I freaking love Mass Effect 3!!! *SPOILERS*

Apologize for making yet another ME3 thread but I felt the need to testify. So I finally finished my play thru's of ME1 and ME2 Saturday morning and went out that afternoon and bought ME3 at my local Best Buy. Wanted the collectors edition but they didnt have one. Got home and promptly stayed up til 5AM playing. Stayed up til 3AM the following morning and 1AM last night. Im a little over 15 hours into this game so far and I have to say that I fucking love it!

This game is simply EPIC! The writing, the storylines, the voice acting and everything are all feature film quality. I cant tear myself away from the computer because I keep wanting to find out whats gonna happen next.

I just finished the Rannoch mission and I was able to get peace with the Geth and Quarians but Legion croaked which sucked cause I liked him. So far Ive only lost him and Mordin. I went ahead and cured the genophage cause the Krogans are just fucking cool and I want them on my side. The chemistry between Shepard and Tali (who I romanced in ME2 and continued in 3) is very good. The scenes with them talking with Garus ("get a room") and on Rannoch talking about house shopping, was very organic and added a lot of depth and realism to the story.

I can see where a lot of my choices in ME2 have consequences in this one. Destroying Maelon's data in 2 means that Eve dies and you have to win over Wrex again. A bunch of things that you do in ME2 determine if you can make peace between the Geth and Quarians and if Tali dies or not.

The coolest thing Ive seen so far is the queen thresher maw taking on the Reaper. Shepard looking up and seeing the Reaper walk over him with that cool ass sound they make and locking horns with the maw. I literally stood up out of my chair and yelled "fuck yeah thats cool!"

The best thing Im liking about this game so far is the atmosphere. It is the best of any game Ive ever played. Ever! The best so far was the Turian moon base mission. Running around with the Reapers in the background moving around and that cool ass loud noise they make (wish I could make that my ring tone). All the sound effects are just awesome and especially when youre gaming with a headset. The music is about perfect. Only way it could be more perfect is if John Williams wrote it.

The game play is much better than the other 2 I think as well. The whole "space bar does 4,000 things" thing is getting really old. Tired of getting killed because Im covering FACING the enemies because I was trying to run passed them. Ive got a keyboard so I dont see why they couldnt find ONE damn button to let me duck in and out of cover. I really like the weapons system in this game over the other 2 as well. I like being able to mod them but not have the thousands of options you had in ME1.

I know the endings are kinds sucky in that everybody dies in all of them and none of the work Im doing right now to build a fleet actually matters but honestly, I dont care that much. Im having so much fun and am so engrossed and immersed in this game that the crappy endings wont ruin it for me at all. Id still give this game a 98% rating because while the last 2% might suck, the first 98% is the best time Ive had with a game that I can remember. Im actually thinking about this game while Im at work! Wondering what kinda of things I can do differently, what might be coming up, what would happen if I did this but didnt do that.

So yeah, crappy endings and bad press aside, I think this very well might be the greatest game ever in my book especially when you pair it with ME1 and 2. So Id like to give up a hearty HELL YEAH to BioWare for putting this masterpiece together.

yup +1

MacLeod said:

Wondering what kinda of things I can do differently, what might be coming up, what would happen if I did this but didnt do that.

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Nothing will happen. At most you'll get a different color explosion as everything dies.

The game is tremendous. I'm still confused about the ending (I finished it a couple of weeks ago), but the first part of the game is GOTY quality.

The spacebar thing is forgivable and something I've gotten used to having played so much Multiplayer.

The fetch quests aren't that bad. They aren't as good as some of the side missions in ME1, granted, but they at least add some to the fervent, ill-boding atmosphere of the game.

Agreed- the game is fantastic, except for the last 5 minutes.

CryingGod said:

Nothing will happen. At most you'll get a different color explosion as everything dies.

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Now now, depending on your choices the option of having a green explosion where everything dies may not be present.

How I have found to make this game nearly perfect.... Just shut it off after you finish the last conversation with Anderson, its a better game for it. The rest doesn't make any sense anyway.

I'm still waiting to see how Bioware handles the backlash. I'm just wondering how long its going to be before there are people with torches and pitchforks in front of their office.

AdamNesvick said:

How I have found to make this game nearly perfect.... Just shut it off after you finish the last conversation with Anderson, its a better game for it.

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This is the best thing you can do. Hit Alt-F4 right after he says "I'm proud of you" and you're in good shape and it's the absolute best thing you can do with this mess.

Other than that, I love the game and I love this series.

it had some truely cool moments - the grand spectacles did the series good. I found it to be a lackcluster experience though, didnt just dislike the ending

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/320429/20120327/mass-effect-3-ending-protest-fans-cupcakes.htm

I think that's pretty fun. I've been tempted myself to send them a letter. I also think it's interesting that BioWare is bothering to listen to its fans the way it is.

The game is definitely one of the best I've ever played. I've actually gone through the game three times now. But the endings do blow and take away from the overall experience. That being said, if BioWare addressed the endings in a satisfying way, then ME3 will probably end up being my favorite game of all time. It improves on virtually everything in the first two games and meshes what was good about 1 and 2 very nicely.

I still have a couple of issues with the game. I don't like the spacebar being used for cover, use, etc. I did get used to it though.

I like Mass Effect 2 better overall but ME3 is still an excellent game...I think ME2 was better because I liked all the new squad mates/characters...in ME3 I hated Diana Allers, James grew on me but wasn't all that great, Cortez was dull, Eve bored me and Primus Victus etc were just rehashes of existing characters (Garrus)...Javik was the only interesting new character but overall I had more fun in ME2 with the loyalty missions etc

The game was ok. I enjoyed it, but found many of the encounters to be of a "copy paste" experience. The kicker for me was the "final fight" where it's just a survival phase. What a let down for a final fight. No real tactics or anything, don't even have to finish off the beasties. Then it completely spiralled out of control from there resulting in the ultimate let down. So it went from ok, to ultimate let down. In the end, the game gets a C overall from me.

polonyc2 said:

I think I like Mass Effect 2 better overall but ME3 is still an excellent game...I think ME2 was better because I liked all the new and old squad mates...in ME3 I hated Diana Allers, James grew on me but wasn't all that great, Cortez was dull, Eve bored me and Primus Victus etc were just rehashes of existing characters (Garrus)...Javik was the only interesting new character but overall I had more fun in ME2 with the loyalty missions etc

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Honestly, I like ME3 better for the most part, but not after you assault the Illusive Man's base. The game gets depressing and there is no pay off for it. The final act is a huge let down vs. the assault on the Collector base. In Mass Effect 2 we saw the Normandy fight, we saw our upgrades get put to work, we saw the consequences of not upgrading. We also went in with everything going wrong and coming up with a plan to resolve the issue. You had to make choices about where your squad mates were going and who had to complete each objective. Failure or simply choosing the wrong squad mate resulted in deaths of team members. And at some point, if you screwed up bad enough, you could still beat the game, but Shepard could end up dying.

Many people do not like the huamn form Reaper. I wasn't a huge fan of it either, but after playing ME3 I'm more understanding of it. It looked like something new the Reapers were trying and they do have smaller 160m Reaper destroyers, so that could simply have been a new form of destroyer. Shepard killed one of them, modeling one after a human to some extent makes sense in how I perceive Reaper logic anyway.

But more than that, we fought hordes of collectors, just like we do Reaper forces in ME3, but there were story elements in the fight. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if I choose the right person for each job. When Garrus took the shot in the gut, I was freaked out. I thought I screwed up and he was going to die. Then he shrugged off the hit and kept going. There was none of that jeapordy, or edge of your seat feeling. You made decisions, continued to fight and hoped the decision was correct. In this one you just fought hordes of Reapers until you got to one objective. And once you can actually fire the missiles, you don't have to defeat anything, you can just run to the truck. All of the sudden all the enemies on the field disappear.

After that the game jumps the shark with the AI kid. One of the worst offenses commited by this AI child thing is it's comments that the Reapers are created or at least controlled by it. This is bullshit. What happened to Reapers like Sovereign and Harbinger being sentient? The one you talked to on Rannoch seemed fucking self-aware. So what the fuck is this kid of not a creation of Harbinger's influence on Shepard?

I hate it. I fucking hate the ending. The more I think about it, the more I hate it. The only way I can resolve myself into not nerd raging over it is to think of it as indoctrination. But aside from that, as I have said again and again in these threads, the final act is really piss poor compared to ME2's. Hell even ME1's was better. I loved storming the Citadel and walking along the outside of the tower seeing Sovereign moving around on it.

Yeah I don't like that explanation of the Reapers being created by am AI kid either. I liked the idea of them being like Sovereign said in ME1, they are the peak of evolution. I loved that whole scene. "You touch my mind fumbling in ignorance." That whole scene is one of the best ever. I love the whole concept of Sovereign talking to Shepard like he's barely an amoeba.

It does sour the game experience putting all this thought and effort into the missions and how I interact with everybody and trying to rally as many people as I can to help knowing all the while that no matter what I do, everybody dies, all the mass relays are destroyed and Shepard will die. It takes virtually the perfect game and really puts a damper on all the superb action, drama and story leading up to it.

Makes you wonder how much more awesome this game would be if there really were 16 different endings. Its still not enough to ruin my experience with ME3 and it'll still probably stay in my #1 spot of all time greats. I'm still putting a lot of effort into crafting this Shep the way I want in case BioWare does come out with some extended DLC with different endings. The only thing I screwed up so far is not taking Ashley with me. Spur of the moment I told her she should take the job with Adm Hackett cause I was tired of her accusing me of being with Cerberus. After about an hour later I was kinda wanting her as an extra squad mate.

Once I'm done with this, I'm gonna play a fem-Shep and just do total renegade for the fun of it and see how that turns out.

Dan_D said:

Honestly, I like ME3 better for the most part, but not after you assault the Illusive Man's base. The game gets depressing and there is no pay off for it. The final act is a huge let down vs. the assault on the Collector base. In Mass Effect 2 we saw the Normandy fight, we saw our upgrades get put to work, we saw the consequences of not upgrading. We also went in with everything going wrong and coming up with a plan to resolve the issue. You had to make choices about where your squad mates were going and who had to complete each objective. Failure or simply choosing the wrong squad mate resulted in deaths of team members. And at some point, if you screwed up bad enough, you could still beat the game, but Shepard could end up dying.

Many people do not like the huamn form Reaper. I wasn't a huge fan of it either, but after playing ME3 I'm more understanding of it. It looked like something new the Reapers were trying and they do have smaller 160m Reaper destroyers, so that could simply have been a new form of destroyer. Shepard killed one of them, modeling one after a human to some extent makes sense in how I perceive Reaper logic anyway.

But more than that, we fought hordes of collectors, just like we do Reaper forces in ME3, but there were story elements in the fight. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if I choose the right person for each job. When Garrus took the shot in the gut, I was freaked out. I thought I screwed up and he was going to die. Then he shrugged off the hit and kept going. There was none of that jeapordy, or edge of your seat feeling. You made decisions, continued to fight and hoped the decision was correct. In this one you just fought hordes of Reapers until you got to one objective. And once you can actually fire the missiles, you don't have to defeat anything, you can just run to the truck. All of the sudden all the enemies on the field disappear.

After that the game jumps the shark with the AI kid. One of the worst offenses commited by this AI child thing is it's comments that the Reapers are created or at least controlled by it. This is bullshit. What happened to Reapers like Sovereign and Harbinger being sentient? The one you talked to on Rannoch seemed fucking self-aware. So what the fuck is this kid of not a creation of Harbinger's influence on Shepard?

I hate it. I fucking hate the ending. The more I think about it, the more I hate it. The only way I can resolve myself into not nerd raging over it is to think of it as indoctrination. But aside from that, as I have said again and again in these threads, the final act is really piss poor compared to ME2's. Hell even ME1's was better. I loved storming the Citadel and walking along the outside of the tower seeing Sovereign moving around on it.

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meh. ME2 had a crap ending with that stupid pre reaper boss fight.

Skripka said:

meh. ME2 had a crap ending with that stupid pre reaper boss fight.

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Outside of the boss fight itself, I thought it was awesome otherwise. I liked the decision making aspect of it quite a bit and was sorry ME3 didn't have that. This is my point.

Skripka said:

meh. ME2 had a crap ending with that stupid pre reaper boss fight.

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Meh.

-Edit-
The above was a sarcastic response to the quoted phrase that responded to a multi-paragraph statement containing many points with a simple 1 sentence statement.

What was wrong with the ME2 boss fight? I didn't think it was that bad. You've got a semi-completed reaper and a bunch of collectors coming at you. Its the hardest battle in the game and I kinda liked the idea of them trying to build a "human reaper". I play on high difficulty so maybe that's why I thought I was a decent boss fight. It took me a while to beat it.

The ending ME2 cut scenes weren't bad either. The excellent music really helps here.

MacLeod said:

What was wrong with the ME2 boss fight? I didn't think it was that bad. You've got a semi-completed reaper and a bunch of collectors coming at you. Its the hardest battle in the game and I kinda liked the idea of them trying to build a "human reaper". I play on high difficulty so maybe that's why I thought I was a decent boss fight. It took me a while to beat it.

The ending ME2 cut scenes weren't bad either. The excellent music really helps here.

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I played the game on hardcore all the way through. I found the boss fight to be pretty damned easy, especially if you have the M-920 Cain and the M-76 Revenant, or the M-98 Widow instead of the M-76 Revenant. And yeah, ME2 had excellent music and the cut scenes were pretty good. I thought everything but the boss itself was exceptionally good in the final act of the game. And I think Lair of the Shadow Broker is easily the best DLC of all time and certainly one of the best parts of Mass Effect 2. Then again I like Liara, so that's part of it. I felt cheated in a way because she was so important in ME1 whether you romanced her or not, and she's got little more than a cameo without the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC.

If the indoctrination theory is correct then i can respect the ending, otherwise its crap. But i felt the same way as you about the game until the very end.

I romanced Liara as well in ME1 and again in Shadow Broker. I liked her best in ME1 where she was kinda cute and innocent. Didn't like her as much all tough and bad ass. I like my women all cute and cuddly. Tali has been my favorite since meeting her in 1 and I hooked up with her in 2 and 3.

MacLeod said:

I romanced Liara as well in ME1 and again in Shadow Broker. I liked her best in ME1 where she was kinda cute and innocent. Didn't like her as much all tough and bad ass. I like my women all cute and cuddly. Tali has been my favorite since meeting her in 1 and I hooked up with her in 2 and 3.

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Liara did some hard living between ME1 and ME2. She made a lot of horrible choices and sacrifices to get to where she was, and to deliver Shepard to Cerberus. She also endured a lot of pain as a result of losing Shepard. Whether you romanced her or not doesn't change how she feels about Shepard. She has a thing for him/her from the very start and it continues into ME3. And the same personality we came to know in ME1 comes out in ME2 and ME3 at times. In ME3 she's much more balanced than she is in ME2, but she's still as sensitive as ever, she just hides it more than she used to.

I never could warm up to Tali like that. She always struck me as the "baby sister" type. Her hitting on Shepard in ME2 is kind of awkward. I felt bad for rejecting her, but I just wasn't interested in seeing the game play out like that. What's said is she's even more nervous and awkard than Liara was in ME1.

Dan_D said:

Liara did some hard living between ME1 and ME2. She made a lot of horrible choices and sacrifices to get to where she was, and to deliver Shepard to Cerberus. She also endured a lot of pain as a result of losing Shepard. Whether you romanced her or not doesn't change how she feels about Shepard. She has a thing for him/her from the very start and it continues into ME3. And the same personality we came to know in ME1 comes out in ME2 and ME3 at times. In ME3 she's much more balanced than she is in ME2, but she's still as sensitive as ever, she just hides it more than she used to.

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I had romanced Liara in part one.

An excellent character. She, Tali, and Garrus are my inner circle of close friends for my Shepherd.

I never could warm up to Tali like that. She always struck me as the "baby sister" type. Her hitting on Shepard in ME2 is kind of awkward. I felt bad for rejecting her, but I just wasn't interested in seeing the game play out like that. What's said is she's even more nervous and awkard than Liara was in ME1.

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For me Tali worked out great. At first I was seeing a little of the same thing but was very pleased with how that went and how she and that relationship seemed to mature and develop.

It worked for me.

LOL, I want to hear about all these crazy romantic misadventures you're saying you had in the game.

Dan_D said:

Liara did some hard living between ME1 and ME2. She made a lot of horrible choices and sacrifices to get to where she was, and to deliver Shepard to Cerberus. She also endured a lot of pain as a result of losing Shepard. Whether you romanced her or not doesn't change how she feels about Shepard. She has a thing for him/her from the very start and it continues into ME3. And the same personality we came to know in ME1 comes out in ME2 and ME3 at times. In ME3 she's much more balanced than she is in ME2, but she's still as sensitive as ever, she just hides it more than she used to.

I never could warm up to Tali like that. She always struck me as the "baby sister" type. Her hitting on Shepard in ME2 is kind of awkward. I felt bad for rejecting her, but I just wasn't interested in seeing the game play out like that. What's said is she's even more nervous and awkard than Liara was in ME1.

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Hard to argue with that, Liara is an awesome character. When I told her I just wanted to be friends in 3, her reaction made me feel like shit cause she was back to the sweet and innocent type character she was in ME1. I made a save right before telling her that and I kinda want to go back and redo it even tho that was 20 hours ago LOL. Hard choice between them really but Tali has the personality I always liked best. Kinda tough but shy and cute with Shepard. I could be happy with either. Ill probably keep it going with Liara when I replay as fem-Shep.

So when should I play From Ashes or does it matter? Is it vital to the story like Shadow Broker or Arrival or is it just a random mission or two? Does it matter when I play it?

MacLeod said:

Hard to argue with that, Liara is am awesome character. When I told her I just wanted to be friends in 3, her reaction made me feel like shit. I made a save right before telling her that and I kinda want to go back and redo it. Hard choice between them really. I could be happy with either. Ill probably keep it going with Liara when I replay as fem-Shep.

So when should I play From Ashes or does it matter? Is it vital to the story like Shadow Broker or Arrival or is it just a random mission or two? Does it matter when I play it?

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It makes no difference when you play it. Though there isn't any reason not to do it earlier in the game. It gives you another squad mate and his story is pretty awesome. In fact you miss out on some of the funny things he says and does if you get him too late.

MacLeod said:

Hard to argue with that, Liara is an awesome character. When I told her I just wanted to be friends in 3, her reaction made me feel like shit cause she was back to the sweet and innocent type character she was in ME1. I made a save right before telling her that and I kinda want to go back and redo it even tho that was 20 hours again LOL. Hard choice between them really. I could be happy with either. Ill probably keep it going with Liara when I replay as fem-Shep.

So when should I play From Ashes or does it matter? Is it vital to the story like Shadow Broker or Arrival or is it just a random mission or two? Does it matter when I play it?

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I played it as an introductory mission. It adds depth to the whole story, as your understanding of Prothean events can relate to your experiences in the game. As well, the character provides insights and relations to events as they happen. It was true when BioWare said it wasn't essential to the gameplay, but it makes the game a better game.

Cool. I'll pick it up tonight and have a go.

One thing about Tali that did bug me, I wish they actually did some more without her mask on. Yeah I know you've got a picture on your desk but I don't see why they couldn't do at least a scene or two without her mask. When she takes it off to see the sunrise on Rannoch, that would've been awesome if you could actually see her face then.

I always romanced Liara in ME1 and generally see her as the best LI. I can't even imagine romancing Ashley in the first game.

I've never romanced Tali. I look at her the same way as Dan described. I also romance Jack, but I don't think that affects any other romantic relationship. Jack has the best looking face in the game, but is severely lacking every where else.

Maplehamwich said:

I played it as an introductory mission. It adds depth to the whole story, as your understanding of Prothean events can relate to your experiences in the game. As well, the character provides insights and relations to events as they happen. It was true when BioWare said it wasn't essential to the gameplay, but it makes the game a better game.

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Agreed. Javik also makes some situations easier later on. And for those of you who didn't, you want to take Javik to Thessia with Liara. Trust me on this.

I romanced Ashley in 1 the first time I played it. Never bothered to again because even tho she's the hottest physically, she's a bitch and the whole poetry spouting thing is just weird.

Jack is just heinous. No body, shaved head and covered in tats. Not with a 10 foot pole!

J W said:

I always romanced Liara in ME1 and generally see her as the best LI. I can't even imagine romancing Ashley in the first game.

I've never romanced Tali. I look at her the same way as Dan described. I also romance Jack, but I don't think that affects any other romantic relationship. Jack has the best looking face in the game, but is severely lacking every where else.

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MacLeod said:

I romanced Ashley in 1 the first time I played it. Never bothered to again because even tho she's the hottest physically, she's a bitch and the whole poetry spouting thing is just weird.

Jack is just heinous. No body, shaved head and covered in tats. Not with a 10 foot pole!

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Liara is the best romance in the game in my opinion. Liara actually grows the most as a person and changes the most out of most of the entire bunch. Ashley changes some but not for the better. Mostly she becomes bitter and angry, distrustful of Shepard, etc. I'm not sure about Kaiden. I know the least about him because he's pretty much dead in almost all my playthrougs. I've not encountered him in ME3 yet but what I've seen in vidoes online suggests he isn't as high maintenence as Ashley is.

My take on the women themselves:

Liara
In Mass Effect 1, Liara is that hot sort of nerdy girl who lacks a lot of social skills due to being an introvert. Her interest in Shepard is understandable, and seems to start off as a crush before it blooms into something real. Even if you don't romance her there is a connection there which is shared due to her literally melding with your mind and nervous system several times in the first game to help Shepard sort out the data from the Prothean beacon. She is awkward at times but I found it to be part of her charm. She's a capable warrior, but that fact is not really touched on a lot until Mass Effect 2. Her intellect allows her to process pain and emotional situations in a more rational way. This is why Liara may seem emotionally high maintenence at first, but going through the games having romanced both her and Ashley, I can tell you, Liara is the least amount of work out of all relationships presented. You just deal with her in more depth and more frequently than you do the others.

In the Shadow Broker, that's basically a 2.5+ hour loyalty mission in addition to the regular cameo missions you get with her on Illium. Though not a permanent squad member for the whole game, the DLC for her makes her a very prolific character in ME2. In ME1, she's of course a squad mate, but tied to the story in a deeper way due to her mother being a villian of sorts in the game. With ME3, not only is Liara a potential love interest, but she also takes over as Shepard's second in command taking over for Miranda in the latest game.

(She also has the longest sex scenes and shows the most skin in both ME1 and ME3.)

Ashley
Ashley is the playful tomboy type. She's attractive yes, but she seems to act like one of those hot chicks who tries to fly under the radar a bit by being one of the guys, which is how she's most comfortable. Underneath that she's really very lady like and extremely sensitive. On the surface, Liara seems to be the needy one, but in actuality it's Ashley who is the most needy of the two. You just have to break through her armor to find that out. In contrast, Liara is an open book with Shepard for the most part. She trusts him to a fault. Ashley isn't like that, and when she's hurt she tends to lash out and overreact.

Comparison:

Ashley and Liara have a relationship of their own in a sense. They are always rivals of a sort. In ME1, with a male Shepard, it's pretty hard not to start down the romantic path with both of them unless you are a renegade asshole. So the two actually compete with each other for Shepard's affection. Ashley is a bitch about it talking smack about Liara with the Commander. She does it to Liara's face if you have the mess hall confrontation scene. Assuming you don't drop Ashley before that point. And I don't know if a romance can be started with Ashley in 3, if you rejected her in ME1, but you can do so with Liara. Her behavior in ME2 and ME3 shows that she cares about Shepard and has romantic feelings for Shepard regardless of what Shepard does.

Liara risks everything to find the Commander and lay Shepard to rest, then sees a chance to bring Shepard back through Cerberus, but loses a friend to the Shadow Broker doing so. She spends two years thinking she'll likely never see Shepard again, and plots revenge on the Shadow Broker. If romanced, Liara greets you with a kiss and obvious affection. When you see Ashley in ME2, at most you get a hug and then she insults you and is a complete mega bitch. She applogizes in an E-Mail later on, but it doesn't change what's said. In ME3, Liara greets Shepard affectionately on Mars, and the two later have a similar moment while talking over a console. When you get to the Normandy, she immediately asks you if you want to continue the relationship. Rejecting her crushes her. If you grew close to someone else in ME2, she'll ask if that's behind you or if she needs to be the one to move on. Your choice, but she's understanding of your rejection, though it hurts her if you toss her aside.

Ashley on the other hand will accuse you of being a cheating bastard if you weren't faithful. Unlike Liara or even Kaiden who can accept that they were the ones that didn't join you in ME2, and admit culpability in driving Shepard into someone else's arms. Ashley doesn't. She basically blames you for not understanding her and misreading her reaction on Horizon. Liara trusts the Commander and has faith in Shepard no matter what. Ashley, even if you pick paragon responses when you see her on Mars will always be accusatory and distrustful of Shepard. She pulls a gun on Shepard to protect Udina of all people and has to be charmed to death or shot to get her to back down. If she survives this, depending on whether or not Major Kirrahe or Thane stopped Kai-Leng from assasinating the Salarian Council member, her dialog still remains accusatory and adversarial. You have to convince her to go with you. (You need a certain amount of reputation points do even do this.) In fact in my renegade playthrough, I didn't even get a chance to really continue the relationship with Ashley. She pretty much curbed checked Shepard and I had no way to fix the relationship. She didn't even really seem bothered by that either. Liara on the other hand seems dejected at the end of the game if you dumped her. So that continues long after it's done. Though I know she gets angry if you cheat on her, but I haven't explored that with Liara. And I don't mean cheating in ME2, she actually gets over that easily. But she doesn't put up with you cheating on her in ME3 once you've confirmed the relationship. I'm not sure how that plays out in the games good bye sequence with her.

Now what's rewarding for the player is ultimately varied. Ashley, always has a strained relationship with the commander and you have to earn your way with her at each step. She hates the fact that you sacrificed Kaiden on Virmire, she hates the fact that you worked with Cerberus, and she has trust issues. She also then feels guilt about holding a gun on Shepard, etc. Really you just have to work hard with her. Liara is easy to deal with is always supportive, helpful and is there as much as you need or want her to be. (Assuming you like her.) The relationships in the actual game are about as opposite as the women themselves are. Liara's relationship is almost like that of an actual girlfriend who isn't just the new girlfriend, but one you have some history with. She'll sit in your lap, kiss you, etc. if you romanced her in ME1. It changes the tone of many of her conversations with Shepard. With Ashley, it usually makes things more hostile.

Though some people may want that turmoil and strife in order to reach the sweet and caring person underneath the armor that you came to know in ME1. But breaking that armor down takes a LOT of work.

I like them both actually for different reasons, but I have to say I give the edge overall to Liara. She's my preferred love interest for most of my Shepards.

Tali
Tali is like a baby sister to my Shepard. I can't really picture a romance with her, but I've seen it done in youtube videos. She's nervious, unsure of herself and aloof a lot of the time. She doesn't always know how to react to Shepard at first. Her behavior in ME2 reminds me of Liara's in ME1. But she even lacks maturity in that regard vs. even Liara. Probably an age difference I'd imagine. Late teens, early 20's vs. 106. Still she can be a rewarding and compelling choice in ME2. She's genuine and caring. In a lot of ways, aside from her physiology, she's a very safe choice. Loyal to a fault, and absolutely devoted to her friendship / relationship with Shepard. Even Ashley approves of Shepard hooking up with tali in ME2 provided you romanced Ashley in ME1. Though she'd probably prefer you end it with her I'd imagine. In many ways Tali is Miranda's opposite. There is a certain girl next door charm to Tali and I think a lot of people liked that about her.

Miranda
Miranda is a cold calculating and ruthless bitch when you meet her at first. Though she's actually kind and vulnerable too. Of course there is an obvious and overt sexuality to her, a fact she's aware of and uses to her advantage. Still she's vulnerable like Ashley, but despite being about as easily wounded, she bounces back faster and easier than Ashley does. Miranda was my renegade choice in ME2. I felt like she was the best bet for a lot of reasons. Once you get to know her she's far more likable. A testament to the character I think. I hated her out of the gate but grew to like her eventually.

She also provides the longest, most revealing and best sex scene in ME2. Well actually you see more of Jack, but she doesn't really appeal to me. She has a very pretty face, which is evidenced more in ME3, but still. Too many tats.

Jack
Jack is damaged goods. I think that's clear to everyone. She's got a similar vulnerability as Miranda and Ashley do. Though it makes her more angry and less stable. Her looks aside, I didn't care for her as a choice because she's way too emotional and fits that emo stereo type to a perfect T. Not my thing. Typically the guys who go for this girl are the kind who have what I call "Knight in Shining Armor syndrome." She is appealing to players with this type of mentality that want to take the damaged, the broken and the derranged and help them heal. There is some interesting subtext to the Jack character, but ultimately, at best I could only ever be friends with someone like this. I boned her as a renegade, but didn't have a relationship with her. I was simply going for the maximum number of chicks I could bang in the game. (He's not called James T. Shepard for nothing.) The anger at Miranda and almost opposite behavior is interesting as well, but predictable.

I also don't find the fact that she cries enough to make her makeup run down her face in teh paragon version of the romance very attractive. It's emo, and just turns me off.

All in all I think the best romances are with either Liara or Ashley. The reason being is their longevity. You can carry the relationships for three games. Also they've got the longest and most detailed scenes in ME3, and you get more meaningful interactions with them over the course of the game. Tali would be a solid runner up, but you don't get her until later in ME3 and if you played ME2 on hardcore like I did, you really needed to do Tali's recruitment mission later on in the game. Not that you can get Tali all that early in ME2 as you have to complete the mission to Horizon first. So while Tali was better in ME2 than Ashley, I don't think she's as good a choice over the long haul. But like Liara, the relationship with her lacks a lot of the bullshit work and drama that comes with romancing Ashley.

Of course I'm sure some people will see each of these choices differently and many picked differently than I did. (Well aside from the fact that I picked most of them at one point due to playing through ME2 8 times and ME3 3 times so far.) On a purely physical level, Ashley is easily the most attractive, followed by Liara, Miranda, Jack, Tali, etc.

And no, I didn't forget Diana Allers, Kelly Chambers, etc. But there relationships are really restricted to the one game and lack the depth of the other choices. And I didn't forget the dudes either. But I rarely played a FemShep and only did so in ME2 thus far. I prefer the game's interactions from a male perspective. I just lack the time in the games to really evaluate the relationships outside of the ones I mentioned. I've only got about 600 hours in the Mass Effect games by now. I'd require much more time to evaluate all the games many relationships and options.

MacLeod said:

So when should I play From Ashes or does it matter? Is it vital to the story like Shadow Broker or Arrival or is it just a random mission or two? Does it matter when I play it?

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It's worth playing it early on for the comedy aspect alone. Javik has some great lines. In fact the whole game had a lot of good one liners and comedy bits. Both the writing and the line readings were great ( "...They used to eat flies you know." Hilarious).

Heh, I didn't even know you could have a paragon relationship with Jack.

Also, it's a shame Shepard didn't get first dibs on EDI.

Drown Babies said:

It's worth playing it early on for the comedy aspect alone. Javik has some great lines. In fact the whole game had a lot of good one liners and comedy bits. Both the writing and the line readings were great ( "...They used to eat flies you know." Hilarious).

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Yeah, he's funny. A drunk Tali calling him up, to him yelling at EDI in the AI Core, to joking around with James Vega, etc. Javik is actually where most of the game's more light hearted material comes from. ME1 and ME2 have some pretty funny things in them that break up the tension once in awhile. ME3 is generally darker and more depressing. Javik, whos story is depressing as HELL by nature is actually a great source of comedy without being bad comic releif.

Damn dude, you've actually made me feel like an asshole for dumping Liara. Guess I know what Ill be doing tonight when I get home. Pulling up that save and telling Liara I want her. That means Ill have to catch up with the other game so Ill have 2 games going side by side. God I love this game!

<--- goes for Ashley

I restarted at the 3 hour mark on my old save and told Liara I wanted to stick with her. Now I dont feel as guilty. I think I might stick with this game all the way thru instead of the one where I stuck with Tali. I went to the Citadel after rescuing the Krogan female this time around which I didnt do last time. I was able to run into Miranda, Dr Chakwas, Thane and I got that reporter on my ship. Looks like I missed a bunch of extra material. In my last game, the 2nd time I went to the Citadel, it was being overrun by Cerberus and I didnt get a chance to get with all these people.

MacLeod said:

Damn dude, you've actually made me feel like an asshole for dumping Liara. Guess I know what Ill be doing tonight when I get home. Pulling up that save and telling Liara I want her. That means Ill have to catch up with the other game so Ill have 2 games going side by side. God I love this game!

Click to expand...

You are an asshole for dumping Liara. She does more for Shepard than anyone, romanced or not. That being said, like real women, and in fact any character in any book, game, TV show or movie, not everyone likes the same ones. Many people are repulsed by Liara for whatever reason, be it physical or her personality. Some are absolutely drawn to Ashley. Again I lke both of them, but for different reasons. It's just a lot of work for less payoff with Ashley because you've got to crack her armor to get at the playful tomboy you met in ME1. And Ashley does have a sense of humor, something Liara generally lacks. (Though teasing Liara is sometimes funny because she's still somewhat culturally niaeve.) Garrus and Shepard teasing her on Sur'Kesh for example was hilarious. And on Javik's mission almost everyone teases Liara to some degree.

Ashley is a (cant type the C word on hardforum apparently... ) . Its all about Liara.



......did I really just type that?

I have been away from my wife for too long....need to go home...