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Mass Effect, third playthrough


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Unheard of for me. Playing a a series of games straight through for a third time. Since my second was right after the first it wasn't as satisfying.

 

This time has been great. I remember missions just enough to take the right people along, but not so well that the story is boring.

 

First time I was a female soldier/biotic hybrid, do-gooder bisexual paragon.

Second time I was a straight biotic, male, tried to be renegade, but just didn't like the dick dialog.

 

This time I'm playing the soldier/engineer hybrid-- which has been fun as I always like sniper guns, but has a good assortment of powers. Playing paragon again-- this time I'm going to bone Liara all the way through.

 

ME1 is so much fun, but I always forget the crazy level of enhanced detail and quality jump when I pop in ME2. Next time I might just run the story module to skip ME1. It's great, but it's recycled sets and driving the Mako for eons gets tiresome.

 

Also interesting how my perceptions of characters changed based on dialog and when I meet them. Granted a lot of the material is the same-- but last time I played ME2 I got Zyeed and he seemed like he was sort of just tacked on. This time I picked him up first since the expansion was already in place and had him in my party for the first few missions because I find Jacob insufferable.

 

Omega is still my favorite location, I wish there was more with the thief girl-- she's what inspired playing as an infiltrator... though my invisibility never lasts as long as hers. boo.

 

I'm still split on thinking it is the most amazing space opera ever, or just seeing it's taken the best from Star Wars, Star Trek, SBG and several other sources and made them into a cohesive interactive world. Either way, it's still incredibly satisfying.

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Excellent. I've replayed the whole series 3 times myself. (ME2 probably 4 or 5) If you talk to 'the internet' about Mass Effect all they can do is bitch about the last 20 minutes of a 75 hour adventure. So it's refreshing to see some positivity about it.

 

Replaying ME1 is a bit of a grind though. It's worth it for the story and character building alone. But my god the controls and the reused assets.

 

Kasumi is the thief you mentioned. Loved her character, I usually take her with me. She was awesome in combat and her dialogue was always great too.

 

One trouble I seem to run into when I replay it is that I have a hard time choosing the 'other' option for certain choices. Seems like I take ownership of the option that I chose the first time around as MY choice, so actively choosing the opposite of what I would normally pick seems forced and wrong to me. I do it because of course I want to see how it plays out. But that initial hesitation is always there.

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It's my one complaint-- if you pick the middle reaction you don't get the higher tier dialog options later. You have to commit to paragon and renegade... But renegade is such a dick.

 

I wanted it to be like both paths were heroic, but one is tougher-- like the difference between Captain America and Wolverine.

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Yeah, seeing a dialogue option greyed out is the worst feeling. lol I wasn't a fan of the gated choices either.

 

Complete renegade Shepard is a complete ass, though. Also if you don't pay for the cosmetic surgery he looks like the terminator. haha I guess if you want a more Wolverine character they want you to pick and choose when to be a jerk. Thats how I always ended up playing it. I can't stomach every choice being one or the other. Always a mix.

 

There is a mission when you go to recruit Thane where you are making your way up the tower and you come across a guard talking **** about you near a window. I always have to throw him out of there, no matter what. I honestly don't even know how it plays if you don't do it.

 

 

For what it's worth, the options in the new Dragon Age seem to be much more vague. There is not a paragon/renegade system but they do have an approval rating sort of system for all of your companions. But some of the choices, I have no idea at all if I'm going to piss everybody off until after I pick it. Which I suppose is more true to life. It will be interesting to see just how much of Inquisitions systems they take for the next Mass Effect.

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Yeah I ALWAYS put s bullet in Udina.

 

Do we know what we lose out on if there's not the chance to make upper tier dialogs? I know it's hard to romance Jack and to save Wrex from Ashley without them.

 

I'm playing it with a code this time. Since I'm not afraid to miss anything this time out I'm trying to be as character driven as I can. I played nice in ME1 save for calling Ash on her xenophobia, calling Udina on his BS, railing on XO-Geni people and hanging up on the council a few times. Still helped those in need, saved the council, and coddled my crew.

 

In ME2 I'm a little more bitter-- mostly toward authority figures. Talking to the council and Illusive man usually goes renegade, but I still help innocents, coddle my crew and try not to leave anyone for dead.

 

I've told Mordin to shut up a couple times...

 

Oh and, just because I haven't done it before, I sacrificed Ash instead of boring ass Kaiden. Now wonder who Vega will hook up with at the party...

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Mass Effect rules. The only thing I'd do to change it (for the next one maybe?) is have a class that is specifically melee based. I get that it's sci-fi, but that doesn't mean should e restricted to guns and space magic. I'd like to be able to play a ghost style melee assassin type character within this universe.

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Yeah, space ninja for sure, steal a few ideas from the Arkham games.

 

My hope for ME4 is that it's a bit more open world. For as big as it feels, and as many places you can go, the levels are pretty on the rails, and the free roaming areas are generally pretty contained.

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Yeah I ALWAYS put s bullet in Udina.

 

Do we know what we lose out on if there's not the chance to make upper tier dialogs? I know it's hard to romance Jack and to save Wrex from Ashley without them.

Udina never gets any love from me either. I think the only thing we lose out on is major story choices... like the Illusive Man at the end of ME3 and Saren at the end of ME1. Other than those type of things, I think there are a couple of minor characters that may or may not show up for a couple of lines or a small sidequest in later games.

 

I still can't bring myself to save Kaiden yet either. lol I keep telling myself that one of these times I will, just to see what happens. But when it gets to that moment I can't get over how much I hate him.

 

The one thing they keep talking about regarding ME4 is exploration. So that speaks a little more to it being more open world. Dragon Age Inquisition is very open world and it's great. I actually hope that ME4 is a little bit less so. But yeah, I like the narrative driven nature of the missions but I'd like more options on how to complete them.

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Red Dead Redemption, State of Decay and GTAV are games I think make really good use of their world's. There's the primary story mission that sends you places to do missions, there's location based stories that are triggered when you're in an area that suck you in, and there's random encounters that are usually short, but so varied that it makes the world seem organic. Mass Effect could employ that pretty easy.

 

The side assignments you get from just talking to people are already similar in spirit.

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I've played Engineer. If I recall correctly that class peaks in ME2, but is still fun in ME3. In ME3 I favored the class that HulkSmashes via a teleporting like speed dash or whatever... Vanguard, I think. Being able to dash, roll, shoot, repeat felt fiercely powerful in ME3. Loved Wrex's planet missions with that. With that said, overall the Sentinel is my favorite class.

 

The ME Trilogy is the best scifi series I've ever played. The only things I wished it had was ship combat and more armor customization.

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Ship combat for sure... even if it is for a few select missions-- like the Mako or Hammerhead... for some bits you just have to take a fighter in.

 

Armor customization is sorta there with swapping pieces and painting-- but it's all just for modifiers. If they gave you some deep custom paint options along the lines of a WWE games CAW abilities I'd love that. Badass power armor has been a thing I have been obsessed with since I was a little kid between Iron Man comics, Robotech's Cyclons and as I got older there was Starship Troopers, Aliens' loader... so yeah, I'll echo that sentiment.

 

For that matter, they could got GTA and let you mod up and customize your own star fighter too.

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As long as I am wishing...

 

Other wishes for ME4...

 

-Character creation that includes options for non human characters

-more character classes or more varied skills to design your own class

-more wardrobe options outside of armor

-bigger biotic powers alba Force Unleashed

-a melee combat system for unarmed or hand held weapons

 

I'm stumped how they can continue the story in a way that doesn't canonize one of the three endings, plus, none of them quite leave the galaxy back to normal. Given that they've hinted that save files will likely be used in some way and that the game is going to lean heavy on exploration of a new part of space and building your character from small time to hero instead of starting as a hero like Sheppard... I have a theory...

 

Somewhere between ME2 and 3 the council decided to send a team or fleet or something through to wherever the reapers came from and they were never heard from again. ME4 catches up with these people, or maybe their descendants and they are in another galaxy, transported via some Reaper relay. After the end of ME3 they are cut off from returning and have to start new in this different galaxy. Maybe some line of communication is established that makes use of the save file for the state of affairs back home... (And allows for transmission of plans for armor, weapons, gear, etc ). No idea what the bigger story would be-- but it works as a set up.

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That idea works well with my son wanting the lead to not be a badass soldier to start with, but a scientist/doctor. He says the badass comes with playing. lol. He envisions an Indy Jones type whose in command of a science squad. A ship class akin to the USS Grissom from ST3, another example being something classed like Bev Crusher's ship in STNG's All Good Things. He thinks this could add drama to combat given that as a player we're seasoned run/gun experts but now we must balance this tendency because our hero is working with a less stacked deck.

 

He is hoping this would allow for more varied mission completion options. He's a big fan of Word Fu.

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I like the idea of it taking place in a whole new part of space during the time of the original games. One thing they have to avoid though, is making this new game all about the reapers. We've done that and we need some type of new threat. No idea what it is going to be though.

 

I'm really fascinated on how they are going to make it work at all, really. I've tried to think many times on how I would do it and I just can't crack it.

 

Non human character creation would be awesome though.

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I keep think a different Galaxy since we know traveling through the whole galaxy via the Galaxy map covers a lot of it, though they do mention areas the Citadel races haven't been-- maybe it's wherever the Omega Relay them since only a small part of space is seen there... Or former Geth space?

I think the harder nut to crack is that the ME3 ending left everyone a synthetic hybrid and/or all the relays are destroyed meaning travel is limited to the much shorter trips that onboard mass drives can handle.

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I think they can have their cake and eat it too. All endings but one (inaction, the hidden easter egg ending) defeat the reapers and it's cycle.

 

So Bioware can honor the active choices by showing that while the reaper force and it's cycle were defeated and the solution spread out thru the relays that the effects were 1) not instantaneous 2) not all reaching/encompassing. In otherwords the effect could be localized to relay systems.

 

I think this is supported by the ending vids; the energy needing to travel to each relay, the Normandy at first being able to out pace it.

 

Minor copout, but it honors the resolutions while providing for a new start using whatever new direction they wish.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well the very final post-credit bit shows that Shepard is almost a fairy tale in the far future and that there are many versions of the story. The point is to say-- play again! Make a different version! To that-- ME4 or even the Mass Effect movie in development can use that as a set up to say "here's what COULD have happened."

 

Anyway. Just finished third playthrough... the feels, people. THE FEELZ.

 

Seriously, some moments of ME3 evoke more of an emotional response in me than most movies and TV shows. Like before, this is aided by playing the Citadel DLC at just the right moment, right before the last act of the story. I did all the DLCs for all games this time too. On my second time I'd played Omega for ME3 (disappointing) and Liar of the Shadow Broker in ME2 (amazing) along with the Hammerhead and extra squad members. This time I added Leviathan, Overlord, From the Ashes, and Arrival which were all amazing and added to the story. Arrival totally changed the first act of ME3 for this playthrough. All of them are worth it, loved Javvik on the squad.

 

Obviously the key story is relatively the same-- I managed a good paragon/renegade balance this time and I chose to destroy the reapers, which felt right given how I'd played. Felt more right than the other two options.

 

Saving Kaiden came out okay-- he's slightly less annoying in ME3. It was fun to basically be able to break his heart in each game though. It's like-- dude, give it up. It also confirmed my suspicion that there is an algorithm at play in the Citadel that picks your least used squad member to deliver the "I feel like I never get picked" line.

 

I think this time through what hit me the most was realizing that each character has unique responses for every mission. The things they say during levels I thought was filler-- cause I caught a couple examples of it between the first two plays... but I also didn't mix up the squads as much as I did this time. There were some moments that really shaped dialog choices based on what other people were saying. At any rate, net time through it's back to Ashley Williams, space-racist.

 

Also-- SO many little moments on the Normandy that I missed rushing to levels before-- like overhearing drunk Tali badgering Javvik about liking Liara, or walking in on Garrus and Tali making out. Just so damn good.

 

I think the most interesting aspect of this time, and something that really shapes unique playthroughs is the love-story. While who you choose to pursue as a love interest doesn't effect gameplay directly, or truly change the outcome of anything, it still manages to create a pretty unique b-story to the main plot that ends up effecting some of the choices you make... (unless you are an unfeeling bro gamer that wants to blow shit up).

 

The first time I played was as a femshep, and I didn't realize in ME1 that I had to instigate the romance by talking to people, so I got no play. In ME2 I went after Garrus, but then stumbled into a flirty conversation with Kelly an realized my femshep was a total space-lesbian. I tried to switch over to her, but Garrus showed up for awkwardness before the suicide mission. In ME3 I dumped Garrus in favor of coming out as a space-lesbian and going after Traynor.

 

On my broshep playthrough I knew I wanted Jack from the start, because she was my favorite character. I boned Ashley in ME1 cause I could, but after the awkward encounter in ME2 I had no problem going after Jack. Her romance doesn't have a ton of screentime, but it's a great turn for her character. And in ME3 it makes her few appearances great-- especially the love scene in the Citadel DLC when she tattoos Shepard to make sure she can ID his body if he dies on Earth. That was a great scene.

 

This time, thanks to the Shadow Broker DLC I was able to romance Liara all the way through and it was super rewarding to see all the screen time devoted to it. Those voice actors deserve money and awards. While Liara's shift from shy nerdy scientist to full on criminal warrior was apparent before, it was really strengthened by the relationship-- you could see Shepard's influence on her, especially if you play a little renegade. I've heard that this is Bioware's preferred romance option and it shows, they got a lot of extra scenes together, and lots of little details in mission dialog... and the one that killed me-- after the party in the Citadel DLC you wake up together and she leaves the room. When you take control and walk out, she's on the couch near by and she gives this little wave. Crazy detail that adds to the feels.

 

I can't think of a single movie or TV show that inspired a post as big as this...

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The biggest thing I'd want out of the next Mass Effect for the choices to not be so morally clear. Whenever Shepard has a conversation with someone and has to make some sort of judgement call, it's way too binary in how you have to make a "good guy" or "bad guy" selection. I'd rather have to make the decision for myself without knowing the moral outcome, and deal with the repercussions or rewards later without knowing what they'd be.

Other than that, I love these games dearly too.

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I like to think I have a good moral compass and ability to see story possiblities, but I felt there was enough ambiguity in minor and key decisions. Not all, of course, some more than others. In many cases I felt all possible choices in a given situation held validity. Example; The crew is snatched in ME2. Both options are sound. Be patient, ensure you're ready or be confident in your present condition and act immediately. Just because one choice allows for events to unfold in a more complete level of classic heroism doesn't mean the other decision was wrong morally or tactically. Shepard is not a precog. :-) As gamers we can be by playing for that optimal or "perfect" resolution.

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Yeah, but if you wait too long your crew is turned to juice. The Arrival DLC had one of those moments and even being good I killed several hundred thousand Batarians as a result. I agree with D-Ray though-- the problem is it would be great to play out each situation how it deserves to be played. The lock out of choices unless you pay full goody goody or full dick is unfair.

 

I'd like it to effect game mechanics less, and story more.

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