Cross-post from the "Last finished game"-thread
Mass Effect 3 - 5 / 5
Just finished Mass Effect 3, the epic conclusion of my favourite gaming trilogy. The first game was one of my favourite RPG's, the second game ended up as one of my favourite games ever. And now the third game lives up to the others' reputation. And how!
The third game improves on the "dumbed-down elements" of Mass Effect 2. Customizable weapon mods are back (although in short supply compared to the first game, but at least they're back), powers are expanded heavily, planet scanning is greatly improved (and had a nice mini-game twist in it), and the gameplay is a lot more dynamic (the maps are less corridor-y and a lot more open to enemy flanking). It's basically a good middle ground between the RPG-elements of ME1 and ME2.
Compared to ME2, the dialogue is a lot less badass and a lot more gloomy, but considering the billions of people dying in this installment, that's understandable. And I love the fact that practically EVERYBODY makes a cameo appearance in the third game without being too in-your-face with it. Agreed, some characters could've gotten a bit of a larger role this time around (especially my Krogan buddies Grunt and Wrex), but overall, I was very happy with the story and the character interaction.
Heck, ME3 is simply an emotional rollercoaster. And there are some epic sacrifices being made...
In the 47 hours it took me to reach the end, I have thought at multiple moments that I was playing the best game ever. Despite the flaws it has, I'm calling it the most awesomest trilogy of all time. And don't get me wrong: there are flaws. The first game had clunky vehicle control, the second game had tedious scanning, and this one had a couple of bad design decisions - most of which I blame on EA's pull over BioWare.
I hate the fact that they have Day One DLC. I hated it when they did that in ME2 (with Zaeed) and I hate the fact that I have to pay extra for the Eden Prime mission and an extra squad member who's not unimportant for the Mass Effect universe. This gets chalked up to the greedy bastards at EA (who've used these nickle-and-dime tactics a LOT these last few years).
I hated ME3's multiplayer campaign. I'm invested in the story of the trilogy (as proven by my 3 playthroughs of ME1, totalling 133 hours, and my 3 playthroughs of ME2, totalling 131 hours), but I'm not THAT interested in the action.
Being forced to play online in a multiplayer campaign to get a better result in the single player portion is something that's just not done. Especially if you go through the trouble of including a very easy "narrative" game mode where the difficulty is so low you could go through the entire game unarmed and come out unscathed. The multiplayer campaign reeks of DRM.
And the multiplayer isn't even good (well, at least not for me). It's exactly the type of multiplayer FPS that I don't like: surviving swarms of AI's on a small map - not my thing.
Luckily my Google-fu is strong and I was able to bypass the entire multiplayer portion of the game by doubling all war asset values in the game files. That meant that my Galactic Readiness of 50% now gave me as many war assets as I would have originally had with 100% Galactic Readiness. If you think that's cheating, bite me. It's basically me giving EA the finger.
I finished my full male Paragon Adept playthrough (of all three games with all DLC) with an Effective Military Strength of 6884 - which is not too shabby. According to my saves, that's taken me almost 142 hours - so yeah, I'm invested in the story!
And now, let's (finally) talk about the ending controversy. To be honest, I'm fine with the ending as it is.
Sure, there are plot holes, but suspension of disbelief carried me through them the first time. Right now, I wouldn't mind the game staying as it is. I'm not sure if I'd be this leniant on a second playthrough, but for now I'm good. I definitely understand the controversy, though.
Spoiler:I chose the Synthesis ending. I always figured this trilogy would end with Shepard dying, so I was prepared for that. And sure, it's odd to see Joker fleeing with the Normandy (he had no reason to do so), and it's even more odd to see one of my squad mates - who was just behind me in the beam run - ON the Normandy, but I can chalk that up to lazy writing / lazy cutscene development, however odd that may be in a deep trilogy like this. It can't be due to a lack of time (or the Day One DLC wouldn't be there), but if it's a slip then it's only a minor one, imo.
I had enough closure to be satisfied - the conversations in the FOB made sure of that, so even if it would be nice to see what happens with your squad mates AFTER the end, I don't mind that they left that open.
Especially not because it's only the last five minutes of a 140+ hour adventure that are not 100% up to scratch with the rest. I'll call this entire controversy "ridiculous fan entitlement", and I'm not afraid to say that "modern gamers are whiny bitches".
But I have to admit: the Indoctrination Theory has a LOT going for it! It takes care of ALL the plot holes, it can be traced back to the first game (check this video for all details) and it would be a twist that's as awesome as the one in Knights of the Old Republic...
Unfortunately: no attempt whatsoever has been made to clarify it ingame. Sure, now that all the details are added up (like in that vid I linked to) it makes sense. But you basically need to see that video to understand it. If that was the twist they intended in the game then they did several things wrong: it's not clear enough that THAT was what was going on, and if it's true, then they didn't release a finished game.
No matter what BioWare does now, they're basically screwed.
If they don't change the ending, then they'll be left with hundreds of thousands of pissed off gamers. Most of whom seem fanatic enough never to buy anything off BioWare or EA ever again.
If they change it to a new ending, then they're admitting that they did a poor job the first time around and they'll be setting a dangerous precedent that will cause game developers to be at the gamers' mercy for years to come. This last part will take all risks out of game design, lowering overall quality and potentially crippling the entire gaming industry.
And if BioWare had intended the Indoctrination Theory all along, then they purposely withheld the real finale for the game. Seriously, if they release DLC in a few weeks or months that gives credit to the entire Indoctrination Theory, then that means that Mass Effect 3 is ultimately a game that had its finale cut to nickle-and-dime everyone further. This will wreck both EA and BioWare's reputation.
And even if they'd release it for free, given all the complaints and flack they've been getting, the damage is actually already done.
Yet, despite all this controversy surrounding the ending, Mass Effect 3 is still one of the very best games I ever had the privilege of playing.
I'll hold off my second playthrough until I see where they're going with the DLC-rumours (and to avoid Mass Effect fatigue), but that second playthrough WILL come!
