Author Topic: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)  (Read 3751 times)

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Offline CP5670

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
Bioware tries to go full Shivan with the Reapers at the end of ME3 and says they exist to preserve the galaxy, but by then the Reapers have become lame and are revealed to be just another synthetic creation like the Geth. I thought Illusive Man was actually pretty good in ME3, and the control ending he wants feels like the best one in the end.

I'm just starting to play Andromeda, but have heard it's worse than any of the original games. I also don't see any way to speed up the game like you can in the Unreal engine. In ME1-3, I bind two keys to "slomo 1" and "slomo 3", which let me skip past all the boring parts and running around.

 
Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
Here, have a read.

REAL-TIME KESTRELLIUS REACTION:

"Is this going to be Shamus's retrospective?"

*mouses over link*

"It IS Shamus's retrospective!"

I'm happy to find one more person who recognizes that ME2's writing was hot garbage. Although I dunno if I'd give that much credit to the character stuff -- it's competent, but not great. It's mostly just standard Hollywood-type stuff; daddy issues and whatnot. Not including Legion and the geth; all of that is phenomenal. (In 2, not 3. 3's treatment of the geth is in the running for the worst thing in the entire series.)

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
It's me. I ruined Mass Effect.

 

Offline Firesteel

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
Thank you Battuta for finally admitting it. I had a suspicion for a while what with you and Mass Effect but you finally confirmed it. I appreciate that.

Here, have a read.

REAL-TIME KESTRELLIUS REACTION:

"Is this going to be Shamus's retrospective?"

*mouses over link*

"It IS Shamus's retrospective!"

I'm happy to find one more person who recognizes that ME2's writing was hot garbage. Although I dunno if I'd give that much credit to the character stuff -- it's competent, but not great. It's mostly just standard Hollywood-type stuff; daddy issues and whatnot. Not including Legion and the geth; all of that is phenomenal. (In 2, not 3. 3's treatment of the geth is in the running for the worst thing in the entire series.)

Me as a kid in high school was insanely disappointed by Mass Effect 2. I point to my number of playthroughs to my mounting disappointment ME1: 30ish. ME2: like 4. ME3: 2 (point whatever for videos)
Current Projects:

- Video Critiques of Freespace
- Re-learning FRED

 

Offline Luis Dias

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
My 4 year old told me while playing ME2 with his finger, "This particular piece of art feels cliché, derivative and overall lacking in any subtlety in its thematic outlook".

Then he went to poop in his pants. Oh well.

 

Offline The E

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
I played ME1 maybe 4 times.

I do not know how much I played ME2 and ME3. As interesting as ME1 was, I found it thoroughly unpleasant to actually play; the few excellent moments are thoroughly buried under a mountain of BioWare not having figured out how to make a good action game at this point.

ME2 and 3, for all the damage they did to the overall story of the ME universe, are just more enjoyable to experience for me. As much as I respect the time and effort Shamus Young and other commenters on the Internet have put into painting ME2 and later games as the worst thing ever, I cannot completely agree with them (That retrospective is, in my opinion, quite far off the mark in some of its criticisms)
If I'm just aching this can't go on
I came from chasing dreams to feel alone
There must be changes, miss to feel strong
I really need lifе to touch me
--Evergrey, Where August Mourns

 

Offline Luis Dias

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
To maybe get this thread into something resembling usefulness or interest, could you elaborate on where Young gets far off the mark?

 

Offline Aesaar

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
I agree with The_E insofar as I enjoyed playing through ME2 more than ME1.  The gameplay is just such a huge improvement.  Shooting things feels better, there's way more variety in weapons and classes, and the levels are usually better designed.  I ended up playing through it a lot more than ME1.

I haven't played through any of them since the first time I completed ME3 though.  The gameplay was even better (so I played the **** out of MP), but the story collapse reached the point where I could no longer push through it, and it killed the earlier games too.  Closing ME3 and refusing to make the final ABC choice is probably the last ME story experience I will ever have.

 
Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
They did add a D option in the extended cut which is Shepard refusing to choose by the by :)

 

Offline Torchwood

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
Personally, I think Shamus is right about the whole "story not adding up" but, as are the folks who talk about lore retcons. I also believe that these concerns are frankly immaterial. Mass Effect 2 is carried by interpersonal interaction - whether it is moments of Shepard doing (anti)heroic things or getting cozy with the Normandy's crew. The overreaching plot is a vast and distant thing, a story retold many times in various formats with slight variation, but the little moments are soundbites of Shepard's adventure are close and memorable. What do you think is more exciting - a discussion of biotics as explained by ME1 and why ME2 violated established canon, or a compilation of Shepard Badass Moments? Or should the better question be what can excite a larger audience?

As evidence for my case I present to you Avatar, the AAA blockbuster as evidence that for the salesman, what story you tell is less important than how you tell it.

 

Offline Aesaar

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Re: How EA ruined Mass Effect (Split from SWBF2)
IMO, the badass Shepard moments might be more immediately exciting, but they're way less interesting.  In the same way Avatar is very visually striking but the story is vapid and shallow.

I actually have a very low opinion of Avatar because how just how much it put style before substance.
« Last Edit: December 24, 2017, 04:44:30 pm by Aesaar »