I want ME3 to be the final installment to end final installments, but some things are nagging at me. With the publisher EA stating they want to make it appeal to a wider audience, with the executive producer stating the game will, for it's gameplay supposedly, be "compared to the greatest shooters in the world", and that they "have to reach that level", then saying they've "completed the evolution"... I just don't know.
I-I just... *takes deep breath, then lets it out*
I don't know anymore. I want ME3, yeah, but there's just so much going on now. So much giving me doubt about how good it'll be. There's so much on Bioware's plate, but the folks at Bioware keep lifting story elements and character designs (at least with what they've shown in enemies), adding new characters (true, only one mentioned...for now), and EA says it's going to appeal to a wider market...
Worst case scenario: Mass Effect 3 ends like LOST, with no real answers, with an ending that barely changes according to your choices (blow reapers up, or fail...that's it), and all the other choices you made are done Dragon Age: Origins style with a picture show sequence detailing how the universe is post Reaper attack...that will be retconned in the MMO.
Appeal to a wider market? But, it's the final installment to a trilogy. In order to make it appeal to a wider audience you'd need to dumb down the elements of the plot that require prior knowledge of the story, characters, and the universe so that new folks can understand what's going on. Exposition would need to be given ad nauseum, otherwise the new audience would again be stuck in confusion, or worse, they'd have to read books worth of text through the Codex to understand anything ala FF13.
_And, to touch briefly on that subject, the same people who said the problem with JRPGs is the "But Thou Must" factor then go and make "The Arrival" DLC, a major plot point (that we have to pay for....nice =_=) that has Shepard do something on his own. Without the gamer's consent. Not gonna spoil it, but I can tell you that the explanation to the opening to ME3 does! My Shepard would not have done that! What about choice, Bioware? What about personal decisions and being the antithesis of "But Thou Must"?!
*sigh* Look, I used to complain that ME is NOT an RPG but a shooter. Still think that. But after an argument with another Escapist member by the name of "The.Bard", I came to realize a truth I held/hold to, but had lost at that point: that we shouldn't try to ruin someone else's belief in something by trying to impose what we think when their belief in said something doesn't hurt anybody. Goes for religion, sexual preference, and even to the subject of classifying Mass Effect. You think ME2 is an RPG? I think it's a shooter. Either way, let's go kill aliens! YEAH!
...But this isn't about what Bioware and EA might do to the shooter and RPG aspects of the game. My doubt is with the capability Bioware has to pull this off. You all saw it in ME2. The decisions we made in ME1 were boiled down to a few plot points, and everything else was barely even mentioned or changed anything. It's a running joke that Shepard's possible history with Cerberus ruining his/her life by killing his/her comrades is barely mentioned in ME2, and that there's no dialogue option to mention it to The Illusive Man or anyone. Compound that with the realization of just how many variables there are after ME2 and you start to see my worry.
Then we have Bioware stating that some characters will only be with you on certain missions while others won't be with you at all. Because, you know, that went over so well with the Ashley and Kaiden fans, right?
And then they plan on bringing in another character from the novels. But there's 12+ characters already, Bioware! You already can't even fit all the previously established characters on your team (for some reason)! Why are you adding more?
And then my friend goes, "Dude, this is gonna be sweet! They have guys from Deus Ex Human Revolution in there and Grey Fox is in it!"
If you see the magazine, you know how ridiculously true this is.
What?! WHAT?! WHY?! Why the cyborg ninja woman, Bioware?! Why the guy in the trench coat with robot arms and sunglasses attached to his face?! ...AND WHY THE CYBORG NINJA?!
NO! It's not another case of "everything's been done before". It's a cyborg ninja! The blade is the same, the helmet is almost the same, the body suit (aside from stupidly massive breasts) is far too similar! It's a design rip-off, a variation of the damn recolor phenomena!
_And, to touch briefly on that subject, the same people who said the problem with JRPGs is the "But Thou Must" factor then go and make "The Arrival" DLC, a major plot point (that we have to pay for....nice =_=) that has Shepard do something on his own. Without the gamer's consent. Not gonna spoil it, but I can tell you that the explanation to the opening to ME3 does! My Shepard would not have done that! What about choice, Bioware? What about personal decisions and being the antithesis of "But Thou Must"?!
*sigh* Look, I used to complain that ME is NOT an RPG but a shooter. Still think that. But after an argument with another Escapist member by the name of "The.Bard", I came to realize a truth I held/hold to, but had lost at that point: that we shouldn't try to ruin someone else's belief in something by trying to impose what we think when their belief in said something doesn't hurt anybody. Goes for religion, sexual preference, and even to the subject of classifying Mass Effect. You think ME2 is an RPG? I think it's a shooter. Either way, let's go kill aliens! YEAH!
...But this isn't about what Bioware and EA might do to the shooter and RPG aspects of the game. My doubt is with the capability Bioware has to pull this off. You all saw it in ME2. The decisions we made in ME1 were boiled down to a few plot points, and everything else was barely even mentioned or changed anything. It's a running joke that Shepard's possible history with Cerberus ruining his/her life by killing his/her comrades is barely mentioned in ME2, and that there's no dialogue option to mention it to The Illusive Man or anyone. Compound that with the realization of just how many variables there are after ME2 and you start to see my worry.
Then we have Bioware stating that some characters will only be with you on certain missions while others won't be with you at all. Because, you know, that went over so well with the Ashley and Kaiden fans, right?
And then they plan on bringing in another character from the novels. But there's 12+ characters already, Bioware! You already can't even fit all the previously established characters on your team (for some reason)! Why are you adding more?
And then my friend goes, "Dude, this is gonna be sweet! They have guys from Deus Ex Human Revolution in there and Grey Fox is in it!"
If you see the magazine, you know how ridiculously true this is.
What?! WHAT?! WHY?! Why the cyborg ninja woman, Bioware?! Why the guy in the trench coat with robot arms and sunglasses attached to his face?! ...AND WHY THE CYBORG NINJA?!
NO! It's not another case of "everything's been done before". It's a cyborg ninja! The blade is the same, the helmet is almost the same, the body suit (aside from stupidly massive breasts) is far too similar! It's a design rip-off, a variation of the damn recolor phenomena!
I-I just... *takes deep breath, then lets it out*
I don't know anymore. I want ME3, yeah, but there's just so much going on now. So much giving me doubt about how good it'll be. There's so much on Bioware's plate, but the folks at Bioware keep lifting story elements and character designs (at least with what they've shown in enemies), adding new characters (true, only one mentioned...for now), and EA says it's going to appeal to a wider market...
Worst case scenario: Mass Effect 3 ends like LOST, with no real answers, with an ending that barely changes according to your choices (blow reapers up, or fail...that's it), and all the other choices you made are done Dragon Age: Origins style with a picture show sequence detailing how the universe is post Reaper attack...that will be retconned in the MMO.
