files, that was perfect.
• The voice-acting was amazing. I play FemShep, and Jennifer Hale's acting was superb, especially when Shepard was saying goodbye to everyone at the end, you could practically hear the tears in the way her voice cracked. But in general, I loved all the VAs.
• The script was great. I could have used more party banter, but it probably would have felt out of place with how fast the story progressed.
• The locations were great; I especially loved the Presidium Commons; it was really nice to get a sense of how big the Citadel actually is, which has been lacking in previous games.
• The score was perfect. It was good in the first game, but it felt more appropriate for background music than the cinematic experience that ME has turned into. The music from the second game was largely forgettable. This score is actually something I would listen to on its own; I especially loved the haunting piano pieces for Earth.
• The squad and character development. I loved everyone on my crew. I loved Cortez, I loved Traynor, I loved Vega and the hilarious way he hit on FemShep and then got all nervous when she called him on it. I loved Joker and EDI (especially EDI -- what incredible character progression; I couldn't choose Destroy at the end, after she said that Shepard was the one who made her feel alive for the first time) and walking in on Tali and Garrus (how random, and adorable!). I loved Garrus, King of the Bottle Shooters. I loved Kasumi and her hopeless crush on Jacob. I loved getting to say hello to my old crew and getting to say goodbye to them all.
• Character deaths (other than Shepard). They were sad -- I was on the verge of tears several times, but I thought the unavoidable ones were well-handled and meaningful within the context of the story.
• The story! Everyone plays ME for the story. We've waited two games for the conclusion, and even after playing the demo multiple times, I still got chills when the Reapers hit earth. Usually, in RPGs (including ME1), I just wander around doing whatever pops into my mind; I felt like I got railroaded into following the plot, but I was okay with that, because the plot was compelling. I wanted to keep going to the next Priority mission, and the only thing holding me back was random side missions.
  I thought there was a good amount of suspense, as well. I was biting my nails through some missions, waiting to see if catastrophe would happen (especially the final assault on Cerberus, when EDI insisted on coming along).
• The combat and talent systems were so much better than they were in the previous games. This is the first time I've ever looked forward to fighting something in a Mass Effect game. I also love the way you can pick options in a talent tree to synergize with your squad.

Some things were okay, they could have used improvement but they didn't have a huge impact on my enjoyment of the game.

• The textures on PC were... adequate. Some of them were really good (the N7 hoodie that came with the CE looks like actual fabric! wow!), and some of them look like they were reused from the first game; they are incredibly lo-res and it just makes the game look so unpolished.
• The journal was not awful, it was simply useless. "Go find this random thing and take it to this random person here." Fetch quests are mostly planet scanning, and if you are looking for a target (or an object, in some cases), you can just run around pressing V to get the directional arrow to show up. I almost never used the journal in the first two games anyway, so I didn't miss it much here.
• I am ambivalent about the side missions, the ones that take place on multiplayer maps. They don't seem to serve much purpose in the story itself. In the first game, when you go find a missing survey team or something, it contributes to Shepard's growing awareness of the geth problem, or the Cerberus mystery, and how deep and pervasive the Reaper threat is. By the third game, we get it: we're at war. Times are hard, people are desperate, we have to get ready to fight the Reapers. So... why is Shepard wasting time holding down the fort at some random location, or evacuating a couple of civilians from a random city? I feel like their only purpose is to introduce players to multiplayer maps, which distracts from the main story rather than adds to it.
• Planet scanning/Reaper awareness: what a chore! First you have to drag the ship around each system pinging likely targets, which means you have to be paying attention to where you ping if you don't want to avoid Reapers, then you have to drag the ship to your target, scan the planet, launch a probe, and then... you get a little announcement that you found something. That doesn't feel like an achievement; it feels like a let-down.
  The Mako was so much better. When I was driving around in the Mako, I had imaginary conversations with my crew in my head, and it was fun knowing that they were all terrified of my driving. Sometimes, I would drive very slowly and carefully up a mountain, just to prove to my crew that I could drive without seriously injuring any of them. And yeah, driving around looking for the last elusive mineral deposit was boring... but it was also optional, and had no bearing on your success fighting Sovereign.
  Even planet scanning in the second game was better, because you didn't need to scan every planet. You could if you wanted to, and I actually enjoyed planet scanning when I didn't have anything else pressing to do. It was relaxing.
  This time around, it is not relaxing. It is boring, and since I am impatient, I generally spend a lot of time running away from Reapers. And if you run out of missions before you finish scanning for war assets, there is no way to reset Reaper awareness. Which sucks. I learned how to evade them by flying around a system to re-enter from a different point, and pretending that I was doing hit-and-run strikes on them -- but I shouldn't have had to invent a new game to make the normal game bearable.
• Crew conversations. I go talk to everyone after every major mission, and I love hearing their comments, but I wish I could have had more serious discussions with them. It boils down to this: if Shepard has time to run fetch quests for everyone on the Citadel, Shepard has time to get to know the crew. And in a character-centric game like ME, I would rather get to know the crew than run fetch quests. I mean, I didn't even know Joker had a family until I was yelling at him!

The one part of the game that I cannot stand is the ending. And there is a lot I didn't like about the ending, starting with the complete lack of catharsis.

For most of the story, the writers did a great job building up tension; we have appropriate rising action, a climax, a denouement -- but it feels unfinished. ME is an RPG, players connect with Shepard and with the other characters, and all those emotions that they're feeling, we're feeling too. And there's no release at the end. Shepard steps into the Crucible and that's sort of it, game over. There are some cut scenes showing what happens next, but they are brief and don't really answer any questions; rather, they create more questions:

What happens without the relays? Did the relay explosions destroy their home systems? What happens to the crew (in my first playthrough, I had almost all war assets and they all survived, presumably)? Is the Normandy stranded? Does Earth rebuild? Does the galaxy rebuild? Without the relays, are all those fleets who came to help Earth stuck there? Did I just save the Quarian homeworld only to leave them all stuck in Sol? I picked Kaidan as my LI, at the end he said he couldn't stand to lose Shepard again, and I know he survived, so what happens to him?

I feel like I've read half of the ending of a book, and someone tore out the final pages, and now I will never know what happens. It is an incredibly frustrating feeling. I really wish there had been a proper epilogue, even a DA-style text epilogue, just to say, "by the way, we know you love these people, so here is how their story ends".

Now let's talk about Guardian.

The forced choice that Shepard makes on the Citadel is acceptable; the game was pushing the idea of "being prepared to do what needs to be done", so I was expecting some sort of grand "save the world and die" ending, like with the Archdemon in DA, but I kept waiting for the chance to take a third option (or a fourth option, I guess) and it never came. It would have been nice to be able to talk down Guardian, especially since his reasoning is asinine. I would have liked to see the data supporting Guardian's conclusions before making my decision, because after talking to him, I have more questions:

Who built the Citadel? Who made Guardian? Why did they need the Reapers as a solution in the first place -- solution to what
exactly? If the cycle just repeats itself, if organic destruction by
synthetics is inevitable, then isn't Guardian just accelerating the
process by using the Reapers? Why does Guardian care, and how is it any of his business? What gives him the right to "save" organics by destroying everything that makes them unique, and alive? Where is his central processing core located so I can punch him in the metaphorical face?

Because, really, I think that is what Shepard would have done. The Reapers are just an extension of Guardian, and Shepard spent the last three games telling the Reapers to go to hell, that they were just machines and that they had no right to try to control organic life -- but then here comes Guardian, and all of a sudden Shepard wants to listen to the thing controlling the Reapers? That makes no sense, and is completely out of character. Where is the fight? Where is the option to at least try to destroy Guardian, or try to make him understand? I came all this way, through three games, stopping Sovereign, dying, Horizon, working for freaking Cerberus, the sneering Council, blowing up a star system, ending wars that have been going on for hundreds of years, uniting the entire galaxy, just so I can stand there and listen to a little kid lecture me on how things are, without even trying to do anything about it.

And even if I can't stop Guardian, even if Shepard has to die in order to save the galaxy, why does it have to be on Guardian's terms? I have three choices, but the first two are awful: I can't just kill the geth and EDI, not after they've become so human, so Destroy is out; I can't force everyone to become a synthetic hybrid, because that negates the free will that I've been fighting for, so Synthesis is out. Control seems like a really bad idea, but since I was planning on killing all the Reapers anyway, and it's the only one that doesn't force horrible outcomes on other people, it's the only option I can take. Those choices suck, and not in the "do you want to save the hostages or make sure the terrorists can't hurt anyone else?" way. I'd rather fight Guardian and fail than do what he wants me to do -- at least I would know that I tried.

So yeah, great game, right up until the end, when it was awful. I, too, would love to see some DLC that adds new ending options. Until then, if I replay the game, I will probably stop before the ending, just so I don't feel so miserable afterwards.

[double02]

I have completed my first play-through of ME3. It was very enjoyable.

My Mass Effect 3 score: 98/100 (Always room for improvement)


Likes:
-Reasonable length (lots of sidequests/missions/etc)
-Great Narrative/story/dialogue
-Great combat
-Good graphics (some unpleasant backgrounds)
-Sound
-Music is fantastic
-Great arsenal/customization(still room to expand)
-Emotional aspect
-Characters
-Ending(s) - Hit me like a roller coaster of various emotions. Not simple. Incredibly emotional. Great conclusion.
-Kai Leng (is awesome!)
-Voice acting (little pieces seemed off, but overall, it is excellent)
-Lots of NPCs in-game (more interactivity would be nice)

Dislikes:
-Vague descriptions for side-quests and lack of notification.
-Much of the dialogue with crew-members were not in motion/scenes/wheel (very disappointing).
-Dialogue system is a step backwards from ME1 & 2. Lacking options, investigations, and actual conversation scenes.
-Would of liked to see more of Kai Leng in-game
-Harbinger  (hoping for a more memorable encounter like Sovereign)
-Would have liked to see more of Kai Leng in action.
-More non-fetch sidequests would be nice.

All in all, an amazing game in its own right, and one heck of a conclusion to the Mass Effect(Shepard's) series. Thanks BioWare.

Modifié par double02, 09 mars 2012 - 08:01 .

[Bendok]

I'll try to keep this brief.

The game, overall, was absolutely incredible. It's a piece of art.

A Few Pro's:

-Crew constantly moving around the normandy and doing different stuff, plus crew coming to the Citadel
-Garrus and Shepard shooting bottles at the top of the citadel
-Liara's time capsule
-Getting the chance to talk to everyone before doing the final attack, including the guys over holo. Nice touch
-Very well done death scenes (mordin, thane)
-Gameplay is the most fun its been. Played Vanguard
-Variety of locations on the citadel
-Gorgeous environments
-Awesome sound and music
-First video game to make me cry (on several ocassions)

A Few Con's:

-Ran into quite a few bugs that were literally game breakers as in I could not progress. Mostly getting stuck, or the infamous Eden Prime crash. Had to load a save before the bug occured. Thankfully the most time I lost to this was 1 hour. PC version.
-Some of the textures are incredibly low res for a PC game.
-Where's my film grain option?????
-Seems most of my con's are technical in nature...til I get to the final one................


The very end. The whole end sequence leading up to Shepard making one of the 3 choices was simply AMAZING. Loved every second of it. But the 3 available choices were disappointing. I can see at least 1 choice ending like this of course (Shepard sacrificing himself) but I wish there was one more happy option. I just felt way too invested in everything to not have that. If your war assets were maxed it kinda makes sense you get some kinda good with the end if you want. I am ok with technology being wiped out but I wish Shepard was there with the gang at the end, with his/her LI.

Then after the end when it puts you back in the Normandy, I felt like the game was kicking me when I was down. I KNOW its there for DLC but going around the ship and no one has nothing to say, like its some fake world where what you just did didnt actually happen. Like I said, I know its there for DLC but damn...it was so depressing. I think it was that combined with the ending. It just made me want to forget the ending happened. I am honestly contemplating stopping future playthroughs at the choice moment and just pretending the reapers get wiped out and I'll make up the rest in my head.

I copied the save before the choice so I could do all 3... but they are all pretty much the game. Favorite is the synthesis one since it is by far the coolest premise. I think an ideal ME3 ending would have been Synthesis but without destroying technolgy and the mass relays and the fact that organics and synthetics are a new form of life now means hopefully the cycle will never come again. I would have liked to see some quick flashes of a future with your chosen LI - maybe kids if your LI is human or asari - and ending with a shot of your retired shepard aged sitting in front of some pretty scene (just crank the complexion meter up to get the age effect). I guess I am a sucker for a happy ending.

Overall best game of the trilogy, brilliant from start until the last 5 minutes start. Perhaps with time the endings will sit better. As is, I will always use synethesis for future playthroughs because at least joker and edi are happy.

EDIT: ok, so i just read some site that listed all 16 endings. Supposedly Shepard CAN live?? Wow, I honestly thought I had done everything!! Maybe I missed a few planet scans here and there, but I thought I got all the quests...I think I had around 3500 but you need 4000 for Shepard to live? I guess I need to play multiplayer?

Modifié par Bendok, 09 mars 2012 - 08:11 .

[Jonathan Sud]

I'll give you guys a 70, which is really hard for me, as I am such a huge fanboy of this universe.

The 70 points comes from your amazing storyline (endings exempted), fan service (book and meme references), and addictive combat system.

The 30 points deducted, however, comes from your lazy stock images and ****** poor endings. I am satisfied with the look for Tali, but you couldn't even model the face for us? It actually wouldn't even require modeling! Just texturing to a custom female human head! Lazy bastards! I could do that in a day, tops!

Your endings killed my mood instantaneously. It was so poorly done, Bioware. Other people have put in a much better context than I could, but the thing I will point out was the icing on my **** cake. Tali was with me the entire time. The guys over the radio said everyone DIED trying to get to the beam, which would mean Tali did as well! HOWEVER, WHO THE HELL DO I SEE GET OUT THE SHIP WITH JOKER AT THE END? My oh my! It's TalI! Seriously, that pissed me off.

Please, please, please release a DLC with a proper ending. I don't care if it costs 1600 MS points. All of us who went from ME1 to ME3 deserve a proper ending. I'm such a huge fanboy of this universe you guys created, please don't leave this problem unfixed.

- J. Sud