238 replies to this topic

[Nevermind]

Well, I personally think that line about destroying synthetics is misread, or I'm reading more of it than I should and accepting it wasn't as punctuated as it should have been. The Catalyst controls the Reapers but not other AI. It would destroy Reaper tech and specifically the Geth because they now have Reaper code (remember the Geth were never controlled, they chose to join the Reapers/Saren). Other AIs don't. I thought he was delivering the line to Shepard about synthetics being "a part of you" as being more a commentary on the way of life with technology rather than "you have robot bits". Shepard can also survive the destroy option despite being cybernetic, so...


By the way, this is my Shepard ID Code, in case anyone is curious enough to input it and check out my Shep:

2321111QWD3MCAM94WQWM1AVFWF51W4E466

Edited by Lazurukeel, 30 April 2012 - 01:12 AM.

[Nevermind]

Hey, would anyone be willing to temporarily put away their ragequits for some multiplayer action?

Looks gudd.

[Sir Deimos]

[Selena]

Hey, would anyone be willing to temporarily put away their ragequits for some multiplayer action?

Looks gudd.

I don't have gold, but the game did have that 2-day gold pass come with it, so I might be able to this weekend.

[DarkJuno]

While I did go from not midning to disliking the ending, it still doens't really bug me that much. I'm disappoitned now that I've had all the time to mull voer it, though if they had gone and tried to hint at it all this time rather then springing it at the last second, I'd probably actually like it. Something like The Big O, to avoid using the obvious Gainax series, was good because it gradually moved from its somewhat realistic basis in the mystery of what was going on to being one big giant WTF in the end. Granted, the bizzareness of the ending had to do with them thinking they'd get a third season to explain it and then...not, but it's still a more acceptable ending then what happend here.

I'm curious, what could the DLC possibly be? I liked how ME2's DLC missions could be done after the end and the dialogue would reflect the time it took place for the player, but didn't ME1 have it so you HAD to do them before a certain point? While I have that save the game makes for you before the point of no return I don't know if I really want to. Hopefully it's not a new squadmate since I definitely don't feel like replaying the entire game to see if they have anything to say, and personally I basically just stuck with Garrus and Liara the whole way if possible so...meh.

And little sidenotes that don't seem that important since the ending is taking up way too much discussion, but I'm actually kind of glad I blindly chose keeping Kaiden alive instead of Ashley in Genesis, mostly since everyone else saved Ashley. Also, maybe it's just me, but comapring their two versions of scenes, Ashley's just an utterly ungrateful bitch in her one ME2 scene comapred to Kaiden's whiney but somewhat reasonable way of putting things. As for ME3, maybe I've only seen the romance versions, but damn is Ashley a whiney, clingy, mopey character. I'll assume she's a lot more bearable if you didn't romance her, but sheesh. Kaiden is disappointed but he takes it pretty well in stride - though I assume my even getting that is a glitch since I chose a Liara romance.

[Selena]

I'm curious, what could the DLC possibly be? I liked how ME2's DLC missions could be done after the end and the dialogue would reflect the time it took place for the player, but didn't ME1 have it so you HAD to do them before a certain point?

Nah, you could do ME1's DLC after the main quest. Kind of defeats the point though, since the rewards for ME1 DLC were usually all armor/weapons/things-that-are-useful-in-the-actual-game type items.

Bioware's commented that there's no post-ME3 DLC. Thus why they jump you back to before the Cerberus mission. I've heard rumors of DLC that focuses on liberating Omega alongside Aria. It'll be bonus side missions like that. I'd like to see a big ME2 cast reunion mission, but it probably won't happen due to the number of potential dead people.


As for Ashley, she... is not the same person she was in ME1. At all. In ME1 she was the token smartass. She was tough, independent, had a shoot-first-ask-questions-later mentality, and was pretty much the "stop being all emotional" renegade foil to a paragon Shepard. She'd have lines like "Why is it whenever someone says 'with all due respect,' it really means 'kiss my ass?'" The main reason people didn't like Ashley is that she'll shoot Wrex if you fail that standoff on Virmire, which is really just their own fault for not having enough charm. Or that she's somehow a space-racist, but that's nonsense.

In ME2 and 3, Garrus -- who was just a regular ol' cowboy cop in ME1 -- assumed her role, albeit with his own spin on it. And because that became "his thing," there wasn't much left of her character in the latter two games. Her character went from "career military renegade smartass with a chip on her shoulder" to being constantly paranoid about Shepard and Cerberus. And was otherwise a pretty dull, stereotypical marine-type.

Only time she ever felt like "old Ashley" was during her drunk scene on the Normandy.



Don't have Kaidan in my game, so can't comment on him. Was definitely the whiny goody-two-shoes in ME1, but seems more laid back in ME3 from what I've seen.

[Nevermind]

As soon as Tali was available in ME2, Ash received the cold treatment on Horizon when she started whinging about Cerberus. Same as in the start of ME3 and then when she asked about "us" in the hospital, I flat out told her no. She wasn't bad after that; very neutral and kicked some ass.

If DLC comes out with a character as cool as Javik, I will take.

[Fin]

i shot ashley.





in her face.

felt good, man.

[TheAvengerLever]

With what?

[Fin]

a gun. femshep doesn't really have any other equipment. as far as i know.

[Sir Deimos]

Not even lady bits? D:

[Selena]

You'd be surprised what you can salvage from dead asari commandos.

[Fin]

Not even lady bits? D:

i doubt bioware were that thorough when they designed her character model.

[Egann]

Not even lady bits? D:

i doubt bioware were that thorough when they designed her character model.

Great. That's just great. Now every time I ever see Femshep in the future I'll be thinking about Bible Black.

<.<

>.>

...Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

[Selena]

Extended Cut is out on Tuesday (as in this Tuesday - the 26th). Source is here. Will require 1.9 gigs of space. Free. According to Bioware, you should reload your pre-Cerberus base save file, since the EC will have new variables that feature your decisions from that point on. That's where the game dumps you after the end credits.

Interview:

[Veteran]

Let us know how it really ends.

Games 2 and 3 were dreams and Shepard's in suspended animation on Ilos and you have to kill Saren again.

[DarkJuno]

Mass Effect 4 will clearly be a new character being guided by Force Ghost Shepard - whose glowy color will depend on which ending you have.

[SteveT]

I can't shake the feeling that this is just going to backfire on them. I'm looking forward to seeing their logic explained, and understanding what they were trying to accomplish with the ending, but it'll take a lot of explaining to convince me that the ending was salvageable in the first place. This is likely to disappoint people even further and just reawaken the rage.

I'm in no rush to download this. Whenever I get to it, I'll have to try to keep an open mind and remember that they're trying to redeem themselves.

EDIT: Oh, and Galactic Readiness. If I find out I have to grind multiplayer again for this, I'm out. They've hinted that they may have fixed that, though.

Edited by SteveT, 23 June 2012 - 09:48 PM.

[Selena]

If anyone wants to do XBox multiplayer tomorrow morning (pacific time), then Mitch and I are sorely looking for another hired gun. Doing 4-man missions with just two people is proving to be a bit... difficult. He's an infiltrator. I'm a vanguard. I'm on a 2-day XBL pass, so I can only play for a limited time.

[Chiaki]

I'll probably be home by about 4-4:30 today (pacific time), if you guys wanna try playing then, or I could stay up/get up tomorrow morning if your pass is still good then.

[Selena]

That might be a good time -- depends on if Mitch can drag his sorry Australian butt out of bed by then!

Which class are you?

[Chiaki]

(You can play as any and every class when you're playing multiplayer, unless there's another way to play that I don't know of?)

I prefer Sentinel and Adept the most, followed by Vanguard and Engineer. I can play okay as a Soldier or Infiltrator, but I find the Soldier class to be a bit boring, and I'm not a great sniper. I'll check the currant levels of all my classes as soon as I can.


UPDATE: I'm home now and ready to play whenever!

Also checked the levels of my classes...Engineer is the only one I have right now thats at 20, though Vanguard is 19. Adept is at 11, Infiltrator 8, Soldier 5, and Sentinel 1. I'm playing a few rounds with a friend right now, hopefully will be able to level some people up.

Edited by Chiaki, 25 June 2012 - 07:01 PM.

[Selena]

We should be on within the next half hour, I think. I just had to make dinner and Laz had to run a quick errand.

Gamertags are Lenabot and Lazurukeel.

edit: or slightly longer

[Selena]

Double post of victory. Extended Cut. I did it.

Amazing how small changes can alter the whole tone and theme of the ending. It's better. The endings are the same (plus one new ending), but more elaborate and with all those pesky transition scenes adding in where they should be. With a basic but effective epilogue.

Not-quite-a-spoiler warning: DO NOT JOKINGLY SHOOT THE CATALYST ANYMORE U GUISE, HE GETS MAD AND SHIT HAPPENS.

I haven't redone it all to explore each option (that's what youtube will be for). I did the Destroy+Max War Assets ending. And the new ending. Details in spoiler tags.

Spoiler

The Cerberus Base section is basically unchanged. Some minor cutscene tweaks throughout the Earth mission, but most of the changes start from the scene where you meet the Catalyst.

* Beam run is altered. Your squadmates are injured, so Shepard calls for an evac and tells Joker to get the hell outta dodge. "I need to know that somebody made it out alive!" Parting words with your squadmates. Joker flies off.

* Slight, curious tweak upon your arrival inside the Citadel. There's a mechanized whirring noise when Shepard opens her eyes after Anderson wakes her up via radio. A bit more evidence to the Shepard-is-a-clonething-of-the-actual-Shepard-who-died-for-reals theory.

* Some extra cutscenes of Joker still on an escape vector.

* Illusive Man scenes unchanged.

* Extra Admiral Hackett scene as the Citadel arms open.

* Catalyst now has new dialogue options. First and foremost are explanations on the Crucible, the Reapers, and how the Catalyst was created. They keep is vague, but it's more substantial and fulfilling than the original version.

* Shepard now has the renegade option to basically say "this idea is shit" when the Catalyst presents the three choices. The "paragon" answer will be the same as the original response.

* Catalyst also explains that the Destroy burst won't eradicate everything apart from synthetics, just "damage" it. At least on max war assets.

* Fourth ending. The "fuck you" ending. Shepard says no to all options and refuses to fire the Crucible. Flash forward to Liara's beacon being uncovered by a new civilization in a time of peace, implying that everybody died, but there's secured hope for the next cycle, who may not be forced to deal with the same ultimatum.

* Shooting the Catalyst is another way to trigger the "fuck you" ending, so don't do it unless that's what you want. The Catalyst gets all ticked off no matter how you choose this option. In a Harbinger voice: "SO BE IT" *walks off in a huff*

* They state your loss in inevitable if you don't fire the Crucible, since galactic forces have taken a heavy beating. Thus why you get the "next cycle" ending.

* I picked Destroy. Assets were pretty much at max.

* Additional scenes emphasizing that organics and most of their technology is untouched by the blast. Scenes on other worlds (Thessia) showing that the blast is radiating throughout the galaxy, killing Reapers and leaving organics alone. No scenes involving the death of the geth, but you do get a flash of EDI smiling sadly and she will not be present at the end.

* Scene on the Normandy during the "run from the blast". For me it was Ashley (I presume it'll be your LI/closest friend) telling Joker that "Yes, we have to leave Shepard." Joker very unwilling to do so, but gives in. NO use of the mass relays during the retreat, just conventional FTL. The Normandy is not destroyed or harmed, but somehow goes down on the wild planet anyway. Maybe loss of control while Joker panicked.

* Epilogue, mostly well-done pictures and limited animation while Hackett explains how everyone's going to rebuild and prosper and have fun time now. Shots of your ME2 squadmates starting a new life. Shots of the krogan starting over, the quarians prospering, etc. Depending on if you saved them, of course.

* Cinematic of the surviving fleets, and of the Normandy taking off after it's repaired, leaving the wild planet behind.

* Scene of your squadmates putting a "Commander Shepard" plaque on the Normandy memorial wall. For me, it was Ashley, and she never built up the nerve to actually add it - second guessing. Not sure if the same hesitation is on the other endings. Everyone is a sad.

* On destroy, the "Shepard lives" breathing scene is still intact if you have high assets.

It's a definite improvement, and, had they done this from the beginning, I think there would have been a lot less butthurt involved. Still some questionable logic in spots, but now more permissible.

edit:

Spoiler

Youtube has the video for each extended ending.

Synthesis is arguably the "best" ending, since it shows Reapers and all organics and geth living in harmony and surpassing the prosperity that had been there before. EDI narrates the epilogue. Though I still can't get over the hurdle of rewriting everyone's DNA, which is a bit.... unethical to me. Shepard is definitely dead, and the name plaque goes up without hesitation. Bonus for picking this ending: Unmasked quarians, though you don't see much.

Control is half-inspiring, half-ominous. Bonus for this ending is that Shepard narrates the epilogue. She's basically become a loving God that's willing to protect her creations with brute force if necessary. Reapers help rebuild everything under Shepard's control. Definitely, definitely "dead" in this one. Though I guess nothing could stop Shepard from walking around in an EDI-suit. Though she's largely gone "beyond" herself -- the new Shepard obviously does not equate herself with the organic one.

Destroy is the most conventional of the endings. Blow shit up, rebuild afterward. Hackett narrates. Shepard lives. EDI is dead and the geth are gone. Relays can be rebuilt in all three endings, though more work is required in Destroy. I mostly prefer this one because, apart from the geth (we can just make new ones, right?), there aren't really any unfortunate implications here. Synthetics can be rebuilt at any time, bad things dead, no potentially out of control Shepard-god, no rewriting DNA without permission.

[Veteran]

But what colour is the new ending? THAT'S THE IMPORTANT BIT

[Selena]

XD

Refusal has no color or explosion. It's just a quick "NO" followed by the cutscene.


In any case, yes, the extensions make it all better. At least as far as I'm concerned. Closure is a good thing. I maybe even liked the new destroy ending. Or at least didn't mind it. You know, ignoring the fact that I just killed the geth, but I'm holding out that they're saved to a quarian USB somewhere.

[Veteran]

Browsing the comments on Kotaku I get the impression the new ending exists to make the other endings look better. I think this is a stroke of genius by Bioware. Purely from a "what can we do in 3 months?" standpoint, I'd say that's a success.

At any rate, if I were to ever get the game (no need at this point really) my preferred ending would definitely be Control.

Spoiler

Everything lives except Shepard.

[DarkJuno]

Downloading now, may or may not have time to do it tonight but we'll see. Going to go for Synthesis again and see how that's different - who's going for Control (and has the game right now)?

Spoiler

...at the very least, Lance Henrikson narration is always a weakness of mine. <.<;

Edited by DarkJuno, 26 June 2012 - 08:03 PM.

[Ninja]

Just played it. Initial thoughts on it are mixed.

Spoiler

The poor people at Bioware really tried. Credit where it's due, they tried. They managed to fill a few of the more gaping holes, the "how did the crew get back to the ship" and the "why were the fleets running away ones".... but I still feel like a better ending should have just gone from Anderson's death straight to their new cinematics. Cut out anything with the citadel microphone gun beam of karaoke discoball awesome going off, then jump straight to the new ending scenes and the Hackett voiceover. Leave it up in the air as to if Shep survives or not.

The new little ending scenes gave some nice sense of closure. I romanced Garrus in my playthrough, and he was the one hesitating over putting up a "Shepherd" plaque on the wall in my game.

Also, does anyone else think that it's the voice of the producer saying, "So be it." in the new ending?

Edited by Ninja, 26 June 2012 - 09:25 PM.

[Chiaki]

Two words:

Spoiler

BABY KROGAN!!!

In all seriousness, though, I like the new endings a lot better. Probably not much I can say that hasn't already been said.

Spoiler

Seriously, though, they didn't think to show the Normandy picking up your squadmates during the beam run before? Or the fleets being ordered to retreat from the explosion? Not even the Normandy taking off of the unknown planet? Its like a hyperactive friend telling a story and being so excited that they leave parts out, and its only after you've calmed them down they they can tell the whole story.

Better late than never, though. I'll either play the other endings or check them out on youtube; stuck with the Destroy ending personally. It still feels right.