Mass Effect 3 (2012)

Yksi kaikkien aikojen pelisarja, ja yksi kaikkien aikojen parhaimmista peleistä. Tämä jäi päällimmäisenä mieleen Mass Effect 3:sen remasterin pelattuani.

Peli on täynnä eeppisiä kohtauksia ja tiukkoja päätöksiä, ja tässä on oikeasti se fiilis, että koko galaksin taakka on omilla harteilla. Tarina toimii hyvin ja keskustelut soljuu hienosti. Hahmot ovat mielenkiintoisia, ja pääosa ennestään tuttuja. Kaikki se historia pitkältä ajalta tekee tästä trilogian päätöksestä niin kouriintuntuvan.

Legendary Editionissa mukana tulee myös kaikki peliin ilmestyneet DLC:t. Niistä suurin osa oli itselleni täysin uutta tavaraa, ja erityisesti Leviathan ja Citadel DLC:t olivat yksiä parhaimpia kokemuksia pelin aikana, ja nostavat pelikokemusta vieläkin korkeammalle.

Taistelu toimii äärimmäisen hyvin ja sitä on mukavasti viritetty kovin yksinkertaistetusta kakkososasta. Kykyjä ja erilaisia pelitapoja on paljon. Vaikealla vaikeusasteella tekemisiä täytyy ihan todella välillä jopa pohtia ja siihen roolipelien perinteinen pysäytysmekaniikka toimii hyvin.

Paljon parjattu lopetus ei vieläkään laskenut omaa fiilistä pelistä. Ehkä se olisi voinut olla parempikin, mutta silti se matka sinne oli se kaikkein tärkein osuus.

Uskomaton peli ja pelisarja, ja en malta odottaa mitä Mass Effect pelisarjan todellinen jatko-osa tuo tullessaan. Paljastetut tiiserit lupailevat ainakin hyvää.

Erinomainen 5/5

Legendary Edition

Grouvee has the Legendary release—which packs the first three Mass Effect games into one release—separate from the individual titles, but I want to review the games individually. But it's important to note that this is the Legendary version, given it's a remaster/brush-up of the original release.

My memory ain't worth a damn, but I seem to recall a lot of disappointment when Mass Effect 3 released. I don't know what the expectations were, but Mass Effect 3 didn't meet them. It was enough to crack into my Facebook feed because, back then, Mass Effect was the sort of series that received attention. And for ME3 it was negative attention.

However, I wasn't really thinking about that when I started ME3. Partly because the series had bought enough of my goodwill with the first two games that I wanted to judge the third on its own terms, and partly because the series has maintained a strong fanbase in the ensuing ten years, which wouldn't be likely if it was complete rubbish. And coming out of ME3, I had to keep brushing away tears because I was getting all emotional.

A good ending to a great series. Not, however, a great ending.

There are two things I'd ID as easy scapegoats:

1. A somewhat lackluster companion selection. Look, the returning faces are great (we get Garrus, Liara, and Tali, plus the super late addition of Ashley), but it feels like there should be a few more of them. Sure, we see a lot of our other surviving companions from ME1 and ME2 at various points in the narrative, but without the option of wrapping them into the companion fold. And I found it a somewhat frustrating group to make satisfying squads out of. Worse, I never felt like I was developing special bonds with the new characters like I did in past games. We start off with another boring military guy (James, who I like better than Jacob or Kaidan, but is cut from the same cloth) and EDI, the ship AI who takes over a robotic body early in the narrative. And the DLC character Javik (who is included naturally in the Legendary version, so I didn't even know he was DLC-only while playing), a frustrating companion who never really gives much function to his presence.

2. There's several chapters after the Point of No Return (ie, when your freedom of exploration/mission choice ends and it's all rollercoaster main story until credits) and they're just kind of tedious. Like, the first part's another Cerberus infiltration, which goes about the way every other Cerberus infiltration goes, just longer and with a boss-like battle at the end (which is awful—this isn't a series that does a lot of actual boss battles, so the few that crop up end up feeling weird). Then the game basically throws you immediately into the battle against Reapers in a lengthy warzone grind that's only notable for the one respite it gives you midway where you can interact with various characters—including some former companions. It all culminates in a terrible arena where it throws en mass a ton of some of the more dreadful enemies the game offers at you.

But I think there's a couple of under-the-hood issues with ME3, too. The sort you might not recognize unless you're really puzzling over why things aren't quite settling right. Primarily, the game has a split focus that never coalesces in a satisfying way. And you might pick up on that split from my above paragraph: Cerberus and Reapers. They try to connect these two groups through indoctrination—which makes sense, of course—but without the supporting story to make it compelling. Because in actual gameplay, it feels like you're solving one problem, then turning around and solving another problem. Don't get me wrong, Cerberus has been an antagonistic force throughout the series (even ME2 where Shepard is operating under their direction) and addressing it had to happen. But making it the penultimate chapter just means you're spending all game flipflopping between Cerberus and Reapers, and the latter is the foe that will literally destroy everything. I think it would have made much more sense to deal with Cerberus in the first half of the game and use it to acquire another companion (Miranda, maybe?) so that the rest of the game can be focused on setting up the dominos to take down the Reapers.

Yet despite the flaws—and there are others I'm not bothering to mention—the reality is I had a blast playing through ME3. It provides a fair number of cinematic highs, has some cool areas to explore, some neat power customizations, and generally delivers the sort of sci-fi action expected out of the series. It generally avoids falling into the trap of feeling like every mission is the same through good pacing and some creative mission ideas (I'm giving some credit to DLC missions here, as both the Aria and clone missions are standouts in terms of giving the game some really nice texture).

A few more random things I want to address:

1. Maybe this has more to do with how I played Shepard than anything damnable about the series, but I generally found the romantic aspect to be kinda mediocre. I ultimately decided to pick things back up with Liara, but that was more out of duty as a continuation from ME1 than any sort of interesting spark between Shepard and Liara. As always, I'd always consider Garrus or Tali an option if I stumbled upon the path for either (and I learned afterward that Tali isn't even an option for female Shepard), and I enjoyed Traynor (the Kelly replacement) although her character is close enough to Kelly (whom Shepard kind of had a fling with in ME2) that it felt weird to go that route. And the way the game played out, I'm very happy I didn't go any of those directions. Mostly because (light spoilers here, fwiw; feel free to skip down to the next paragraph) I started shipping Traynor and Diana Allers (seems like half the time I walked in on Allers, she was having a delightful conversation with Traynor), and same with Garrus/Tali—the latter which culminates quite wonderfully.

2. Actually, light spoilers here, too, as I'll be talking about something that happens at the end of the game, although not a plot-specific enough element that it really ruins anything. But I know some people don't want any whiff of end-game stuff, hence the warning. So my favorite—and most heartbreaking—moment of the game happens after Shepard does what she's been tasked to do. She's given everything to this mission. She's collapsed, leaning against a friend, a shell of the woman we've spend three games solving the galaxy's problems with. In the ten minutes prior we've been limping Shepard along, literally. She's barely able to hold a pistol. She has done everything they've asked of her, and more. And we hear that familiar crackle that signifies Admiral Hackett getting on the line. He's going to congratulate her, we think. He's going to thank her. Before he says anything, Shepard says something like, "What's wrong? What do you need me to do?" as she attempts to rise to her feet. I used the word "heartbreaking" above, but that undersells how crushing it is to see someone respond like that. It's the response of someone who has been delivered increasingly worse news and expected to shoulder the burden of solving it. We see her with nothing left to give, yet Shepard is attempting to rise to her feet in order to do so. It highlights both Shepard's humanity and how traumatic it is to solve the galaxy's problems. Even the memory of it has me about to bawl.

I'll be honest, just writing that last point was exhausting, so I'm going to end the review here. I'm sure I'll remember a ton of other things I should have addressed, but no matter. I was a bit hard on ME3, but return to the point I made above: I had fun and I cried. So despite the quibbles, I can't in good faith rate this less. Anyway, this ends my first time playing the Mass Effect trilogy. I've already started Mass Effect: Andromeda, although haven't gotten too far yet. Haven't even hit a place to register a save yet (the Playstation does a good job not quitting games—I think I actually "quit" the Mass Effect Legendary launcher once in the time it took me to get through those three games, lol), so hopefully the autosave is adequate if the worst happens and for some reason the game quits before I can hard save. That said, I know Andromeda doesn't have a great reputation, but I'm really not feeling it. I love Dragon Age Inquisition—which has a similar reputation—so I'm hoping I just have to tough out the rough opening chapter. But if you don't hear from me again (about ME:A), well, I probably dropped it, lol. Hopefully not.

This review is spoiler-free.

This one was interesting. I went into this game with no expectations (exept the "bad ending" reputation this game got shortly after its original release). I was still heavily dissapointed.

Let me begin by saying that the ending itself arent even that bad. They just fit a badly taped-together story that somewhat disregards your choices of the first 2 games, even after importing your save-game.

The skill system is much better than ME2, though it is still not as good as ME1. you have more impactful choices that complement the heavy action-gameplay.

Speaking of gameplay, ME3 went full action with extremely strong weapons, that you can now modify to complement your playstyle. A good system, which sadly neglects the RPG-roots of this trilogy. Cover still remains important against large waves of enemies, though I caught myself rushing enemies down with a shotgun more often.

Character-development is a bit redeemed by bringing some characters closer to their ME1 personalities. There is A LOT of optional dialogue and its all voiced, so another step up from ME2.

However, Dialogue-choices have been heavily scaled down to "good choice, bad choice, ask for information". The Paragon/Renegade system hasnt improved over ME2, still rewarding choices fitting for your characters narrative with conflicting reputation. Then again, the world of Mass Effect never truly has been black and white, so maybe the system was flawed to begin with.

The story is what I had my biggest struggle with. Most of the biggest decisions are completely nonsensical, and take the immersion out of the game. I found myself asking numerous times "why?" and was taken aback with the lunatic change of pace and direction during the narrative.

The bugs are numerous and make you laugh and cry at the same time. It's not as bad as having your savegame break or anything, but it can force you to reload because you lost an important and long fight. Shepard regularly gets stuck on ladders, jumps over cover in place, and characters periodically disappear during dialogue. Some enemies even manage to glitch through their own cover.

Overall, I would say that the ending was satisfying for what the last installment of the trilogy came to be, but whenever I think back of playing the original Mass Effect, I sometimes which I had left it at that.

I play through every game I review live, watch me complain on https://www.twitch.tv/justgonzi

Annnnd, roll credits with a tear down my cheeks.

The ending is the culmination of literally years of gaming, of meeting friends, losing friends, wining wars and making peace. Bearing in mind the limitations of a videogame, Mass Effect delivers one of the best big-scale sci-fi stories of all time.

Yes, there are lots of legitimate complains, some of them small, some of the huge. But it would be impossible for such an all-encompassing plot, both of galactic proportions and people-scale, not to have rough areas.

Looking at the big picture, the Mass Effect series is a masterpiece of modern gaming.

It's a bit of a shock coming straight from the previous games and realising how little control over Sheppard's dialogue I have. I'm probably wrong, but in the first game, I don't think there's a single line of dialogue that is not chosen by the player.

In Mass Effect 2, Sheppard does speak small snippets of dialogue without user input, but they are mostly reactions and other stuff in which there isn't any real choice anyway.

But in Mass Effect 3... oh, boy. Sheppard can have a whole conversation with emotional and character impact without any input for the player whatsoever.

The fact that there's even an "automatic" setting dumbfounds me.

Finished. The final rush was pretty damn challenging and the revelations were thick and fast coming. I won't lie - I had a hard time even trying to understand it all which was a little jarring but it seemed compelling enough. I didn't need to add this game to my backlog but I am glad I did because I had an amazing time with it. I might play Andromeda eventually though I will be going into that with modest expectations.

Solid game.

There is something oddly nostalgic about this game despite the fact that I'd never played it before. I think it's the graphics - how typical they are of the 360/PS3 era in which I have fond memories of.

I seem to be nearing the end - 26 hours in - but I don't know if I'm ready for the journey to finish. The game has such a cinematic feel to it that I am constantly blown away by the narrative and its branching paths. The depth of the characters is so well realised that I can slip into the Mass Effect world effortlessly. Mass Effect 2 and 3 have been some of favourites games I've played this year. Phenomenal stuff that I can see myself replaying in the future.

Ok, so I was further into the game than I thought. I got a few hours played today and enjoyed most of it. One thing I would have loved in this game was a way to properly track assignments so you can find people/aliens easily. It does give you a small description of where to find people and it is rewarding to track them down yourself but an option to guide you there would have been nice and made things a lot simpler.

13 hours in.

The climax of BioWare's trilogy is in short, the weakest game I've played from the studio so far. Not that it doesn't have its strengths, the base combat is decent fun with more interesting shooting galleries and area utilization, some of the conclusions of characters are genuinely well written, and the Citadel DLC gets nothing but utmost praise from me. However, it is an absolute clusterfuck when it comes to any other particular component. The story while conceptually from a good place regarding the crucible and the theme of cyclical generations working together to stop a greater evil, it is paperthin written and it's collaborated with terrible new characters and terrible explanations. The Omega and Leviathan DLC especially gets my utmost distaste, representing the worst parts Mass Effect 3 has on offer, including anticlimactic endings to decent concepts with strewn into paper mache characters.

That said, I still enjoyed the game overall if only for my attachment to the world already and how it still makes true on its characters. I'm also weak to romancing Garrus, sue me. If you have half a mind to get this game you won't do too wrong, but I push against anyone buying ME3 without investment in the series already. (5.5/10)

In short if you've played previous part you'll know exactly what's coming your way. If you have not than there's no real reason to pick it up before playing the previous ones.

This is the final chapter in the Sheppard trilogy. The reapers arrive just as you've warned everybody. And yet everyone is surprised. And it's up to you again to save the galaxy.

This game definitely feels more linear than the previous. With the reaper imminent danger most of the stories are for you to gather allies for the war. There are just a few missions you could skip but why would you really. The core mechanics are pretty much the same. You fly around the galaxy, land on planets and do missions. The missions consist of you fighting through the ranks of enemies completing different objectives in order to gain allies. Nothing really changed from the previous parts. The combat is very much cover bases - occasional grenades will make you change specific cover but that's about it. The special powers as well as your team mates feel like they're just there but not a real game changer. I think I just got bored with it.

Outside of that you'll get a scanner - not really sure if it was available previously - that you can scan your vicinity in order to find artefacts and stuff. But that can alert the reapers so you'll need to evacuate soon or they'll catch you. Pretty annoying mechanic - luckily one that you don't and probably will not use during the game.

The one other change is that you're presented with a war room where you can observe the allied power you have recruited. However this part confused me and apart from looking at single bar - indicating probably when you get enough allies for final mission - it's pretty much useless as well.

Visually it might be a bit better than previous instalments however the animations are quite wonky, especially the running animation - this was even more visible since last game before this I played was Metal Gear Solid V which had superb animations.

The ending - the most commonly criticised part - is not as bad as I've anticipated, but not good as well. It's just meh.

Overall there were cool moments but the game didn't capture me. I'm glad I've played it but I don't expect ever coming back to it.

I have finally completed Mass Effect 3 in insanity mode. The difficulty wasn't really 'insane' per se, except for a few instances (especially the fight with Kai Leng). Having finished this trilogy, I feel proud to say that this may be one of the best created sci-fi universes in the last decade. The story is thought-provoking and in spite of the setting of the game, it explores the depth of human nature, the illusion of choice and the emotions that get incited due to social bonds (not sure why I can't feel them in pseudo-real life). The depth of the game world and the effect of your choice on the world is so well-crafted that you get easily absorbed into it. Almost every major decision I have made in the previous two games gets intricately implemented within the story. The ever-changing nature of the star system, the music, the beautiful rendition of the intensity and brutality of war, the conversation and the choices which come with it, every side-character and the quests - everything makes this trilogy an unforgettable experience. I really wish that they won't make a movie and ruin this epic tale. All in all, the game was captivating and though I was a bit disappointed with the abrupt, uninspired ending, I still consider it to be one of the best game series I have ever played.

Actual Score: 4/5

(Most of this was written before I finished ME3, so if you want my overall thoughts after I finished it, they will be at the end since nearly everything I said before is still true)

So I haven't actually finished ME3 yet (I'm maybe around 25 hours in), but I wanted to write a review now so I could give my thoughts before I reach the ending, which I've heard very bad things about, but it thankfully hasn't been spoiled for me. Overall so far, this game is fantastic. A good story so far, with many returning characters, some of whom are squadmates. Combat seems to be about the same as ME2, so that's still great and entertaining. And the opening to this game... man, I'd say it's about as good as the opening to ME2. It's really great. And about returning characters, whether they're squadmates or cameos, they're all done pretty well from what I've seen. One thing I really like about being able to carry over saves from ME1 and ME2 is that previously established relationships with the characters still matter, and any characters that died in the past games won't appear, which helps make ME3 really feel like a continuation of the story. I'm assuming you've played ME1 and ME2, but if you haven't then SPOILER ALERT - for example Ashley died in my playthrough of ME1 so she's not around, and her death is also mentioned in both ME2 and ME3. I also lost Jack, Zaeed, and Mordin during the suicide mission in ME2, so they are also absent and maybe mentioned at times.Any romantic relationships are also carried over, too. The game also looks great. It might be a little dated by today's standards, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't look good. The graphics are good and it is overall very aesthetically pleasing. The environments are interesting and diverse. Weapon and armor customization is still available, which is a nice addition. The music is also great as always. I, along with many others, really love the song "Leaving Earth" that plays during the intro. It's one of my favorite Mass Effect songs.

However, as much as I love the game, there are a couple small problems I have with it. Probably the biggest one is that the dialogue feels slightly less interactive. I'm pretty sure that you have fewer dialogue choices in this game. Conversations sometimes progress without you choosing what to say when Shepard speaks. However, that's a minor gripe, and many other problems are so small that I can hardly even think of them.

The DLC I've played so far is pretty good. I've got it all, but I haven't completed all of it at this point. I've completed the Citadel DLC, which is great for many reasons and I'd highly recommend at least picking that one up. The Omega DLC is alright. You get to team up with Aria from ME2 for a fairly lengthy mission, which is cool. It's not as good as the Citadel DLC though, imo. The From Ashes DLC is cool too, adding a new squad member, (SPOILER FOR THE SQUAD MEMBER) who is a Prothean, which is pretty awesome.However, as cool as the squad member is, it really isn't too interesting to me for the most part. I also think a character this important should've been in the game to begin with. I haven't completed the Leviathan DLC yet, but what I've played is fairly interesting. Overall, I'd say Citadel is a must-have. Omega and From Ashes are pretty cool too, but Omega is my least favorite so far.

Overall, from what I've played at this moment, I'd say you should definitely pick it up. So far, it's a great end to a fantastic trilogy.

*EDIT AFTER FINISHING GAME*

So overall after finishing Mass Effect 3, just about everything I said before is still true. There were a few small bits of the Citadel DLC I hadn't played, but my thoughts on that are the same. The Leviathan DLC is cool too, and actually quite creepy at a couple points, but not totally essential imo. Citadel DLC is definitely the best and the one I would say is absolutely essential. The Extended Cut DLC is also essential, as it expands on the ending that was originally in the game, giving more closure and wrapping it up better. However, it is a little bit underwhelming, since it doesn't expand on as much as I would've liked, such as the fates of squad members. It is free though, so that's definitely a plus. The ending overall is pretty well done, as far as the last couple missions are concerned. However, I was a little bit underwhelmed by a few parts, specifically (SPOILERS) the whole thing about the Crucible and Catalyst. I dunno why, but the whole thing with having the Catalyst in the form of a little boy and stuff seemed kinda off to me. The overall story and everything behind them are fine, but that part just seemed strange. I would've much rather had it in a form similar to Vigil in ME1. Minor gripe, though. But overall, the game is a great ending to a great trilogy, Highly recommend all three. Definitely some of the best games I've ever played.

My impression for a ME3 is a blurry mess. When it was released, I was only at ME2, walking through it for the first time - and I didn't avoided the spoilers that much, to be honest. I was sure that it didn't matter how Bioware will end the story in terms of plot. More important, how it will end in terms of direction. Oh boy, my expectations were failed, but not in a common way. ME3 goes through its mandatory program without big mistakes, but with some awkward additions. The satisfying travelling through the Galaxy deliver you feels, everyone is mobilized, evrything is ready, the spring of plot is about to expand itself. The amount of emotional cutscenes and dialogues is enough to make a film. Where's the problem? Assassin that went straight from pleb-tier manga. Cheap nightmares. New romantic interests (no, I'm not against them, but main options weren't done well this time, except for Liara). The final hours. I'm not saying "the ending", because even your hour on Earth feels like it's a second-tier generic shooter.

The community ruins this francise too, process started in 2010 when ME2 was released. I'll talk about it in another review, but sometimes I just want to say - people who prefer ME2 to ME1, you deserved your ending. Here's your cinematic final. You wanted something different? That's your problems. For me the francise was killing itself for years. This game won't end well because of you too. You wanted your generic shooter with space magic, pay for it with weird enging. Deal with it. I'm done.

Miscellaneous: gameplay was improved, graphics are a little outdated, sounds, music and voice cast is great as always.

__________

3.5-5 stars, it really depends on the moment you've playing it.
You know where you can shove your theories.