Part 1: Look, Gamplay and such
Part 2: #Solcomms
Part 3: Plots, Subplots and related commentary pt1, pt2, pt3
Part 4: The Extended Enging and Wrap Up
I’ve received a complaint questioning how long I’m going to harp on
ME3. The answer is FOREVER!!!! AAHHHHHH!!!!
Ahem.
No, I think there should be one more post after this one I think. I’ll
be babbling as briefly as I can (ha) about the different main missions and then
a few side ones. It’s all dependent on how many words it ends up being. And
then I’ll move on to something else. I’ll actually be happy to get this done. I
need to get back to stuff that have landed on the backburner due to this
series. It’ll be nice to have this over. It’s been really cathartic.
Anyway, back to characters and what I would’ve liked to see.
Miranda Lawson
As with Jack, Miranda is side-lined for this game which, once again, I
think is a shame, but for different reasons (and similar ones here and there). I
really enjoyed Miranda’s story in ME2 – if rushed. That she hardly featured in
ME3 is therefore quite a disappointment. I felt that there was still so much
that could have been done with her character and just wasn’t.
As with Mordin (but to a far lesser degree), Miranda’s story touches on
her loyalty mission of the game before. You meet her at the Citadel where she
ends up being all vague and mysterious and talking about her sister and
whatnot. I have to say, I already disliked what was happening. The whole point
of Miranda’s journey in Mass Effect 2 was to realise that 1) she shouldn’t be defined
by her engineering but rather by who she was as a person and, as with her own
identity, 2) she should define Shepard by who she is as a person and not by her
ability as a soldier and leader. And through that, she begins to trust Shepard.
Suddenly, we’re back at holding Shep at arm’s length. How the hell did
that happen?
Miranda pops in about two times after that – each time giving a bit
more information – and then finally makes a last appearance in the Horizon
mission. Rather disappointing really.
The fact of the matter is that she was sorely missed as an XO on the
Normandy. In ME2, you got the distinct sense that Miranda was managing while
Shepard was directing. She filled the role of XO so well, countering Shepard,
challenging her so that Shep had to make definitive choices. She gave Shepard
another perspective to work from. Very XO-like in my book. You also felt that
staff went to her first. Shepard wasn’t disturbed by crew-issues (with the
exception of some squad temper tantrums). That was Miranda’s role. Who was the
XO in ME3? Can someone tell me? Anyone?
I have to say, while I feel that some rather big character aspects took
a step backwards, there was a certain sense of tenderness that Miranda conveyed
to Shepard. While I totally do not understand why Bioware made the choice of having
Miranda fret over a chip she didn’t insert into the commander, I loved how she spoke to Shepard. There was
definitely a change, a vulnerability, a depth. If Miranda dies in the end, the
last moments with her are particularly touching. The ice queen definitely
thawed out and it’s beautiful. I just wish they didn’t pull a completely 180 by
having Miranda keep Shep at arm’s length prior.
It just makes no sense.
Romance
… Well, at least Miranda doesn’t promise BroShep a good lay at the end of
the game. He actually manages to get a moment with her. I have to say that from
a romantic perspective, Miranda’s distance is even more baffling. In ME2,
keeping her sister safe was so important that she approached Shepard even when
they were still cold towards each other. She was desperate enough to break
through the awkwardness and ask for help. And yet, now that she has a strong
suspicion that her sister is actually in trouble, she would
rather side-line her love interest. Hm.
In terms of dialogue, obviously you do have a more intimate connection
with Miranda, but I actually felt that there wasn’t as much a difference in
dialogue between having her as an LI and not. Maybe that’s just me.
The most painful moment – besides if she kicks it – is if your
character decides not to continue a relationship with her. I had my BastardShep
break up with her and boy, did I feel like a dog. It was so well done.
Samara
Samara, Samara, Samara… mysterious, beautiful, complex… and yet no pay
off in all Shep’s hard work to befriend/romance her. Her mission was quite interesting. Shepard
gets to learn quite a bit about the Ardat-Yakshi and about Samara’s family. The
twist in the end was also rather interesting.
And this is what I find baffling. Here you have this amazing character
who will be so conflicted about the fate of her daughter that she would
remove herself from the obligation of her code by turning a gun on herself
rather than kill her child. And yet
she will not step into a relationship which isn’t against her code, nor in any
way forbidden. Riddle me that.
I really enjoyed the small piece of Samara’s story. I was just so sad
to see that she barely had 5 minutes face time throughout the game.
Romance
In ME2, she is one of the few squad members that cannot be successfully
romanced. You can get her as far as acknowledging an interest and almost get a kiss out of her, but she
pulls back right before. For those who are Samara shippers, ME3 would have been
the ideal place to duke it out with Samara’s stubbornness; to get to the heart
of it all and maybe even find some success after all the effort.
But no. If you actually stay loyal to your almost-relationship with Samara,
the closest you get to her showing any care for you is if you save her from
herself in the mission and meet her at the Citadel afterwards. Then she’ll take
your hands for a moment and say "Your time is precious. Spend it wisely.
And with those who care for you."
And that’s that.
WTF?!
Garrus Vakarian
Character
Old faithful Garrus still ends up hanging around if you didn’t manage
to get him killed in ME2. His story throughout the game or rather his take on
the war is probably the most realistic. He is still not a guy of many words and
has been thrown into the deep end of leadership. Maybe that’s why he can
actually connect with Shepard having to make tough calls as he now has to do
the same.
I have to admit that I enjoyed Garrus but never quite understood him.
He has his moments though. He stole the show with his day out with Shepard on
the Citadel. “I am Garrus Vakarian and this is now my favourite spot in the
Citadel.” It makes me grin every time I think about it.
Romance
I really didn’t understand where Bioware was going with Garrus’ awkward
ignorant/friends-with-benefits angle. I was generally unimpressed with the male
selection a femshep had to choose from. My poor girl ended up staying celibate
through ME2 just because she could only choose between ick, eww and gross.
Garrus would have been my choice among the three had they bothered giving him a
romantic angle.
ME3 doesn’t change much there. It is very much still a
friends-with-benefits thing and… really? That’s the best you could come up
with?
Combat
I wasn’t all that impressed with the infiltrators in ME3. Even playing
one was frustrating for me. I ended up almost never using my sniper rifle and
what’s the point of being an infiltrator if you don’t? It felt like Ashley and
Garrus had the same issues so I very rarely selected them for a mission. I only
brought Garrus along if I thought his angle might add to the story. And that’s
kinda sad.
Tali’Zorah vas Normandy
I’ve always had a soft spot for Tali. I found her loyalty mission in
ME2 the one I really sat and chewed on the most. I played through every
possibility to see what would be the best angle for the future, and which would
fit not only Tali’s character but who I felt my femshep was. Took forever. If I had known Tali’s story in ME3 would be
the same regardless of what I chose, I could’ve saved a lot of time by just
throwing a coin.
So you encounter her as the quarians are taking on the geth and getting
their asses handed to them (way to go, guys). If in ME2 you chose to have the
evidence revealed or argued your way out of the trial, then Tali comes onto the
Normandy as part of the quarian entourage. If you chose for her to be banished,
she comes onto the Normandy as part of
the quarian entourage. Hey, wait…
Despite the lazy writing in that part, you do have quite a few powerful
moments with her throughout her ME3 main mission. I loved the scene of her
staking a claim on Rannoch - especially “carrying home with you”. I found that
very touching. In the Rannoch Primary, I was rather upset at the two extreme
choices you were given (sans persuasion dialogue). So you either have Legion be
killed by Tali or Tali commit suicide. Am I the only one who thinks suicide
couldn’t have been more out of character for Tali? I personally believe that
those who loved her (be it Shepard or Garrus) would’ve helped centre her. I
don’t believe Tali is that impulsive. It made no sense for her to react in such
a fashion even if she were weaker in character. I can see her curl up into a
ball, but the whole backwards swan dive thing was simply far too over the top
for me to accept.
I will say that I quite enjoyed the idea of her and Legion having come
to a point of understanding. They never really go all that into it, but I love
the idea of at least two races managing to build a bridge of understanding and
not just for the necessity of war – ala krogan, turians and salarians.
I also loved drunk Tali and her emergency induction port! “Don’t
‘aaahhh’ me, you sound like a vorcha.” One of my favourite lines in the game.
Romance
I think one of the things about Tali that I enjoy is that she’s
confident in herself, but not always with how she interacts with others. One
would expect her to lose that insecurity the more she is put into situations
where she’s had to stand her ground. With regard to her romance with Broshep, I
find I have a similar problem with hers that I had with Jack’s and that is the
sense of overconfidence. Now granted, the two women are the same age (yes, they
are, go look it up), but that’s where I would have thought the similarities
should end. Both were, in their own ways, unsure of how to approach a
relationship with BroShep. Now suddenly they’re perfectly fine and daring? There
was again a lack of connection in the ME3 relationship, but this really was the
case with all the relationships.
So I guess I should mention the picture…
… I don’t know. I just really can’t decide what I think about it. Would
I have wanted to see Tali without her mask on? Yes. Was I particularly annoyed
with her giving Shepard a picture instead? Well… the idea of a picture? No. The
circumstances surrounding it? Yes. The Bioware shortcut? Oh hell yes!
It was lazy and sloppy and stupid.
Taking a stock photo and manipulating it and telling us that’s Tali. And
then to put it in a setting wherein Tali would never be in! Here we
have a race that we know (from Tali’s words) would have to take a sick day just
to be able to take their masks off and show their faces to their kids. And you
have her posing in a picture, not wearing a suit with a landscape behind
her… How stupid is that?
The whole getting sick thing also shoots holes through her comment
about her body having adjusted to Shepard’s. Well, that’s nice Tali, but then
there is still the atmosphere you’re exposing yourself to etc. etc.
*sighs*
Combat
I found Tali very useful when fighting geth, but there wasn’t a whole lot
of geth to fight in this one. I essentially used her only for the Rannoch
missions. I’ve noted that ME3 gave you situations where the squad mate most
affected would be the most effective. With Tali it was the geth. I guess
fighting Cerberus she might be able to do something against the Atlases. The
extra powers they gave the engineering class in general weren’t all that handy.
Here you have Cerberus engineers setting up massive turrets to riddle you with
bullets and the best you and Tali can throw at them is Chiktikka. And your own
turrets are pitiful in the beginning. I haven’t played far enough to see how
they turn out later, but I wasn’t in the mood to put more effort into the game
to find out.
Legion
The geth is an interesting race. With them, there’s a whole development
on what is VI and AI and true AI – all of which could drive scifi enthusiasts
ape as they start arguing about which is which and what’s relevant. What I also
liked about the Mass Effect games is how they brought one character in from
each race and have it act almost as a representative of its kind. You quickly
picked up on values and behaviourisms even when they would still be a broad
stereo type. With Legion, those stereo types weren’t quite as broad. He is geth. In him is a perfect representation
of the whole race.
I was both happy and unhappy to find Legion hooked up to the geth
dreadnaught. There was definitely an “Ooohhh!!! It’s Legion!” reaction at play
but the ‘coincidence’ of Shepard stumbling onto all the old faces was very much
like reading a Star Wars extended universe novel.
Besides that, I can’t say I found any fault in Legion’s arc. I thought
it was insightful, pulled open a lot of the old questions, and made humans (I
mean quarians) look evil and stupid. I understood Legion’s sacrifice or his
‘merging’ with his kind. His response to Shepard if she decides to side with
the quarians instead is surprising, but remarkable. It just shows how much
Legion developed into a character of its own. The interaction between Legion
and Tali also speaks volumes with him asking her whether he has a soul, but not
calling her creator but rather Tali’Zorah. Tali’s affirmative also shows quite a
bit in how much her view has changed.
Samantha Traynor
Why mention her? Well, she is a romantic interest, isn’t she?
I have to say that I’m conflicted about Samantha. I think they did that
shower scene a bit too early. (Seriously, did anyone else feel like that needed
to reach for a glass of water? haha). But actually, there was no real lead-in.
I think if they really wanted to develop a same-sex relationship, don’t make it
just about Shepard’s shower. Not that it
was only physical, but there was no real depth in interactions that made me
feel that the progress the two made was all that real or ‘earned’.
What really caught me about the Traynor relationship is Shepard’s confession
the final evening. It is probably one of the most frank admissions Shepard can
make and one of the best lines I think Jennifer Hale delivers in the game.
“Everyone’s looking at me like I know what I’m doing”. As you know, in every
relationship Shepard has this exact scene where she can comment on how she’s
feeling. What bugged me a lot was that with every other relationship, there’s a
physical distance between Shep and the love interest. Now this might not bug
other people, but it really bothered me. With Traynor, she actually is right
there with Shepard in what the latter is saying and I found that also rather
noteworthy.
Alyssa(link) commented that this
confession she would’ve expected with a relationship that had more time to grow
and mature – like with Liara for example (I’ll get to her a little later) with
whom she already had a moment of deep vulnerability in the ME2 Shadow Broker
dlc. One can’t really fault Traynor. She
is an interesting character and the relationship, while very rushed, could have
been a lot deeper if more time was spent on it. The problem is that it just
wasn’t enough time to be spent.
Steve Cortez
If I’m conflicted about Samantha, I’m downright baffled by Steve. I
didn’t understand the relationship. Maybe it’s because I’m not a gay dude.
Maybe I’m just missing something. It seemed very weak to me; very hollow. To
some, it could appear that Samantha’s scenes were something of a male fantasy.
Steve’s appeared to be what a group of heterosexual men tried to cook up and ended
up failing at miserably.
But again, I’m not a gay dude, so I’ll leave space open for me just
being ignorant.
Liara T’Soni
Liara always was something of a curious creature. Maybe due to her
stage of life, her personality seemed to be ever shifting. By the last
instalment of the series, we’ve seen her as the naïve archaeologist, the little
blue puppy dog, the heartless information broker, the cool and calculating
Shadow Broker and then… an odd mix of
the bunch. The catalyst to all of her
changes was always Shepard. With every event in Shepard’s life, the asari was
also impacted and she responds by shifting her own approach to life and people.
Maybe it is this that causes her to be more difficult to put into a box.
Many have been very unhappy about the amount of attention Liara
receives in this game. Regardless of who Shep’s love interest is, Liara is undoubtedly
the main supportive character in this game and that can understandably cause
quite a bit of consternation from everyone regardless of whether they like her
or not. I do think I understand the reason why they chose Liara for this role.
As said above, Shepard tends to cause the greatest change in Liara. As a
person, Liara tends to be the book capturing what Shepard is. She doesn’t
become like but is shaped so much by the woman that you can look at Liara and
see who Shepard is – much like you can look at a mould to see a shape of the a
key. As an archaeologist, she has an inherent need to discover and understand
and so she consistently scrutinises and records everything Shepard goes through.
Having linked their consciousness a couple of times in ME1, she may very well
know the commander better than anyone (love interests included). And finally,
Liara loves the woman(/man) completely and unreservedly – and will do so to the
end of her days regardless of whether she had Shepard as a bond mate or not.
The ‘name in the stars’ sequence just confirms it.
I have to say that I do like the character quite a bit. Tali will
always be my homegirl, but Liara will always finish close second.
Romance
I think the most moments of tenderness are shared with Liara as a love
interest – which is kind of a shame. It also appears that Bioware feels it must
have at least one romantic interest
that really steams things up. Maybe it was for the controversy they created in
the first Mass Effect (all that hype for nothing really, but anyhoo), but you
have the Miranda scene in the previous game and in ME3 you have the shower
scene and then Liara’s scene. It’s funny that humans are so modest and the
alien has to be the one who has no issue with being naked. (Speaking of, who
besides super modest people shower in
their underwear? Just wondering out loud.)
In the end, it’s actually really difficult to comment on Liara as a
romantic interest because there’s very little that deviates from her
interaction with you as a friend (besides getting naked and blue misty). She
still stays the same; she just gives you a bit more space.
Combat
I’m not going to say much about Liara as a squad mate. She is someone
whom you should always have by your side even if you are a biotic yourself.
Simple as that.
But that is also the criticism I’d like to raise. I know that Liara
vastly (and I do mean vastly)
improves her powers during the two years that she hadn’t been with Shepard. I
can’t say I remember why she did, but I do know that she was already becoming
badass by the LoTSB dlc. But in ME3 she performs like the biotic equivalent of
Vega – ie she fights as if she’s on steroids. I’d go as far as to say that it
isn’t Liara’s powers that is the cause for having to revive her so frequently,
but rather combat AI (Don’t stand there! Don’t run into their fire! How was
crouching with your ass to them ever a good idea?). Not that combat AI is terrible, but it does
still have its baffling moments. Were that sorted out completely, Liara could’ve
taken on the reapers single-handedly.
Other characters
Just a quick nod to other characters. I was happy to see Kenneth and Gabby back and I love the
fact that Gabby finally sorted Kenneth out on the fact that they’re actually
interested in each other. Cute. Engineer
Adams was also a nice addition; however I found that he annoyed me more than
anything else. He could have been used
better. Dr Karin Chakwas was also a
welcome sight. The whole explanation on why she doesn’t call Shepard by her
first name was seriously dumb though. Come now. Kelly... well, I haven’t played a game where she was in it, but I’ve
heard from others about her. Nice that she gives Shepard her fish back.
Although, why is it that every other Cerberus crew member don’t need to change
their hair and hide? No hint of that whatsoever. Hm.
I also enjoyed the character interactions amongst one another. Like
Joker asking Liara about her tentacles; Garrus and Joker sharing war jokes;
Tali and Garrus communicating and eventually hooking up. I loved that the crew
moved around in the ship. I thought that was a nice touch.
And finally, what I would have liked to see
I fully understand that these expectations would’ve put three times the
work on Bioware, but I still would have wanted these things, damnit!
Choice of crew
I would have wanted to choose who is on my ship and who gets side-lined.
It was disappointing not having Miranda sort out the smaller things or having Jack
skulk about in the sub-deck. A lot of attention was given to ME1 characters
and, honestly, they didn’t give me the time of day during ME2 so why should I
do so now?
Primary supportive character
I would have loved to see Shepard’s love interest step into Liara’s
place and have the story play out at different angles. I’d like to have seen
Miranda as a strong support, challenging and refining Shepard’s ideas. I would
have liked to see Jack’s anger and see her grow even more in taking care of
others. I would have loved to see Tali grow more and challenge the expectations
of her people. I would have even liked to see Ashley work through her conflicts
and strain as she walks in lockstep with Shepard. Have Garrus be conflicted
about his job as an advisor. Have Kaidan grow into someone who is less of a *ahem*
mama’s boy.
Liara could still be herself. Bring on the seeds and writing names in
stars and all of it. But have her take a secondary spot rather than dominate
the story so completely when Shepard’s focus isn’t going to be on her.
I think that’s the thing that best describes what I would have wanted
here. Have Shepard choose what and who she’s going to focus on. Don’t make the
choice for her. Each of these interests wouldn’t have changed much in terms of
how the events play out or even the ending *sighs* but it would’ve given each
playthrough a... different colouring. That would have definitely made me replay
the game a million times over.
Deeper characters
I’ve said this repeatedly in a million different ways: Use what you
have better. The truth is that Bioware created some amazing characters. Some really
extraordinary ones, in fact. The
conflict between Miranda and Jack is just as much about how similar they are as
it is about how different. Imagine having the characters get to know each other
throughout the game. Imagine the jealousy of old and new lovers. The crew does move
around, but make them really talk to each other as much as they talk to
Shepard. Well, not as much but you know what I mean. Have Ashley have it out
with Miranda (oh, you know there would’ve been some issues
flying around there – former Cerberus operative and all). There is so much
potential in each of these 3D characters. Use it!
Don’t use similar words in
different character’s dialogue
New drinking game: Every time someone says” conventionally”, take a
shot. Enough said.
Phew! Okay. Now just a babble about missions and the extended version
and we’re done.
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