And So It Begins...
I picked up and started Mass Effect 3 last night, which seems to have led to some strange dreams.
The game: I've only just barely gotten to the point of controlling the Normandy after the set prologue levels, as I didn't have it in me to stay up late even to play more. As I worried in the demo, the intro sets a shadow of pacing over everything even though the game sort of seems to want you to explore. There's no particularly justification this time for being able to choose a new look/build for an imported character - function over form. I've already been reunited with several figures from previous installments, which is one of the great charms of the series. I've had several previous exploits referenced and the plot of "Arrival" wasn't shoved down my throat. Most of the repercussions from the past seem to only have subtle effect so far, but the game does definitely make me feel like it remembers what I've done even if the impact isn't obviously huge at this point.
The one possible exception to that is the relationship with Liara. She was my romance option in ME1, but cool and sort of distant in ME2. Plus ME2 made Tali an available romance option. Now, starting ME3, there have been some scenes where a lingering attraction from Liara is definitely clear as she feels out whether my Shepard prefers her or Tali. Meanwhile, I'm left wondering where Tali'Zorah vas Normandy got off to in the intervening time (presumably back to the Flotilla again).
So we'll see how the pacing works in the long-term. My only actual complaint at this point is that the "manual" is in-game, and the game does a poor job of explaining some new gameplay concepts like weapon weight, war assets, galactic readiness, and exploring non-mission systems.
The dream: Which somehow led into Mass Effecty dreams from a viewpoint of a player, more or less. It was on the Citadel. I was wondering where Tali was. And some strange alien wearing her suit (sans helmet) showed up, causing some confusion. "Wait, that... can't be Tali," I thought. "Sure, we've never seen a quarian's face revealed on-screen, but this thing has four eyes and a head that could barely fit in one of those helmets if at all." And in the midst of this, the real Tali'Zorah shows up, without a quarian environmental suit, giving some reason for the deception to throw someone else off her trail while I was wondering how she was surviving... and I think there was more to it, but that's all that stayed with me.
The game: I've only just barely gotten to the point of controlling the Normandy after the set prologue levels, as I didn't have it in me to stay up late even to play more. As I worried in the demo, the intro sets a shadow of pacing over everything even though the game sort of seems to want you to explore. There's no particularly justification this time for being able to choose a new look/build for an imported character - function over form. I've already been reunited with several figures from previous installments, which is one of the great charms of the series. I've had several previous exploits referenced and the plot of "Arrival" wasn't shoved down my throat. Most of the repercussions from the past seem to only have subtle effect so far, but the game does definitely make me feel like it remembers what I've done even if the impact isn't obviously huge at this point.
The one possible exception to that is the relationship with Liara. She was my romance option in ME1, but cool and sort of distant in ME2. Plus ME2 made Tali an available romance option. Now, starting ME3, there have been some scenes where a lingering attraction from Liara is definitely clear as she feels out whether my Shepard prefers her or Tali. Meanwhile, I'm left wondering where Tali'Zorah vas Normandy got off to in the intervening time (presumably back to the Flotilla again).
So we'll see how the pacing works in the long-term. My only actual complaint at this point is that the "manual" is in-game, and the game does a poor job of explaining some new gameplay concepts like weapon weight, war assets, galactic readiness, and exploring non-mission systems.
The dream: Which somehow led into Mass Effecty dreams from a viewpoint of a player, more or less. It was on the Citadel. I was wondering where Tali was. And some strange alien wearing her suit (sans helmet) showed up, causing some confusion. "Wait, that... can't be Tali," I thought. "Sure, we've never seen a quarian's face revealed on-screen, but this thing has four eyes and a head that could barely fit in one of those helmets if at all." And in the midst of this, the real Tali'Zorah shows up, without a quarian environmental suit, giving some reason for the deception to throw someone else off her trail while I was wondering how she was surviving... and I think there was more to it, but that's all that stayed with me.
Clearly her interactions with Shepard have made her immune system so strong she doesn't need the suit for brief periods of time ;)
ReplyDelete*snickers* Clearly. And now today I'm reading there's some fan fuss over... uh... something about a picture having to do with Tali or quarians or... something. The game finally reveals a quarian face and people don't like it? I don't know. As curious as I am, I'm avoiding details like a spoilerific plague right now. You can tell which characters I liked the most. Starting ME2, my thought was "okay, I've been dead for two years and need to rebuild my team - where are Garrus and Tali?" Now I'm starting ME3 and thinking "time to save the galaxy - nice to see you again Liara, do you know where I'll find Garrus and Tali?" >.> I actually do feel a little bad for Liara even if she struck me as cold/distant in ME2 (which seems all the more strange given what she went through between ME1 and 2).
ReplyDeleteWell, if you take a dialogue branch in ME2 and she was your ME1 love interest she should, briefly, show her old self. In the DLC adventure into the Lair of the Shadow Broker, you can once more open up romances with her, culminating in some kissing scenes back on the Normandy. *shrug* so say the wiki anyway. ME3 sort of assumes you and her helped one another against the Shadow Broker, so she's trying to rekindle that spark to a degree.
ReplyDeleteI did play through Shadow Broker and I can see how there might have been options there, but that was looong after I completed ME2's main storyline. And while a few details might be different without having played that DLC, she's definitely playing up the after-effects of the showdown with the Shadow Broker in the ME3 that I"m seeing. Heh. I read a forum comment by someone who romanced Mirandi in ME2 and then dumped her in ME3 and, I quote "... the once confident and somewhat arrogant woman I knew in ME2 's face contorted in anguish, in a way I have never seen in 25 years of gaming she looked genuinely hurt. When she turned away to shed those few tears, I could not help but feel for the first time like a genuine bastard lol." Given that, I don't feel so bad about Liara's comparatively-mild (but still genuine-seeming) reaction of disappointment.
ReplyDelete