I can't think of many ways it could have been worse written.
They could have found it fully built and ready to go, I guess? The galaxy is on it's last breath and then they stumble into it? That would have been worse.
Not much else comes to mind of how BioWare could have done a worse job.
Yeah. Shep should've had to put his heroic essense into the crucible or something.
Green ending
It's the definition of filler, but if that's what you're into...
It's a definition of filler. Objectively, it's "filler" to a tee. But there are so many kinds of filler. Most cite ME2 as brimming with meaningful content, because it handles well the things it focuses on, playing to the company's strengths rather than feeling truly arbitrary, truly irrelevant, truly tedious, truly like the padding that plagues much of the modern AAA landscape.
I can't think of many ways it could have been worse written.
They could have found it fully built and ready to go, I guess? The galaxy is on it's last breath and then they stumble into it? That would have been worse.
Not much else comes to mind of how BioWare could have done a worse job.
That's one way. Another way would be for the Reapers themselves to have forked over the means to their destruction and said "use this if you must, but hear us out first" -- that's sort of how Karpyshyn's original treatment sounds like it might have gone, even. Or perhaps if the answer were literally completely devoid of anything deus ex machina and the solution were simply to fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight. That too would have felt less satisfying to me. Or also, maybe if Liara just blurted out a total technobabble idea in a couple of sentences, so that, rather than being sprung from countless generations inching closer and closer to possible victory but falling short every time -- a thematic concept I genuinely appreciate, even, like, I legitimately dig that -- instead, she just goes, "hey, what if we fire an antiproton cannon by rerouting telemetry to 156 degrees by 97 degrees and unlock the emergency EPS plasma manifold, therefore triggering an ionization cascade effect that neutralizes specific carrier waves? Shepard, I'm a genius!" I would have hated that too.
Well, the Crucible is about the worst piece of writing BioWare has ever crapped out...so...
Worse that having Shepard killed, and then brought back to life via space magic in the first few minutes of the prologue to ME2?
I mean, I'm not defending the crucible idea but..
You're right that Liara or someone coming up with it themselves would definitely be worse. As for the Reapers handing it over, that's pretty much what happens in the current ending so far as I can tell. But let's not get into that steaming turd.
I disagree that simply fighting would be worse so long as there was a satisfying climax. That's what basically happened at Helm's Deep in LotR and I rank it way, way, way higher than ME 3.
Worse that having Shepard killed, and then brought back to life via space magic in the first few minutes of the prologue to ME2?
I mean, I'm not defending the crucible idea but..
Shepard dying was great writing. Probably the best introduction to a video game I know of and a downright outstanding cinematic sequence. And it powered some of the best moments in ME 2, such as Lair of the Shadow Broker. BioWare needs far more ideas like that.
It wasn't an abomination and it's one of my all time favorites.
It just does a terrible job at being the second third of a trilogy
ME2's big accomplishment was putting the franchise on the map with a game that had functional combat, superior production values and polish, a better written script, and wasn't a technical mess.
You're right that Liara or someone coming up with it themselves would definitely be worse. As for the Reapers handing it over, that's pretty much what happens in the current ending so far as I can tell. But let's not get into that steaming turd.
I disagree that simply fighting would be worse so long as there was a satisfying climax. That's what basically happened at Helm's Deep in LotR and I rank it way, way, way higher than ME 3.
Well, fair enough. I think there's a bit of a more complex look into the endings than that, per se, but I certainly won't argue that the way things are handled is poor.
Shepard dying was great writing. Probably the best introduction to a video game I know of and a downright outstanding cinematic sequence. And it powered some of the best moments in ME 2, such as Lair of the Shadow Broker. BioWare needs far more ideas like that.
Eh, I see your point. They probably could have done more with the whole resurrection thing (am I really still me) but I guess they didn't want that to be the focus of the story.
My desperate method of ensuring my ME2 narrative feels more personally fulfilling is to give Shepard a period of time in which the bar in Kasumi's room is entirely too appealing.
It's not much, but there it is.
Writers saying "f*** this noise" and bailing seems to be all too common with Bioware, so it wouldn't be all that surprising.
This is not what happened with Patrick Weekes. and up to now, neither Weekes nor Hudson has given anyone in the public domain, the whole story about how that went down or how it was linked to us getting the RGB endings of ME 3.
so i'm not sold on Mr. Schlerf leaving in the manner you suggested either. something is amiss.
like many people said, your lead writer leaving 15 months before your launch date, is not a good thing. this is very very concerning if true.
but i like the imagination of people here. so imagine what it could mean if Schlerf rly is no longer on the staff list.
And it powered some of the best moments in ME 2, such as Lair of the Shadow Broker.
I don't agree with that. I didn't like the dlc at all
It's virtually never a good thing, no. We can only hope it doesn't go so bad.
Yuck. Shepard dying was just a thoughtless plot device to force Cerberus on us. It was over and done with in 2 minutes and the game can't even decide if it actually happened or not.Shepard dying was great writing. Probably the best introduction to a video game I know of and a downright outstanding cinematic sequence. And it powered some of the best moments in ME 2, such as Lair of the Shadow Broker. BioWare needs far more ideas like that.
I wonder how much BioWare pays its writers. Probably less than engineers.
I wonder how much BioWare pays its writers. Probably less than engineers.
The entire premise of the "suicide mission" was stupid. Every combat mission against a superior force is a "suicide mission." Going up against Saren, Sovereign and the Geth with just the Normandy and her crew was more of a suicide mission than going up against the Collectors. It was a hamfisted plot device in a game that was almost devoid of plot.
Bruh, Suicide mission is just a name. They could have call it fluffy rainbow pony time in ME2 and if it had the same content as that last mission in ME2, I'd still be satisfied. I got to make choices in an RPG game that ended with consequences throughout the whole game such as losing companions or crew member left and right. We had choices like Krogan/Salaran or Geth/Qunari in ME3 but they didn't amount to much except Tali dying and a number on some little EMS table changing to decide what colour you're allowed to touch at the end of the game.
Also it's a called a suicide mission because it's one ship versus a whole species of reaper modified monsters. In ME1, we had the whole citadel army (albeit off-screen) fighting Saren's army so it was no where near as dangerous as ME2 mission where it's Shepard, Joker, EDI and 12 companions versus everyone.
It's the definition of filler, but if that's what you're into...
I'm into fun games. ME2 filler mission were fun while ME3 mission bored me because it was just either "Reapers did it" or "Cerberus is stupid again" now go shoot 'em!
Bruh, Suicide mission is just a name. They could have call it fluffy rainbow pony time in ME2 and if it had the same content as that last mission in ME2, I'd still be satisfied. I got to make choices in an RPG game that ended with consequences throughout the whole game such as losing companions or crew member left and right. We had choices like Krogan/Salaran or Geth/Qunari in ME3 but they didn't amount to much except Tali dying and a number on some little EMS table changing to decide what colour you're allowed to touch at the end of the game.
Also it's a called a suicide mission because it's one ship versus a whole species of reaper modified monsters. In ME1, we had the whole citadel army (albeit off-screen) fighting Saren's army so it was no where near as dangerous as ME2 mission where it's Shepard, Joker, EDI and 12 companions versus everyone.
I'm into fun games. ME2 filler mission were fun while ME3 mission bored me because it was just either "Reapers did it" or "Cerberus is stupid again" now go shoot 'em!
That's a bit of missing the trees for the forest. Yes, the Reapers are absolutely a plot device. But that's precisely why their numbers and relative strength can be toyed with to decide the plot coupon we have to get to win the plot.People need to understand that Shepard preparing wouldn't have made any difference.
The Reapers are a plot device. There's always going to be as many of them as need be for the story to work. Just like the orcs at Helm's Deep. If the galaxy has 50 dreadnoughts, there's going to be 1000 Reaper capital ships. The galaxy has 1,000 dreadnoughts? There's going to be 50,000 capital ships.
You get the idea. The Reapers are going to invade and crush through the galaxy, at least initially, because that's the kind of story this is and that's what they do. Arguing about numbers is pointless, because it's never been about numbers, it's been about narrative.
I disagree.
The trope of the overwhelming enemy horde against the few elite heroes is very much standard for fiction. Whether it's science, fantasy, modern day, or something else. They can't all fall back on superweapons.
Anyway, the whole thematic point of this sort of scenario is that they aren't superior. That the protagonists have some subtle quality they lack. It's not about winning, it's about winning in a thematically meaningful way. Whatever superweapon or superwhatever is used needs to be based on that.
Yuck. Shepard dying was just a thoughtless plot device to force Cerberus on us. It was over and done with in 2 minutes and the game can't even decide if it actually happened or not.
"I was just mostly dead."
"Shepard, you were practically dead."
"You almost died."
"They tried to kill me."
Etc.
It was bad writing to prop up more bad writing but it had a cinematic impact.
You're still in the exact same position of having a lot of Reapers and not many ideas on what to do about them at the beginning of ME 3.
Yes, by the end of ME2 you're in the exact same position you were in at the end of ME1. You made zero progress. Which is the main criticism against the game. It's a glorified side story.
It was a thoughtless plot device to justify the time leap. Cerberus could have been forced on us in other ways.
Yes, by the end of ME2 you're in the exact same position you were in at the end of ME1. You made zero progress. Which is the main criticism against the game. It's a glorified side story.
It can even be argued that Shepard destroying the Collector base may have sped up the Reaper invasion. How long does it take to construct a dreadnought? The Reaper plan, prior to Shepard dealing with the Collector Base, was to have the Collectors finish the Human Reaper presumably as a Sovereign replacement. When that fails, they just hit the gas and within a few months are in the Milky Way burning Khar'Shan, Earth, and Palaven. Plan A may have actually taken them longer.
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