ME3 wish list. Mass Spoilers of 1 and 2.

[Belthan]

Belthan mentioned Tali's loyalty mission, the last fight of the mission, as tough.

I assume its the one with Geth prime and two lesser ones...

Actually, I meant the colossus at the end of the mission when you first recruit Tali. No problem getting there, but it took me a while to find the right mix of squad, weapons and placement to keep the infinitely respawning geth off my back long enough to wear down the shields & armor on the colossus. Might have been easier except for my stubborn insistence on keeping Kal'Reegar alive. Come to think of it, while it wasn't exactly a big open area, the choice of three attack routes was a slight departure from the linear shooting gallery design of most missions.

The Blue Suns wave in the Archangel mission was only tough for me because Archangel was doing his best to catch slugs with his face. Expert sniper standing upright in an open window while bad guys shoot assault rifles & missiles at him? Gimme a break. So there's another wish list item - tougher combat because I have to assess the situation more carefully and react to changing conditions: yes. Tougher because I have to protect NPCs with legitimate in-game reasons to require protection: <sigh> if I must. Tougher because I have to protect battle-hardened veterans from AI-inflicted stupidity: absolutely not!

"So yeah, guys, Sovereign was destroyed and some of them know about our presence.. shouldn't we.. speed up?"
"Chill out man and have some more weed"

:laugh:

But maybe it's just the perspective in the shot that makes it look like they are slowly drifting. And not knowing exactly how much better the Reapers' internal FTL drives are than Alliance ships, is it possible that disabling the Citadel relay is just an inconvenience, but they could still get here under their own power uncomfortably soon (years/decades)?

"Dude, they busted our ride, now we have to walk".
"Better roll a fat one then..."

[Rad]

Actually, I meant the colossus at the end of the mission when you first recruit Tali. No problem getting there, but it took me a while to find the right mix of squad, weapons and placement to keep the infinitely respawning geth off my back long enough to wear down the shields & armor on the colossus.

I've found Zaeed or Grunt and Garrus are usually the best squad for the job.

I always found the easiest way was to go left. The only real trick was surviving getting there. If waited for after the Colossus' shot, it wasn't TOO bad, but the two (or three?) Geth that are waiting up there usually do some damage before I put them down.

Might have been easier except for my stubborn insistence on keeping Kal'Reegar alive.

I've always told him to stand down and it never affected my results. It was usually me that got me killed (being impatient)

Come to think of it, while it wasn't exactly a big open area, the choice of three attack routes was a slight departure from the linear shooting gallery design of most missions.

Technically correct (which is the best kind of correct!), but once you start down a path...forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will...oops...I mean once you pick a direction it turns back into a shooting gallery.

[Stworca]

Ah, the Colossus bit. I've found that the right way is the easiest, but i was always running around and getting loot before bothering with the colossus in all three paths
"Hey, look, Iridium on the other end of the galery! MOVE"
"Oh my, heavy weapon ammo back on the sniping walkway! CHARGE!"
"One of the fifty geth we just dropped might have had some loot on him! ALL OUT!"
"Shep! What about the Colossus!?" "He ain't moving anywhere! NOW GO GET THAT ELEMENT ZERO!"

I always told my squad to wait with Kal'Regaar, so i had access to their powers should i need them.

Why was the right side the easiest? Because at the end of it there is heavy weapon ammo. The thing drops fast when turtled up.
I'd say the middle is the toughest, because geth surround you and colossi will be shoting you in the face from close range, not much time to dodge.

I cannot say that i had problems with the amount of geth spawning even alone. Maybe it was the weapons. The heavy pistol + AP rounds, sniper rifle + disruptor rounds. Insanity or not they drop fast

[Tricky]

I have only one wish for the ME series. For PocketPlane or someone else to step in and create Mass Effect:Tutu. That may sound a little silly, but I think it could work out great. Continuous play, proper non-lazy resource gathering in all games, best graphics, player models, etc. In one word: consistency.

[Rad]

Ah, the Colossus bit. I've found that the right way is the easiest, but i was always running around and getting loot before bothering with the colossus in all three paths

I wait until after killing the Colossus to loot everything.

Why was the right side the easiest? Because at the end of it there is heavy weapon ammo.

There's a heavy weapon ammo on the left side as well. It's easiest for you because you play a sniper. I, on the other hand, play like a SEAL team, with maximum firepower in motion

I'd say the middle is the toughest, because geth surround you and colossi will be shoting you in the face from close range, not much time to dodge.

Agreed. I tried that way twice. Learned my lesson...

I cannot say that i had problems with the amount of geth spawning even alone. Maybe it was the weapons. The heavy pistol + AP rounds, sniper rifle + disruptor rounds. Insanity or not they drop fast

Eventually, if you kill them fast enough, you can get to the Colossus and only have to worry about a few popping up while you're dealing with it.

[Stworca]

I wait until after killing the Colossus to loot everything.

Where's the fun in that? Dodgin' bullets is the only acceptable way of gathering resources! :laugh:
Now that i know that there is a set of heavy ammo on the left too, i'll now gather both, and storm through middle, while belching and scratching my crotch constantly.

It would actualy be good if ME3 had some moments like the middle colossus path, with options to go around. Much like, say, Deus Ex had. Many ways of dealing with the same combat encounter

[Rad]

It would actualy be good if ME3 had some moments like the middle colossus path, with options to go around. Much like, say, Deus Ex had. Many ways of dealing with the same combat encounter

Oooo, options. That would mean a non-corridor shooter approach, and that'll never happen...unfortunately.

Why you ask? Because, the corridor shooter layout allows marginal players that EAware wants to cater to, who never want to put thought into their play, to play effectively. If they made things so you have to think about what you're going to do you would hear the howls from here to the moon.

[Stworca]

Oooo, options. That would mean a non-corridor shooter approach, and that'll never happen...unfortunately.

Maybe if they made a PC game on its own, and not port it from X-box or whatever else

[Rad]

Maybe if they made a PC game on its own, and not port it from X-box or whatever else

Oh no. Regardless of what they say, Bioware makes console games first. The PC market is secondary AT BEST. Come to think of it though, the 360 is their top priority, the PS3 seems to be second now, and the PC a distant third.

[Belthan]

Oooo, options. That would mean a non-corridor shooter approach, and that'll never happen...unfortunately.

Why you ask? Because, the corridor shooter layout allows marginal players that EAware wants to cater to, who never want to put thought into their play, to play effectively. If they made things so you have to think about what you're going to do you would hear the howls from here to the moon.

You're probably right, but I hope not. I know people who could rack up an astronomical online kill/death ratio vs. my run-of-the-mill controller skills, but couldn't think their way out of a paper bag. Catering to them would be the polar opposite of what I want out of ME3. I like shooters too, and I hate to sound like an elitist, but really, "SF RPG" kind of implies thinking will be required.

There's a heavy weapon ammo on the left side as well.

Yep, I know that now. First attempt on insanity was up the left, didn't see the HW ammo and one shot with the Cain wasn't enough to take colossus down. Stunned disbelief, fail. Next few attempts were up the right, found the HW ammo, kept getting killed because the Cain's spin-up time is slightly slower than the colossus shoots. Decided to use the collector particle beam so I could quickly break cover and zap it between shots, squad kept getting pummeled by hunters ahead & other geth flanking. Figured since I wasn't using the Cain, I didn't really need spare HW ammo, let's try the left again. Found better cover for the squad, geth still distracting but not flanking, so far so good. Particle beamed the colossus shields until I was out of energy, finished it off with powers & sniper rifle. Start looting and, oh look, HW ammo over here too!

[Rad]

I like shooters too, and I hate to sound like an elitist, but really, "SF RPG" kind of implies thinking will be required.

That is assuming ME is an RPG franchise anymore. The only thing ME2 had to do with a "Role Playing Game" was, you took on a ROLE that you used while PLAYING a GAME. The problem with that thinking is it can apply to anything, shooters, turn based strategy, etc. Bioware seems to have forgotten that a RPG is more than that somewhere along the line.

Ok, ME2 wasn't QUITE that bad, but you can only cut so much of what makes a RPG an RPG out of that game and have it still be one.

[Belthan]

Again, I hope you're wrong about ME3, but it truly is sad how many times I've seen an acclaimed franchise get watered down in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience, and end up driven into the ground instead. Why don't they learn it alienates hardcore fans and critics, but the mass market usually still doesn't get it, so the train wreck is not only creative, but financial too. Oh right, they think it will work for them because it worked for Metallica (rim shot, please).

[Stworca]

What truly surprises me are critics giving each game a 10/10 Complete, flawless, perfect games.

Ofcourse if there were no better RPG's, or i wouldn't play any better RPG's, i would probably give it a 10 too.
Or maybe it's because the reviewers cannot spend too much time testing before deadline

Or maybe it's just me expecting too much from a 9/10 or 10/10 game. But hey, i have a few 10's on my HDD

[Rad]

What truly surprises me are critics giving each game a 10/10 Complete, flawless, perfect games.

I have several theories on that.

In my opinion, some critics give good ratings because they are either paid to or (and more likely) they do it so the publisher won't cut off their access and/or give them more access.

There is also most likely a segment of reviews who hate RPGs, mostly because you can't give a good review of an RPG after only playing it for an hour or two.

But hey, i have a few 10's on my HDD

But those are probably scantily clad...and jpgs...

[Rad]

[rant]

ME1 was not, by any definition, a great RPG. It was an action game at heart, but ti did have strong RPG elements. It had it's flaws, and fairly serious ones like inventory bloat (too much stuff, most of which wasn't useful and no easy way to get rid of it or any way to leave it behind), there was a sameness between the classes (an Infiltrator felt like a limited Soldier with Engineer powers, a Vanguard felt like an Adept that used Shotguns, etc) and fairly primitive shooter mechanics. It had good skills and powers, squad members had fairly good AI, an it had a reasonably well written story that revealed it self over the course of the game. And while there were only a few (four actually) main story missions, you could do them whenever and in whatever order you wanted to do them.

While in ME2, they did fix the shooter mechanics, and did a great job creating differences between the classes, and added usefull Heavy Weapons to replace the useless Grenades, they took the other issues, that could have been fixed fairy easily, and just ripped them out. Inventory was removed completely. Now this wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't also cut the weapon selection down to almost NOTHING, not counting DLCs and "special" class specific weapons, there were only two of each type of gun. The story was trimmed to the point where there was no mystery, nothing to discover, everything was dumped into your lap right at the beginning and you were forced to do things a certain way to advance the story.

[/rant]

[Stworca]

But those are probably scantily clad...and jpgs...

Gothic 1 got a 9, mind you! M&B warband got a 9. Spoiler

Spoiler

BG2 will probably get a 9 or 10, same with ToB. Gothic 3.. depending on what parts i focus my note on may get anything between 5 and 9. It's both amazing and terrible.

/Spoiler

Although i admit, the only games which i'd give 10/10 without a second thought are Dwarf Fortress and MGS3 (for its plot, ending and "The boss" character, otherwise it'd be a 7. Call me a sissy, but i've shed a few tears at the end of MGS3.)

ME1 was not, by any definition, a great RPG. It was an action game at heart, but ti did have strong RPG elements. It had it's flaws, and fairly serious ones like inventory bloat (too much stuff, most of which wasn't useful and no easy way to get rid of it or any way to leave it behind), there was a sameness between the classes (an Infiltrator felt like a limited Soldier with Engineer powers, a Vanguard felt like an Adept that used Shotguns, etc) and fairly primitive shooter mechanics. It had good skills and powers, squad members had fairly good AI, an it had a reasonably well written story that revealed it self over the course of the game. And while there were only a few (four actually) main story missions, you could do them whenever and in whatever order you wanted to do them.

Don't forget the amazing, renegade ending! Although i had hoped that if you chose paragon one, galaxy would pay dearly (it'd be a 8,5 in that case!)

usefull Heavy Weapons to replace the useless Grenades

I disagree. Grenades were a huge part of my strategy, and thanks to them i only reloaded in Pinnacle Station last mission, which on Insane was just plain, nearly unbeatable BS. Got through it only thanks to turtling up in a corner with my entire squad... Although as soldier i guess it's beatable when alt-tabbed. Anyway grenades can be useful to some, and to me they were priceless. Even more - some of the heavy weapons were simply terrible, and using WW2 weaponry would be more effective!

[Rad]

Although i had hoped that if you chose paragon one, galaxy would pay dearly (it'd be a 8,5 in that case!)

Bioware has never, and probably won't start now, punished Paragon choices in any of it's games. I'll be surprised if Renegade choices don't bite you in the ass HARD in ME3.

Anyway grenades can be useful to some, and to me they were priceless. Even more - some of the heavy weapons were simply terrible, and using WW2 weaponry would be more effective!

Ok, NEARLY useless Grenades and MOSTLY useful Heavy Weapons .

I only ever used Grenades on Feros to kill crowds of Creepers, especially after I discovered that pistol whipping the colonists worked just as well as the gas grenades.

[Stworca]

Just dug something out, so i have to update my 'dream' endings for ME3. Did i say endings? Yes i'd wish to see two.

I've mentioned the Pyhrric victory before. I'd say this should be the case only if Shep does everything right. Humanity and council, all races fight together, which is enough to break ze circle, but even if some races survive, they'll survive on their knees, barely alive.

However..

This is the spirit in which i want ME3 to end if you mess something up. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg"]Dead Island Trailer[/url]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwtr_-4vz6g&feature=relmfu"]Here is the same in reversed (chronorogical) order[/url] (messed up audio) in my opinion the best game trailer.

All will be lost, everything will go badly, but alliance will go down swinging, like no one has ever swung before.

No, don't ruin the moment by saying that Bioware will end it in a happy-kittens and rainbows way. I know, but i prefer my endings! Was it the real world, an unbeatable force like the reapers wouldn't allow anything other than my way.

[Rad]

I've mentioned the Pyhrric victory before. I'd say this should be the case only if Shep does everything right. Humanity and council, all races fight together, which is enough to break ze circle, but even if some races survive, they'll survive on their knees, barely alive.

Agreed. ultimate victory should only be possible in one, very difficult to achieve circumstance. The pyhrric victory I'd like to see only humanity wiped out, but remembered for the glorious sacrifice they made for the benefit of all.

No, don't ruin the moment by saying that Bioware will end it in a happy-kittens and rainbows way. I know, but i prefer my endings! Was it the real world, an unbeatable force like the reapers wouldn't allow anything other than my way.

From a literary and believability standpoint, your endings ARE better. But you know how whiny gamers get if they are not allowed to "save the day".

[Belthan]

"Saving the day" is relative. Sure, when most people say "live free or die" they tend to focus on the "live free" part. But when you look at what the Protheans were vs. what the Collectors are, the "die" part certainly isn't the worst possible ending. Just summarizing a few ideas from throughout the thread, but I can see the "perfect" ending (most difficult path with all choices made correctly) being civilization is trashed but the Reapers are defeated, council species survive to rebuild from the ashes. The "moderately successful" ending being everybody dies, but the next time sentient life evolves it won't be under the shadow of the Reapers. The "epic fail" ending would be humanity taking the Collectors' place and the cycle starting over.

Assuming of course, that the "Reapers are actually fighting a bigger cosmic threat" idea doesn't pan out. If it does, all bets are off re: the ending.