WARNING, extremely long post incomming. Sorry folks, I had to do this. I'll try to keep it shorter next time.[quote]inko1nsiderate wrote...
You are a talented troll, and unfortunately I have taken the bait.
[/quote]
Although I think it's a compliment that you call me a talented troll, I am however, no such thing. I'm not trolling.
[quote]
You say I am acting childish,
[/quote]
Please don't accuse me of things I didn't do.
[quote]
but you are the one who implied that if we hadn't played older RPGs we clearly have no right to our opinion.
[/quote]
I didn't say that. Please don't accuse me of things I didn't say.
[quote]
You basically feel no need to justify your own opinion. Go on, write a point by point post about why you think ME3 is the worst.
[/quote]
I have done so a billion times on this forum. But because I'm a nice guy, I will do so again at the end of this post, just for you. Isn't that nice of me?
[quote]
While I call ME3 an RPG, I do admit it isn't an RPG in any classical sense, I just can't think of a better descriptor for it. The only TPS I could compare it to would be something like Oni (as it did have a story and interesting gameplay elements), but the comparision falls short. It is a lot closer related to a game like DA:O or The Witcher than it is to other TPSs I have played, so I think the RPG title can be partially justified.
[/quote]
I never said ME3 isn't an RPG. In fact, I said the exact opposite. I said ME3 is an RPG, one of the worst I have ever played though.
![=]](https://lvlt.forum.bioware.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sideways.png)
[quote]
A super brief summary why I love ME3:
[/quote]
I'll write my not-so-brief summary of why I hate ME3 as a reaction to your summary. Here we go:
[quote]
-It is a sci-fi military setting featuring a spec ops team, in ME3 they do more spec-op like missions and so it is my personal trifecta of sci-fi, spec-ops CQC, and RPG. I love sci-fi a lot, and so I'm always going to gravitate more towards a solid sci-fi RPG over any other RPG that is in a fantasy setting. In my personal preferences sci-fi captures my interest, moves my soul, and invigorates my imagination more than fantasy.
[/quote]
I also love sci-fi a lot, more so than fantasy. That's why I hated ME3. It's no longer sci-fi. Mass Effect has become fantasy with ME3.
A prothean that survived for 50k years in a stasis pod without anyone noticing it? That same prothean is capable of reading my mind and also experiencing the past simply by touching an item? That's not sci-fi, that's fantasy.
A big giant disco-ball that is capable of magically turning everyone into cyborgs when Shepard jumps into a big green laser? That's not sci-fi, that's fantasy.
Giant Cthulhu cuddlefish that manage to stay hidden of billions of years from the reapers? These same cuddlefish can mind-control entire civilizations through magical purple orbs? Yet these cuddlefish still get defeated by a corrupt A.I. that didn't even had a reaper army at that time? That's not sci-fi, that's fantasy.
Also, I really love the "tech and talk" sci-fi, like Star Trek. Mass Effect used to be a "tech and talk" sci-fi series as well, but ME3 completely threw that overboard and turned Mass Effect into something Michael Bay would actually be proud of.
[quote]
-The emotional urgency in a lot of the game, the complex and negative feelings Shepard has, and being torn between duty and saving the galaxy reminds me of some of my favorite bits of fiction such as Firefly and Horatio Hornblower.
[/quote]
Shepards feelings where in fact rather shallow and the presentation of them was over the top and rather silly. I didn't buy the fact that Shepard was so moved by a random vent kid that else had no significance to the story whatsoever. The dreams were forced, over the top, silly and just didn't do it for me. If you try to make your audience feel something, you have to be subtle. Instead, BioWare tried to desperately rub their "emotional" scenes in our face, almost screaming at us: "FEEL SAD DAMN IT!".
Nope, sorry BioWare, I didn't feel sad at all, only annoyed and frustrated at the start of each dream sequence.
[quote]
-The emotional content in most conversations is higher than what I have felt with any RPG (including those great coversations with Deekin in NWN). The voice acting really seems better to me in ME3 than previously. There are some choppy parts (like the intro), but the camera angles, increased emotions in the faces, and many of the scenes really made me feel for my Shepard in ways I hadn't before (and I was already attached to my Shepard). The scenes where Shepard shows doubt, fatigue, or anger really made the character more complicated, and I love complicated characters that you can't summarize in a few sentences. Some of the scenes with Liara are amazing.
[/quote]
In my opinion none of the characters in Mass Effect 3 are complicated in any way or form, Shepard the least of all. Every character that WAS complicated or deep in ME1 or ME2 are now turned into complete caricatures of themselves in ME3. Mordin used to be awesome in ME2, but in ME3 he was just a dumb jerk that didn't want to listen to reason, even though he was the voice of reason himself in ME2. I could understand Mordin's behavior if he was manipulated by a Paragon Shepard back in ME2. However, my Shepard was fully Renegade and supported the genophage in ME2. Mordin pulling a complete 180 didn't make any sense in my case and it really destroyed his character for me. I didn't feel sad when I shot him in the back of his skull, Mordin already died somewhere between ME2 and ME3 for me.
And this is just 1 single example of how BioWare managed to ruin their decent characters from ME1 and ME2. Other characters that are ruined in ME3 are Ashley, who acted like a completely ******. Legion, who became the biggest hypocrite of the universe. Wrex who I thought had grown over the idea of a genophage cure and decided he no longer needed a cure back in ME2, yet now in ME3 all of the sudden he is completely hellbend on curing the genophage. The list goes on...
And for the love of god lets not start about TIM and Cerberus... My god... BioWare f*cked them up really good in ME3...
[quote]
-The gameplay reinforces the idea that you are in a war, I like how game assets are focused on this idea and aren't a mindless diversion as they all have fluff explaining how they help the war. To wit: each and every mission has a clear and direct connection to the overall war effort that is explicit, or nearly instaneously divined; removing circuitous connections makes the quests seem more important to me even if all they are is a fetch quest that unlocks a nifty description of what it did on a terminal in the war room. They could have been executed better, but the descriptions of the war assets really compliments the codex as giving the MEU more texture and flavor and giving you an idea of what is really happening in the war outside of your limited Shepard view point.
[/quote]
The War Asset mechanic was actually completely useless and didn't add anything meaningful to the game. I'm glad you liked the random fetch-quests, but I absolutely hated them. Halfway through the game I decided not to even bother anymore. I just skipped all the fetch-quests. In the end it didn't matter at all, as my ending wasn't influenced by my War Assets at all. Now with the release of the Extended Cut DLC, the War Assets and fetch-quests have become even more pointless. Simply by playing the main missions and side missions you already get enough War Assets to get "the best ending".
The text descriptions of the War Assets did not make up for the horrible fetch-quests and lackluster implementation of the War Assets in the game. I would have liked this mechanic if I would actually get to see my War Assets in the final battle. However, I don't, which makes the War Assets completely superficial and absolutely pointless and meaningless.
[quote]
-The combat is an improvement, and on insanity hits that perfect spot for me between difficulty, excitement, and still being easy enough not to interfere and overwhelm the story.
[/quote]
I actually agree on this. Though Insanity should have been a bit more difficult. The game was too easy and the A.I. was too dumb. Seriously, the A.I. was never that good in Mass Effect, but I got the feeling the A.I. actually downgraded between ME2 and ME3. It's hard to believe, but I think the A.I. in ME2 was actually better than the A.I. in ME3.
Still, I liked the combat in ME3.
[quote]
-The N7 missions had dialogue, interaction, and didn't bore me to death to do the way most of the side missions in ME1 and ME2 did. The only really amazing side missions from the previous games were hard to unlock (like the girl who kills herself in ME1), and definitely beats ME3 there, but I felt like the sidemissions mattered, had interaction among characters, and weren't just mindless gameplay additions.
[/quote]
Some of the side missions in ME3 were indeed really great. Most of them where silly fetch quests that only required you to scan a specific planet though.
[quote]
- I actually loved eavesdropping to get quests. I felt it made Shepard seem more heroric, and it was a nice little mechanism. Being able to get gameplay content from the ambient environment in that fashion was awesome, and it makes the Citadel feel more alive.[/quote]
I found this eavesdropping completely silly and rather lazy from BioWare. At least ME1 and ME2 had proper dialogue and conversations between Shepard and the questgiver. The eavesdropping was just BioWare's lazy was of giving you (stupid and meaningless fetch-) quests without the need fo actual dialogue or cutscenes.
[quote]
-In ME3 the Normandy became a quest hub, which made me happy because it makes sense. Sheppard pilots a ship, why do most of the quests get discovered off ship? A lot of the more fleshed out side quests are given to you on the Normandy by an alliance officer.
[/quote]
The Normandy already was a quest hub in ME1. Most of the side quests were given to you on the Normandy by admiral Hackett.
Still, I agree that this was one of the few good parts of ME3. But nothing to write home about.
[quote]
-Crew mates interacting amongst themselves was one of the things I loved in ME2 and DA:O, and they really improved this in ME3 as the crew actually moves around the ship and engages in normal ship activities. It makes the characters feel more alive to me than most other RPGs have.
[/quote]
I liked the fact that the crew moved around and started conversations with each other. What I didn't like however is that the amount of dialogue with each crew member was A LOT LESS than in previous Mass Effect games. Foe example: I only had like 2 real conversations with Ashley, even though I kept checking her after each mission. The lack of proper dialogue between Shepard and his crew actually really dissapointed me.
[quote]
-I liked how the ending was somewhat open ended for reasons I have explained in other posts so I won't do that here. I could spend days defending my opinion, but I won't. Suffice to say that I enjoyed the plot and the ending.
[/quote]
The ending is the worst ending in an RPG I've ever seen. It's even worse than Fable 2's ending, which had a pretty silly and anti-climax ending as well. But like you I've explained my hatred for the ending several times on this forum, so like you I won't go to deep into it now. Suffice to say that I hated the ending and the Extended Cut didn't fix anything. The EC did not address my real issues with the endings, such as the silly Deus Ex Machina that we also know as Casper the Ghost or Starbrat, and the stupid A, B, C -pick your favorite ending- decision at the end.
[quote]
- While I would like more RPG elements, ME3 undoubtably has more than ME2. I like the weight system as it forces you to chose weapons but not be restricted by class, something that is a classic feature of RPGs but also breaks immersion for me. The lack of inventory is also nice because the ability to carry everything with you all the time is something that always bugs me in RPGs but I live with because of the other parts I love about RPGs.
[/quote]
The weight system was meaningless. It only meant something at the very start of the game, but near the end your weight capacity increased so much and your guns become so light that it's not difficult to send Shepard out with a full loadout and still having 100% cooldown bonus. That goes for any class, not just the soldier. I played as a Vanguard, I had an SMG, Pistol, AR and SR equiped. The only thing I lacked in my loadout was a shotgun. I still had the maximum cooldown bonus and no penalties whatsoever.
While ME3 did have more "RPG elements", I didn't care for them, because it's not those typical elements that makes an RPG great. What makes an RPG great is the sense of freedom, that is achieved by either providing the player with an open-world or an interactive story that the player has some authorship over. ME3 lacked both an open-world (it only had 1 real hub map and the missions were even more linear than ME1 and ME2) and an interactive story (all our past decisions in the past games are rendered meaningless, none of the choices provided really change the direction of the story and in the end all your decisions are rendered meaningless by the stupid A-B-C ending that are all the same for everyone regardless of your past decisions.
Modifié par Heretic_Hanar, 13 octobre 2012 - 01:15 .
Retour en haut
