Mass Effect 3

[Treqqor]

FINALLY finished the game.
I had zero problems with the ending, it was emotional enough for me, I didn't notice anything jarring at all. I wish I had a Krogan on my team like the previous games, but other than that, very satisfying, I loved Shep and Anderson sitting there just before your choices, taking in the view. Great moment.

Going to start my renegade version next, where most everybody dies (purposely planned) in ME2, so it'll be neat to see the differences without Wrex, Thane, Legion, etc.

[Aubergine~!]

true....what do you think the reaction would have been if that happened in a game today?

If done well, most would be quite alright with it.

spoilers:

See: the deaths of Thane, Mordin, and Legion.

end of spoilers

[Alex]

I suspect what Alex was getting at was they both shared the quality of being very linear up until the end of the game, where you got to do more exploration.

Pretty much.
13 was more linear than 10 because for the vast majority of the game, you had no choice in anything, ever.
10 was still painfully linear at the time.
And now that people have actually played western rpgs on consoles instead of just pcs, it's become a joke.

[carabas]

FINALLY finished the game.
I had zero problems with the ending, it was emotional enough for me, I didn't notice anything jarring at all. I wish I had a Krogan on my team like the previous games, but other than that, very satisfying, I loved Shep and Anderson sitting there just before your choices, taking in the view. Great moment.

Did you see the other two, functionally completely identical endings? Yeah, your choices really do matter...

[Alex]

Did you see the other two, functionally completely identical endings? Yeah, your choices really do matter...

I haven't bothered to see another ending, are they the same?

[carabas]

I haven't bothered to see another ending, are they the same?

They're virtually palette swaps with differently coloured explosions.

[Havok83]

They're virtually palette swaps with differently coloured explosions.

thats a sad yet accurate description

[Simbob4000]

I haven't bothered to see another ending, are they the same?

Mass Effect 3: All 3 Perfect Endings and Secret Ending

[Guest_1001]

Pretty much.
13 was more linear than 10 because for the vast majority of the game, you had no choice in anything, ever.
10 was still painfully linear at the time.
And now that people have actually played western rpgs on consoles instead of just pcs, it's become a joke.

Western RPGs aren't exactly non-linear. Even stuff like Skyrim, in spite of the fact that it's an open-world game, can feel restrictive. How many people do you think will do the Bleak Falls Barrow Golden Claw quest at the start no matter how many new characters they make, just because it's the first quest they come across? Same goes for Whiterun and slaying the first dragon and the Companions/College Of Winterhold/Thieves' Guild/Dark Brotherhood quest lines. I prefer FFX to Skyrim but probably prefer Fallout 3/New Vegas to those two.

[Treqqor]

Did you see the other two, functionally completely identical endings? Yeah, your choices really do matter...

They do matter leading up to that moment. If I killed the Rachni Queen in Mass Effect 1, then I wouldn't have had that mission in ME3 and, by allowing her to live in that mission, she was able to help build up the crucible. For example. Or killing Wrex in ME1 would have totally changed the feel of ME3. Yup, choices mattered. And hey, looking at all the videos at once (nice find!) earth's people didn't get vapourized for me. Again, looks like I made some good decisions in the game.

So, yeah, it looks like things did matter.

And on top of that, I had a great playing experience for all those hours. The most important part of a game.

[Vibranium]

They do matter leading up to that moment. If I killed the Rachni Queen in Mass Effect 1, then I wouldn't have had that mission in ME3 and, by allowing her to live in that mission, she was able to help build up the crucible. For example. Or killing Wrex in ME1 would have totally changed the feel of ME3. Yup, choices mattered.

All of your choices up to that point mattered. They just didn't matter during the last 5 minutes. Kind of like real life, if you ask me.

pretty much how I felt....its the journey, not the destination...but that's just me

Stephen Johnson on Feedback had a pretty good summary about that point of view that I agreed with

[Simbob4000]

They do matter leading up to that moment. If I killed the Rachni Queen in Mass Effect 1, then I wouldn't have had that mission in ME3 and, by allowing her to live in that mission, she was able to help build up the crucible. For example. Or killing Wrex in ME1 would have totally changed the feel of ME3. Yup, choices mattered. And hey, looking at all the videos at once (nice find!) earth's people didn't get vapourized for me. Again, looks like I made some good decisions in the game.

So, yeah, it looks like things did matter.

And on top of that, I had a great playing experience for all those hours. The most important part of a game.

If you don't help the Rachni Queen in Mass Effect isn't there just a new Rachni Queen there, and everything is the same as if you saved her, only this new Queen won't join you in the end? And if Wrex didn't make it in the first game isn't there some new character there to replace him, and you do all the same things no matter which of the two there are?

[Vibranium]

Wreav is now head of Clan Urdnot, and instead of wanting to rebuild Tucanka, he just wants to be known as the krogan who cured the genophage and take revenge on the Turians and the Salarians for what they did

same mission yes, but I did things differently with Wreave there because....he's an asshole

[Guest_1001]

They do matter leading up to that moment. If I killed the Rachni Queen in Mass Effect 1, then I wouldn't have had that mission in ME3 and, by allowing her to live in that mission, she was able to help build up the crucible. For example. Or killing Wrex in ME1 would have totally changed the feel of ME3. Yup, choices mattered. And hey, looking at all the videos at once (nice find!) earth's people didn't get vapourized for me. Again, looks like I made some good decisions in the game.

So, yeah, it looks like things did matter.

And on top of that, I had a great playing experience for all those hours. The most important part of a game.

Actually, if you kill the Rachni Queen, you do still have that mission in ME3. It's exactly the same, except for a little line about the new Queen being constructed by the Reapers or something like that. I think that's a huge missed opportunity. Same goes for destroying/saving Maelon's data in ME2. You can still cure the Genophage either way. Imagine if you destroyed it, which means the Genophage couldn't be cured, the Krogans wouldn't go to Palaven and the Turians wouldn't provide support for Earth. You'd be screwed ... but perhaps the Salarians could make up for it because you wouldn't have to screw them over by invading their homeworld and smack-talking the Dalatrass.

It's not just that though. If everyone dies in ME2, most of them are substituted with other characters, just slightly less interesting ones. Jack has her redheaded male student who is just as good at destroying Atlas mechs with biotics as she is, Jacob has a random black doctor called "Dr Webber" who is just as good at shooting Cerberus troops as he is while fleeing the planet, Mordin's replacement even talks more like Mordin than the other Salarians, etc. So if they die, it doesn't matter and if they survive, it doesn't matter; you can't use them in your squad (except for Garrus and Tali; no characters introduced in ME2, in other words), their romance options don't go anywhere and all they add is a bit of different dialogue and a war asset. They just come across as cannon fodder.

[Vibranium]

minus Garrus and Tali (if they died in ME2) would put you down 2 squad members in a game that doesn't have a lot to start with

I might have to try that on a later playthrough