Mass Effect 3 - 5 Reasons I'm Nervous @ Kotaku

Dhruin

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Kotaku has 5 Reaons I'm Nervous About Mass Effect 3. I'd say they're mostly flimsy - and often only tangentially related to the actual game. A small spoiler applies to the first reason:
I sincerely hope that the rest of this game isn’t so obvious and manipulative. I have been known to bawl like a baby during emotionally engaging dog-food commercials, but the idea of crying after seeing this sequence is simply beyond me. I’ve always enjoyed Mass Effect for its morally ambiguous characters and conflicts, its well thought-out background, and its slightly campy, Star Trek vibe. This was some straight-up Michael Bay crap, and I think that the series can do better than that.
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I think the poor bastard doesn't realize how childish he used to be, and now that his standards went up, he'd probably not give a piss about ME1 either.
They grow up so fast.
 
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I think the poor bastard doesn't realize how childish he used to be, and now that his standards went up, he'd probably not give a piss about ME1 either.
They grow up so fast.

There is the possibility of absolute truth in your comment (which is to say you may be right).

But (you just had to know the "but" was coming after that opening) — but, I enjoyed both ME1 and ME2. My age at the time I played was sufficient that the years between ME1 and now don't overlap adolescence, or even early adulthood. Not saying that either game was high brow literature, equivalent to a great movie, a great TV series (Yes, Virginia, there were a few), or to an engrossing novel.

ME1 and ME2 each had enough substance that I was willing to actively participate in the role of Shepard. And I enjoyed it.

The thing that worries me about ME3, and the Kotaku article touched on it, is the tendency of many modern RPGs to evolve as the game progresses, into more and more of a "shooter", so that the last quarter or so of the game becomes nothing but a marathon of fight, fight, fight. A seemingly never ending gauntlet of battles. All fight, no rpg. (Risen was IMO a good if not very good RPG, until the last quarter or so when it became such a pure shooter-fight game in my perception, that the rest of the game was spoiled for me).

Its a question of balance. Fighting, shooting, physical conflict; they're all good and add a great deal to a game, but only in moderation. BW has exhibited a tendency to move more to the pure shooter, while substituting virtually-substance-less segments for what used to be deep story portions of the game. And don't forget the possibility of numerous substance-less romance segments.

This may not happen to ME3. I have high hopes it won't. But there's this little voice in the back of my head…

__
 
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I have to agree with the Kotaku article, all the recent buzz about the game is pointing to a GoW-esque string of "epic" combat set-pieces and not much else.

I remember that the first words from Biowarians about ME3 were that it was to be closer to ME1 in rpgness than ME2, but that quickly changed after DA2 started to stink.
 
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5 reasons I don't care about Mass Effect 3 -

1. I got bored with Mass Effect 1 and never finished it.
2. I'd rather watch a Star Wars movie.
3. I'm tired of hearing about how great Mass Effect is.
4. I don't care about romancing NPCs.
5. I'm out of ideas.
 
5 reasons I don't care about Mass Effect 3 -

1. I got bored with Mass Effect 1 and never finished it.
2. I'd rather watch a Star Wars movie.
3. I'm tired of hearing about how great Mass Effect is.
4. I don't care about romancing NPCs.
5. I'm out of ideas.

Are you kidding? Mass Effect was really great! Oh, wait.
 
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@ RPGFool, maturization is not something you can spread over a period of time, it can take seconds or it can take forever. I wasn't implying anything of the sort. He could be 60 for all i care.
 
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@ RPGFool, maturization is not something you can spread over a period of time, it can take seconds or it can take forever. I wasn't implying anything of the sort. He could be 60 for all i care.

That being the case, I withdraw my statement that you could be correct. Adults are entitled to find their own enjoyment according to their own personal tastes without presumptuous input that their enjoyment is "childish". You don't get to make the decisions on what brings joy to other people. Once you understand that you will likely also understand you're in no position to judge the value or maturity of other people's personal recreational activities.

Thanks for the clarification.
 
You overestimate adulthood imo. Its more relative than you think
 
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You overestimate adulthood imo. Its more relative than you think

I said nothing, directly or implicitly, regarding what I think on the subject of adulthood. Nevertheless you believe you know what I think.

If you are really interested in knowing what other people are thinking you must listen and observe. Ask questions. Listen to to the answers with an open and inquisitive mind. Try to identify differences and commonalities between the other person and yourself. Observe and listen more. Then again. And again.

I can't tell you how many surprises I've found from tiny moments of understanding a tiny bit of another person. And I've yet a long path to travel.

[Edit] My apologizes for getting this thread off topic. And now to take a bit of my own advice… :) Good chance to learn.

@borcanu — My apologizes for my own presumptuousness. Please give me another chance.

You apparently didn't enjoy ME1. Any thoughts on why? Or what you disliked the most? Anything you can say about games that you really love? Any games you've played where you lose or almost lose awareness of passage of time? What makes a great RPG for you? How did ME1 fall short?

Regards and thanks. [End Edit]
 
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Mass Effect was good, but I still got bored 30 hours into it and never returned. It got tedious searching every planet in the game looking for sidequests (my compulsive nature wouldn't allow me to miss any), and frustrating trying to remember which planets you've searched already and which you haven't. It got to the point where I just said screw it! and quit. But the game wasn't bad. For the most part it was interesting. I just get bored easily.
 
My five reasons why I don't care about Mass Effect 3:

1. I enjoyed ME 1 maybe too much;
2. I consider ME 2 on the same way as Dragon Age 2, just a crap sequel;
3. Stupid useless multiplayer feature;
4. The franchise has become a sort of Gears of War, but with more guns and boobs;
5. Agreed with Fluent: watching a Star Wars movie is better.
 
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@Fluent - I identify with what you said. I tried ME1 when it first came out and gave up after about the same amt of time. I really didn't like the mini-games. I had also played and loved Dragon Age: Origins, and had expectations that ME1 didn't meet as a result. Never paid much attention to ME2 because of how ME1 hit me.

Then last year some ppl I trusted convinced me ME2 was at least worth a look (they really liked ME2 and that surprised me). So I played and was pleasantly surprised at my level of enjoyment. Though the story lacked the depth of DA:O imo, it did have reasonable depth and more importantly, a great deal of breadth. Lots to explore, play and interact. After that I gave ME1 another shot and found I did enjoy it. I had a better computer than when I first played and it made a huge difference in the mini-games.

One problem I did find was no record of which planets I had visited. I too was frustrated at that and ended up having to keep a pencil and paper record. But the story was better than I had remembered, perhaps with a greater distance from DA:O.

@ChaosTheory - I agree with you though I've come to believe that BW, not EA, is primarily responsible for BW's changes. My belief is the sale of BW to EA resulted from financial difficulties at BW due, in turn, to a difficult period of time in the video game industry.

From what I've seen in interviews of the BW doctors, they have absolutely bought into, if not initiated themselves, the changes following the merger. My belief is that the doctors are now much more focused on financial matters, as opposed to story matters, possibly due to a belief that they were responsible for letting BW get into a potentially dangerous financial state. I also get the impression that they also want to be the big guys at EA someday and believe they can do that and bring something to the table.

But I think they've overreacted at least somewhat, and lost sight along the way, of what they had and did that made their games special. Just my 2 cents.

__
 
Give me a goddamn break. Saying ME3 looks shallow compared to the first two or god forbid Dragon Age is like saying that a pool of water is less deep than your bath. Alright, this analogy wasn't as biting as I'd hoped it to be, but that's because we're on a family friendly forum and I aim to be boring - that is to say, I aim to please. Anyway, what's next? Saying Baldur's Gate had a deep and immersive storyline? Jesus christ man, go read a book
 
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1. I enjoyed ME 1 maybe too much;
2. I consider ME 2 on the same way as Dragon Age 2, just a crap sequel;

Short. Simple. Perfect summary :)

Considering sidequests as only "gather your party and make it loyal" it's maybe better than exploring another cloned planet you won't remember at all (remember BG2; Flesh armour, Red dragon fight, etc etc etc etc? I still do! after 10 years!), but nerfing RPG elements, inventory system and poor in comparison to ME1 intrigue makes ME2 an awful sign what happened to BioWare.
I won't comment DA2… simply to say it was the biggest disappointment for me in several years.
 
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The best thing I can say about ME2 is that it improved ME1 by removing some of it's systems, such as the inventory system which might have been the worst inventory system I have seen in a game. It's spectacular when a system is so horrible that the game is improved by removing the system from the game.
 
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I'll never comprehend this need to make every single darn game a multiplayer of some sort. If I want that, I'll play EQ2. Skyrim sure as heck didn't need it, nor did it suffer at all by not having it. I like "squad" games, and the concept works for me, but with something that wants to be an rpg, what's the point in having something other than the campaign mode?


-Carn
 
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I'll never comprehend this need to make every single darn game a multiplayer of some sort. If I want that, I'll play EQ2. Skyrim sure as heck didn't need it, nor did it suffer at all by not having it. I like "squad" games, and the concept works for me, but with something that wants to be an rpg, what's the point in having something other than the campaign mode?

I might be wrong, but I have noticed that the price tag on games with online component reduces at a lower rate than single player games (e.g. compare FEAR 3 with Deus Ex: HR, the latter is cheaper and yet better)!
 
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For me to be nervous, I'd have to be in a position where I could lose something.
 
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