Mass Effect 2/3 Questions

[yourbeliefs]

So I'm picking up my copy of ME3 today. I had a few questions though first. Most of them are probably quite dumb but bear with me please.

When you import your character, do you just import a save file or do you import the "completed mission" save? What I mean is that I have 2 Shepards, 1 that did all the DLC stuff AFTER completing the main mission and another that did all DLC and then finished. I know that when I beat the game the first time, the game created a "finished" save game. The issue is that that file has NONE of the DLC progress/decisions that were made. Is this going to be an issue or does it look at the latest save file? I'm ASSUMING that the game is smart enough to look at the most recent save since there is so much DLC out and it's made to be able to be completed after the main quest, but I just wanted to be sure that ALL the decisions made transfer over.

Speaking of transferring, I'm assuming that the face import issue hasn't been resolved yet as I haven't heard any news of it being fixed. This is fine because I'm starting with a Canon Shepard, but my other character is a Renegade Shepard with the cut skin and glowing eyes. I didn't opt for the med bay upgrade in ME2 because I thought it looked cool for her character, but now it just looks sloppy IMO. Now I think it looks cooler to have no scars. Do scars transfer over? If so then do I need to go back and do the med bay upgrade to wipe them out?

Finally, without being too specific and spoilering (is that a word?), I know that there is controversy over the ME3 ending. Without getting too in depth or specific, is the main complaint that the ending is too short/underwhelming a'la KOTOR 2, is it that it's too weird, is it that it leaves too many questions unanswered a'la Alan Wake, or is it something else? Again I'm not looking for specifics obviously but I am a little curious as to what the generic reason is to stem so much discussion about it.

TIA

 

[GiantRaven]

You import a save file. When I started Mass Effect 3 I had the option of importing save from the middle of Mass Effect 2. If you played the DLC after completing the main story of Mass Effect 2 then if you load your most recent save then everything should be fine. That's what I did and everything aligned up properly.

With the scars, they disappear at the start but slowly come back again through the game if you play Renegade. At a certain you get the option to have them removed again and this time they properly disappear instead of merely just not getting worse, as they did in Mass Effect 2.

 

[yourbeliefs]

With the scars, they disappear at the start but slowly come back again through the game if you play Renegade. At a certain you get the option to have them removed again and this time they properly disappear instead of merely just not getting worse, as they did in Mass Effect 2.

Wait, so in ME2 if you got the med bay upgrade it didn't heal your wounds? I was under the impression that if you got it that you would look normal again. Given how much Platinum that upgrade costs I'd damn expect to be healed. That's like getting Lasik surgery and all it does is make it so you never have to buy stronger lenses.

 

[GiantRaven]

Wait, so in ME2 if you got the med bay upgrade it didn't heal your wounds? I was under the impression that if you got it that you would look normal again. Given how much Platinum that upgrade costs I'd damn expect to be healed. That's like getting Lasik surgery and all it does is make it so you never have to buy stronger lenses.

I could be misremembering, but the wounds are permanent. All the med-bay upgrade does it stops them getting worse after you purchase it. I'm pretty sure I'm correct though since I remember being pretty annoyed by it. That or my game glitched out.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I just did some googling and apparently it does heal the scars. Apparently an issue people have had is that they would BUY the upgrade but never actually USE it. I think people assumed that once you purchased it it would immediately work, but I guess you have to go to the Med Bay on the 3rd level and actually "use" it for it to heal you. Did you do that?

 

[TorchofThanatos]

The face import bug is weird because I play on Xbox and my Shepard's face imported no problem.
I think I changed his hair in ME2 so the import worked.

The biggest complaint most people seem to have that it doesn't feel like your final choice matters. Think of it to being similar to how the new Deus EX ended. Your choice matters in lore but it is never shown to you what happens afterwards. The final cut sense is kind of unchanged depending on how you answer. I think it is forgivable and not that bad but I also loved DA2 more then DAO so my options are in the minority here.

 

[TheCaptain]

I could be misremembering, but the wounds are permanent. All the med-bay upgrade does it stops them getting worse after you purchase it. I'm pretty sure I'm correct though since I remember being pretty annoyed by it. That or my game glitched out.

Nah, the upgrade makes the device available that heals the scars completely. Meaning, you purchase the upgrade but don't use it, scars remain.

Since you start out with zero morality points in ME3, the scars are not visible on importing the character, but will show up again once you start working your way down the slippery slope.

What I don't know is if you get the scars back if you purchased and used the upgrade in ME2.

Finally, without being too specific and spoilering (is that a word?), I know that there is controversy over the ME3 ending. Without getting too in depth or specific, is the main complaint that the ending is too short/underwhelming a'la KOTOR 2, is it that it's too weird, is it that it leaves too many questions unanswered a'la Alan Wake, or is it something else? Again I'm not looking for specifics obviously but I am a little curious as to what the generic reason is to stem so much discussion about it.

As for the main beef people have with the ending:

#1 - People feel the endings disregard all the choices that have been made throughout all the games, since you literally only get to pick ending A, B or C at the final location of the game; how that final choice plays out depends only on the effective military strength of what I'll call the combined forces of good. Also, the different endings are very similar; cutscenes look virtually the same with only minor alterations. The effect of your choice doesn't really make a difference for Shepard, his team or the people of the galaxy as a whole, or if so, it isn't shown.

#2 - Also it's been addressed that the final 15 or so minutes are completely out of key with the overall tone of the series. Issues that have always been at the heart of the games are suddenly dropped and don't affect the outcome. The big "explanation of what's been going on" comes suddenly and is introduced through a viewpoint device that hasn't really played a role during the rest of the game. The term ass-pull has been used frequently.

#3 - You get no closure; while you can pretty much imagine what happens to Shepards friends, the various races you encountered or the galaxy as a whole, it isn't explicitly shown; there's also neither an indication if everyone is screwed now or if there's a hope spot left.

That said, the game in itself was one of the best I ever played. While I was as disappointed with its ending as humanly possible, I still enjoyed the game very much, even on my second playthrough - when I already knew what was coming.

 

[GiantRaven]

Nah, the upgrade makes the device available that heals the scars completely. Meaning, you purchase the upgrade but don't use it, scars remain.

Oh god. I fail so hard. *facepalm*

 

[TorchofThanatos]

I could be misremembering, but the wounds are permanent. All the med-bay upgrade does it stops them getting worse after you purchase it. I'm pretty sure I'm correct though since I remember being pretty annoyed by it. That or my game glitched out.

Nah, the upgrade makes the device available that heals the scars completely. Meaning, you purchase the upgrade but don't use it, scars remain.

Since you start out with zero morality points in ME3, the scars are not visible on importing the character, but will show up again once you start working your way down the slippery slope.

What I don't know is if you get the scars back if you purchased and used the upgrade in ME2.

Finally, without being too specific and spoilering (is that a word?), I know that there is controversy over the ME3 ending. Without getting too in depth or specific, is the main complaint that the ending is too short/underwhelming a'la KOTOR 2, is it that it's too weird, is it that it leaves too many questions unanswered a'la Alan Wake, or is it something else? Again I'm not looking for specifics obviously but I am a little curious as to what the generic reason is to stem so much discussion about it.

As for the main beef people have with the ending:

#1 - People feel the endings disregard all the choices that have been made throughout all the games, since you literally only get to pick ending A, B or C at the final location of the game; how that final choice plays out depends only on the effective military strength of what I'll call the combined forces of good. Also, the different endings are very similar; cutscenes look virtually the same with only minor alterations. The effect of your choice doesn't really make a difference for Shepard, his team or the people of the galaxy as a whole, or if so, it isn't shown.

#2 - Also it's been addressed that the final 15 or so minutes are completely out of key with the overall tone of the series. Issues that have always been at the heart of the games are suddenly dropped and don't affect the outcome. The big "explanation of what's been going on" comes suddenly and is introduced through a viewpoint device that hasn't really played a role during the rest of the game. The term ass-pull has been used frequently.

#3 - You get no closure; while you can pretty much imagine what happens to Shepards friends, the various races you encountered or the galaxy as a whole, it isn't explicitly shown; there's also neither an indication if everyone is screwed now or if there's a hope spot left.

That said, the game in itself was one of the best I ever played. While I was as disappointed with its ending as humanly possible, I still enjoyed the game very much, even on my second playthrough - when I already knew what was coming.

The almost zero closer it my biggest problem. Like I said earlier it reminds me of the new Dues Ex game. Three answers to one question, pick and button.

I think many people had way to high expectation for the ending anyways. The story line still must stay the same no matter your choices along the way. To actual create the billions of different ending that mosts fans wanted would take way to long and be to hard to create. It still would have been nice to see what happens after your ending though. Like the text explaining what happens in DAO. Something small like that would go a long way.

 

[yourbeliefs]

So basically the main complaint is that all you need to do is save in the right place in order to see all the endings, as opposed to playing through multiple times with different decisions affecting the outcome?

Also, do you get any sort of "bonus" for importing a character? Like do you get to transfer over any powers/stats you accumulated or does it just transfer your face and your decisions and give you no statistical benefits of doing so versus just starting a new character?

 

[TheCaptain]

So basically the main complaint is that all you need to do is save in the right place in order to see all the endings, as opposed to playing through multiple times with different decisions affecting the outcome?

Nah, that's just part of what it leads to. Hard to describe without too many spoilers. Imagine this. The ending cutscene is roughly the same with three different color filters. There are videos showing them side by side, and there are really only the tinyest tweaks there.

Also, while there are differences lorewise, certain parameters remain the same; so even within the very limited range of options, key elements in what happens in the end are identical.

I don't want to go into to much detail to avoid spoilers. There are people who don't mind the ending and who even find them fitting for the series. You'll have to find out.

To sum it all up, people are disappointed of the lack in variety the endings display. And they would at least like to get a hint at how their choices play out on the long run, and you make some extremely big choices in this game.

 

[TheCaptain]

Also, do you get any sort of "bonus" for importing a character? Like do you get to transfer over any powers/stats you accumulated or does it just transfer your face and your decisions and give you no statistical benefits of doing so versus just starting a new character?

No renegade/paragon bonuses there.

As for the point-based military strength system: You get "free points" for certain decisions you made in the first game and for the amount of ressources you carry over. The latter make almost no difference looking at the big picture.

A not so spoilery example:

Spoiler

If you saved the Destiny Ascension during the Battle of the Citadel, she counts towards your effective military strength, but the military strength of the Alliance fleet will be lower since you sacrificed a good part of it during the rescure.

Sorry for the double-post.

 

[Gerishnakov]

No renegade/paragon bonuses there.

I started with a paragon/renegade boost based on my ME2 scores.

 

[TheCaptain]

No renegade/paragon bonuses there.

I started with a paragon/renegade boost based on my ME2 scores.

Really? Now that's weird, I'm almost completely sure... Hrm. It makes sense, so I'm probably just wrong there.

 

[Zhukov]

Also, do you get any sort of "bonus" for importing a character? Like do you get to transfer over any powers/stats you accumulated or does it just transfer your face and your decisions and give you no statistical benefits of doing so versus just starting a new character?

You get to keep your level and skill upgrades from ME2.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Without getting too spoilery, do the decisions you made in previous games have significant impact on the gaming experience? I'm not referring to the ending, but rather the game itself. Like are there instances where letting someone live or die or doing chore A for character Z leads to a different experience? Will my imported Paragon and Renegade Shepards have dramatically different experiences or are they mainly superficial differences like a different dialog choice?

 

[TheCaptain]

Without getting too spoilery, do the decisions you made in previous games have significant impact on the gaming experience? I'm not referring to the ending, but rather the game itself. Like are there instances where letting someone live or die or doing chore A for character Z leads to a different experience? Will my imported Paragon and Renegade Shepards have dramatically different experiences or are they mainly superficial differences like a different dialog choice?

While certain characters you might have gotten dead will be replaced by similar substitutes, some decisions will lead to very different conclusions of various missions throughout the game. Example (I'll put only the requirements in there, not the outcomes; mild spoilers ahead anyway):

Spoiler

One mission will have a very different feel to it if you either:

a) killed Wrex on Virmire in ME1 and
b) destroyed Maelon's research data during Mordin's loyalty mission in ME2

or

a) kept Wrex alive in ME 1 and
b) preserved Maelon's research data in ME2.

Also in a latter case, I highly recommend you've gotten Mordin to perform Gilbert and Sullivan during ME2.

Apart from that, I found it much more satisfying to have as many side missions completed as possible and keep everyone alive during ME1 & 2, since you miss out on some really awesome callbacks to earlier games when certain characters are absent from 3.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I think I saw some of my previous decisions in action already in the early Mars mission...

Spoiler

I met up with Liara who, as a result of the Shadow Broker DLC, was working recon at the base and was my partner during the mission. Also the Illusive Man acted extra dicky to me as he pointed out the fact that I blew up the Collector's base at the end of the 2nd game. Now I'm wondering what will happen with my other game where I let Cerberus mine the data. Looks like that decision may come back to bite me in the ass..

I'm about 90 minutes into ME3 but already I am liking it. The Kinect integration is a gimmick more than anything. I don't find the game being enhanced by my ability to yell out dialog options or give orders when my controller works perfectly well. Also I eventually had to disconnect my Kinect entirely because I was listening to my iPad while playing and it was picking it up and yelling at me to stop talking.

 

[TheCaptain]

I'm about 90 minutes into ME3 but already I am liking it. The Kinect integration is a gimmick more than anything. I don't find the game being enhanced by my ability to yell out dialog options or give orders when my controller works perfectly well. Also I eventually had to disconnect my Kinect entirely because I was listening to my iPad while playing and it was picking it up and yelling at me to stop talking.

Yahtzee even said that at one point it looked like the game was interpreting its own audio as a kinect voice command, so you're probably better off like that ;-)

 

[RJ 17]

So I'm picking up my copy of ME3 today. I had a few questions though first. Most of them are probably quite dumb but bear with me please.

When you import your character, do you just import a save file or do you import the "completed mission" save? What I mean is that I have 2 Shepards, 1 that did all the DLC stuff AFTER completing the main mission and another that did all DLC and then finished. I know that when I beat the game the first time, the game created a "finished" save game. The issue is that that file has NONE of the DLC progress/decisions that were made. Is this going to be an issue or does it look at the latest save file? I'm ASSUMING that the game is smart enough to look at the most recent save since there is so much DLC out and it's made to be able to be completed after the main quest, but I just wanted to be sure that ALL the decisions made transfer over.

Speaking of transferring, I'm assuming that the face import issue hasn't been resolved yet as I haven't heard any news of it being fixed. This is fine because I'm starting with a Canon Shepard, but my other character is a Renegade Shepard with the cut skin and glowing eyes. I didn't opt for the med bay upgrade in ME2 because I thought it looked cool for her character, but now it just looks sloppy IMO. Now I think it looks cooler to have no scars. Do scars transfer over? If so then do I need to go back and do the med bay upgrade to wipe them out?

Finally, without being too specific and spoilering (is that a word?), I know that there is controversy over the ME3 ending. Without getting too in depth or specific, is the main complaint that the ending is too short/underwhelming a'la KOTOR 2, is it that it's too weird, is it that it leaves too many questions unanswered a'la Alan Wake, or is it something else? Again I'm not looking for specifics obviously but I am a little curious as to what the generic reason is to stem so much discussion about it.

TIA

I'd imagine you've already received sufficient answers for these questions, but I'm a helpful person even when people no longer need help.

You actually get to pick which save file you want to bring over, the same way you got to pick which one you brought from ME 1 to ME 2 (if you played ME 1 ). That is, if you have multiple playthroughs (or even just saved files) for a character, you can pick any one of them. You can pick the first one you played through with no DLC or pick a file with all the DLC. However it DOES matter. If you pick a file without the DLC, relevant quests/conversations will be closed off. For instance, when I replayed ME 2 in preparation for ME 3, Zaeed, for some strange reason, was gone. He's supposed to have a side-quest in ME 3, but he wasn't there for me.

As for the face, yeah, you get a fresh start, but if you go Renegade you get the "More Evil Looking Than A Sith Lord" look with the scars and eyes and what-not.

As for the ending, without spoiling to much I can tell you that the main reason people didn't like it was lack of closure for your squadmates and the galaxy as a whole. People wanted to see how their decisions would pan out and the ending didn't deliver that. That and there's a number of "irregularities" that makes it difficult to tell what even really happened. Personally I thought the ending was "acceptable". I would have liked more, but in the end it wasn't too bad.