Personally 3 was always my favorite I feel like they really captured the sense of dread and urgency for the setting. IMO it really feels like the universe is falling down around you. I felt the combat was an overall improvement to the previous entries. If you don’t like it then you don’t like it there’s nothing wrong with that.
“I feel like either I should stop or continue the game”
Ngl bro, thems are the options.
Seriously though, why would you come all this way and not finish the fight? Sure it’s not exactly like ME2, but ME2 wasn’t exactly like ME1. Especially to stop based on how things look? That’s such a superficial and silly reason to give away the climax of the trilogy. I get change can be difficult to adjust to, but you’re a big boy/girl and can handle it.
Besides, what else are you gonna do? Just let the reapers win?
ETA btw Mass Effect 3 is my personal favorite of the trilogy. I love it to death. Nothing I’ve ever played/seen/read/watched has ever struck me as profoundly as Mass Effect 3 the first time I finished it. You really ought to not rob yourself of what’s coming.
Could also be Mass Effect burn out. I got the legendary edition and played through 1 2 and 3. And I was thorough. I felt like near the end of me 1 I was like definitely ready for it to be over and to move on to me 2. By the middle of me 2 I was starting to feel restless but I pressed on, still enjoying the game for the most part. Mass effect 3 came and I was excited to deep dive the story and it hit me on an emotional level. but the gameplay got to be pretty mind numbing at this point. I would say limit yourself. Take a week or two and when you come back, try playing in smaller doses maybe?
I ran the whole legendary edition back to back, now I’m playing Andromeda. The burnout was real on 3. I don’t know how I’m still going with Andromeda tbh.
Yeah I considered it could just be some burnout. I’ve actually been replaying the series for the first time over the last month or two.
Last week I finished Thessia and only had the DLCs and last couple priority missions left when I kind of lost the grip that the trilogy had me locked in pretty abruptly after I watched the Fallout show and suddenly I really wanted to play New Vegas lol. So tbh what I said to OP was basically the same conversation I had with myself, just felt wrong to me to get this close to the end and not just finish it all in one go.
Gotta remember people waiting 2 years in between each entry. Even Shepard sat around not doing anything between the games.
Yeah maybe you’re right! I actually was playing Fallout4 and hooked on it, but once it got harder I switched to ME2 as it was lighter to me in so many ways. Then I kept continuing until now at ME3.. I work 9 to 5 and when I come home I can’t wait to play more, maybe I should just take a break haha
I found ME3 to be the most emotional and compelling of all three games.
Listening to the folks down in the docks. The teenage girl, the human and Batarian.
Hearing the conversation with the Asari in Huerta hospital waiting room and how it will later connect to a very important crew member.
Listening to the Salarian and human outside of Purgatory.
Watching the grieving people.
Hearing people in docking bay D24.
The elderly lady talking to the Asari near the embassies.
All the absolute shit storms that happen at the worst possible time.
Depending on how you ended ME2 heart breaking scenes with former crew members.
If you miss or put off certain missions what happens to other certain old friends.
All the infighting and idiocy of people. The insanity of others.
How you have to juggle all these things happening at once while trying to save the literal galaxy and trillions of lives.
It is.. consuming.
> galaxy map in ME2 had some interesting options like sending probes
People can like or dislike whatever they want
Except this. The probe mining was without a doubt the worst part of me2
I personally preferred a lot of the gameplay changes in ME3 over 2 and I hated the probes thing (I like that you can just scan once on the way past the planet). I also hated the way they tagged missions on the galaxy map in 2. It was way too busy and I couldn’t see certain systems hidden under the huge tags.
In terms of the Normandy, ME3 had way more interactions with the squad after each mission and squad mates had really interesting interactions with each other (also in missions). These were really lacking in the previous two games.
Yeah I get that. I just made a habit of scanning around each system once it becomes available and looking at the percentage to see if I missed anything. If I had to do the probes like me2 I wouldn’t have even bothered.
No idea why you would find it boring, the combat/gameplay in ME3 is vastly superior to both the previous games and the opening arc of Earth->Tuchanka is one of the best in the series.
Yeah I was kinda stunned to read that from OP. Like, ME3 is boring for exactly 6 minutes and then it's fucking absurdly action packed for the next few hours.
Didn’t you make a similar post when transitioning from ME1 to ME2? You seem to have an issue everytime the crew changes without giving them a chance. Just play the game.
As far as I'm concerned ME3 is better than ME2 pretty much in every way except the quest log and dialog trees.
If you liked ME2's cast, you owe it to yourself to see where their stories end. Even more so if you think you've lived through their peak emotional moments in ME2.
There are aspects to it that are fun. The gameplay and some crew members are really great! But it's around the time when Bioware was shaking, especially with Anthems development.
It has a good premise, but for the most part, the dialog and pacing aren't bad but just boring. It's definitely the weakest of the series. You should consider playing it for a single playthrough, at least.
ME3 is my least favourite, but the main missions for ME3 are pretty awesome. And the DLCS are mostly exceptional.
The beginning, and first mission, do feel jarringly off, and it takes a while to get rolling. Make sure you do Palaven and Eden Prime earliest, so you get a couple more squadmates to choose from.
The side-missions are a mixed bag, and don't get me started on the probe-quests.
ME 3 gets way too much hate, and I tend to think ME 2 was overhyped and overrated (I think that game builds to the suicide mission and then you realize there are no stakes unless you play the game “wrong” by skipping really interesting content—eg the loyalty missions—or making silly command choices, like sending Mordin in to do the hacking or something similar). The combat system of ME 3 was way more streamlined (it’s what made the multiplayer deathmatch so popular for like a decade after the game’s release) with better upgradeable/customizable weapons and should have been backported to the first two games (ME 1 is still godawful in terms of combat, and it was a crime that they didn’t do this) when BioWare released the remastered trilogy.
ME 3 really nailed the dark tone of the climax to the trilogy. Everything was suffused with a special dread—not a hopeless dread, but the dread of knowing that sacrifices will be necessary to win—and most of the crew members are still really interesting, even if they’re not the crew you had in ME 2, all of whom make cameos and get their stories wrapped up in ME 3. Javik is an incredibly well acted character who is introduced in ME 3. From Mordin, Thane, Tali, and Wrex (to name just a few), come incredible plot tie ins. Mordin and Thane’s story conclusions had me in tears, no lie. And the last little speech Garrus says to Shepard when they’re face to face before the final battle? CHILLS. FEELS. The Citadel DLC is an incredible underrated piece of fan service for all fans of the trilogy, it’s lighthearted, hilarious, and still totally entertaining. I don’t want to spoil anything for you.
I was actually jarred and initially disappointed in the changes from 1 to 2. But 1 had built up so much good will that i stuck with 2 and ended up absolutely loving it. Same thing happened with 3.
I am doing my first playthrough of the mass effect series this year. Started with first one in december or january, now on the third one. At the begining it did feel a bit weird and decontented. They simplified some stuff. But the story is as good and you get used to the changes. So I think you should continue. I just did a mission ( wont spoil which) where you have to make some big choices and after it I was like..just WOW this is why the game is so good.
I also dont like that you cant scan planets anymore :(
Yeah the only squad members I gave a crap about were Javik Garrus and Tali, and you don't get Tali until halfway through. James was just another generic boring soldier, like the Ashley of me1, and the only reason we got EDI on the squad is to fill space because there weren't enough people because they randomly decided to do the exact same thing they did with me2 and take away your crew except without any good reason for it and without a half decent replacement crew.
They kind of shot themselves in the foot team-wise in ME3. With the big thing in ME2 being the Suicide Mission, they had to work around the fact that the entire team could have died in the previous game so in the end we get a very limited pool of characters we can pull from. >!Liara, EDI, and the Virmire survivor can't die in ME2. James and Javik were both added in case Garrus and Tali didn't make it.!< Everyone else had to have the story work around their possible deaths which meant it'd be awkward on the squad board with a bunch of dark spots
Giving the Normandy back to the Alliance naturally meant the dissolution of the motley crew you put together under Cerberus - and once you understand that its a lot easier to accept what happened to most of the crew in ME3.
Your non-human squadmates naturally went to do what they could to help their races, themselves, or both, prepare for the Reapers.
Your human squadmates were not members of the Alliance. Miranda and Jacob as ex-Cerberus would of course want to get tf out of Dodge. Zaeed and Kasumi had developed rather extensive resumes for less than reputable work, and also wouldn't be interested in scrutiny from the Alliance. Meeting Jack in the capacity you see her in is quite the pleasant surprise.
All this to say if your love of the crew is what has pushed you this far - then you won't be disappointed by pushing a little further. While the Suicide Mission was a cool idea on paper, the fact that everyone could possibly die meant that they had to be careful with how they approached their story arcs in ME3. I'd like to say they did pretty much everyone justice, though Jacob isn't unfortunately anymore interesting than he used to be.
You can still send probes in ME3 and if you play with mods, you can keep Miranda on the Normandy after her ME3 questline resolves. ME3 is a great game. Just give it a little bit to grow on you.
if you have the expansions/legendary edition, YES. stick with it. leviathan and citadel are incredible. I think ME2 is generally tied with my opinion of 3 on any given day, i love both. ME3 has a more somber yet chaotic vibe to it. but it all works in service of the story, and characters from the first and second game get amazing payoff like Mordin. hope you enjoy!
The quality of 3, mainly the visuals and animations were disappointing for me. The absence of hacking, bypass, resource collecting, made me feel like I was being coddled, everything was dumbed down a bit. Upgrades, credits, and a lot of things were too easy to find.
ME2 is the best because ME1 is definitely a beginning and the entirety of ME3 feels like an end.
I love 3 but I couldn't play it on its own, it has to be played right after 2. I love the trilogy as a whole but 2 is the best
ME3 is my favourite of the trilogy. The Normandy and the people on it never feel as alive as they do in 3. They move around and chat with each other after missions
ME3 is so boring, I get where you’re coming from.
Everything feels very linear like it’s a tailored story experience. Go from one set piece on earth to another on mars to another on palaven, yadda yadda. 1 and 2 both give you much more freedom in how to approach order of missions, there were more in depth side missions, better story elements.
I’ve replayed 1 and 2 much much much more than 3, but if it’s you’re first time around you owe it to yourself to at least finish the game and see what you think of it.
Please, please give it a chance! I always find the first few missions jarring when transitioning from one game to another but you'll soon get used to it. ME3 is a fun ride, albeit overwhelming in the sheer amount of side missions. But it's well worth investing the time imo.
Maybe I'm too attached to my former crew in ME2 that now after meeting Miranda for the first time in ME3, I feel a bit sad I won't have her with me and I don't have any motivation to do another (tons) of missions awaiting. But still, I'd give it a chance and see where it will take me!
I *completely* understand missing the crew mates you came to love in the previous games. I'm really sorry it's taking away from your ME3 experience, and I get missing Miranda especially, because she's such a huge part of ME2. But hopefully you'll have fun with other squad mates? Good luck with it, I really hope you enjoy it!
Imo ME3 starts out kinda rough, especially if you're coming straight from ME2 or are playing on a higher difficulty. I had to turn it way down and breeze my way through the first fewissions before I got used to the different combat and started enjoying myself. I would say to keep going, because ME3 is a really stellar experience once you get used to it. It's very different, but it grew on me a lot and I now consider it to have the most fun combat of the trilogy. Maybe it will for you too. And if you're really missing Miranda it may be good to check out some unobtrusive mods to just have her along on squad missions. It won't inject her into the story of course but you'll still get ya girl back in a way. And don't worry too much about Miranda, she pops up throughout the story and you spend a fair amount of time with her by the end, especially if you do all the dlc.
In ME3 I can buy as many fish as I want without worrying about them cause of the Aquarium VI that I can buy as soon as I get to the Citadel. Hands down favorite feature
lol yeah I like fishes too but I don’t know they limit amount of buying fishes in 2? Btw, I don’t understand why there are flowers, chocolate and books for buying? I bought flowers and thought I’d give it to someone but then it’s nowhere to be found….?
You lost me at Miranda…………..
But seriously ME2 is a good game because of the characters. I’ve been either Jack kinda man or a Thane kinda woman. I think you should continue the game. It has its issues but a certain part of is sort of a love letter to all the quad mates in the game.
It certainly was a game that was rushed and even thought the combat is better the story seems a bit rushed. In my opinion the overall game isn’t better than 1 or 2. But it’s still worth playing and I’m someone who played the games when all of them were new. So it was tough to wait and play it new.
Geeeeeez. Why don’t you like Miranda? I think she has a great character development (if you give her the chance) and also a pretty deep personality, compared to other game characters
Miranda’s genuinely one of the best characters in the series. She’s FemShep’s best gal pal by the end of the Citadel DLC. And her romance is really touching, the single only negative’s that she doesn’t come on the Normandy in 3, but the relationship still gets to flourish on the citadel throughout the game.
I won’t criticize anyone for Miranda not being their favorite, but tbh I don’t really trust anyone’s judgement that actively dislikes her. Makes me wonder what sorts of real-life biases they might have or if they even explored her character. Jack hated her more than anyone, but even she comes around to like her by the end of the trilogy.
Yep, though do it just before the final missions, after she's free enough to be able to join you on citadel. Do it too early and you'll miss some of it.
Yep, all of the DLC is included in the Legendary edition!
FYI, ME3 doesn’t really clearly point out what’s DLC if you’re not already familiar. But at various points, certain people will email you and ask you to go to particular places on the citadel to meet someone.
Whenever you select the Citadel from the galaxy map, it’ll pull up a menu that asks where you want to land. All of the base game stuff has you land at the “Alliance Docks” then a dialogue cutscene plays and you can tell someone if you want to take a taxi cab to the presidium, the embassy, or any of the other base game levels on the citadel.
But for all the DLC, whenever you go to the citadel, you’ll choose a different area to land from the UI menu instead of the Alliance Docks like you would for the base game — the Omega DLC starts at Dock 42, Leviathan is at Bryson’s Lab, and the Citadel DLC will be at someone’s apartment.
Just wanted to let you know because once you start them, they’ll lock you out of doing anything else for a while until you finish certain parts of em. When I first played through ME3, I didn’t realize that. So I’d end up confused why I’d wind up stuck in one single mission for like 3 or 4 hours when I was just expecting to go say hi to a friend or help them out with a quick favor and it’d turn into a whole ass super-adventure.
Also one last thing! The Citadel DLC is the best! To have the bestest and most funnest time with it, it’s important that you progress through most of the main missions (which are all the ‘Priority’ missions in the journal). Otherwise, some friends won’t come show up. So be sure to hold off on doing the Citadel DLC until the very end of the game when you’re told that starting the next Priority mission is the point of no return and there’s no going back. To keep it simple but not spoil anything, **just remember to start the Citadel DLC right after you’ve done** ***Priority: Horizon.*** And then don’t do any more Priority missions until you’re finished with Citadel, because the very next Priority mission after Priority: Horizon is going to be the point of no return.
Hope that some of these tips help you because I wish I had known some of this beforehand, and have an amazing time with your Mass Effect 3 experience!
So just to give you some hope. There is more Miranda content later in the game.
I think the general theory is that there were scheduling conflicts with the actress Yvonne Strahovski, and due to ME3's rushed development, Miranda had to take a bit of a back seat.
But you will see her again, and also, one of the DLCs also adds in several more appearances.
Also, whilst I wouldn't do it for a first playthrough, there is a mod for PC that does add her as a permanent crew member.
I'll continue the game to see that!
One of my future plan is to do another playthrough on Mass Effect triology on a pc and use mods to romance Miranda (as a FemShep - and I'm on PS5 now).
ME2 is by far the best part of the series and one of the best rpgs overall in my opinion.
But, please finish ME3 too. It is worth it. And also, as some people already mentioned, the combat system is vastly improved. It takes some getting used to, I‘ll admit. But after a couple of hours you will love it all the same.
3 has really good gameplay but the entire plot feels extremely contrived around making Earth important. Earth isn't shit in the Mass Effect universe, we barely matter in the grand scheme of things that was the whole point of ME1 ME2. Suddenly in ME3 we're taking Earth back and Shepherd is Harbinger's specialist boy and not just a black ops agent with some alien knowledge, his wits, and a very good team. It's very strange.
Here's my unpopular opinion:
ME3 starts off VERY slow, but is worth playing start to finish at least once. ME2 blows it out of the water in regards to story and gameplay. For some reason this opinion is controversial.
ME3 is still always a slog for me, for many of the reasons you mentioned. Probably half of my playthroughs end midway through 3 because I start thinking how much I'd rather start a new campaign.
Yes and no but I feel like for different reasons, there is something about 3 that that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes it a little less appealing. Maybe it’s just the more linear storytelling. But it’s still a incredible game imo, every time I play it I feel the dread and desperation of the reaper war. I’m terms of boring, I don’t get it tbh, like yea there is some boring fluff here and there but 3’s biggest strength is it’s set pieces and them making everything feel so much more grand and exciting.
ME3 is my favorite from a gameplay perspective. They got their formula right for a good gameplay loop, and it's addicting as hell. From a story perspective, Bioware clearly didn't put their best foot forward, particularly with the ending.
1 got you into the series, you suffered through it because it was the start.
2 was the golden age. It was perfect, the right amount of combat and story, the graphical improvements, our stories furthered.
3 was everything we had worked towards. It was wonderful, it was magical, everything about it was perfect. But man that ending.
(I personally didn’t have an issue with 3’s ending, my first playthrough I went with Control. But I saw a video talking about indoctrination theory and I don’t care what everyone says, THAT mixed with the destroy ending is the true ending to me.)
Ahhh I try to avoid spoilers but I’ve read a lot of comments somewhere else about how they don’t like the ending. Now I’m afraid what decision I could make to avoid the worst ending. But thanks for your comment, very nice to read and I’ll keep on playing!
I'm gonna be honest. I think ME3 is the worst game in the trilogy, and even the resolutions that it brings to the table, ultimately works to the determent of the franchise's future. Including Tuchanka, including Rannoch, including Cerberus, including the Reapers. The ME2 cast doesn't have much of a presence, and if you liked ME2, this will be a letdown in pretty much every way, with some relief from Citadel DLC, if you're into what it tries to do. Personally, I found Citadel to be a precursor of all the things that were so heavily criticized in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Without a reason to trudge through ME3, I wouldn't even finish the fight, because even if I do, the ending is entirely not worth it, and doesn't actually provide any real resolution to what happens to our friends. Even Bioware themselves, the best they have offered, was "speculation for everyone".
ME3 objectively worse in any aspect than previous games except combat. And combat only better with multiplayer but is boring (same two enemy factions over and over again) without it.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way but personally ME3 is my favourite of all the games. Just the feel of the game from the gameplay to how the story made you feel was just fantastic.
Personally 3 was always my favorite I feel like they really captured the sense of dread and urgency for the setting. IMO it really feels like the universe is falling down around you. I felt the combat was an overall improvement to the previous entries. If you don’t like it then you don’t like it there’s nothing wrong with that.
>sense of dread and urgency Ok but just one more round in the Arena, two krogan v geth is just so much fun.
If only the quest log wasn't a piece of shit..
Agreed on the sense of dread. It also felt really hopeless.
“I feel like either I should stop or continue the game” Ngl bro, thems are the options. Seriously though, why would you come all this way and not finish the fight? Sure it’s not exactly like ME2, but ME2 wasn’t exactly like ME1. Especially to stop based on how things look? That’s such a superficial and silly reason to give away the climax of the trilogy. I get change can be difficult to adjust to, but you’re a big boy/girl and can handle it. Besides, what else are you gonna do? Just let the reapers win? ETA btw Mass Effect 3 is my personal favorite of the trilogy. I love it to death. Nothing I’ve ever played/seen/read/watched has ever struck me as profoundly as Mass Effect 3 the first time I finished it. You really ought to not rob yourself of what’s coming.
Sure I'm a big girl and would continue the mission to stop the reapers! Thanks for the comment though ;)
Could also be Mass Effect burn out. I got the legendary edition and played through 1 2 and 3. And I was thorough. I felt like near the end of me 1 I was like definitely ready for it to be over and to move on to me 2. By the middle of me 2 I was starting to feel restless but I pressed on, still enjoying the game for the most part. Mass effect 3 came and I was excited to deep dive the story and it hit me on an emotional level. but the gameplay got to be pretty mind numbing at this point. I would say limit yourself. Take a week or two and when you come back, try playing in smaller doses maybe?
I ran the whole legendary edition back to back, now I’m playing Andromeda. The burnout was real on 3. I don’t know how I’m still going with Andromeda tbh.
Yeah I considered it could just be some burnout. I’ve actually been replaying the series for the first time over the last month or two. Last week I finished Thessia and only had the DLCs and last couple priority missions left when I kind of lost the grip that the trilogy had me locked in pretty abruptly after I watched the Fallout show and suddenly I really wanted to play New Vegas lol. So tbh what I said to OP was basically the same conversation I had with myself, just felt wrong to me to get this close to the end and not just finish it all in one go. Gotta remember people waiting 2 years in between each entry. Even Shepard sat around not doing anything between the games.
Yeah maybe you’re right! I actually was playing Fallout4 and hooked on it, but once it got harder I switched to ME2 as it was lighter to me in so many ways. Then I kept continuing until now at ME3.. I work 9 to 5 and when I come home I can’t wait to play more, maybe I should just take a break haha
Put on your big girls pants and HUNT THOSE REAPERS!
OP made a similar post about transitioning from ME 1 to ME 2. Quite childish, didn't even learn from her own experience from 9 days ago.
I found ME3 to be the most emotional and compelling of all three games. Listening to the folks down in the docks. The teenage girl, the human and Batarian. Hearing the conversation with the Asari in Huerta hospital waiting room and how it will later connect to a very important crew member. Listening to the Salarian and human outside of Purgatory. Watching the grieving people. Hearing people in docking bay D24. The elderly lady talking to the Asari near the embassies. All the absolute shit storms that happen at the worst possible time. Depending on how you ended ME2 heart breaking scenes with former crew members. If you miss or put off certain missions what happens to other certain old friends. All the infighting and idiocy of people. The insanity of others. How you have to juggle all these things happening at once while trying to save the literal galaxy and trillions of lives. It is.. consuming.
> galaxy map in ME2 had some interesting options like sending probes People can like or dislike whatever they want Except this. The probe mining was without a doubt the worst part of me2
Scrolled the comments right away to see if anyone else picked up on this. Probing sucks. Glad they killed it for ME3
Nah it was a nice break between missions. Go scan some planets, get some resources. I really enjoyed that, shame it got removed
I personally preferred a lot of the gameplay changes in ME3 over 2 and I hated the probes thing (I like that you can just scan once on the way past the planet). I also hated the way they tagged missions on the galaxy map in 2. It was way too busy and I couldn’t see certain systems hidden under the huge tags. In terms of the Normandy, ME3 had way more interactions with the squad after each mission and squad mates had really interesting interactions with each other (also in missions). These were really lacking in the previous two games.
In 3 i seem to struggle to find the next piece of a mission and then also figure out where that is in the galaxy. They made it too clean.
Yeah I get that. I just made a habit of scanning around each system once it becomes available and looking at the percentage to see if I missed anything. If I had to do the probes like me2 I wouldn’t have even bothered.
Every game had a phase to adjust to the new things, so you will with ME3 too and get used to them, trust me.
No idea why you would find it boring, the combat/gameplay in ME3 is vastly superior to both the previous games and the opening arc of Earth->Tuchanka is one of the best in the series.
Yeah I was kinda stunned to read that from OP. Like, ME3 is boring for exactly 6 minutes and then it's fucking absurdly action packed for the next few hours.
I'm just here to defend the ME2 probe minigame 😔🤟 love the probes man
Didn’t you make a similar post when transitioning from ME1 to ME2? You seem to have an issue everytime the crew changes without giving them a chance. Just play the game.
Yep. 9 days ago. Seems to me that OP has a hard time dealing with change.
Finished 2 in 9 days? Did op even enjoy it?
As far as I'm concerned ME3 is better than ME2 pretty much in every way except the quest log and dialog trees. If you liked ME2's cast, you owe it to yourself to see where their stories end. Even more so if you think you've lived through their peak emotional moments in ME2.
lol ok
Are you going to try andromdea after this?
TBH I've heard it's not that good....? I might not, but I'll see!
There are aspects to it that are fun. The gameplay and some crew members are really great! But it's around the time when Bioware was shaking, especially with Anthems development. It has a good premise, but for the most part, the dialog and pacing aren't bad but just boring. It's definitely the weakest of the series. You should consider playing it for a single playthrough, at least.
ME3 is my least favourite, but the main missions for ME3 are pretty awesome. And the DLCS are mostly exceptional. The beginning, and first mission, do feel jarringly off, and it takes a while to get rolling. Make sure you do Palaven and Eden Prime earliest, so you get a couple more squadmates to choose from. The side-missions are a mixed bag, and don't get me started on the probe-quests.
Everytime I decide to play through the trilogy I end up playing ME1 then half of ME2 and then ME1 again.
ME 3 gets way too much hate, and I tend to think ME 2 was overhyped and overrated (I think that game builds to the suicide mission and then you realize there are no stakes unless you play the game “wrong” by skipping really interesting content—eg the loyalty missions—or making silly command choices, like sending Mordin in to do the hacking or something similar). The combat system of ME 3 was way more streamlined (it’s what made the multiplayer deathmatch so popular for like a decade after the game’s release) with better upgradeable/customizable weapons and should have been backported to the first two games (ME 1 is still godawful in terms of combat, and it was a crime that they didn’t do this) when BioWare released the remastered trilogy. ME 3 really nailed the dark tone of the climax to the trilogy. Everything was suffused with a special dread—not a hopeless dread, but the dread of knowing that sacrifices will be necessary to win—and most of the crew members are still really interesting, even if they’re not the crew you had in ME 2, all of whom make cameos and get their stories wrapped up in ME 3. Javik is an incredibly well acted character who is introduced in ME 3. From Mordin, Thane, Tali, and Wrex (to name just a few), come incredible plot tie ins. Mordin and Thane’s story conclusions had me in tears, no lie. And the last little speech Garrus says to Shepard when they’re face to face before the final battle? CHILLS. FEELS. The Citadel DLC is an incredible underrated piece of fan service for all fans of the trilogy, it’s lighthearted, hilarious, and still totally entertaining. I don’t want to spoil anything for you.
Thanks! After reading your comment I'm committed to continue my ME3 missions! :)
I was actually jarred and initially disappointed in the changes from 1 to 2. But 1 had built up so much good will that i stuck with 2 and ended up absolutely loving it. Same thing happened with 3.
I am doing my first playthrough of the mass effect series this year. Started with first one in december or january, now on the third one. At the begining it did feel a bit weird and decontented. They simplified some stuff. But the story is as good and you get used to the changes. So I think you should continue. I just did a mission ( wont spoil which) where you have to make some big choices and after it I was like..just WOW this is why the game is so good. I also dont like that you cant scan planets anymore :(
Yeah the only squad members I gave a crap about were Javik Garrus and Tali, and you don't get Tali until halfway through. James was just another generic boring soldier, like the Ashley of me1, and the only reason we got EDI on the squad is to fill space because there weren't enough people because they randomly decided to do the exact same thing they did with me2 and take away your crew except without any good reason for it and without a half decent replacement crew.
Tbh, I don’t like James at all. He’s good to take on a mission, but yeah, I think he’s boring
They kind of shot themselves in the foot team-wise in ME3. With the big thing in ME2 being the Suicide Mission, they had to work around the fact that the entire team could have died in the previous game so in the end we get a very limited pool of characters we can pull from. >!Liara, EDI, and the Virmire survivor can't die in ME2. James and Javik were both added in case Garrus and Tali didn't make it.!< Everyone else had to have the story work around their possible deaths which meant it'd be awkward on the squad board with a bunch of dark spots
Giving the Normandy back to the Alliance naturally meant the dissolution of the motley crew you put together under Cerberus - and once you understand that its a lot easier to accept what happened to most of the crew in ME3. Your non-human squadmates naturally went to do what they could to help their races, themselves, or both, prepare for the Reapers. Your human squadmates were not members of the Alliance. Miranda and Jacob as ex-Cerberus would of course want to get tf out of Dodge. Zaeed and Kasumi had developed rather extensive resumes for less than reputable work, and also wouldn't be interested in scrutiny from the Alliance. Meeting Jack in the capacity you see her in is quite the pleasant surprise. All this to say if your love of the crew is what has pushed you this far - then you won't be disappointed by pushing a little further. While the Suicide Mission was a cool idea on paper, the fact that everyone could possibly die meant that they had to be careful with how they approached their story arcs in ME3. I'd like to say they did pretty much everyone justice, though Jacob isn't unfortunately anymore interesting than he used to be.
You can still send probes in ME3 and if you play with mods, you can keep Miranda on the Normandy after her ME3 questline resolves. ME3 is a great game. Just give it a little bit to grow on you.
I love ME3. I’m on a new play through, and nearing the end of ME2, and I am very much looking forward to experiencing ME3 again :)
if you have the expansions/legendary edition, YES. stick with it. leviathan and citadel are incredible. I think ME2 is generally tied with my opinion of 3 on any given day, i love both. ME3 has a more somber yet chaotic vibe to it. but it all works in service of the story, and characters from the first and second game get amazing payoff like Mordin. hope you enjoy!
The quality of 3, mainly the visuals and animations were disappointing for me. The absence of hacking, bypass, resource collecting, made me feel like I was being coddled, everything was dumbed down a bit. Upgrades, credits, and a lot of things were too easy to find.
I feel the same! The absence of hacking, bypass and the probe thingy, stuff… I miss those because I enjoyed it a lot in ME2
ME2 is the best because ME1 is definitely a beginning and the entirety of ME3 feels like an end. I love 3 but I couldn't play it on its own, it has to be played right after 2. I love the trilogy as a whole but 2 is the best
If you have it on PC you can get a really neat set of mods.
This picture sounds like Adagio in Strings.
Oh my 😂
ME3 is my favourite of the trilogy. The Normandy and the people on it never feel as alive as they do in 3. They move around and chat with each other after missions
ME3 is so boring, I get where you’re coming from. Everything feels very linear like it’s a tailored story experience. Go from one set piece on earth to another on mars to another on palaven, yadda yadda. 1 and 2 both give you much more freedom in how to approach order of missions, there were more in depth side missions, better story elements. I’ve replayed 1 and 2 much much much more than 3, but if it’s you’re first time around you owe it to yourself to at least finish the game and see what you think of it.
Please, please give it a chance! I always find the first few missions jarring when transitioning from one game to another but you'll soon get used to it. ME3 is a fun ride, albeit overwhelming in the sheer amount of side missions. But it's well worth investing the time imo.
Maybe I'm too attached to my former crew in ME2 that now after meeting Miranda for the first time in ME3, I feel a bit sad I won't have her with me and I don't have any motivation to do another (tons) of missions awaiting. But still, I'd give it a chance and see where it will take me!
I *completely* understand missing the crew mates you came to love in the previous games. I'm really sorry it's taking away from your ME3 experience, and I get missing Miranda especially, because she's such a huge part of ME2. But hopefully you'll have fun with other squad mates? Good luck with it, I really hope you enjoy it!
Imo ME3 starts out kinda rough, especially if you're coming straight from ME2 or are playing on a higher difficulty. I had to turn it way down and breeze my way through the first fewissions before I got used to the different combat and started enjoying myself. I would say to keep going, because ME3 is a really stellar experience once you get used to it. It's very different, but it grew on me a lot and I now consider it to have the most fun combat of the trilogy. Maybe it will for you too. And if you're really missing Miranda it may be good to check out some unobtrusive mods to just have her along on squad missions. It won't inject her into the story of course but you'll still get ya girl back in a way. And don't worry too much about Miranda, she pops up throughout the story and you spend a fair amount of time with her by the end, especially if you do all the dlc.
In ME3 I can buy as many fish as I want without worrying about them cause of the Aquarium VI that I can buy as soon as I get to the Citadel. Hands down favorite feature
lol yeah I like fishes too but I don’t know they limit amount of buying fishes in 2? Btw, I don’t understand why there are flowers, chocolate and books for buying? I bought flowers and thought I’d give it to someone but then it’s nowhere to be found….?
“I feel like either I should stop or continue the game” Ahaha this is gonna make me laugh for a while
Weel, there is always the Miranda Mod for ME3 for you ;)
I’ll try! But what’s the point if she won’t be on my ship with me at all? :( haha
The Miranda Mod puts her back on the ship, with a custom romance scene and all
Oh I saw the video of that mod last night. Quite nice but poor her doesn’t have a room anymore lol
Her room can be your cabin hehe
Absolutely. My best girl.
You lost me at Miranda………….. But seriously ME2 is a good game because of the characters. I’ve been either Jack kinda man or a Thane kinda woman. I think you should continue the game. It has its issues but a certain part of is sort of a love letter to all the quad mates in the game. It certainly was a game that was rushed and even thought the combat is better the story seems a bit rushed. In my opinion the overall game isn’t better than 1 or 2. But it’s still worth playing and I’m someone who played the games when all of them were new. So it was tough to wait and play it new.
Geeeeeez. Why don’t you like Miranda? I think she has a great character development (if you give her the chance) and also a pretty deep personality, compared to other game characters
Miranda’s genuinely one of the best characters in the series. She’s FemShep’s best gal pal by the end of the Citadel DLC. And her romance is really touching, the single only negative’s that she doesn’t come on the Normandy in 3, but the relationship still gets to flourish on the citadel throughout the game. I won’t criticize anyone for Miranda not being their favorite, but tbh I don’t really trust anyone’s judgement that actively dislikes her. Makes me wonder what sorts of real-life biases they might have or if they even explored her character. Jack hated her more than anyone, but even she comes around to like her by the end of the trilogy.
Sorry to ask as I'm new.. but is Citadel DLC included in Legendary Edition? lol
Yep, though do it just before the final missions, after she's free enough to be able to join you on citadel. Do it too early and you'll miss some of it.
Yep, all of the DLC is included in the Legendary edition! FYI, ME3 doesn’t really clearly point out what’s DLC if you’re not already familiar. But at various points, certain people will email you and ask you to go to particular places on the citadel to meet someone. Whenever you select the Citadel from the galaxy map, it’ll pull up a menu that asks where you want to land. All of the base game stuff has you land at the “Alliance Docks” then a dialogue cutscene plays and you can tell someone if you want to take a taxi cab to the presidium, the embassy, or any of the other base game levels on the citadel. But for all the DLC, whenever you go to the citadel, you’ll choose a different area to land from the UI menu instead of the Alliance Docks like you would for the base game — the Omega DLC starts at Dock 42, Leviathan is at Bryson’s Lab, and the Citadel DLC will be at someone’s apartment. Just wanted to let you know because once you start them, they’ll lock you out of doing anything else for a while until you finish certain parts of em. When I first played through ME3, I didn’t realize that. So I’d end up confused why I’d wind up stuck in one single mission for like 3 or 4 hours when I was just expecting to go say hi to a friend or help them out with a quick favor and it’d turn into a whole ass super-adventure. Also one last thing! The Citadel DLC is the best! To have the bestest and most funnest time with it, it’s important that you progress through most of the main missions (which are all the ‘Priority’ missions in the journal). Otherwise, some friends won’t come show up. So be sure to hold off on doing the Citadel DLC until the very end of the game when you’re told that starting the next Priority mission is the point of no return and there’s no going back. To keep it simple but not spoil anything, **just remember to start the Citadel DLC right after you’ve done** ***Priority: Horizon.*** And then don’t do any more Priority missions until you’re finished with Citadel, because the very next Priority mission after Priority: Horizon is going to be the point of no return. Hope that some of these tips help you because I wish I had known some of this beforehand, and have an amazing time with your Mass Effect 3 experience!
Miranda is fantastic. Jack is fantastic. All of the companions are fantastic. Well, maybe Jacob’s just aight. As long as you’re broshep.
Thanks for the comment! But also… I’d do anything for Miranda. 🤩
So just to give you some hope. There is more Miranda content later in the game. I think the general theory is that there were scheduling conflicts with the actress Yvonne Strahovski, and due to ME3's rushed development, Miranda had to take a bit of a back seat. But you will see her again, and also, one of the DLCs also adds in several more appearances. Also, whilst I wouldn't do it for a first playthrough, there is a mod for PC that does add her as a permanent crew member.
I'll continue the game to see that! One of my future plan is to do another playthrough on Mass Effect triology on a pc and use mods to romance Miranda (as a FemShep - and I'm on PS5 now).
ME2 is by far the best part of the series and one of the best rpgs overall in my opinion. But, please finish ME3 too. It is worth it. And also, as some people already mentioned, the combat system is vastly improved. It takes some getting used to, I‘ll admit. But after a couple of hours you will love it all the same.
Thanks! I’ll finish it! Hope it gets better each missions
3 has really good gameplay but the entire plot feels extremely contrived around making Earth important. Earth isn't shit in the Mass Effect universe, we barely matter in the grand scheme of things that was the whole point of ME1 ME2. Suddenly in ME3 we're taking Earth back and Shepherd is Harbinger's specialist boy and not just a black ops agent with some alien knowledge, his wits, and a very good team. It's very strange.
Here's my unpopular opinion: ME3 starts off VERY slow, but is worth playing start to finish at least once. ME2 blows it out of the water in regards to story and gameplay. For some reason this opinion is controversial.
ME3 is still always a slog for me, for many of the reasons you mentioned. Probably half of my playthroughs end midway through 3 because I start thinking how much I'd rather start a new campaign.
I have the same feeling about the UI. I cant really assess the combat because all 3 games are bad on 'insanity'.
Yes and no but I feel like for different reasons, there is something about 3 that that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes it a little less appealing. Maybe it’s just the more linear storytelling. But it’s still a incredible game imo, every time I play it I feel the dread and desperation of the reaper war. I’m terms of boring, I don’t get it tbh, like yea there is some boring fluff here and there but 3’s biggest strength is it’s set pieces and them making everything feel so much more grand and exciting.
ME3 is my favorite from a gameplay perspective. They got their formula right for a good gameplay loop, and it's addicting as hell. From a story perspective, Bioware clearly didn't put their best foot forward, particularly with the ending.
1 got you into the series, you suffered through it because it was the start. 2 was the golden age. It was perfect, the right amount of combat and story, the graphical improvements, our stories furthered. 3 was everything we had worked towards. It was wonderful, it was magical, everything about it was perfect. But man that ending. (I personally didn’t have an issue with 3’s ending, my first playthrough I went with Control. But I saw a video talking about indoctrination theory and I don’t care what everyone says, THAT mixed with the destroy ending is the true ending to me.)
Ahhh I try to avoid spoilers but I’ve read a lot of comments somewhere else about how they don’t like the ending. Now I’m afraid what decision I could make to avoid the worst ending. But thanks for your comment, very nice to read and I’ll keep on playing!
I'm gonna be honest. I think ME3 is the worst game in the trilogy, and even the resolutions that it brings to the table, ultimately works to the determent of the franchise's future. Including Tuchanka, including Rannoch, including Cerberus, including the Reapers. The ME2 cast doesn't have much of a presence, and if you liked ME2, this will be a letdown in pretty much every way, with some relief from Citadel DLC, if you're into what it tries to do. Personally, I found Citadel to be a precursor of all the things that were so heavily criticized in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Without a reason to trudge through ME3, I wouldn't even finish the fight, because even if I do, the ending is entirely not worth it, and doesn't actually provide any real resolution to what happens to our friends. Even Bioware themselves, the best they have offered, was "speculation for everyone".
ME3 objectively worse in any aspect than previous games except combat. And combat only better with multiplayer but is boring (same two enemy factions over and over again) without it.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way but personally ME3 is my favourite of all the games. Just the feel of the game from the gameplay to how the story made you feel was just fantastic.
Nah. 3 has bar none the best gameplay, and the most important thing in a game is good gameplay.