Hell no I wasn't.
There is so much that this game got horribly horribly wrong. There are some good things sure, Tuchunka was the emotional high point of the game for me BUT THAT'S 3-4 HOURS IN. Not a very good sign.
The things that went wrong just simply out weigh the pros.
-Auto Dialogue-
ME1 had hardly any Auto Dialogue and this was a huge jump for me between ME3 to go back to ME1. ME2 had some auto dialogue but it never became too big of an issue. ME3 has a dialogue option every other page of the script. Its annoying. I am Shepard and Shepard is me so why is he speaking without my consent?
Also, Why are there almost no Neutral dialogue options. Its always Paragon or Renegade. In ME1 and ME2, when neither option was really what I'd say, I'd just go with the Neutral "Why?" instead of the Paragon "That's racist!" or Renegade "Serves them right!"
-Characters sidelined-
All the ME2 squad is sidelined in ME3. Even the romances which should NEVER have been sidelined. Some of them have no excuse for not coming back in ME3.
Miranda was one of TIM's most trusted agents (NOT HIS SECOND IN COMMAND DAMNIT!) and yet she plays no role in Cerberus' destruction. All she talks about is Oriana. Would be nice to hear something about Ceberus in there too. There's absolutely no reason we shouldn't invite her to the Normandy after Sanctuary and then take her to Cronos Station. Hello! The place was filled with Reaper Freak Shows! And we leave our LI and her sister behind? WTF? I might add that she doesn't have a romance scene either...or pillow talk....or really anything terribly romance related. Yet she's in the best condition out of the non-Squaddie-ME2 romances. And where the hell is she the entire game? Gone. Missing. Good bye. Why can't she join the Normandy? We have the freaking Shadow Broker on board! Liara could help you find your father in 5 mins give or take a milisecond!
Jack's romance consists of making out twice and that's it. Just like Miranda, She is absent for the entire game and there's no romance scene or romance spesific dialogue. Why? Why why why? I can understand why she isn't in the Squad as she has a pretty decent "alibi" for not being there but that's no excuse for not having a romance.
Jacob gets a Cerberus Scientist knocked up between the game and Shepard can't get pissed at him at all and this effectivly invalidates his romance in ME2. No point at all for his romance to exist if that's the end result. Just because he was the least liked character in ME2 doesn't mean that derailing him is a great idea. Write a diamond in the rough for people who did romance him; don't derail it. I should also mention that there's not really a reason for him to not join you on the Normandy...Not that many Fem!Sheps would after that treatment...
Thane dies no matter what you do in ME3, has hardly any dialogue related to his romance or even just dialogue that doesn't relate to Kepral's Syndrome (Which, like Miranda's role in Cerberus, was Retcon'd between games) and then promptly dies by Kai Leng's hand in a poorly coriagraphed Fight Sequence. Why doesn't Shepard help his/her dying friend/lover? Why does Thane run towards Kia Leng and his sword while Thane is using a pistol? What happened to those lovely cures brought up in ME2? And just where the heck is Kirahee during this madness? I'm not dissing on the idea of Thane dying but the ability to save him was what was needed.
Samara helps her daughters and then starts fighting off screen. Once again, No reason for her to not join you on the Normandy.
Kasumi? No reason given and she also accuses you of roping her into a Suicide Mission even though she's the one who signed up for it in the first place. She also never gets over Keiji. I eraced the Graybox to help you get over him and because its what Keiji wanted. Its been years now, Move on...
Zaeed? Same thing.
Yes, I know they can die in ME2, but Mordin and Wrex's deaths were handeled so well. Mordin gets a perfectly written death scene and it makes me cry EVERY TIME. If Wrex dies, It gives a whole new spin to the question of curing the Genophage. Why is no one else handeled like this? A great way to handel it would be to have two or three Squaddie Slots open for you to hand recruit people you liked. If they're alive, You can recruit them after their respective mission. If they're dead, they're dead. Simple.
This is a small romance spesific issue by Tali's hand...Quarains in comparison to Human Hands are missing the middle and pinkie fingers...This is incorrect with Tali's picture in the game and really, we should have actually seen her real face. It would have been nice to see her actually talking face to face on Rannoch.
They don't really even get a good crowing moment of awesome to celebrate each character except maybe Grunt. They just cameo for 5 mins of gameplay....
-The Beginning-
Ugh....The beginning of the game. I can look past it to an extent but its cleche'd dialogue and a really small and very quick start to the game. The beginning should have taken its time. What happened to the trial idea? If Shepard was on trial for the events of Arrival (Which could have been explained for those who didn't get the DLC or just deverted to Cerberus in that event) then we could have had the entire series summarised by Squadmates' testimonies during the trail and it would serve the exact same purpose as the comic in ME2 for those who are starting with ME3. This could have worked perfectly.
And then there's the small child. I didn't mind it so much on my main Shepard but there was no option for Renegades not to care at all. Its so....Isolated from everything else as well. You could cut the child out of the plot and you really wouldn't lose anything at all (Except for the Catalyst but I'll get to that later).
This leads into my issue with the nightmares...
-Shepard's Nightmares-
Why is Shepard chasing the kid and why is this kid the subject of his guilt constantly? Why why why why why? As a player/member of the audience I have NO emotional attachment to this small child at all. And then you have those who have died whispering in the background of the nightmares? Why aren't they actually in the nightmare? My Shepard was romancing Ash in ME1 and she died on Virmire. Shepard would be feeling A LOT more guilt over that than some small child on Earth who refused your help and ran down a vent.
Heck, Take the kid out, replace him with people who have died in the series, follow them through the nightmares, and, in the final nightmare before Cronos Station, have your LI burn with you. It would over all make the scene more emotional to watch. Everyone you've come to care for will die and you will burn with them.
-The Crucible and the Catalyst-
*sigh and rub temples* The Crucible was a cop out. The plot should have gone through conventional victory and the unity of all the races prevailing over the Reapers. That was the message of Mass Effect and not this completely out of nowhere Tech Singularity. I'll get to that later though. The Crucible was a cop out and it muddles the plot a bit. Why are we finding this Prothean Super-Weapon which technically proves the Reaper's existance NOW? Where is it being built? Why does no one know what it does? How does no one know that it connects to the Citadel considering those platform things are sitting there on the underside of the Citadel this entire time?
Moving onto the Catalyst, Why is it some AI that invalidates its own logic by its own existance as well as its own arguements which can be disproved 4 hours earlier in the campeign? Why is it in the form of this random child that I have no emotional attachment to at all? Why does it completely invalidate Mass Effect 1's plot? Why isn't Shepard the Catalyst? That would have made much more sense. The Catalyst is a literal catalyst to turn on the Crucible manually. It doesn't need to be deeper or more symbolic/insertadjectivehere than that.
As shown in a few vids, You can cut the Catalyst entirely out of the game and not lose any narrative cohearence. That scene is so isolated from everything else in the series. Shepard's confrontation with TIM and the following conversation with Anderson was fine. Everything drops off the deep end after that.
This has been said a million times so I'll just move on...
-The Reapers and their Motivation-
In Mass Effect 1, Sovrign tells Shepard that he'll never understand the Reapers and that their reasons are incomprehensible and ete. Mass Effect 2, We discover that the Reapers create more Reapers by melting down one species into a brand new Reaper! THIS WAS MOTIVATION ENOUGH. This is a motivation of self-preservation. 50,000 years go by, Population gets big enough for a Reaper to be created, Reapers attack and create new Reaper. They were still the mysterious Lovecraftian Horror with this motivation. ME3 invalidates this and even tries to make the Reapers sympathetic....Why? You had such a great villian! Why?
Moving onto the Reapers themselves, Where is Harbinger? He was the oldest and largest of the Reapers. He was the Big Bad of Mass Effect 2! Where is our final confrontation? Where is that big guy spouting hammy dialogue and "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL" every five seconds? I missed that. Heck, He gets mentioned by name 5 times in ME3 and nothing comes of it....
-Kai Leng-
And then there's this ****. I haven't read the novels and, after ME3, I never plan on doing so. Why is Kai Leng here? In every scene he imposes cutscene in competence on everyone.
Thane? He runs at the Melee Opponent while using a Pistol.
Shepard? He doesn't fire his gun when Leng puts his arm/shild down while he's on their car or fire at him when he gets in the elevator. He also can't keep track of Kai Leng during Thane's fight and doesn't help Thane at all.
Liara and Squaddie #2? Liara allows Leng to get in arms length of her WITH A PISTOL AIMED RIGHT AT HIM and then subsequently thrown into Squaddie #2.
Miranda is the only one to get away with from this probably because we don't actually see her fight him.
There's hardly even an explaination on him in the game. Why is there suddenly this Cerberus Assassin here? In comes out of nowhere. Yes, He's in the books but not everyone reads the books. I don't mind material from the books being used but as long as we get an explination on their point here because Kai Leng doesn't have one. He has no characterization and is a Generic Cartoon Villan.
-War Assets-
What is the point of these? They're numbers. They mean very little to anything. This has been said a bunch of times but they are never seen in action. It doesn't matter who they are, just the ammount they're worth.
A simple fix to this? Extend London even more and make the level EASIER if you have more War Assets!
Shepard and crew are being curb-stomped by Banshees and Brutes and Ravagers? Never Fear! Zaeed is firing at them from a Building across the street and takes some out for you!
A door is locked and the way to get around it would send you through a ton of enemies and take longer? Kasumi can hack the door open for you!
Its the final battle and there are a million and one Banshees, Brutes, Ravagers, Marauders, Canibals, Husks, ete? Miranda, Samara, Jacob, Grunt, Thane, Zaeed, Kasumi, (Mordin), Wrex, and any Squadmate you didn't bring with you attack and deal damage to help you! As a bonus, If Jack's Biotics are put on Support, They make everyone else stronger while, if they were put on the frontlines, They go out and die infront of you.
Then, enemies keep coming and they surround you. Uh-Oh....Wait? Is that the Rachni launching a charge on them?! YAY!
Its so simple....And perfect....You get your shining moment of awesome for everyone and for yourself in keeping everyone alive. Think of how hard this entire thing would be if you killed everyone on the Suicide Mission or sabataged the Genophage with Wrex or killed all the Rachni? London should have been one giant mirror on the entire series and every choice you made. That is what this needed here.
This also makes it perfectly acceptable to have your LI with you on the beam rush. They don't need squad abilites, just need to run with you to the beam. It works together to well.
-The Endings-
They still have no reflection on the choices made in the game. Even with the EC, The Rachni choice made no difference. None of these countless choices make a difference in the endings. Heck, The choice on Kasumi's Graybox is ignored entirely in Control and Destroy which just show her staring at the thing regardless of weather you eraced it or not.
The endings should never have been split into 3 (4) different paths. It should always have been an ending reflective off the numerious choices in the game and not 3 (4) TYPES of endings that have a slide show to show the differences. Mass Effect never needed some "No-Right-Or-Wrong-Answer" ending. It needed an ending to reflect everything else in the series, not be isolated from the series.
I don't want to see a photo of my choices. I want to legitly see my choices in action.
I want to see that Krogan baby open its eyes.
I want to see the Rachni get that embasy on the Citadel.
I want to see Tali and Garrus/Shepard building that house on Rannoch.
And, there's still no closure with my LI or even just Shepard in general. The Breath scene isn't explained at all and, since I romanced Miranda(/Jack) I can't bring them on the beam rush. I can't get closure here. The EC added nothing at all.
Someone else pointed out how liniar the game is already so I won't make a section on that.
Now, The game did get some things correct...
Tuchunka was perfectly written. You have this perfect situation of sabataging the Genophage and then you have reasons shown to do and not do it. You have the City of the Ancients shown to Shepard. The Korgan were artists. The Krogan had massive cities. The Krogan had hope and this Genophage is their final hope. It was perefectly written and I always cry at Mordin's death.
Rannoch was pretty good. I wuld have loved some time to learn about Quarians pre-exile bit the arc is still perfection. The battle with the Reaper was epic and seeing memories in the Geth Concensus adds to the coming decision over the Quarains, the Geth, and Peace. My only issue is that we can't see Tali's face when she and Shepard talk face to face for the first time...And the disappearing rock but that's a glitch, nothing more.
The combat is flawless too.
Just, The things it got right don't out weigh what they got wrong...
Modifié par LanceSolous13, 22 juillet 2012 - 07:39 .
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