19 réponses à ce sujet

[MysticSpace]

I don't mind that small unimportant things are explained in detail in the novels and comics but, it would have been nice if the info and characters that were once book exclusive were at least given more codex info or extended dialogue tree or at least a mention which book they were in via the codex. I hated that Kai Leng's reveal was treated like it was a big deal. I thought for sure that TIM was talking to Shepard's clone or something, but no he was some guy from several of the books I never knew existed until I heard the backlash from Deception. Later when Tim off handly talked about Grayson as though it was common knowledge made wonder what happened to him and which of the nine books was in but, apperently Bioware wants me to stop the game get on mass effect wiki to find out. I talked to James and the only thing he only alluded to a mission gone wrong but, he won't talk to much about only to find out that Bioware wants me to buy an additional dvd/bluray to get a side story to a character I didn't play with past the Mars archives. If you read an of the books I'd like your a opinions and feelings on them. Were they necessary or a cash grab?

[Seboist]

They're by and large worthless and only further illustrate how they were winging it all along.

Some notable examples are how the Quarian higher ups were scheming to acquire a Reaper to control Geth in Ascension or how Cerberus was largely destroyed by the Turians in Retribution(which makes their Sith Empire in 3 all the more lulzy).

[The Night Mammoth]

My total experience with the Mass Effect universe begins and ends with the games. I've never read any of the books, or any of the comics, but hearing about them and looking at the wiki, it certainly seems like I've missed out in some areas. James, for example, was a complete unknown to me when I started playing, and from the sounds of it the game is that bit more cohesive if you've seen read Liara's comics.

[JamesFaith]

Honestly, some of claims about importance of situation in books are exaggerations.

Kai Leng - you got mail about him from Hackett where is even more about his history then in book. His actions have minimal impact on game - just conflict with Anderson is mentioned without bigger explanation.

Vega - again everything important is in dialog with him in game, movie just give more personal info - not necessary for ME plot.

Grayson - just small gift for readers, same like Dr. Nuri

[P. Domi]

The 3 books written by Drew Karpyshyn were quite entertaining:

-Revelations - It occurs decades before ME 1. Anderson is the main character, but you see Saren on the cover and a few other characters you'll recognize from the trilogy. I really enjoyed this book, it's an excellent prelude to ME 1.

-Ascension: these events happen between ME 1 and 2. Very entertaining at times, It provides an insight into the Quarian rites of pilgrimage and a few characters from the videogames like the Illusive Man and his secretive operations. Karpyshyn was extremely careful to respect the possible outcomes of ME 1, there's nothing that will contradict whichever route you took. Kai Leng is introduced not as a ninja, but as one of TIM's operatives. Respecting Mass Effect original concepts, Cerberus doesn't have an army, it has cells and the TIM has a few special operatives who are not scientists (like Miranda, Wilson or Chandana) or spies, they are trained assassins and they are used only on occasion.

-Retribution: The story takes place between ME 2 and ME 3. Again, Karpyshyn included characters and events that would have an impact in ME 2 and 3: Anderson, Aria T'Loak, Kahlee Sanders, Kai Leng... It probably offers an interesting view on what role Commander Shepard was to play in the TIM's larger scheme when he put him in charge of a mission against the Collectors. You also realize he would have never done it if it didn't fit his personal agenda. It also explains why, regardless of your decision in ME 1, Udina is the Human representative on the Citadel (and not Anderson).

The Kai Leng Karpyshyn wrote was not a "cereal killer" and didn't have ninja powers. Also, Cerberus was a secretive organization with a limited number of operatives and "cells". Not everybody working for the TIM were aware they actually worked for Cerberus, since he had a lot of companies and industrial conglomerates as fronts for his operations. He certianly did not have an army or a fleet.

As for the comic books, I've really liked Redemption (it occurs during those 2 years Shepard was missing) and "Evolution", where they go into the origins of the Illusive Man (with a cameo of Ashley Williams' grandfather).

I'm looking forward to getting Mass Effect: Homeworlds.

Modifié par pablodomi, 07 mai 2013 - 05:04 .

[PsyrenY]

Eh, I don't see the big deal about Cerberus' army in 3. They started with a bunch of CAT6 washouts and criminals, slapped in some Collector Base tech, and bam, instant platoon. Then during 3, Sanctuary was getting so many refugees that they could brute-force experiment with half of them, and even then they ended up with so many bodies they had to melt them down to dispose of them fast enough.

It's not much surprise they were able to beef up their numbers so quickly given that.

[Auld Wulf]

I enjoyed them, personally. Though I can't speak for anyone else. I can understand why they wouldn't be so interesting to other people, and they definitely weren't necessary to understand the game.

[Forst1999]

I think "necessary or cash grab" is the wrong question. If they had been necessary, then it would have been a "cash grab". Would have been unfair if you couldn't understand the game without side material. The only thing from the books that wasn't explained enough in the games was Grayson. His name gets thrown around without much context. Everything you need to know about Kai Leng is that he's 100% loyal to Cerberus, deceitful and a massive jerk. The games show that quite well. Similar for everything else.
The side material is enteraining enough, and at times interesting for fans. That's it.

[Kel Riever]

I don't think they were 100% cash grab. I think they were stubborn push throughs of a rail minded enterprise. That doesn't mean they weren't entertaining, necessarily. But it does mean I didn't purchase them and won't until they fix the ending of ME3. And since they probably won't, I see that I've saved myself some cash and a lot of playing through some suspiciously substandard work.

[radishson]

pablodomi, thanks for those reviews. Personally I'm not a fan of having to read extra material just to understand a hobbyist video game series, but maybe when I have more free time this summer I'll look into them.

Who here has read the 4th book that everyone hates? I don't know much about it and I'm curious as to why it's got such a bad wrap.

[Big Ben6898]

radishson wrote...

pablodomi, thanks for those reviews. Personally I'm not a fan of having to read extra material just to understand a hobbyist video game series, but maybe when I have more free time this summer I'll look into them.

Who here has read the 4th book that everyone hates? I don't know much about it and I'm curious as to why it's got such a bad wrap.

I'd suggest simply reading the Deception Rage Comic.  It's infinitely superior to the source material and quite humorous.

[Forst1999]

The fourth book, Deception, had several lore errors. Characters getting facts of the universe wrong and so on. There were some continuity problems as well (characters knowing each other that never met for example), and some characters had really weird developments that didn't fit what we knew.

[P. Domi]

Big Ben6898 wrote...

radishson wrote...

pablodomi, thanks for those reviews. Personally I'm not a fan of having to read extra material just to understand a hobbyist video game series, but maybe when I have more free time this summer I'll look into them.

Who here has read the 4th book that everyone hates? I don't know much about it and I'm curious as to why it's got such a bad wrap.

I'd suggest simply reading the Deception Rage Comic.  It's infinitely superior to the source material and quite humorous.

http://imgur.com/a/lAVji#0
this is the link for the comic, it's hilarious!!

[Mastone]

Everything Bioware has been doing with ME3 screams cashgrab, now I don't mind spending money..I do mind if I pay top dollar for  a B Title

[AVPen]

Forst1999 wrote...

The fourth book, Deception, had several lore errors. Characters getting facts of the universe wrong and so on. There were some continuity problems as well (characters knowing each other that never met for example), and some characters had really weird developments that didn't fit what we knew.

A severe understatement. <_<

[SpamBot2000]

Hiring a notorious hack with dozens of game spin-off novels to his credit to throw together a book in a setting he neither knows nor cares about and then stamping it with the Casey Hudson Seal of Approval for sale to their beloved fans was of course necessary for BW.

Modifié par SpamBot2000, 08 mai 2013 - 06:04 .

[MrFob]

I really enjoyed Drew's three novels. They may not exactly be top notch literature but they are entertaining, sometimes even clever and they go very well with the games. I actually managed to read Revelation before I first played ME1 and it was a great way to enter the universe.

I refuse to talk about Deception and I think there is no need.

I didn't like any of the comics (neither the small 8-page ones nor the long 4-issue ones). They all have issues with either character or timeline continuity and frankly, I think from a visual perspective, they look rather cheap and don't fit at all. IMO Koobismo does a much better job of capturing the ME universe art style than any of the official comics do.

Is there anything else? Oh, yea, ME: Galaxy was rather pointless. Infiltrator is alright but also nothing really memorable. I think that's it, can't really think of anything else.

[Pick a color]

Read the first 3 novels, enjoy the stories. Read 1/2 of Deception before giving up. It just had too many ridiculous elements. Never got the comics, saw some of the previews. They just didn't do anything for me.

Saw the James Vega movie, it was ok. Didn't add much to my Mass effect experience, kinda like ME junk food.

[NeonFlux117]

The three novels written by Drew were pretty solid entertaining fanfare I think.


But then there was Deception........... Need I say more???

Modifié par NeonFlux117, 08 mai 2013 - 06:41 .

[Fredvdp]

I've read at least one of the comic books, and thought it was awful. Way too few panels per page. You can read one comic book in two minutes.

Modifié par Fredvdp, 08 mai 2013 - 10:46 .