I've been playing through the Mass Effect seriesfor the first time this year. I just beat ME2 + Shadow Broker + Overlord. I leveled up to 30 and I'm about to transfer my save to ME3.

I loved ME1 + 2, but I know that a lot of people really hate ME3 .... Soooo .... without spoiling anything, before starting, is there anything I should expect out of ME3 that will prevent me from hating it?

It's mostly the ending and some other bits and pieces that people hate, 90% of the game is just fine. Just keep your expectations in check for the finale, and you'll be good.

Play Leviathan. Seriously. It doesn't fix everyones problem with it, as there are deep fundamental problems with the story, but it helps.

Mediocrity.

Seriously. The story isn't the only thing that's suspect in that game. There are a ton of little gameplay elements that went out the door half (perhaps even 1/4) baked. It isn't just the weakest of the trilogy narratively, it's also arguably the worst from a gameplay perspective too.

Make sure to have the From Ashes and Leviathan add-ons as they add to the story, while Omega and The Citadel are fine fan service dlc. Also just remember that this is the final game in a trilogy, and you can tell they didn't know how to wrap up some story decisions from the previous games.

Adjust your expectations and play the DLC.

Honestly, most of Mass Effect 3 is fine and mostly suffers from having to follow up Mass Effect 2 and wrap up the trilogy. There's some really dumb nonsense in it even beyond the dumpster fire of an ending, but it's not a disaster.

Take solace in this: there are a lot of shitty and mediocre missions in there, but the worst is the first and the final one. There are amazing stories in there too, that finish up long-running sideplots, and the Citadel DLC is a wonderful piece of fanservice that feels more like Saints Row 3 than Mass Effect 3, and it's a good idea to play it right before the final few missions. If you got through ME2 without thinking the main plotline is real dumb, I don't think you'll be one of the ones to hate the ME3 ending. They patched it up a lot since release, with a specific Extended Cut DLC for the ending that made things more clear, at the very least. When I played it last year it was basically okay.

Beware that while some of your choices from earlier games affect what can happen in some of the missions a lot, most of them change absolutely nothing. Important characters just get a replacement character if they're dead, for instance. The big choice at the end of 2, just like he big choice at the end of 1, have absolutely zero consequences on the plot of 3.

Depending on how you played Mass Effect 2, 3 can shit all over your choices by outright saying, "you know that thing we said/did earlier? Nah." They use the same ridiculous formula for nearly every section of game, sometimes they reuse literally the same cutscenes with different models swapped in. It's got bits of pretentious nonsense that don't fit into anything else. The dialogue can veer from mediocre to awful, the ending is stupid but at least by then it's over. It's like whoever made 3 had beef with the writer from 2 (who had left the company by that point) and removed all the nuance and layers they tried to build up between the characters and factions. That fucking cyber ninja. Just about every aspect of Mass Effect 3 is trash when they couldn't manage the climb to barely average. One of the worst games I've ever played and I really liked Mass Effect 2.

I would download the Extended Cut, DLC, and all of the patches. Depending on which version you are picking up, there may be more things to look through. I won't say why (it makes sense in the context of the story), but finish the DLC and stuff before you complete the game. Think of it like how you would wrap up loose ends before diving head first into the suicide mission in ME2.

Besides that, just play the game and see how it goes. It's not like some people did X and hated it as a result. There's nothing you need to avoid or do extra to make it so you like the game more.

Hey, fellow "played it way after the fact" over here. I think going in with low expectations helps some, as I was expecting all of it to be no good, when really it is just that the main arc of the game isn't great from the start. There are a ton of neat little character moments and the minute to minute stuff has some of the best Mass Effect stuff.

That being said the From Ashes DLC is absolutely necessary, and it is my personal opinion that the Citadel DLC is *also* 100% necessary and is maybe the highlight of all the Mass Effect games for me.

I very recently played ME 3 for the first time (just a few months ago). By the end of my time with it, it actually became my favorite in the trilogy. I've thought a whole bunch about it, but haven't really had anywhere to put those thoughts, so here goes:

This game is without question the roughest of the series, but there are some things about it that are done far better than the previous two entries. The combat is better, for sure, but the biggest thing for me was the way in which the characters interact with each other. Coming across Garrus and James bullshitting each other, hearing Liara and Wrex catch up briefly, or hearing Tali drunkdial Javik made me realize how poorly just about every other game has handled companion characters (including Bioware). They provide us with a spectacular cast of characters, but we rarely see them interact with each other. It's as if they stop being a person the moment the player character steps out of the room. Don't get me wrong; there's room for improvement. ME 3's base game could and should have done much more in this regard, but it's a dramatic step forward compared to any other game of it's ilk, and there's no better example of these improvements than the final DLC package, Citadel.

Citadel is without question, the best DLC in the trilogy (one of the best parts of the trilogy, period). Speaking as someone who very recently replayed the entire trilogy just a few months ago, I can attest to that. 2 had a couple of decent expansions, but 3 blows them out of the water. Leviathan is good and Omega is great, but if Citadel was in the base game I don't think the backlash over the games ending would have been a tenth of what it was. It raises the bar in a way that has left me somewhat frustrated, as I'm not sure I can go back. I was looking forward to playing some other games with a similar companion character system (Pillars of Eternity, Shadowrun Hong Kong, a few others), but now I have the distinct impression I'm going to find them wanting.

I've thought about it a bit, and while I think that most spoilers for this DLC would actually be the sort of thing that would make you want to play it more, I'm going to try and avoid them anyway. The sheer amount of dialogue, and the variety of that dialogue based on who you take with you on each part of the mission is impressive. I found myself looking up videos for well over an hour after I had finished just to see some of the events over again if I had decided to bring let's say Kaiden, or Javik with me to help distract guards. What the party at the end would have been like under different circumstances, with different guests and a different vibe. There's a moment where your whole team is preparing to go on an assault and someone asks something along the lines of, "Who are you taking with you, Commander?" to which you respond, "Oh, I think everyone is coming on this one.", and you embark on a mission with your entire cast of characters, with them all split into different teams, with different dialogue based on who they're with, etc. It makes you look back at literally every other mission in the trilogy and think, "What could have been?". And the party? The party is what gave me closure with what had become my favorite cast of characters in all of the medium. I'd like to list a bunch of interactions I had during it, but I said I'd try to avoid spoilers, as I'm not sure what you're tolerance for them is. Everything I've listed so far was more or less in marketing material, I think, so that's fair game.

I know I've focused a lot on Citadel, but it's because it exemplifies ME 3's greatest strengths, and if you're doing it right you'll save it until the very end, so it's one of your final moments with the story. This game has some problems; it does. Honestly, some of it's narrative is running on the fumes from the second game. It clearly needed substantially more time for..."polish", and everything that nebulous term entails. That all being said, it's not a bad game. I'd even call it a good game. It's much better than it has any right to be, that's for sure. Get all the DLC. From Ashes, Omega, Leviathan, Citadel. Look up online and spoil yourself so you know when in the course of the story you should play all of those; that's what I did and it didn't affect my enjoyment. As for the ending? I could see why someone might get upset, but I liked it. There is one specific thing I don't like about it which I'll leave behind a spoiler blocker below, in case you're interested, but when I saw the credits roll I was happy to close the book on Mass Effect. I hope you enjoy the game, because I certainly did.

The ending more or less prevents anything else from happening in the Milky Way Galaxy after the events of ME 3, because of how different the various endings of the games are. I think it definitely kneecaps Mass Effect as a franchise, but as far as the trilogy is concerned, I liked my ending.

Just play it, people had issue with the end and most of that seemed to be alleviated by the patch they added later. I had no issue with the end. I would say my gripe is the lack of frivolous interactivity with your crew and the lame way side missions are given, but the combat and overall game are still great.

The game is a drop off quality wise in both story and mission design. There are many quests you just over hear and then go do a hoard map. They aren't worth it, just ignore them.

Have fun.

Yep. The reduction in scope (even from 2) of the universe, the simplification of the conversations...basically down to nothing, the terrible N7 missions, the poor justification of character involvement (this will make sense after you play the game), etc.

Like, it not being as good as ME2 isn't a crime, because ME2 is a really fucking good game, but it takes some major steps back, probably due to the drastically reduced dev schedule it had. Keep expectations low, and you will still be somewhat happy with how it goes.

See, I could not disagree more with the notion that the dialogue was simplified. ME3 is constantly reaching back into your decisions from the previous two games, and tailoring nearly every conversation to fit your game state. Yes, you have fewer decisions to make, but that's because this is the game where the consequences of choices made in previous games resolve themselves. I can't tell you the number of times I had conversations with characters that were so specific to my choices, taking into account some very edge-case scenarios, that I came away really impressed with the dialogue system in ME3.

For instance: in ME1 I romanced Liara, but since she was AWOL in ME2, I fell into the arms of Miranda instead (I know a lot of people hate her, but whatever, I was into it). Then in ME3, I went back to Liara, which resulted in a crazy-specific cutscene with Miranda that, given the very particular choices I made which led to it, I'd bet 5% of players would've seen, tops. And I have no doubt that every single person who played ME3 got a totally different conversation with some other character that a very tiny percentage of players saw, without even thinking about how specific it was to their particular choices.

Does the game present as many Ashley/Kaiden style coices as the previous games? No, but how could it? The story is designed to funnel us down to a final conclusion, it's not going to keep branching off to infinity. I for one was really impressed with just how many different combinations of potential game-states, with every single character aside from Shepard potentially being alive or dead, that ME3 was able to juggle. Maybe that was part of the problem, with the story team being spread too thin having to tell one hundred slightly different versions of the same story. But it always baffled me to hear people say they felt like their prior choices didn't matter, when I felt exactly the opposite.

Man...I'm never gonna play ME3 'cause the one time they had a sale on all the DLCs, I decided, na, I'll wait. That was like 3-4 years ago and they haven't been on sale again ever.

Expect the best combat in the whole series.

Expect it to be the worst ME game of the trilogy.

I'd recommend playing it without the extended cut patch for the ending if you can. The ending was fine as it was imo. Then download the patch and do the ending again and make your own mind up about it. Personally I didn't like the extended cut ending.

@kevin_cogneto: Not what I am talking. I am talking about the actual dialogue trees. Characters had *nothing* to say unless it was a specific story advancement, and then you wouldn't have a dialogue tree at all. You would either be presented with a "Press X to talk" conversation, or the dialogue "tree" you were given had zero forks, only allowing you to talk about the one exact thing predetermined for you to talk about. It led to boring conversations with no life, expanded upon by the actual quality of writing being massively inferior to the previous two games outside of a couple of good moments.

And man, that storytelling was bad. The fucking garbage star kid and the plot holes you could fly the Normandy through. Ugh. The more I think about ME3 the more I remember why it was 6/10 game at best.

Once you get to the last mission stop playing and make up your own ending.

@nevergameover: I second the "play all the DLC" recommendation. Citadel and Leviathan (and the free Extended Cut, of course) make the ending of the game much more palpable. And try not to pay too much attention to the Cerberus parts of the game. Worst writing in the series, imo, besides the final choice.

I, for one, disagree with the "artistic vision" arguement. The original ending just felt unfinished and incomplete. If even half the stories about how it was written are true, it's clear that they didn't fully think through the consequences of that final sequence. The fully "corrected" version is definitely the one to play. The only reason to do a DLC-less, unpatched run would be for posterity's sake; to see what we saw back during launch.

Edit: Also, if you still can, try to play Mass Effect 2's Arrival DLC before starting 3. It connects the two games in a very cool and tense way.

Best in the series.

Try to ignore the bad vibe Bioware got around the time of ME 3, and hopefully you'll enjoy it more.

You should take as little as possible of the nonsense internet rage with you when you play that game.

I dont think the ending is nearly as bad as people say and i dont think the dlcs are nearly as important or "the best part of the game" as people say but the only thing i can recommend is to ignore everything you have herd about it when you play and make your own impression.

Play the Citadel DLC after you've finished the main game to wash out any bad tastes the ending leaves you with.

I am so jealous of your coming experience. ME3 is still a great Mass Effect game.

I second this. The citadel DLC is the best part of any Mass Effect game and is an amazing way to finish out the trilogy. Otherwise just expect a bad ending that does not care about the choices you have made and some dodgy story decisions throughout and you should be ready.

Meh, I am sure this has been brought up earlier in the thread (I haven't read every response, so sue me /s ) but what bothered me was the further erosion of RPG mechanics in favour of turning it into a shooter. My favourite game in the series was the original, two was bad-ass but I felt that they leaned too far into shooter territory by making the whole experience a lot more linear (especially the level design), in ME3 I felt that the game went full Call of Duty with its level design and I have personal issues with overtly linear corridor shooters.

A good example would be one moment where the level, from a birds eye view, would resemble a chain-link, only when the link branched into left and right options there would always be a box or something blocking your path. I mean, come-the-fuck-on, what is the point of having an open space if you are going to treat it like a narrow corridor. I mean, is giving the player the option to go left or right, really that big of an issue? It's not like I am travelling far (maybe 15 seconds of running to get to the narrow corridor), and like all chain links the path joins back up for a narrow corridor so it's not like I would even be able to get lost or go off the path.

Even though I was mainly talking about the level design during the all-too-frequent shooter sections (seriously, its like 3/4 of the game) the same limits seem to be placed on everything the developers touched. It's like their goal was to strip as much of the RPG out of the game as possible to make it as close to a user-friendly experience as they could. Now, that might be a good thing to some, and there might have been some design / story reason why they had to start moving in this direction (i assume giving players too much choice would make the ending more time consuming to develop properly), but to me the game seemed like the devs were burned out and trying to cut as many corners as possible to just be over with the series.

And what the heck was the deal with all the waist height walls everywhere? Do futuristic space architects enjoy crouching behind low walls or jump sliding walls all day?

I'm glad that as a community we've come around to "actually Mass Effect 3 is good!" Because it is.

As others have said the DLC is critical. I recommend taking Javik on as many missions as possible because he has a lot of interesting things to say and was, IMO, the best character to have around, though he's not very personable.

I would also recommend, going in, to be prepared for a lot of the 'smaller' stuff to be pretty bare bones. There are many nods to the previous games that aren't that fleshed out. If you take them as fan service it's fine, but you don't need to chase down every minor side quest because many of them are unsatisfying.

You should also maybe see if you can get some duders together for a few rounds of the multiplayer. It raises your galactic readiness and it's actually pretty fun. Surprisingly fleshed out for an add-on mode.

Wow... Eh. Okay, I'm not a part of the hate. ME3 is just as good as the other two. It does some things better than the other two and does some things worse. It's a great end to the trilogy. In hindsight (after I re-went through the trilogy after buying every DLC since EA said they weren't doing a remaster), the very end which is one reason why people hated it, was not as much an issue. A major part of Mass Effect was meeting those characters, and to me, it sends it off well. I never had the outcry over that end, and felt a certain feeling that's pretty special initially, but found it disappointing nonetheless as it didn't do what it probably can't do. Then, with their later addition with more explanation made it even worse I felt. You should not go in expecting a worse game. Playing the DLC that I hadn't the first time, which means all the first games DLC, Overlord in two, and all the ones in three, I had fun experiencing those (though felt Overlord was a bit prolonged with its driving section from point A to B), but my overall feeling of Mass Effect didn't change one bit.

I would hope you had played all the DLC throughout, like the Kasumi DLC as well. I will say this, however, the first ME (like two and three) I've finished multiple times. I wasn't that big a fan of it when it came out, and it has remained my least favorite ME game even after three. When I went through it the last time, the game actually became greater than ever to me which I found super weird. Mass Effect is a great trilogy, no one large part (as in the individual game) falters in comparison to another, they all just have their own issues. I also hope you aren't playing these games because of Andromeda, which I liked okay but is not great. It lacks innovation and the abundance of side quests suck which is its major issues to me. I had glitches here and there, but nothing so major that really ruined my experience. In liking each ME, it depends on what you prefer and tolerates I suppose. People talk about the RPG vs. shooter aspect. There's really not much deviance other than ME1's bigger (and often times boring in my opinion) side worlds, and ME3's more corridor-like shooting areas. I liked three's environments though.

The way upgrading and customization works don't deviate enough from one to another that I liked one over another. I liked the customization of two and three in terms of armor, but liked that you could (unrealistically) change armor on the fly in the first game. That's about all.

I recently played through Mass Effect 1-3 for the first time and while 3 might be the worst of them it also has some of the best moments in the series, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it despite it's flaws.

As for the infamous ending, it has a garbage element that you've probably heard about but the final sequence itself is great enough (and I was prepared by my memories of the overwrought cries of anguish well enough) that I came away satisfied. Maybe it was worse pre-patch?

@evilashe: The patch didnt change much and nothing of importance.

So I've been playing the trilogy on PS3, and most of the DLC up to this point has been included (or free), For ME3, I'm seeing Citadel and Omega on PSN at $15 each, plus From Ashes and Leviathon at $10 each. Bad enough that these aren't included in the collection, I've gotta pay $50 for DLC for a 5 five year old game?

Yep. It's horrendous. Even worse, both From Ashes and Leviathan are sort of critical to the game. From Ashes because it gives you an essential companion and Leviathan because it fills in some massive story gaps, without which there are a bunch of loose threads. From Ashes was even launch day DLC, which was especially hideous.

Citadel isn't essential to the story but is one of the best DLCs ever made and does a lot with the characters you've come to know and love. Omega is...it's fine. But it's sort of stand alone and it depends on whether you like Aria as a character.

I have many rants about the fact that DLC rarely goes down in price, and old DLC basically never goes on sale. They figure that if someone actually wants to properly play Mass Effect 3 they are probably not that price sensitive at this point.

Awful.

@bigsocrates: I think it's made worse by the fact that I bought the trilogy -- all three games, plus most of the DLC for 1 and 2 -- for $30. Now I've gotta spend nearly twice that just for 3's DLC? C'mon Bioware.

Oh it's made worse by a lot of things. But I would not blame Bioware. This is almost certainly an EA driven decision. ME3 came out during a period when publishers were really experimenting with nickel and diming. Whether it was carving out critical content as DLC, charging $10 for an "online pass" to discourage used games, or just piling on pricey DLC that didn't offer much, they were going all out.

Now they've switched to microtransactions and loot boxes because people complain less about those, plus there is no upper spending limit. $50 for the DLC for Mass Effect 3 is chump change compared to what some people spend on Overwatch loot boxes!

@bigsocrates: I suppose you're right. I'm not into multiplayer or cosmetic shit though, so I'm rarely affected by this stuff. If I'm in love with a game, I'll pay for story-based single player DLC. So, something like Witcher 3 or Dark Souls. I really did LOVE Mass Effect 1 and 2, so if Leviathon, From Ashes, and Citadel are integral to the ME3 experience, then I guess I'll do $35 but I'm gonna grumble a whole bunch.

Here's an unpopular opinion: Mass Effect 3 is a great game, especially the Wii U version, which uses the gamepad screen for the map for the entirety of the game. (And it includes all of the DLC.

Edit: It doesn't in fact include 'all' the DLC, sorry.)

If your play goes anything like my play went, people built the game up to be so bad so often that I was expecting something much worse than I got and was pleasantly surprised. The internet over-reacts and over-judges everything, so if you go in expecting the worst, you probably wont actually get the worst, and will then just judge it on it's own merits, which to me was a mostly fine (if not good) game.

Oh wow, it includes all the dlc? I was thinking about replaying 3 later in the year. I may go this route. Thanks for the tip!

That's not true at all, and while it's fine if you didn't like the Extended Cut's changes, they were numerous and significant. Changes and additions were made to both dialog trees and ending cutscenes. There were two big issues, in particular, and several minor ones I had with the pre-patch ending that were cleared up (or retconned, depending on your view) by the patch.

@corwag: I'm pretty sure it only includes From Ashes, all the free stuff up to then, and the extended ending. The other DLCs never came to the Wii U.

One big moment involving two characters is heavily reliant on decisions made in 2 and during some of 3. It is highly possible to make one wrong move which can lock you out of the best outcome. I played through all 3 games again before andromeda which made all 3 games seem even better after playing that dumpster fire

@corwag: the Wii U version only includes From Ashes and the Extended Cut. The frame rate is worse in that version and all the other DLC is unable to be played. It is by far the worst version because of the above and also some of the predetermined decisions made by the motion comic lock you out of getting great scenes in 3

I have no real issues with the way ME3 single player is now with all the DLC.

D'oh

ME2 & ME3 > ME1

I played them all again this last winter and ME1 didn't fully hold up IMO. It has the worst gameplay, most glitches (more than I experienced in MEA) and some of the dialogue/story moments were almost cringeworthy. Like the villain throwing a fit in his ship like a little kid with Liara's mom standing next to him with her big boobs out almost wearing a nun costume. ME3 just needed a better ending and side missions/exploration. It has the best graphics, gameplay, and story moments IMO. It just needed more padding in-between the galaxy changing missions - more personal, smaller moments. Also, the multiplayer was surprisingly fun.

I might put ME2 higher because it didn't screw up anything major like ME3 did with its ending and it probably has some of the better character moments, but its terminator boss at the end is pretty lame and the paragon system was horrible, since crew members might not ever talk to you again if don't have enough points when they argue with someone. With the Citadel and Leviathan DLC, I would probably put ME3 above ME2. Just don't expect a great ending when you get to the final 5 minutes or so of ME3, but it's not terrible either. I think ME fans are demanding and the internet likes to jump on hate trains, especially against EA games. MGS5's ending is FAR WORSE than ME3's, but it didn't even receive 20% of the hate that ME3 got.

I thought the gameplay in 3 as a Vanguard was pretty damn fun and I enjoyed the shooty and warpy bits. I felt about most of Mass Effect 3 the way I feel about Metal Gear Solid 4, though, and that's that the story was primarily interested in fan service (here defined as plot designed to get a reaction out of fans of the first two games rather than tell an interesting story) and felt largely inorganic. It was also a shame that the war readiness was tied to the multiplayer (even though the multiplayer was pretty fun, actually) and the quest log is a real piece of steaming garbage.

I have a lot of problems with Mass Effect 3, but the thing I have to come back to is that actually playing the game was plenty of fun. That said, it wasn't fun enough to purchase any of the DLC and I have a strong feeling of never wanting to play that game again after finishing it. I really did not like how they handled the structure and story of that game at all; it has one of the worst cases of "the world is about to end any moment but you've got, I don't know, forever to do anything about it," I've ever seen.

I've never played the first Mass Effect (I understand it eventually came to PS3 but I just didn't see the point; if they ever bundle the trilogy for PS4 I'll likely give it a go) but I get the feeling that series has been a story of a franchise that started out with a stellar story and universe and has slowly been stepping away from those elements in favor of gameplay. I haven't played Andromeda either but from what I saw of it I get the impression I'd at the very least find that game fun to play (though the lack of squad commands is concerning).

The Extended Cut DLC, the From Ashes DLC, and the Leviathan DLC are ABSOULETY a must if you wish to have as "complete" and "satisfactory" of an ending to the Mass Effect trilogy as possible. Play Leviathan BEFORE you go into the final "endgame" missions towards the end, you'll know it when you get there.

It will be the difference between thinking the ending is one of the worst written and presented conclusions to a story in the history of storytelling, or thinking that the Mass Effect trilogy ended on a acceptable note.

Play the Citadel DLC after you've finished the game or before, your choice. Its incredible and a fantastic final "goodbye" to all of the characters in the trilogy.

Couldn't disagree more. ME3 is the only of the trilogy to have actual depth to its gameplay. It is by far the best in the series from a gameplay standpoint and people were certainly overreacting to the narrative as well.

Why would you assume i didnt like the changes? Its a slightly better ending which is also overstaying its welcome slightly. I was ok with the first ending and having some questions, after the extended cut i was like "i guess they changed this slightly well ok... more dialogue is great in a ME game but the extra pre rendered scenes just feels hamfisted and unnecessary".

Nothing major in either case.