EA Announces Mass Effect Legendary Edition

These are fantastic games, I will be buying them. Do not care about minor faults these games were all about story and they delivered a deep, emotional experience. I will happily pay to support a good product within reason. I will buy that Rolling Stones remastered box set, I ain't paying for Nsync's greatest hits.
 
I don't know if you're referencing DRM or what, but if all copies of the game have DRM where it checks in when you launch the game, then I guess that would be a way for them to verify you have it. I'm sorry if I wasn't aware of that or how they could use that to apply to a different game, but the smart-ass response is definitely not appreciated.
What do you mean how can they use it? They check whether your account has the dlcs linked to it, they can easily do that with a new game the exact same way they do it in the old ones. There is nothing magical about it. My smart-ass response is perfectly in line with how ridicilous the proposition is that they cannot verify whether you own the dlcs or not.

If you don't want to feel like a cash cow, then as I said, feel free to continue playing with your existing games and DLC and/or wait for a sale. This is how capitalism works and I can see how they can justify reselling the trilogy and all DLC remastered for $60 even if you can't. And I guarantee it will sell very well at $60, so I don't blame them for doing it.
You still can't seperate the two things? Yes reselling the triology for $60 is perfectly justified, just not to the people who already paid over $200 for it. It's the fact that they charge the same whether you are gaining a small upgrade to your existing games, or a brand new all inclusive triology of award winning games. And just because they can ask the same price from existing customers doesn't mean they should.
 
They fucked with the mako, that's a bad sign. Mako exploration was what finally sold me on the first game after a few attempts.
And of course SJW journalist just had to mention that some character designs "are not in line with the times" F your times lunatic woman hater.
Yes, I don't know what they're talking about with male animations because the walking animation on femshep at least in the first game was fantastic. It wasn't until the second and third games where the animations became shared and rigid. My biggest issue is they backported the default ME3 femshep face into ME1 and ME2 when they should have forward ported the ME1 and ME2 face into ME3.

426930_1612285207328.png
426931_1612285239376.png

They also mention camera angles. I guess that means they got rid of this fine work of cinematography...

1612450033779.png
 
Yes, I don't know what they're talking about with male animations because the walking animation on femshep at least in the first game was fantastic. It wasn't until the second and third games where the animations became shared and rigid. My biggest issue is they backported the default ME3 femshep face into ME1 and ME2 when they should have forward ported the ME1 and ME2 face into ME3.
I never use the default look in games where it is possible to customize, so what the default look is doesn't really matter to me.I hope unifying the character creator doesn't mean less options.
 
This is what happens when you skip out on mocap and just try to hand animate everything.

It blows my mind that this made it into a AAA game that likely hundreds of people worked on for years. That, people involved in the project didn't think it wouldn't be OK to have people staring at that 30+ hours. I think it defies all logic that it was possible to happen.

It looks like Benny Hill music should be playing any time the player starts running. It's like the devs are playing a joke and going 'you thought this was a serious game, right? Well, we got you good!'.
 
What do you mean how can they use it? They check whether your account has the dlcs linked to it, they can easily do that with a new game the exact same way they do it in the old ones. There is nothing magical about it. My smart-ass response is perfectly in line with how ridicilous the proposition is that they cannot verify whether you own the dlcs or not.


You still can't seperate the two things? Yes reselling the triology for $60 is perfectly justified, just not to the people who already paid over $200 for it. It's the fact that they charge the same whether you are gaining a small upgrade to your existing games, or a brand new all inclusive triology of award winning games. And just because they can ask the same price from existing customers doesn't mean they should.

I never said they couldn't check if you had the DLCs, I said "if all copies of the game have DRM where it checks in when you launch the game, then I guess that would be a way for them to verify you have it." I didn't know if the DLC had to be tied and verified through the same EA/Bioware account or whatever and could be downloaded and installed outside of the game since I haven't played it since they first launched. But if that's the case, then so be it and my stance still doesn't change. So your smart-ass response is completely out of line for non-ridiculous proposition that I listed as an option for them to verify whether you own the DLCs or not. Reading comprehension is key for conversation and generally so is not being a condescending asshole.

I also did seperate the two and just disagreed with you; as I'm one of those (along with many here I presume) that purchased the trilogy and some of the DLC (think I got all of it for ME2 and 3) and will still be buying this remaster for $60. Again, reading comprehension is key.
 
I never use the default look in games where it is possible to customize, so what the default look is doesn't really matter to me.I hope unifying the character creator doesn't mean less options.

Yes! And I hope to god that they do not nerf the sliders! For some reason every single game that has character creator these days have options and sliders that barely affect anything and you cannot do vile monst... errr unique looking people anymore! I mean look at this handsome chap!

maxresdefault.jpg
 

Character customisation

Kevin Meek spoke briefly about one of the trilogy's missteps, the late introduction of a default or what Bioware calls the 'iconic' look for female Shepard in Mass Effect 3 (players who had created their own FemShep in the first two games were given the option to continue with that, or change to the new look). The LE introduces this default FemShep from the start of the trilogy, should players wish to use that model, alongside a raft of improvements to the character model's details.

In addition, the character customisation options have been expanded with more hair, makeup and skin tone options, and persist across all three titles. Perhaps most surprising is that it retains the character code functionality later introduced in the trilogy, which Walters says has a few kinks but more-or-less works.


https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-legendary-edition-all-the-new-details-and-everything-we-know/

So if you've got the "character code" from your Shepard, you can just use that.
 
IGN drops more behind the scenes info on ME: LE.
https://www.ign.com/articles/mass-e...-a-remake-but-much-more-than-a-basic-remaster

Still, while Mass Effect: Legendary Edition isn’t quite the giant leap that fans might have hoped for — that will likely have to wait until the announced-but-still-untitled Mass Effect 4 is ready for release — it’s also much more than your typical remaster. Some substantial changes are coming to the trilogy, particularly the original game, and they are changes that are in many instances long overdue.

...

If there’s any reason to pick up Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, it may be to experience the original game again with fresh eyes. Certainly, this is the most attractive the original game has ever looked, running at up to 4K and 60fps with tonemapping, subsurface scattering, depth of field, bloom, and all manner of other enhancements. Even the clumsy Mako, so long the bane of major combat engagements, is getting updated physics, as well as improved controls.




I think what I find most interesting is that apparently ME:LE work has been underway for 2 years. I suppose that makes me appreciate the work more, in the sense that there is clearly more of it than I thought there was.
 
Last edited:
In ME1 there were more appearance choices for squadmates like Garrus? And stats might decrease but it was also for walking around the Citadel? But I doubt they would add purely cosmetic changes to 2 and 3.
 
In ME1 there were more appearance choices for squadmates like Garrus? And stats might decrease but it was also for walking around the Citadel? But I doubt they would add purely cosmetic changes to 2 and 3.

Yes, because ME1 was still RPG at heart and therefore there were a lot of different armor to choose from. There was light, medium and heavy armors that looked different and color schemes depended on the brand of armor. (IE Colossus was black and Phoenix was white)
 
Yes, because ME1 was still RPG at heart and therefore there were a lot of different armor to choose from. There was light, medium and heavy armors that looked different and color schemes depended on the brand of armor. (IE Colossus was black and Phoenix was white)
If they were walking around in your squad, that is. Everybody still has their "iconic" armors on when you speak with them on the Normandy.
 
In ME1 there were more appearance choices for squadmates like Garrus? And stats might decrease but it was also for walking around the Citadel? But I doubt they would add purely cosmetic changes to 2 and 3.

Yes, because ME1 was still RPG at heart and therefore there were a lot of different armor to choose from. There was light, medium and heavy armors that looked different and color schemes depended on the brand of armor. (IE Colossus was black and Phoenix was white)
This. It was an RPG, while the others were "action RPG / 3rd person shooters" - they backported the ME2/3 combat to 1 for a reason, as the 1 RPG system was... not amazing. That game was awesome despite the combat system, not because of it (or with support of it), from all I remember. Unlike Dragon Age or other Bioware RPGs, ME1 was a flawed system in a brilliant universe, game, and story - that was corrected in ME2 (which felt weird at first, I played 1 then 2 in quick succession) which made ME2 a much better game with the same quality story and universe. (And note: I love western RPGs, I still wish DA:I and DA2 had the combat system from DA:O).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dan_D
like this
What do you mean how can they use it? They check whether your account has the dlcs linked to it, they can easily do that with a new game the exact same way they do it in the old ones. There is nothing magical about it. My smart-ass response is perfectly in line with how ridicilous the proposition is that they cannot verify whether you own the dlcs or not.


You still can't seperate the two things? Yes reselling the triology for $60 is perfectly justified, just not to the people who already paid over $200 for it. It's the fact that they charge the same whether you are gaining a small upgrade to your existing games, or a brand new all inclusive triology of award winning games. And just because they can ask the same price from existing customers doesn't mean they should.
Via Origin, there is no doubt they can detect whether or not you own the existing games and DLC's. However, I'm not sure they can do this from Steam unless Valve allowed them to do it in some way. BSN and all that is gone, so I don't think there is another way to do it. That being said, I disagree with you with all this fairness bullshit. I paid $90 I think for the ME3 Collector's Edition and whatever the DLC's all cost. Easily over $200. That was about 8 years ago. I'm good paying $60 for what is basically a texture pack.

Because if they change ME2/ME3 too much, I will be pulling the textures out of the game and creating a mod pack to port them back over to their original versions.
They fucked with the mako, that's a bad sign. Mako exploration was what finally sold me on the first game after a few attempts.
And of course SJW journalist just had to mention that some character designs "are not in line with the times" F your times lunatic woman hater.
No, they didn't. The physics of the Mako were trash as was the Mako exploration in general. There is a reason why the vast majority of people didn't miss it in ME2. I will agree with you about the SJW journalists.
Yes, I don't know what they're talking about with male animations because the walking animation on femshep at least in the first game was fantastic. It wasn't until the second and third games where the animations became shared and rigid. My biggest issue is they backported the default ME3 femshep face into ME1 and ME2 when they should have forward ported the ME1 and ME2 face into ME3.

View attachment 325954
View attachment 325955

They also mention camera angles. I guess that means they got rid of this fine work of cinematography...

View attachment 325953

It's already known that the more provocative camera angles are being changed. As for the animations, they do need to be fixed for FemShep in ME2 and ME3. I have no trouble with that. I do not like the "iconic" FemShep face. She's OK from straight on but from the sides I think she looks horrible. I'd much rather BioWare had used her face in the first two games and upgraded the texture to be inline with BroShep's in terms of quality.

I never use the default look in games where it is possible to customize, so what the default look is doesn't really matter to me.I hope unifying the character creator doesn't mean less options.
If the default look is fine, I stick with it. If it isn't, I don't. I use the default BroShep in all my playthroughs. FemShep, I changed as I hate her "iconic" look.
It blows my mind that this made it into a AAA game that likely hundreds of people worked on for years. That, people involved in the project didn't think it wouldn't be OK to have people staring at that 30+ hours. I think it defies all logic that it was possible to happen.

It looks like Benny Hill music should be playing any time the player starts running. It's like the devs are playing a joke and going 'you thought this was a serious game, right? Well, we got you good!'.
The run animations for ME2 and ME3 are terrible for both BroShep and FemShep. (They were shared in the original versions). It's obviously more ridiculous coming from FemShep.
I never said they couldn't check if you had the DLCs, I said "if all copies of the game have DRM where it checks in when you launch the game, then I guess that would be a way for them to verify you have it." I didn't know if the DLC had to be tied and verified through the same EA/Bioware account or whatever and could be downloaded and installed outside of the game since I haven't played it since they first launched. But if that's the case, then so be it and my stance still doesn't change. So your smart-ass response is completely out of line for non-ridiculous proposition that I listed as an option for them to verify whether you own the DLCs or not. Reading comprehension is key for conversation and generally so is not being a condescending asshole.

I also did seperate the two and just disagreed with you; as I'm one of those (along with many here I presume) that purchased the trilogy and some of the DLC (think I got all of it for ME2 and 3) and will still be buying this remaster for $60. Again, reading comprehension is key.
For once, I actually understood what M76 was getting at. If I understood him correctly, he thinks its bullshit that BioWare is charging $60 for the Legendary Edition from those of us who already owned everything and spent $100's of dollars across the trilogy when all the DLC's are added in. Personally, I don't care. It's $60 today and I spent all that other money almost a decade ago. I don't think I'm entitled to the remaster because I'm an existing customer. I bought a Beretta 92FS in 2000. Beretta released many models over the years which were based on it. I don't think Beretta owes me a free or even a discounted upgrade to an M9A3 or a 92A1 because I bought that original gun years earlier.

Character customisation

Kevin Meek spoke briefly about one of the trilogy's missteps, the late introduction of a default or what Bioware calls the 'iconic' look for female Shepard in Mass Effect 3 (players who had created their own FemShep in the first two games were given the option to continue with that, or change to the new look). The LE introduces this default FemShep from the start of the trilogy, should players wish to use that model, alongside a raft of improvements to the character model's details.

In addition, the character customisation options have been expanded with more hair, makeup and skin tone options, and persist across all three titles. Perhaps most surprising is that it retains the character code functionality later introduced in the trilogy, which Walters says has a few kinks but more-or-less works.


https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-legendary-edition-all-the-new-details-and-everything-we-know/

So if you've got the "character code" from your Shepard, you can just use that.
Indeed. Also, default FemShep from ME1 and ME2 has a code. You can still use that face when going into ME3. It would always allow this and should continue to do so.
Hmm. I played as male Shepherd in ME3 and the run animation looked just as fucked up. It wasn't specific to FemShep.
Indeed. It was a shared animation and it didn't look right with him either.
IGN drops more behind the scenes info on ME: LE.
https://www.ign.com/articles/mass-e...-a-remake-but-much-more-than-a-basic-remaster

Still, while Mass Effect: Legendary Edition isn’t quite the giant leap that fans might have hoped for — that will likely have to wait until the announced-but-still-untitled Mass Effect 4 is ready for release — it’s also much more than your typical remaster. Some substantial changes are coming to the trilogy, particularly the original game, and they are changes that are in many instances long overdue.

...

If there’s any reason to pick up Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, it may be to experience the original game again with fresh eyes. Certainly, this is the most attractive the original game has ever looked, running at up to 4K and 60fps with tonemapping, subsurface scattering, depth of field, bloom, and all manner of other enhancements. Even the clumsy Mako, so long the bane of major combat engagements, is getting updated physics, as well as improved controls.




I think what I find most interesting is that apparently ME:LE work has been underway for 2 years. I suppose that makes me appreciate the work more, in the sense that there is clearly more of it than I thought there was.
All this was known. ME1 is a partial remake, ME2 and ME3 are remasters. Basically, they got some updated textures and a few other things (bug fixes) but that's it.
In ME1 there were more appearance choices for squadmates like Garrus? And stats might decrease but it was also for walking around the Citadel? But I doubt they would add purely cosmetic changes to 2 and 3.
The difference was you could use any Turian, Krogan, etc. armor on the appropriate races. So, as a result you had more outfits to choose from per character. You had light, medium and heavy armor for each from three or more different armor series. This led to 9-12 different armor choices for each squadmate. However, they always had their "iconic" armors on the Normandy. ME2 had a base outfit, a loyalty outfit and at least one or two DLC outfits per character. So you had only three or four per character. Some, like Zyeed and Kasumi only ever had two.
Yes, because ME1 was still RPG at heart and therefore there were a lot of different armor to choose from. There was light, medium and heavy armors that looked different and color schemes depended on the brand of armor. (IE Colossus was black and Phoenix was white)
This is true. For better or for worse. Gameplay wise, I think ME1 is the worst of the games by far. I still love the shit out of it, but its the worst in my opinion. (Story wise, its the best.)
If they were walking around in your squad, that is. Everybody still has their "iconic" armors on when you speak with them on the Normandy.
Yes.
This. It was an RPG, while the others were "action RPG / 3rd person shooters" - they backported the ME2/3 combat to 1 for a reason, as the 1 RPG system was... not amazing. That game was awesome despite the combat system, not because of it (or with support of it), from all I remember. Unlike Dragon Age or other Bioware RPGs, ME1 was a flawed system in a brilliant universe, game, and story - that was corrected in ME2 (which felt weird at first, I played 1 then 2 in quick succession) which made ME2 a much better game with the same quality story and universe. (And note: I love western RPGs, I still wish DA:I and DA2 had the combat system from DA:O).
Agreed. That's why they went back and did so much to ME1 for the Legendary Edition. It hasn't aged particularly well while ME2 and ME3 have. Plus, this release is designed to be played back to back to back. As a result, the transition from ME1 to ME2 will be much more jarring than it would have been the first time around when we had years in between releases.
 
Oh lord. I fired ME 1 up a year ago and remember the 4 hours I played just being so stupid clunky... The idea of doing that and then immediately transitioning into 2 (I had 2 months originally) and 3...? Oof. That would be rough.
 
So they are going to improve the mako? Will there be mako in me2 or will we just launch probes or whatever we did in old me2, starting to forget
 
So they are going to improve the mako? Will there be mako in me2 or will we just launch probes or whatever we did in old me2, starting to forget
Me2 had the hovercraft which was reserved for a DLC, and was much more annoying than the mako. It had basically no exploration just "mining" and a few linear maps.
 
This. It was an RPG, while the others were "action RPG / 3rd person shooters" - they backported the ME2/3 combat to 1 for a reason, as the 1 RPG system was... not amazing. That game was awesome despite the combat system, not because of it (or with support of it), from all I remember. Unlike Dragon Age or other Bioware RPGs, ME1 was a flawed system in a brilliant universe, game, and story - that was corrected in ME2 (which felt weird at first, I played 1 then 2 in quick succession) which made ME2 a much better game with the same quality story and universe. (And note: I love western RPGs, I still wish DA:I and DA2 had the combat system from DA:O).
I disagree. I am replaying the first game right now and I am really enjoying the combat system. I don't dislike what they did in ME2 and ME3, it's just different and it worked out for the better in the end. In particular all the classes had unique advantages and disadvantages instead of just being able to pump Singularity on every class to make the first game easy mode. On the other hand they did change it from a more strategic kind of combat in the first game to a more generic third-person cover shooter in how combat played out.
So they are going to improve the mako? Will there be mako in me2 or will we just launch probes or whatever we did in old me2, starting to forget
One of the expansions for the second game added a planet with ground exploration, but they replaced the wheeled M-35 Mako with the hovercraft M-44 Hammerhead. It was in the Firewalker expansion.
Me2 had the hovercraft which was reserved for a DLC, and was much more annoying than the mako. It had basically no exploration just "mining" and a few linear maps.
Yes, I was very disappointed. You did not get the freedom of the Mako at all. I think it was just added is filler to pad the DLC and to also sate the fans who were disappointed in ground exploration being taken out of the game completely.
 
So they are going to improve the mako? Will there be mako in me2 or will we just launch probes or whatever we did in old me2, starting to forget

Yes. They are improving the driving physics of the Mako. Well, that's what BioWare said. Whether or not the result of that will be positive or not won't be known until we get our hands on the game.
 
The run animations for ME2 and ME3 are terrible for both BroShep and FemShep. (They were shared in the original versions). It's obviously more ridiculous coming from FemShep.
ME2's isn't bad. And for the year it released it was fine. In any case, it's vastly better than ME3's.

@ 19:24 and 19:29



ME3's is a complete abomination, for the year it released in, and still today.
 
I haven't played andromeda, but I'm guessing there's some mechanics in there that can be used for the mako? Maybe other stuff too?


Lol, I swear I don't care too much about mako stuff. I'm just interested enough to maybe buy this after refusing to pay for me2 dlcs
 
I haven't played andromeda, but I'm guessing there's some mechanics in there that can be used for the mako? Maybe other stuff too?


Lol, I swear I don't care too much about mako stuff. I'm just interested enough to maybe buy this after refusing to pay for me2 dlcs
Yes, the driving mechanics in Andromeda were actually pretty good. The Nomad is also a better vehicle than the Mako ever was.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrC4
like this
Yes, the driving mechanics in Andromeda were actually pretty good. The Nomad is also a better vehicle than the Mako ever was.

The problem with Andromeda is that the Nomad lacks the power to get up hills that it should obviously be able to traverse. Fortunately, there are mods that correct this issue by increasing its top speed and boost duration. But, the basic driving mechanics were pretty solid.
 
The problem with Andromeda is that the Nomad lacks the power to get up hills that it should obviously be able to traverse. Fortunately, there are mods that correct this issue by increasing its top speed and boost duration. But, the basic driving mechanics were pretty solid.

I think they limited it on purpose, I'm pretty cheesy when it comes to exploiting terrain, and MEA is full of glitchy event and dialogue triggers that broke on me several times due to my behaviour.
 
The problem with Andromeda is that the Nomad lacks the power to get up hills that it should obviously be able to traverse. Fortunately, there are mods that correct this issue by increasing its top speed and boost duration. But, the basic driving mechanics were pretty solid.
It always felt like a traction issue, not a power issue. You could definitely not crawl up the near-vertical hills that you could in the Mako.
 
Gameplay wise, I think ME1 is the worst of the games by far. I still love the shit out of it, but its the worst in my opinion. (Story wise, its the best.)

Exactly. Camera angles in ME2/3 were better to.

ME1 - Best story and pacing.
ME3 - Best combat, save for rolling. Was just annoying. 2nd Best for story.
ME2 - Slim on story, a bit too much side content (although good). Some odd grinding. Too simplified weapon management. The weakest entry, IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M76
like this
Exactly. Camera angles in ME2/3 were better to.

ME1 - Best story and pacing.
ME3 - Best combat, save for rolling. Was just annoying. 2nd Best for story.
ME2 - Slim on story, a bit too much side content (although good). Some odd grinding. Too simplified weapon management. The weakest entry, IMO.

In ME2's defense it did have the best character roster though.
 
ME3 had the best cinematics though - and the story points (while sparse due to the side content, which was very grindy at times) were REALLY hard hitting up till the end. And the music was also amazing. It had punch, just... got lost a bit.
 
Exactly. Camera angles in ME2/3 were better to.

ME1 - Best story and pacing.
ME3 - Best combat, save for rolling. Was just annoying. 2nd Best for story.
ME2 - Slim on story, a bit too much side content (although good). Some odd grinding. Too simplified weapon management. The weakest entry, IMO.
I'd disagree with a lot on this list. ME1 does have the best story, but I don't think it had the best pacing unless you count the fact that it's nearly 10 hours shorter than the other entries. The game's pacing is hindered by the Mako exploration. Completionists like myself find the game's packed full of busy work and a lot of boring driving. The only thing I can give ME1 credit for on its exploration is that it made the worlds feel much bigger than they did in subsequent games. It gave you a sense of freedom the other games lacked (Andromeda aside) but the experienced ranged from boring to frustrating.

ME3 does have the best combat and the best weapons customization system. You can't do as much as you can in ME1, but the customization is much easier and the weapons far better balanced. Story wise, I think its good. It really only loses this at Priority Earth. There it falls apart and falls apart fast. Even the level design and the missions lack the weight and scale they deserved. This is of course due to the game being rushed. While truncated somewhat, the MEHEM mod fixes a lot of this in my opinion. While more linear than its predecessors, ME3 is almost the perfect experience when combining the Citadel, Leviathan and Omega DLC's into the mix with the MEHEM and better dreams mod. I found it to be very satisfying, even though the MEHEM mod gives you only a single ending.

ME2's story is the weakest by far. That being said, I think its perfectly serviceable aside from the "humanoid" Reaper. But I think this was to go with a narrative decision that ended up getting dropped when ME3 was largely rewritten after much of the plot leaked online. BioWare should have stuck to the original outline in my opinion. I will agree that the weapon management was lacking here. There are also several glitches with the AI and certain weapons that can be used to your advantage though. The M29 Incisor was a shit weapon for us, but in the hands of squad mates it resulted in almost constant headshots for them. This entry does have fine character moments and the best loyalty missions of the series. There is also something about the second game's tone that I find preferable to the entries that bracket it. I still prefer ME3 over ME2, but that's primarily due to game play which is vastly enhanced by the mods available for it.

Now, I know some wouldn't count the mods and even without them ME3 is my favorite entry up to Priority Earth where I would normally set the completion flag in the save file and import that save into a new game+ and begin again. I also really enjoyed the game's multiplayer. It's a shame BioWare isn't including it with the Legendary Edition.
 
It always felt like a traction issue, not a power issue. You could definitely not crawl up the near-vertical hills that you could in the Mako.

That's fair, although they could have shown this a bit better with the animations for it.
 
ME3 had the best cinematics though - and the story points (while sparse due to the side content, which was very grindy at times) were REALLY hard hitting up till the end. And the music was also amazing. It had punch, just... got lost a bit.

ME3 royally fucked up with every single thing regarding Cerberus and TIM. TIM went from an interesting, well written, complex, and engaging villain/ally in ME2 to a mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash-level villain in 3. Then there's the ending where they just turn him into a shit version of Saren. ME3 had some amazing character moments and SOME great story content, but over-all I don't rate it's plot overly high.
 
10 hours shorter than the other entries.
My playthroughs always ended up around 25-30 hours in all three games without DLCs. The other games only get significantly longer if you add all the DLC content.
 
ME3 royally fucked up with every single thing regarding Cerberus and TIM. TIM went from an interesting, well written, complex, and engaging villain/ally in ME2 to a mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash-level villain in 3. Then there's the ending where they just turn him into a shit version of Saren. ME3 had some amazing character moments and SOME great story content, but over-all I don't rate it's plot overly high.

Despite my love of the game and some of its story content, I can't really argue with that. The Illusive Man was a great character and I always chalked his behavior in ME3 up to indoctrination and the same is true of the Cerberus soldiers. To be fair, this is true within the game's narrative. But, I can't help but agree with this assessment anyway. I couldn't agree more regarding the confrontation with The Illusive Man at the end of Mass Effect 3. It was a shitty version of ME1's confrontation with Saren. Of course, everything that we see after that in the base game is totally inconsistent with the narrative tone and themes of the rest of the trilogy.

Also, since I'm in the mood to be critical of the game's narrative at the moment, the inclusion of a McGuffin device to defeat the Reapers was bullshit. The smarter thing to do there would be to have Shepard's work with all these species pay off and defeating the reapers conventionally rather than through some bullshit space magic. The Crucible device could have been something that was a focal point for the races to come together that ultimately did nothing, or served a useful purpose other than providing space magic and rainbow colors in the game's end.
 
My playthroughs always ended up around 25-30 hours in all three games without DLCs. The other games only get significantly longer if you add all the DLC content.

I can complete ME1 in about 27 hours. With DLC's, ME2 is 41 hours and ME3 is about 43 hours. I can increase or decrease these times somewhat depending on what I'm doing, but this is about my average completion time. I've completed each of these games many times each. ME1, 7x, ME2, 23x, ME3, I'm not sure. I completed the game multiple times excluding the final mission. I know I went through it in vanilla form two or three times and then probably completed it another 7x or so after the MEHEM ending came out. Plus, I spent countless hours in ME3 modding it and playing the multiplayer, which is why I have over 1,900 hours in it.
 
ME3 royally fucked up with every single thing regarding Cerberus and TIM. TIM went from an interesting, well written, complex, and engaging villain/ally in ME2 to a mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash-level villain in 3. Then there's the ending where they just turn him into a shit version of Saren. ME3 had some amazing character moments and SOME great story content, but over-all I don't rate it's plot overly high.
I totally forgot about him in that one. I was thinking all the other story points; he just... vanished entirely from my memory
 
I can complete ME1 in about 27 hours. With DLC's, ME2 is 41 hours and ME3 is about 43 hours.
I said without DLC, with DLCs of course they can be 10 hours longer. The Citadel was 5 hours in of itself.
 
I can complete ME1 with DLC and every assignment in 18-20 hours. It would take close to 30 if I listened to all the dialog instead of just reading it or otherwise skipping it since I've gone through the story a hundred times. ME2 takes me 32-35. I have not played through ME3 since the first two times I did when the game first came out, so I never experienced any of its DLC.
 
Back
Top