Mass Effect 3 - Demo/MP/FULL GAME!!!™

[j2000_nr]

I dunno CT, I reckon that it is a bit ambiguous.

Spoilers again!

Having spent too many hours trying to get the 'perfect' ending, just to see Shep breathe, with nothing else being different. It just wasn't the ending that the game deserved. Who was the psycho child? Why did it matter? Was shep indoctrinated? If so then the game wasn't finished. Did he survive a fall from near earth orbit? Or was it all a bad dream and the DLC will just be Shep in the shower!

[hollywooda]

The point is the reapers wanted to control Shepard, he had become a very powerful figure in the universe,
The child you see through out the game is in shepards mind, the Harbinger has used this powerful image
To sway and control Shepard throughout the game, and at the end again the form of this child is
used to help Shepard in his final descision.

Destroy us, or join us.

[ClownTrousers]

Why do you have to know "why?" and "who?". An urge to answer these questions has led the internet to come up with this indoctrination theory. Not every little question needs to be answered. It doesn't matter who the lad on the Citadel is or where he came fom.

[hollywooda]

Well i agree & disagree with that CT, i mean i like somethings to be left unexplained, its why I love David Lynch films so much I dont need to know every nut & bolt
& I dont want every string of the story spelled out for me.

But Bioware did say there will be a definitive answer at the end of ME3 & if they were so happy with the ending why announce the DLC?, they just seem to contradict their
pure vision.

[conkerconquer]

I'm sure Bioware themselves are left a bit conflicted with the ending, not least because of the ridiculously motivated fan backlash but if they want to alter or add to it, that's their call. That said, I think, imperfect and somewhat clumsy as it was, the ending made a fair bit of sense and did offer a conclusive answer about the Reapers, their reason for being and their objective.

The stuff left unanswered is inconsequential shit (and hardly the first time the Mass Effect series has made a leap of logic) and I personally didn't mind the lack of complete clarity, if for no other reason than it fitted with Mass Effect's larger, overarching themes.

[hollywooda]

I'm sure Bioware themselves are left a bit conflicted with the ending, not least because of the ridiculously motivated fan backlash but if they want to alter or add to it, that's their call. That said, I think, imperfect and somewhat clumsy as it was, the ending made a fair bit of sense and did offer a conclusive answer about the Reapers, their reason for being and their objective.

The stuff left unanswered is inconsequential shit (and hardly the first time the Mass Effect series has made a leap of logic) and I personally didn't mind the lack of complete clarity, if for no other reason than it fitted with Mass Effect's larger, overarching themes.

Bang on there mate.

[The-Marb]

^^^yeh Conq...id agree also.

[Eli Vance]

The end makes perfect sense. One mightn't like it, but it does make sense.

I never said the ending doesn't make sense. What I don't like is how its been left.

My point is if all that after Shepard gets knocked out is in his or her mind then none of the stuff on the Citadel actually happened. That leaves the ending as Shep getting knocked out and having a vision of his or her internal conflict with the results of what would happen with the choices of a, b or c. In other words, the Citadel, Reapers and Mass Relays haven't been destroyed in whichever pretty colour the player chose because that choice hasn't actually been made yet.

I don't see how leaving the success or failure of breaking the cycle completely unanswered as inconsequential or acting as any form of conclusion whichever way its dressed up. In the end, I don't know whether Shep succeeded or not which leaves me thinking what was the point in playing these games in the first place.

[j2000_nr]

I'm with you Eli there

CT makes some good points, a bit of mystery is always a good thing.

However, I still feel that I needed a little bit more than three colours.

But this is all just IMO!

[Keep 117]

Why do you have to know "why?" and "who?". An urge to answer these questions has led the internet to come up with this indoctrination theory. Not every little question needs to be answered. It doesn't matter who the lad on the Citadel is or where he came fom.

The ending was still shite though, nothing to do with clarification just that it was shite.

[TheSelkie]

Ignoring the endings issues, another problem I had with the game was the squad choice. Having not got the DLC yet I was left with a measly 6 squad members to choose from; only one of whom was really "new", and he was a bit of a knob (I've saved the galaxy twice, I've earned the right to be viewed with some degree of awe). That's just over half of what I had to choose from in ME2. I found myself begging every old squadmate to tag along to add some variety to the missions, but instead ended up playing the entire game with Garrus and Liara. It's the only aspect where I felt the game had really taken a step back from the work of ME2.

[conkerconquer]

Have to largely agree there...the dlc character sort of made up for it with me but even still, after the great roster of ME2, ME3 was more than a bit limp in its squad offerings.

[Dynamite Dan]

Bioware said they wanted it to be more contained or something this time but I still would have liked to see some of the ME2 characters show up again.

There's definitely a chance more will show up though, spoilers below:

Not many of the characters have a good reason for not joining you:

Wrex - Won't show up, could have been a temporary squadmate but he obviously has other things to worry about.

Mordin - Again, could have been a temp squadmate but he has a role he needs to play.

Thane - Same as Mordin.

Legoion - Same as Mordin.

Miranda - Has a fairly good reason (Wanting to try things herself) but at the same time I'm sure Shep could convince her to join and get help.

Samara - Her code says to go where she is most needed, Shep could easily convince her that helping her was more important.

Jacob - Wanted to help the scientists, and could also probably be persuaded that joining the squad would be the best way to do this.

Grunt - He loses his squad and wants to keep fighting the war. Surely joining his battlemaster would be the best option.

Jack - Wants to protect her Students but again, she could be convinced.

Zaeed - Literally does nothing after you meet him so it'd make sense for him to join you instead.

Kasumi - Simply doesn't want to be part of another suicide mission, another one who could be convinced.

I'd say Jack (The only character to get a huge redesign) and Grunt are the most likely. Samara, Zaeed and Kasumi are definitely possible (Jacob would make sense too but I think Bioware will probably miss him out).

Plus, if you look about the Normany the Life Support room and the basement are both empty. There's lots of space on the bottom floor too, along with a couple of rooms that have been blocked.

So yeah, there's still a chance we'll get a bigger squad. Even, if we'll probably have to pay for it.

[ClownTrousers]

ME2 characters weren't big in 3 in case they were dead. That's all.

[The-Marb]

Id have liked the odd ME2 charcater back but didnt grate.

BTW the life support area is used by the DLC Prothean character. Hes ace, hes a soldier with biotics...i used him a lot.

On my epic 3 game renegade playthrough and 2 hours into 3. Although its much more linear its got some brilliant aspects to it.