Mass Effect 3

[Totenkopf]

They're very hit-n-miss. A lot of miss, but usually not overly long. I've been playing TOR almost exclusively for last 7 weeks that I didn't recognize starchild right away.

[DarthParametric]

Possibly Source can't do a transparency/glow effect that replicates what they did in the Unreal engine. An odd choice though, going with that weird rainbow effect. I would have thought even a simple transparency with a basic white-ish texture would have done the job. But maybe it was just some reference/joke that escaped me.

[Bob Saget]

Originally Posted by DarthParametric

I'd hardly consider myself highbrow, but I can't say that I've ever understood the attraction in these Garry's mod videos with their ludicrous spastic animation, fart joke-level humour, and obnoxious sound (screaming, etc.).

I never really got it until I started playing Garry's mod myself, despite most of it being stupid some of it is occasionally funny.

[urluckyday]

Originally Posted by DarthParametric

I'd hardly consider myself highbrow, but I can't say that I've ever understood the attraction in these Garry's mod videos with their ludicrous spastic animation, fart joke-level humour, and obnoxious sound (screaming, etc.).

I'm with you. Just reminded me of YouTube poop.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

Originally Posted by Totenkopf

They're very hit-n-miss. A lot of miss, but usually not overly long. I've been playing TOR almost exclusively for last 7 weeks that I didn't recognize starchild right away.

Originally Posted by Bob Saget

I never really got it until I started playing Garry's mod myself, despite most of it being stupid some of it is occasionally funny.

Originally Posted by urluckyday

I'm with you. Just reminded me of YouTube poop.

I found Legion and Friends pretty funny when I first saw it.

2
3
4

There are a couple more.


Unrelated: A Lego Reaper.

Now that is *O*-some.

[MsFicwriter]

I just downloaded this game, and so far my impression is: "Where has all the dialogue gone?" It seems like what used to be 10 interactions has been cut down to 1, and the rest is a 15-minute cutscene. Also, the quest system is awful. It used to be that you had to interact with NPC's to get them to give you a quest. Now you just overhear them and become a meddling busybody. Liara's as gorgeous as ever, not to mention a certain Specialist and turian(?), but so far for me, those are the only three good parts.

Why do I feel like my RPG IQ has suddenly dropped 100 points from playing Arcanum or even KOTOR/TSL?

[DarthParametric]

If you think that's good, wait til you get to the end....

[Sabretooth]

Originally Posted by MsFicwriter

Also, the quest system is awful. It used to be that you had to interact with NPC's to get them to give you a quest. Now you just overhear them and become a meddling busybody.

This is actually a neat advancement. It solves the problem I had with the series before of why Shepard, Most Important Man In The Galaxy must stop and talk to people to assure them that he'll fetch their laundry from other other side of the galaxy. Or why Shepard is fetching laundry for random people at all. Now if you don't find that quest relevant, you can ignore it and not have to be tied down by some personal obligation to the quest-giver.

Originally Posted by MsFicwriter

Why do I feel like my RPG IQ has suddenly dropped 100 points from playing Arcanum or even KOTOR/TSL?

Because it's not a proper RPG game. There's no dice rolls, no proper roleplaying so to speak and no complex rulesets. It's an action game with RPG elements, but it really cannot be compared to Arcanum or KotOR. You want a real RPG, you play The Witcher 2, or one of those obscure indie isometric RPGs by Spiderweb Software.

[mimartin]

What Sabre wrote, not a real RPG.

Also what DarthParametric wrote, yes I am agreeing this him for once, if you are already hating you are really going to be extremely upset at the ending. Personally I thought ME3 was the best of the series both in storytelling and game play up until the last 5 minutes and then even I was disappointed. I just never understood how the last 5 minutes ruined everything else that came before that completely. Guess I just didn’t hate it as much as everyone else, or I just loved everything so much before the end, that it soften the blow that is the ME series ending.

[Lynk Former]

It begins XD

[Sabretooth]

I'm Commander Sabre and this is my favourite ending in the Mass Effect series

[Totenkopf]

Some things just can't/won't die.

[Lynk Former]

Yeah, you'd think everyone had stopped playing Mass Effect by now and have forgotten about it completely

[Taak Farst]

Originally Posted by Lynk Former

Yeah, you'd think everyone had stopped playing Mass Effect by now and have forgotten about it completely

Sad, but pretty much this.

[DarthParametric]

There are still people only just discovering Bioware's other bastion of quality entertainment, Dragon Age 2, so I suspect ME3's artistic integrity will continue to delight unsuspecting future audiences for a few more years yet.

[igyman]

Originally Posted by Lynk Former

Yeah, you'd think everyone had stopped playing Mass Effect by now and have forgotten about it completely

Actually, I've uninstalled all three ME games from my PC just a couple of weeks ago.

[Prime]

Originally Posted by Lynk Former

Yeah, you'd think everyone had stopped playing Mass Effect by now and have forgotten about it completely

I haven't even played 3 yet!

[Taak Farst]

Originally Posted by DarthParametric

There are still people only just discovering Bioware's other bastion of quality entertainment, Dragon Age 2, so I suspect ME3's artistic integrity will continue to delight unsuspecting future audiences for a few more years yet.

The thing is, Mass Effect 3 and even Dragon Age 2 are in my opinion brilliant games, but BioWare let themselves down with such simple, and lazy things. Mass Effect 3's fetch quests were quick and simple and i actually liked em, nothing about ME3 was an issue for me, even the ending was dealable one we got the extended cut.

Dragon Age 2 is just plagued with reused areas, spawn-out-of-nowhere enemies to lengthen fights and general tid bits of inconvenience. But I love the story that unfolded and will continue to unfold in DA3, I actually thought the DLC was great and I don't see why it is so hated. Take one weakness from any BioWare game and it becomes soul destroyingly bad.

[DarthParametric]

The topic has kind of been done to death at this point, so I'll just say that if you thought that the Extended Cut solved anything then you never had an issue with the original endings, seeing as they remained exactly them same. If anything the EC makes it even more nonsensical. The added "Refusal" end was hilarious though. I like to think that was Walter's own petulant cry of "SO BE IT!". And of course even if it had actually fundamentally changed something, the EC only addressed the end. ME3 had problems right from the get-go, the ending was just the icing on the cake.

As to DA2, this isn't really the place to discuss it, but the recycled levels was the least of its sins. The awesome-button combat was terribad, but again not the real issue. Its problems go a hell of a lot deeper than that.

[mimartin]

YouTube Video

[mur'phon]

Guess I'll have to change my original opinion of the game. ME3 is a good game until the end for those who have been following the series the first time.

Since I had been putting off replaying the game until all the DLC had been released, I was looking forward to playing through a polished version as jerkass-Shep.
Turns out the drive for finding out what happens next was, along with the competent gameplay, the only thing keeping driving me the first time. It had made me forget that Shep's gorilla tendencies had only gotten worse, that conversations are to be watched, not participated in, and that 90% of the writing should have remained fanfic.

I guess the one thing positive about ME3 is that it paves the way for a ME universe without Shepard, Illusive men, Asari and Starchildren.

[DarthParametric]

There may be no Shepard in name, but I don't think much will change in terms of the mechanics of the player character (aside from some further streamlining probably). There will presumably still be a binary morality meter, (some) choice in dialogue, light RPG elements, and cover-based shooting. Both Hudson and Walters have moved to Montreal to head up the ME4 team, and I doubt they are going to radically change what they did on the last 3 games. I suspect you'll still be limited to a playing a human. You may not be a Spectre, you may not be military, but I would be surprised if you didn't join some powerful and exclusive organisation, travel to four cities/planets/locations, and turn out to be the next iteration of the chosen one that saves the galaxy.

And there will almost certainly be Asari. In fact I would be willing to bet your obviously favourite Asari in particular will show up for a cameo at some point.

[mur'phon]

I know, if nobody cares it's broken, why fix it, right?

Still at least it might let us play a Sheepie who is a bit less of a testosterone fueled gorilla. And sure there might be an exclusive organization, but sometimes they actually work in games (see Alpha Protocol and The Witcher). Yes, the fan service race will not disappear, but at least there is a chance that we won't be saddled with another Liara.

I don't mind being human, I don't mind taking cover (in fact I prefer taking cover to eating bullets), and I don't mind saving the day (that much).

It's not as if they can disappoint me anymore.

[mimartin]

Originally Posted by mur'phon

Alpha Protocol

Nothing worked in Alpha Protocol.

[DarthParametric]

Originally Posted by mur'phon

It's not as if they can disappoint me anymore.

Never say never....

[mur'phon]

Originally Posted by mimartin

Nothing worked in Alpha Protocol.

Quite a few things worked better in AP than any other game I can think of (limited recurring characters, choice and consequence, the dossier system etc). Though AP as a whole unfortunately didn't work for most, it's still the game I wish every RPG-writer was forced to play.

[mimartin]

Originally Posted by mur'phon

I wish every RPG-writer was forced to play.

perfect choice of words, since that is about the only way to get someone to play it. If you want RPG-writer to see brilliant writing in a Obsidian Entertainment game... I would force them to play Fallout 3 (to see what not to do) and then play Fallout: New Vegas to see how it should be done. Sabre made me finish AP, I will admit decent story to great story, but the utter frustration you had to put up with to see the story, well that would only be worth the time and effort in a Star Wars game, see TSL.

[mur'phon]

I don't want them to play it just to see great writing (every author has been reading quality books, most of them don't become great authors).
I want them to play it so they can:
Copy the mission structure (having the order you do missions affect the missions to a fair extent).
Realize that sticking with a limited cast and letting you interact with them in several hubs makes you care about them (having Albatross send in the cavalry in Taiwan if you befriended him in Russia for instance).
-It also makes even fetch quests interesting (gathering intel for Scarlet comes to mind)
-It also allowed the dossier system to work.
-Oh, and let them react to your actions if they know about them (If you ghost missions, they won't know you did it.)
Copy the perks system.
Adopt the timed conversations, and then use it to stress you the hell out where appropriate (Ice cream man, being one good example)
Slap the player gently on the wrists for playing like a gamer, not a spy (like going to a meeting with a civilian in full combat gear).
Realize that if a mystery is better left unsolved, don't solve it.

Oh, and understand that it's perfectly fine to give the player a dozen choices for the final mission, instead of simply adding an ending-o-tron.

edit: Ooops, massive rant, guess I'm really annoyed that those ideas seem to have been ignored.

[Taak Farst]

Again, I join a seemingly small group here. Because I liked Alpha Protocol.