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More Mass Effect 3 details [Planet Aesthetics Detailed, Verdict On Space Battles]

Fimbulvetr said:
Post ME2 none of the Shepards really deserve it.
I always thought that whole sequence at the beginning of ME1 was awkward. The game acting like the Council is being unreasonable for not believing that their best agent is commanding an organic-hating robot army not seen in centuries, when you, the protege of a man who hates said agent, produces a criminal who was asleep when shit went down and swears that he saw it after you pointed a gun at him.

Then after you show them a recording that doesn't match up time-wise (Tali visited the clinic already carrying the recording like a week ago? And Saren is talking about Eden Prime after it happened? But Eden Prime happened just... never mind) they immediately believe you.

Since they can't send an army they decide to send a Spectre. And who better to send after their best-agent-gone-rogue but a rookie whose supervisor died during his evaluation, and who has a personal connection to the mission which could complicate things? Calling another Spectre over would be too much work, so let's just type on our keypads and boom you got the job, have fun, you can buy your guns on the way out.
 

Kinyou

Member
WonkyPanda said:
Wait, no Miranda love? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!
Don't worry, Bioware is going to make sure that you'll have an unsatisfying encounter with her on some mission in which she tells you much she hates you now.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
Since they can't send an army they decide to send a Spectre. And who better to send after their best-agent-gone-rogue but a rookie whose supervisor died during his evaluation, and who has a personal connection to the mission which could complicate things? Calling another Spectre over would be too much work, so let's just type on our keypads and boom you got the job, have fun, you can buy your guns on the way out.
That last bit is actually perfectly reasonable for a politician. Either Shepard gets killed and they don't lose anything or Shepard manages to take down Saren and the Council actually gets a decent specter.
 
Lostconfused said:
That last bit is actually perfectly reasonable for a politician. Either Shepard gets killed and they don't lose anything or Shepard manages to take down Saren and the Council actually gets a decent specter.

Or he survives, but fails to take down Saren and they are left embarrassed for trusting him. Also probably dead.

It's okay though, as a Bioware protagonist Shepard can not really excel at anything but still be better than everyone else at whatever he/she does.
 
Lostconfused said:
At least from my point of view it would be much better to wait on Skyrim. The modding community jumped really quickly on New Vegas because there weren't any differences compared to Fallout 3. With Skyrim it would probably be better to give two weeks or maybe a month before even thinking of starting the game.

Nah I don't need mods to enjoy their games. I loved all 3 of their games this gen when they came out. I like the mods I use in New Vegas but if anything they break the game with all the weapons/ammo/health items they give. Probably going to go modless in my next playthrough.
 
Fimbulvetr said:
Or he survives, but fails to take down Saren and they are left embarrassed for trusting him.
That's not very likely. Because in that case either Shepard isn't incompetent or Saren really isn't as good as everyone claims he is.

Edit: Jeez sole survivor got shafted on the intro. But either way being able to walk away from a confrontation with Saren isn't really a negative in any way.
 

Neki

Member
Kinyou said:
Don't worry, Bioware is going to make sure that you'll have an unsatisfying encounter with her on some mission in which she tells you much she hates you now.
Don't tease about that. :(
 
Lostconfused said:
That last bit is actually perfectly reasonable for a politician. Either Shepard gets killed and they don't lose anything or Shepard manages to take down Saren and the Council actually gets a decent specter.
Yeah, that actually makes sense. It still seems like they might want an extra on the side for assistance or something.

Their behavior in both games smacks of the bad Jaws ripoff movies (and plenty of other stories) have to have a fake Mayor Vaughn who's just so unreasonable... only missing that Mayor Vaughn had reasons outside of cartoonish selfish incompetence or villainy.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
Yeah, that actually makes sense. It still seems like they might want an extra on the side for assistance or something.
Bioware really screwed this whole specter thing. Nihlus was ok for the few minutes you see him but then he dies and nothing. Shepard doesn't mean a single specter in the main story of ME2 and while Tela Vasir is awesome she only appears for half of a single piece of DLC. Now in ME3 we get some random shmuck of a companion become a specter? Seriously? Really dropped the ball on this one.

Edit: Although it makes sense from the story telling point of view. Garrus is the only likely party member to be a specter, but then he would end up overshadowing Shepard for the major portion of the game. Maybe with some clever writing he could be portrayed in a mentor roll and as the story progress Shepard becomes more or less his equal. But then again I am not sure that Bioware has the writing chops for that. In ME2 Garrus should have definitely become a specter instead of this whole playing Rorschach on Omega business.
 
Vyer said:
Someone remind me what the Rachni decision was again.

After Benezia dies, you come face to face with the last surviving Rachni Queen. You could choose to either kill her, or free her from captivity.
 
god forbid we have a strong female character with some self-respecting determination. I guess we'll default to Ashley McPMS pants
 

Kinyou

Member
Lostconfused said:
Bioware really screwed this whole specter thing. Nihlus was ok for the few minutes you see him but then he dies and nothing. Shepard doesn't mean a single specter in the main story of ME2 and while Tela Vasir is awesome she only appears for half of a single piece of DLC. Now in ME3 we get some random shmuck of a companion become a specter? Seriously? Really dropped the ball on this one.
You liked her? The only special thing about her was her power. Also that she was so easily bought out by the shadow broker seemed kind of weird. :/
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
I don't get why Ashley's so popular... she's kind of a bitch. Was there anything specific in the first game that endeared you people to her?
*insert big picture of boobies here*
 
Kinyou said:
You liked her? The only special thing about her was her power. Also that she was so easily bought out by the shadow broker seemed kind of weird. :/
Shepard deals with the shadow broker. Shepard could have sold information to the Shadow Broker. Its not confusing or strange at all. Other than that she also seemed fairly competent and her priorities weren't really unreasonable. It was probably some of the best portrayal of a Reneagde specter in either game.

squall23 said:
Did anybody else think God Gundam when they read this?
No, but that's probably because its been a while since I watched G Gundam. But now any mention of G gundam makes me think of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV_RVweo97o
 
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
I don't get why Ashley's so popular... she's kind of a bitch. Was there anything specific in the first game that endeared you people to her?

She was one of the only 3 actual characters in ME1.
 
Also Tela Vasir is the only person in ME2 who notes how strange it is for a Lone Survivor to be working with the terrorists who killed their squad as part of an experiment, gave them their greatest trauma, and tortured one of their best friends in medical experiments, and possibly forced them to kill that friend.
 

jett

D-Member
Why are they bringing back Ashley/Kaidan? I hope I can kill them off ASAP. Also, no Tali in my squad = no buy.
 
Also with them bringing back one of the human companions and the focus being on earth. I wonder if they will bring back the racism sub plot that was prevalent through out all of Mass Effect. Yeah I know that either Ashley or Kaiden are dead but it shouldn't be too hard for Kaidan to comment from the paragon point of view and Ashley from the renegade side kind of like this.

Quit shouting Ashley, you too Kaidan. You are standing like three feet away
 
jackdoe said:
Wait... Ashley counted as an "actual character"? Funny. I didn't notice any character development.

Did you actually talk to her? Or just instantly dismiss her as a racist bitch?

Jerk said:
Wait, there was a third?

I sometimes count Liara.

I think it's her characterization in ME2 that's confusing me.
 

Gvaz

Banned
Clott said:
Did the series really only sell 7 million? across PS360 and PC? I find that hard to believe.
Surprise! RPG (and by ME2) games and action RPG games are not super popular but are generally eaten up by any fans of the genre.

If you call it an RPG, they will come and buy that shit in droves. However the amount of droves is considerably less than anything like Halo and people need to understand that.
 

jackdoe

Member
Fimbulvetr said:
Did you actually talk to her? Or just instantly dismiss her as a racist bitch?
Yes. I did. I noticed that she never changed her mindset regarding aliens on a Paragon run. Engineer Adams got more character development than her in a datapad in ME2!
 
jackdoe said:
Yes. I did. I noticed that she never changed her mindset regarding aliens on a Paragon run. Engineer Adams got more character development than her in a datapad in ME2!
You horrible person you! You forgot Pressley?! It was his datapad, that man...that man gave his life for the Alliance and Normandy's crew. How dare you forget his noble sacrifice.

Adams is alive and well in ME2.
 
jackdoe said:
Yes. I did. I noticed that she never changed her mindset regarding aliens on a Paragon run. Engineer Adams got more character development than her in a datapad in ME2!

Ashley is a more well developed character because we come to understand what makes her tick.

Learning a generic lesson about racism being bad means shit if we don't understand how they came to any of their conclusions. Ashley is a (relatively)round/static character, while Pressley is a flat/dynamic character(with round or flat referring to how much fleshing out the character gets, and static or dynamic referring to whether or not a character changes).
 

Subitai

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
I don't get why Ashley's so popular... she's kind of a bitch. Was there anything specific in the first game that endeared you people to her?
She was religious, worried about her sister, and was dealing with her father's career garbage.

Don't worry, I'm sure there will be some new hot chick more to your tastes to hook up with.
 

Subitai

Member
Ezalc said:
Good lord people like Ashley yet hate Kaidan? People like Tali and Jack? Why?
I didn't hate Alenko, but the reasons I'm not drawn to him are the reasons he's in there - to appeal to female gamers.
 
Ezalc said:
Good lord people like Ashley yet hate Kaidan? People like Tali and Jack? Why?

Kaidan was basically an information kiosk for human Biotics.

His backstory doesn't factor into why he's a bland Paragon douchebag.

Also he's a bland Paragon douchebag.
 

Ezalc

Member
I liked Alenko, he's a good soldier. I want to know if Thane and Kasumi are in ME3 though. That's all that matters right now. Also they should have more female aliens from other species to interact with. It's kinda boring just seeing asari everywhere, while most of the other people are dudes. Makes the galaxy look like a giant sausage fest.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
Carth was a total snoozefest. I always feel the need to go through all the convos with the squad but I just mash the skip text button whenever I talk to him to get it over with ASAP. There was literally not a single interesting thing about him. I've played through ME1 like 10 times and I have never once let him survive Virmire.

Zaeed is the only cool human male, even though his face looked terrifying at times:

potatoefaceadmb.jpg
 

Gvaz

Banned
Ezalc said:
Good lord people like Ashley yet hate Kaidan? People like Tali and Jack? Why?
Kaiden = Carth = Bad/Plain

Ashley they like because she's space christian and because she's ignorant

People like Tali because she's lonely little nerd girl, they like jack because she's that punk chick they wanted to fuck the brains out of but never could in college
 

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
Fimbulvetr said:
She was one of the only 3 actual characters in ME1.
Hahahaa... Oh that's good. Garrus is barely a character in 1, and Ashley isn't even close to one. She's just generic female love interest.

The only two characters in ME1 are Wrex and Captain Kirrahe
 

thetechkid

Member
I regret killing Kaiden now, his character was way more interesting than Ashley. Would have preferred to have him on my team anyways. Also what the hell is the point of 40 hours of loyalty missions to not have the dam people on your team anymore.
 

Kinyou

Member
zoner said:
Hahahaa... Oh that's good. Garrus is barely a character in 1, and Ashley isn't even close to one. She's just generic female love interest.

The only two characters in ME1 are Wrex and Tali
Fixed
 

Desi

Member
Gvaz said:
Kaiden = Carth = Bad/Plain
they like jack because she's that punk chick they wanted to fuck the brains out of but never could in college
it was high school not college.

I liked Carth...sort of. But the Canderous is always more enjoyable.
 
Fimbulvetr said:
His backstory doesn't factor into why he's a bland Paragon douchebag.

Also he's a bland Paragon douchebag.
Does he really need some dramatic life changing event to have a personality?

He is a nice guy and the only reason he is in the military is because it's the easiest profession to find employment in as a biotic.
Kinyou said:
Hahaha seriously? What was she in Mass Effect? I honestly don't remember her saying anything other than the entire background of the quarian race and the geth.
 
zoner said:
Hahahaa... Oh that's good. Garrus is barely a character in 1, and Ashley isn't even close to one. She's just generic female love interest.

When the hell did I say Garrus was a character? Also how is she generic(I mean, other than instantly having a not-so-secret crush on Shep for no real reason other than the fact that he's the protagonist)?

zoner said:
The only two characters in ME1 are Wrex and Captain Kirrahe

Kirrahe?

The character who's only notable for giving a single speech about how awesome Salarians are and then never doing anything notable again?

Kinyou said:

"I'm faceless alien jailbait that exists for the sole purpose of telling the player about the Quarians and the Geth. "
 

Gvaz

Banned
Lostconfused said:
Does he really need some dramatic life changing event to have a personality?
No, but consider the fact that EVERYONE ELSE DOES and suddenly he's extremely boring in comparison.
 
Lostconfused said:
Does he really need some dramatic life changing event to have a personality?

But he barely has a personality, his defining personality trait is that he's nice. That's it. He isn't even exceedingly nice or something.

He has the same amount of characterization as any of the non-combat crew members, which is pretty sad since he's a partymember.

Hell nothing approaching "life changing event" happened to Ashley. Hate her or not, least she has a personality.
 
Gvaz said:
No, but consider the fact that EVERYONE ELSE DOES and suddenly he's extremely boring in comparison.
Liara doesn't. There is that whole thing about being a pure blood but its not relevant and she is somewhat dull.

Garrus other than being a generic cop who doesn't like the bureaucracy of being a cop doesn't have anything going for him

Tali is just there to convey all the background information about the Quarians and the Geth

Wrex likes to fight and kill things like every other Krogan but there is at least something to his character.

They are all boring, the only difference is that they are aliens. Which makes them slightly more interesting than being human.

Fimbulvetr said:
Hell nothing approaching "life changing event" happened to Ashley. Hate her or not, least she has a personality.
So does Kaidan, except his personality is really boring. Because you can't get much more bland than being calm and reasonable. I agree its boring and I have never used him as a companion in the game but his personality is perfectly agreeable with me.
 

Gvaz

Banned
Fimbulvetr said:
But he barely has a personality, his defining personality trait is that he's nice. That's it. He isn't even exceedingly nice or something.

He has the same amount of characterization as any of the non-combat crew members, which is pretty sad since he's a partymember.

Hell nothing approaching "life changing event" happened to Ashley. Hate her or not, least she has a personality.
Ashley has the perk of being very outspoken and stubborn, so that sticks with you rather than meek, "it's okay I'll just stand here being invisible while everyone does cool things" Kaiden

Lostconfused said:
Liara doesn't. There is that whole thing about being a pure blood but its not relevant and she is somewhat dull.

Not really, she fills the other ideal female stereotype, the "smart, ignorant about relationships virgin" thats the way i thought of her anyways

edit: wait that's tali too. well liara is basically "we're all hot females" and tali is basically "im a girl underneath my hijabHelmet but you can never see me~"
 

Ezalc

Member
I liked Alenko because of the fact that he was calm and reasonable. You always need somebody there not to be a trigger happy dipshit and he filled that role I'd say. While Ashley would just be there on the side yelling and trying to hop on Shepard's dick.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Wait, how does the least impressive team mate in both games, get SPECTRE status? What the fuck. Garrus would be an infinitely better pick. Hell they even mentioned in the Shadow Broker database how he was capable of being a great leader. What is this garbage. Hell Jacob had a more impressive background.
 

Mattdaddy

Gold Member
I have a hard time believing Jack was a more popular romance option than Miranda or Tali. I hope they aren't confusing the "romance option" with the "hit it quit it option".
 
Ezalc said:
I liked Alenko because of the fact that he was calm and reasonable. You always need somebody there not to be a trigger happy dipshit and he filled that role I'd say. While Ashley would just be there on the side yelling and trying to hop on Shepard's dick.

Straight-man characters usually work well when they react to how damn insane everyone else is. Kaidan doesn't even do that.
 
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