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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Gaming Mass Effect Series

Discussion in 'Community' started by Valyn, Sep 7, 2012.

  1. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2007
    If you can, get From Ashes as soon as possible, it blends in perfectly with the game. Although its debatable that it should have been included rather than DLC, but it was free at launch with new copies so not a big deal (especially compared to other flaws).

    Leviathan is... ok. It ties into the overarching plot, but haven't bothered to see how much it effects the ending yet (I don't find playing through the final stages fun, and more than anything its just time consuming).

    Still trying to find out how to trigger something I saw on Youtube.
    A certain incident that starts with Grunt falling out of a building. [face_laugh]
     
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  2. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    My $0.02 on the dlc, for what it's worth:

    From Ashes isn't bad from what I can tell. I played the game without it, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything critical. The only time it felt like Javik should have been there was on Thessia, and that was to say something I had figured out myself. To be honest, the only reason I didn't get it initially was because I was one of the weird ones who didn't like the idea of running around with a prothean squadmate. Give me Zaeed or Grunt, dangit! :p (And yes, my feelings about the ending also soured my desire to get it, but that was after I got through ME3). Part of me thinks it might be a tad overpriced, considering that Stolen Memory from ME2 was only $8, whereas From Ashes is $10. Also for comparison, Lair of the Shadow Broker is $10, and I think there's more content there than there is with From Ashes.

    As for Leviathan, I didn't like what it did to the Reapers (beyond what the ending did). What happened to making them beings "beyond our comprehension"? Hello? Anyone remember ME1? I also didn't like how they retroactively try to foreshadow CataKid. Something like that should have been in the main game to begin with. Still would hate CataKid, but at least one of my gripes would have been dealt with. Other than that, I guess it would be worth the $10 for it. In it's favor, I did like the environments that I saw, and I liked that the squadmates did have lines.

    Omega I wouldn't touch at all, unless you really like Aria and/or feel like you must have all of the dlc. For a $15 mission that was cut from the game, it's an overpriced corridor shooter with too many glitches. Despite finishing it, Omega doesn't become a hub (or even mini-hub like the Shadow Broker ship in ME2) and Aria is still slumming it out on the Citadel even though she despises the place. Adding insult to injury, you don't even get to take any of your squadmates with you, and they don't even act like anything's happened. Too bland and too much wasted potential for my taste.

    The Citadel dlc, I go back and forth on, but I think it's mostly okay. Especially if you treat it as a post-ending story. Putting it in the middle kind of makes the tone rather jarring, in my opinion. You go from a fairly dark, bleak war story, to a cheesy 80's sci-fi action movie with a bunch of wise-cracks (no, I'm not actually saying that as a bad thing, even though the "twist" in it makes me facepalm), back to the fairly dark, bleak war story. It's also got enough fanservice that you could drown in it. Just about every squadmate has something there, and there's the MP inspired arena where you can take the ME2 (and ME3?) squadmates. $15 may be a tiny bit steep, but it might be worth it if you want to see a ton of character interaction.

    The weapon packs are sort of take them or leave it, imo. I think there's already enough guns in the main game, but I will say that $2 for about six guns isn't too bad, considering the most any pack had in ME2 was three for about the same price (I think). I've only used of the weapons in MP, but I've heard that Garrus really cleans house with the Krysae, and I think a couple people have been having fun with the Typhoon. I'd say that the Harrier is good (even if it goes through ammo quick), and the Striker can be fun. My guess is that somewhere in either of the two packs, you'll find at least one or two guns you'll like.
     
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  3. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    For some of the invites in Citadel, you have to go down to the Silversun Strip and then return to the apartment for the message to appear. You probably have to do that about 3-4 times and meet with certain people in your apartment like Miranda. In that case, it's a C-Sec officer asking you to meet him down in the strip. Yeah, that one was good. :D
     
  4. GenAntilles

    GenAntilles Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Got the new DLC finally. Beat Clone Shep. I am headcanoning this to be post ending, there is no way all these people are this carefree and happy while robo cthulus are destroying all life.

    Got Geth Juggernaut as my gift character. Holy crap I'm invincible. First time using him I'm fighting Collectors and I hold the landing area at Glacier by myself against a Praetorian, Scion, and 4-5 Collectors. And I beat them. There is nothing greater than watching your three allies running away from a horde of Collector monsters while you casually stroll forward firing at them. I've named my Geth Orion Pax, if he had been a Prime I think the name would be obvious. :p
     
  5. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    Origin are doing ME3 cheap to celebrate its one year anniversary, so I'm OK with paying-out a bit for DLC since it pretty much only adds up to the price of the game at release anyway.

    Will probably get the weapons pack too, provided I can actually play when I'm being spywared by EA :p
     
  6. Katya Jade

    Katya Jade Administrator Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2002
    It was fun. A bit cliche and cheesy, but as a nice goodbye to the characters it was great. Honestly, it was worth it just to hear Garrus say, "Good think Archangel is your boyfriend then." :p They did a nice job of character interaction (their banter when they're imprisoned in the archives was awesome) and Traynor's toothbrush made me LOL.
     
  7. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    The weapons packs are worth the two bucks a pop, I think. There are a number of guns in there that are just plain devastating or very handy in certain circumstances - one-shotting Brutes with the Venom shotgun sure as heck makes the end of Priority: Tuchanka a lot easier. One of the things I like about Citadel is it gives you a means to rack up near-unlimited credits through the combat arena, so now there's technically no ceiling to upgrading weapons and mods.
     
  8. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Just faced down my renegade adept's clone - and no, he wasn't a paragon, just even more of a jerk. I returned the favor though after a barrage of biotic, fire, and tech detonations (EDI and Javik as squaddies) plus a high-powered shotgun. First by telling him "Get off my ship" and stomping on his fingers as he clung to the ramp, and second by killing Brooks after she unlocked her cuffs and made a break for it.

    "Admit it, you'll miss me."
    *BLAM*
    "Not at this range."
     
  9. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Decided to train up for the final "Unusual Scores" challenge in the arena by doing a few super-elite matchups against Collectors. Geez, now I know why people hate those things. Running into Praetorians again made Banshees look like a picnic, and Possessed Scions are a pain in the arse with the grenade spam. First time around I used Javik and Grunt; second time it was Grunt and Wrex. Dude, seeing those two go melee against a Praetorian and a Scion was pretty awesome. Well, granted they got downed and I didn't see the action very well because I skedaddled to the other side of the map, but I had plenty of medigel left. Would have stayed in my corner letting them draw the heat while I covered them with powers and an M-76 Revenant, but I started to get boxed in by a Scion and a Possessed Scion. Quite literally blew my way through the weaker opponent with gunfire, powers, and cluster grenades.

    Ash provided me with another reason why in six playthroughs she's the VS in four. Kaidan's pre-party interaction is him coming up to cook dinner and getting razzed by Shepard about food poisoning. Ash meets Shep at the bar, challenges him to shots, and they get interrupted by a batarian and a vorcha doing an outright shout-out to Dr. Evanzan and Ponda Baba in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Ash wasn't kidding in ME1 about being a straight-up puncher.
     
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  10. 07jonesj

    07jonesj Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2010
    I saved Kaidan back in 2007 on impulse so I've stuck with that as my main!Shep ever since.

    Speaking of DLC, I think ME3's has improved the single player vastly over it's original release. The Extended Cut actually makes the endings diverse, rather than their original copy-paste versions.

    Leviathan is best played right after Thessia and although it is retroactive foreshadowing, and technically cheating, it does help with the Catalyst reveal later on. Omega is a fun side mission, admittedly I always loved seeing Omega in ME2 and the novels. Makes the most sense after the Coup.

    Citadel, I think, should be placed right before Cronos Station, because it really feels like a last hooray. I know people have mentioned that everyone seems to happy, but at this point in the story there's a very high likelihood that everyone's going to be dead in a matter of months - that results in people really living. For an in-universe reason, it makes sense that Hackett would be gathering his forces for the attack on Cronos, while the rest of the races would be rallying for the final battle straight afterward. IMO, it makes sense that Hackett would give Shep two days off to rest before this massive task.

    I second loving that arena. The "Error" battle and Mirror Match are super fun. Beating Aria on the leaderboard is always nice. Hate the claw game in Castle Arcade though. The other two games I can do fairly easily, but that damn claw game you have to get the orange ball 4 times to get all the mods! [face_frustrated]
     
  11. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Yeah, I decided to pass on trying to get the weapon mods from the arcade for now. Too much of a pain in the rear, although I did get the final ultralight AR mod that allows my adept to run around toting a Revenant and a Punisher with a 198% cooldown bonus. Likewise, that pull-up challenge from Vega deserves a Schmuck Bait mention.

    As far as placing the party right before Cronos, yeah. First off, unless you do it after Horizon Miranda won't show. Second, there's that final scene with the whole team looking out at the Normandy, and Shep says they threw "a hell of a party - probably the last one." There's a sense as everyone walks away that it's the last bit of fun before they go charging into hell.

    I'm not going to see this because all my femSheps are taken, but from checking around it appears that if an unromanced femShep takes the correct dialogue path during the party ...

    ... Jello ought to be pleased; there's an implied drunken one-night stand with Javik.
    "Anything that moves" indeed.
     
  12. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    I thought that was a PC mod thing? Regardless... *Passes out the Brain Bleach*
     
  13. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    "I Need A Freaking Drink"

    Completed the "Fatal Error" challenge and the "Mirror Match." For the former I brought the tanks - Grunt and Wrex. Not as hard as I feared; I only had to scrape Uncle Urdnot off the floor twice because he decided to pick an omni-bayonet fight with an Atlas or two. "Mirror Match" on the other hand was quite possibly the toughest fight I've had in the entire ME trilogy. Having six fakeSheps, one of each class, coming at you all at once is a tough fight. And I say "coming at you" because I'm fairly sure they completely ignored Miranda and Jack. Trying to figure which one was the most dangerous, but I'd probably go with the vanguard - now I know what being on the other end of charge/nova spam feels like. On one occasion I probably got away only by detonating a flare at point blank range and running like a bastard.
     
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  14. 07jonesj

    07jonesj Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2010
    Yeah, the Vanguards are the worst. You let them close in on you and you'll have no shields and be stunned. Running away isn't an option so you're screwed if you don't take 'em down fast.
     
  15. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Yeah, well if I stuck around to fight I was going to get shredded, especially since by that point I think I had a couple of his friends at mid-close range with clear shots. I had a few points where I was quite literally one hit from death. And unlike heavies they're too small and fast to get reliable hits on with cluster grenades. Stagger the enemy, trigger medigel, and run was the escape hatch.
     
  16. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    If anyone need proof of what was posted above *hands out Brain bleach and vodka*:

    Also medigel is apparently a real thing now. I'd still avoid getting shot at or taking on Reapers though...
     
  17. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Heh, and in the other options, I like the bit where Javik is lying on the bathroom floor the next morning. "Is it time to rule the galaxy? Kneel before Javik!"
     
  18. 07jonesj

    07jonesj Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2010
    So you've not tried it with all the modifiers? :p

    I wonder if anyone can do all modifiers Mirror Match on Insanity?
     
  19. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    Grrrrr. Don't you just love it when you search for "Cerberus", "Gold" on a public game ... aaaaaaand it dumps your soldier, fitted up with your best-remaining ammunition (Drill Rounds III, yo) onto Wave 6, at a point where the guy hosting has been knocked down, and it gives Cerberus a good twenty seconds of thrashing your character with 2 Dragoons and Phantoms before it allows you to do anything? The whole mission failed right there and then. I should know better, I really should. If it's Gold, I should just host and wait for people to join.

    (On the other hand, I picked up an Arsenal Pack: Krysae III, and Geth Pulse Rifle III, along with that newfangled "assault rifle can see through smoke and walls" scope!)

    Also tried out my first Krogan Soldier. With only a Black Widow as his weapon, kitted out in yellow and black armour to look like the Bride from Kill Bill.

    Well, I found it hilarious, anyway :D
     
  20. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    I attempted to make that visual connection and my brain shut down. Yellow and black was sort of the palette you could kit your entire squad with in ME2, albeit with some exceptions (Grunt's loyalty outfit was more of a University of Florida Gators scheme).

    Well, I did select no ammo crates, but otherwise yeah. Just Normal difficulty and no other modifiers. My squadmate choice probably wasn't the best; next time I might go heavier on the tech or just go for the "Krogan bodyguards" approach like I did on "Fatal Error."
     
  21. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    So in other words...
    this is Javik?
    [​IMG]
    :p


    Heh. Reminds me of some characters I have:
    1) There's a Krogan Soldier in a gold/yellow outfit that's named Worf
    2) The Krogan Warlord is named Thor
    3) My Cerberus Adept is in red armor and named Tony Stark
    4) There's also the N7 Destroyer Soldier in all grey armor that's named Rom Mohc
    5) Finally, there's the Geth Infiltrator in light blue armor with white markings, armed with a Geth SMG and Black Widow (or Javelin), named Tachikoma.

    You may commence groaning.:p
     
  22. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Actually, Javik is sitting on the floor looking rather the worse for wear. When prompted again, he starts saying he had a horrible dream that he was asleep for 50,000 years and the primitives had taken over, and there was this asari ...

    Just finished the party with my adept. My impression is this:

    If you're still ticked about the ME3 ending and can't get over it - screw the logic, screw the bitterness, and have some fun. I was literally squeeing with delight on several occasions, and I'm not really a squeeing kind of guy. The fanservice level is enough to give this thing vertical lift. And despite the incongruity of the entire crew partying during the war, the ending (of the DLC) made it fit. It was bittersweet and damn near broke the fourth wall; Shep and the LI are speaking for both the fans and the development team. In hindsight it reminded me of the end of Vision of the Future or Union before the EU started going to hell (first in terms of the in-universe state of the galaxy, then with the plot) - one last joyful hurrah before the bad things started happening. The disappointment that it's not all going to end happily ever after will still be there, but in a sense it makes it a more epic party.
     
  23. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    Well, you guys are slowly convincing me... :)

    I've seen a good bit on youtube ... where Grunt, Wrex, and Shepard finally all sit down and finally do the Wrex.Shepard.Grunt.Shepard.Wrex meme for real. That one's just begging for a fan-created treatment of the Wassup (Budweiser) song!

    In MP, I finally got over my hesitation and started up a Gethgineer. With a Geth Plasma Shotgun. Holy God it's fun. I hear the Juggernaut overshadows him, of course, but it was fun last night to get into a match with a Juggernaut by my side and two low-levelled "organics" running around on Bronze. Result? Juggernaut wins by less than a thousand points, I surmise because I took out an Atlas with charged blasts of the shotgun. :D
     
  24. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    The party was full of more RIP Robin Sachs moments. I played the party as a "pump up the volume" sort of host, which changes the actions the squadmates perform. He started out hanging upstairs with Javik, Wrex, and Grunt - there's trouble, although it's limited to some literal headbutting between Wrex and Grunt. In Phase II of the party he's with Samara at the back of the apartment looking at a painting and actually offering semi-coherent art criticism. Then, obviously drunk, he starts hitting on a completely sober Samara and going on about Jessie again (Samara asks if he and Jessie had children; at this point he hasn't yet mentioned Jessie is his rifle).

    Phase III of the party? Him, Wrex, and Javik are all drunk, somehow brought their guns, and are using beer bottles on the bar for target practice. You don't actually see them shooting, but they're all crouched behind the couch and fireplace like kids playing Cowboys and Indians. Grunt is not participating on account of being passed out drunk in the shower.
     
  25. BLemelisk

    BLemelisk Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2003
    This is the line from the DLC I was talking about. Hilarious the first time I heard it. Doesn't really spoil anything. And Saintheart, Citadel is very enjoyable I honestly can't recommend it enough as a final sendoff. Plus the amount of variables it takes into account is just plain impressive.




    Also, the team released the soundtrack for free, give them a listen. The titles aren't really too spoilery so I wouldn't worry. The best for me is "Citadel Underbelly."