YohkoOhno wrote...
AmstradHero wrote...
This is where Mass Effect as a series differs from these games, and arguably any other major game series to date. The decisions the player makes carry over to subsequent games. The recurring characters play major roles in the resolution of conflicts and provide the emotional anchor for the player's investment within the conflict. Someone who comes into ME2 without having played has no attachment to Liara, Ashley, Kaidan, Tali or Garrus. As a result, the moments with those characters fall flat. If you go in to ME3 cold, then not only do those characters fall flat, but you have no context for the conflicts.
A player fresh to ME3 doesn't know any Krogans or any Salarians. They have no idea about Mordin's moral conflict about the Genophage, or the passion of Krogan to cure it. They get the facts about the situation, but have no emotional investment. Same deal with the conflict between the Geth and the Quarians - the player has no knowledge of Tali or Legion and has no emotional empathetic handle to provide them with guidance or to show the true weight of the choice being made.
ME3 as a standalone game is a shallow gameplay driven experience, with none of the significant moral and storytelling depth that exists when taken as part of the series as a whole. That's why this is such a travesty. Mass Effect was supposed to have a key focus on the tale of Commander Shepard. By introducing ME3 alone on Wii U, BioWare/EA are effectively saying "the story isn't important."
Mass Effect 1 was never on the PS3. Didn't hurt the PS3 people who bought ME2 and ME3. I'm sure Wii U users will enjoy the standalone storyline.
Even thought there is the overall Reaper ARC, each story is seperate and contained, just like any movie. In fact, Videogames are more independent of each others than movie sequels ever are. Bioware certainly did not make this game require picking up the first two games. Just because some choices do carry over and the fullest experience is enjoyed by those who were there from the beginning doesn't mean it's a "travesty" to release the game on a new platform.
Are you actually reading my posts? I know ME1 wasn't on the PS3. And I can say for certain from friends I know who jumped into the series from ME2 that they did not have an emotional handle on existing characters when they are introduced. They managed to develop one to a degree - but players who never played ME1 simply didn't care as much for Lair of the Shadow Broker because they didn't have an existing emotional connection with Liara.
The games are "standalone" because they can be played without playing previous games. I know they're more independent than books or movies. I stated that. Are you actually reading my posts? My point is that allowing the players to jump in at the end means that certain aspects of the story are very weak and don't have any meaning because that is provided by the context. Jumping in on ME3 without playing ME1 or ME2 means people don't have that context and they're just in it for "bam bam bam shoot stuff". Given how much BioWare have use the defense of "artistic integrity" to defend the ending against those who have complained about it, this step undermines that integrity by saying "our story arc isn't important".
YohkoOhno wrote...
Considering Bioware has always designed their games to be stand alone as well as thinking of the overall arc, you are sort of insulting them in this manner.
Bioware is very unusual in that they import save games--most games don't even do this type of thing. But that does not make their games so special they are not meant to stand on their own. The fact that ME2 was on the PS3 and ME1 wasn't proves this.
Those enjoying the trilogy get a bonus, but that doesn't make the game a failure as a standalone, nor does it mean they should not do for the Wii U what they did for the PS3 with ME2.
Again, you're not demonstrating understanding here. DA2 lets you import a saved game but it does not operate in the same manner. Dragon Age is a franchise, Mass Effect is a story arc. Dragon Age is about a setting, whereas Mass Effect is about Commander Shepard. Carrying over a save in DA2 is NOT the same as carrying one over in ME2/ME3. Dragon Age is far easier to cater for new players because like virtually every other game series, past events and characters are referenced but do not directly influence and dictate the outcome of events in the current game. The fact that this happens in Mass Effect made it unique.
PS3 players did not get the full Mass Effect experience. I'm sorry to say, but it really is that simple. PS3 players don't get to see the full development of the characters in the series. They'll never understand how Tali or Liara matured, or why Kaidan and Ashley felt so betrayed in ME2. They'll never have a deep bond with Wrex, or and they won't have as great an insight into Garrus' character. These things matter. ME2 brings even more to the table. To jump into the series with only the final installment as context takes all that writing, all that backstory, all the literary themes developed throughout the first two games and says: "That doesn't matter. As long as you can shoot stuff, our game is still good."
Modifié par AmstradHero, 06 juin 2012 - 09:03 .
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Great news!
