Mordin's death. It's so perfect and fitting for his character, absolute redemption for his sins. Also, it was pretty heart breaking by the fact that he was singing as the explosion went off. Also, the mission on Rannoch, I don't think I've ever been so on the edge of my seat(actually I was so excited I was standing up) in any other game after I told Legion to upload the code and hoped that the Quarians weren't gonna start attacking. It was great to see the Quarians and the Geth working together. There's so many amazing moments in this game, I just thought of when all the fleets come through the mass relay to save Earth, few games ever put me in a state of awe like that. It's a shame the ending sours some of that greatness.

@BoG said:

@Abyssfull said:

@JeanLuc said:

Oh god their were so many moments that I loved! I guess that one I really liked was the bit where Tali gets drunk after the mission with Miranda (Something that I just realized Patrick will never see).

Do you mean because Miranda's dead? No, she still gets drunk (which frankly seems more fitting)... though I can't believe they still had her getting drunk even if she was alive >_> But then I put a little thought into it and it's not so surprising. I need to start getting used to the fact that 9/10 of your choices mean nothing in these games.

She gets drunk even if Miranda lives. In fact, oddly enough she speaks as if Miranda were dead, even though she was alive.

She can actually still die on that mission as well. I think it has to do with how much support you give to her when she asks for it.

Sending mordin to die as he works on a new song.

Somone else might have gotten it wrong. Perform tests on sea shells.

@BraveToaster said:

I am?

yes YOU ARE the favorite ME3 moment!

seriously, though, when did the "their/there/they're" situation turn into a "your you're" situation?! when did people get so stupid?

(not contributing to the topic since I haven't played ME3 yet ...sorry^^)

Your*

Garrus and Shepard on top of the Citadel, shootin' the shit together as best bros for life. He's been in my party for all three games now, and it's safe to say that I feel a lot of affection for the dude.

Edit: Also, OH MAN I forgot to put in the Mordin and Thane moments.

Mordin's insane bravery where he softly sung the "salarian scientist" song to keep his calm as he made the ultimate sacrifice was heart tearingly amazing. Turning the previous games humour into a reason to feel affection and nostalgia along with sorrow was an amazing move by Bioware. Simply awesome.

Thane's character as a selfless and changed individual, and his appreciation for what Shepard has done really shone through in his final moments where he prayed for him during his last few moments of life. Combine that with his son's devotion toward his father, and his father's epic climax before that when he got a bad ass action scene to go out on, and DAMN IT I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

Probably walking in on Tali and Garrus.

    a extremely drunk tali morning the loss of Miranda because she was dead in my game.  Really the whole package. i really felt by the end of ME3 i had be on one hell of a journey.  
 
  

Modin's death was really moving. I also got chills when Grunt insisted on holding the reaper/rachni forces back in the caves. That last push to the beam was spectacular, and of course everything concerning Tali was my favorite.

Finding out EDI was the rogue AI from Luna Base. When Legion referred to himself as "I."

'They say you humans have a weapon to defeat the reapers'

'You can't believe every rumor you hear! There were rumors I was dead as well.'

'But... you were dead.'

'Was I?'

*Cue the Twilight Zone theme*

Thane vs Kai Leng. After that I wanted to kill that motherfucker sooo bad.

Tali's emergency induction shoot.

Kaiden's favorite drink

Garus and Tali.

James cleaning Kaiden out at poker

Mordin's final moment

Miranda's father getting biotic smashed trough a window

When you order the Quarians to stand down

Garus final conversation

Grunt agains rachni army

when I totally shot Udina

when I punched Kai Leng's sword and it broke in 2

getting batarien troups after convincing their bitter general

Conrad Verner's bit when he tries to save Shepard

Garus's calibrations

Joker and EDI playing hot or not

EDI was the rogue AI from the moon mission in ME1

and a lot more...

Am I the only one who shot / killed Mordin when he was going up the elevator, to do the antidote thingy

I loved just about all the high points in this game. I seriously teared up during the final Garrus conversation, and Mordin's valiant death was amazing.

And you know what? I was fine with that ending.

Mine is when Garrus and Shepard hang out at the citadel shooting bottles. I thought it was a good moment and funny as well.

The Earth sequence (end) pretty much...

I wanted to see what would happen if i chose not to let legion upload the reaper code. what resulted was one of the saddest things i have ever seen. had to reload previous save. tali had died in me2 so i didnt mind as much when the geth destroyed the quarians, but even that was slightly sad, and then legion died anyways. i have never been as emotionally drained after a game ending. i didnt mind the ending and i cant wait for bioware to explain it / add some more closure for the other characters. i also dont think i could ever pick the options where shepard dies. i became way too attached to him to just let him sacrifice himself.

-Escaping Earth, specifically when the Normandy first arrives, whole sequence was quite stirring

-Grunt fucking shit up

-Thane vs Kai Leng, his death, then avenging him buy shoving a omni-blade in Leng's guts

-The Fleets arriving at Earth

Also I'd like to point out how refreshing it is to see/discuss everyone's favorite parts of an amazing experience without this turning into a debate over the last 10 minutes of the game.

Either Mordin's sacriface, or the final conversation with Garrus.(both had me on the verge of manly tears.) I loved Rannoch's 'complete' paragon ending as well. EDIT: Oh, goddamn, I forgot about Garrus and Shep on the citadel, that shit was amazing too.

The deaths of both Mordin and Thane come to mind right away, as does the scene with Garrus on the citadel.

The scene where you are in london walking through and talking to everyone before the final assault, I had to practice my manly cough a fair few times.

Mordin's death was also a manly cough moment.

Wiping out the Quarian race and letting Tali commit suicide. I couldn't make peace between the Quarians or Geth so I had to pick either. I picked the Geth and never looked back. The Quarians were just dicks for most of this arch. I felt sorry for the Geth and wanted to give them a chance to finally be free. Sad that Tali died :(. Choices did matter in ME3.

@HanktheAwesome08 said:

"I made a MISTAKE!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-1FAxiUAoo

1:20

Of course, I didn't actually see this when I was playing the game because I'M NOT A GOD DAMNED MONSTER.

A thousand times, this. I think it took me the better part of two days to stop thinking about it.

In my mind, the Mass Effect series was about the Krogan/Salarians and the genophage. It was a far more touching and resonant story than the main one, and it spanned all three games. It culminated in an emotionally powerful mission.

@SonicBoyster

I did the same thing the for the same reasons. I played dumb when Wrex confronted me. I thought about not telling anyone, but I eventually gave in and told Garrus. That was a nice touch.

I thought stabbing Kai Leng the same way he stabbed Thane was pretty satisfying even though I mainly played Paragon.

@iPhantom: You stab him either way. If you don't choose the renegade option you just dodge his sword and then run him through. That dude needed to get iced.

I really like Thanes death bed scene but I literally felt like crying when my Shepard was with Anderson near the end n he just tells him "you did good son" n the rest of that small dialogue was awesome something that reminded me y this series is awesome n special to me

It's hard to identify any single moment that resonated with me above all the other moments I shared.

I remember being vehemently gung-ho to release the genophage cure, primarily because the conversations I had with Mordin in ME2, up until the Tuchunka event started. I saw that the Krogan may yet still not be ready to reclaim their future. I hesitated. There was much more to gain with Solarian aid in assembling the Crucible than to foster a relationship with a volatile species of reptilian warriors, despite their prowess as such. The scientific advances made by a bond between Solarians and Humans could be invaluable! But Mordin's guilt was .. infectious. I couldn't betray my friend. I couldn't knowingly shoot him in the back for a peaceful resolution to what he carries as his sin. He deserves so much more than that. At the base of that exploding tower, hearing him admit that the Genophage was a mistake shook me. So I choked, and watched Mordin undo genetically enforced genocide. And die.

I think Tuchunka might've been where Biowares writing, from start to finish of any given event in the game, shined the most. I was feeling the weight of my decisions over three games, the relationships I've fostered, and the decisions yet to come. No other game has given me that, or book, nor did music, movies, or art, and in no other part of the game did I feel that same weight of responsibility. It was, in my opinion, the best "chapter" of the game (or event, w/e).

The other moment that stands out with me is Liara's parting gift towards the final hours of the game. My girlfriend and I both cried when we saw that-- it was hard to deny the raw intimacy and emotion conveyed in that moment. And for once.. it was pretty refreshing to see a women take charge and romance her man. But what a beautiful way to show, instead of describe, why exactly Asari are "the most beautiful race in the galaxy."

Grunt going into what seemed like a sure death and coming out all covered in Rachnigoop was the coolest ****n' hoo-ah moment ever. As always, Grunt remains a Krogan made of primal awesomesauce.

Thane's farewell wish didn't affect me as the aforementioned, but it did bolster my resolve. Or Shepards, whatever, the shits interchangeable (well done Bioware). Many fawn over Thane's voice, demeanor, and ideologies, but I liked him for his ever-present calm. He was always calm.. thinking.. analyzing, in his own way. All his spirituality was wasted on me, .. but the prayer would prove to be our final farewell and a touching sentiment. Which made killing Kai Leng in Renegade mode as a predominately Paragon character infinitely more satisfying. **** that kid for killing Thane-- if I had a chance to do it over, I would've stabbed him in the face instead of the torso. Stupid Raiden wannabe, I swear as soon as Thane died, I wanted to break ME cannon and call up Raiden to let him know his distant cousin is causing me problems. And that he needed to fix it like he fixed those Metal Gears.

Also, Legion; "Does this unit have a soul?" .. I was proud to see Legion go. Sad, but proud. His sacrifice would return children to their parents, and parents to their home. And it goes to show the power of synthetic compassion.. I kept hearing that synthetics were cold, calculating machinery all throughout ME1 / 2. In fact, it's reinforced by the Geth themselves. But Legion broke the mold, multiple times, and won me over with his cold calculated logic. Because his soul has been there since we met on the Reaper-- you just had to look, and read between the lines.

Oh! "I'm Garrus Vakarian and this is my favorite spot on the Citadel!" Yeah bro, enjoy your moment. I'll tell you later that I missed on purpose. What a gloriously brotherly asshole haha :)

So yeah. I <3 Mass Effect.

@roughneck117: I killed Tali, what happened between Garrus and her?

Thresher Maw vs Reaper. Most ridiculous moment ever.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but the Renegade moment with Kai Leng after the boss fight had me cheering:

I would say hearing the Blasto movie at the Citadel. It would awesome if he was DLC character.

Um... the ending!!! I just finished it now and have to say I must've got the good one as that whole final act was BRILLIANT!!!! People are dumb in 2012, seriously, what were you hoping for a Hollywood happy package or something?!?!

@aCatslapper: If you have tali and garrus alive, then, just before the final act where you go to the cerberus HQ, you can go to the room where garrus hangs out and you see that tali and garrus have hooked up. Theres a happy little scene that plays out between the two. It made me not want to play the game with the character who romanced Tali.

@ptys: I agree. The ending was victorious and uplifting.

The scene where you are in london walking through and talking to everyone before the final assault, I had to practice my manly cough a fair few times.

Mordin's death was also a manly cough moment.

You know, after spending some time away from it, this game is amazing. Mordin, Tali and Thane's death. Bro time with Garrus. My love scenes with Liara. That final run down the hill to the citadel. Even the part during the ending when I fall into the beam, all my teammates flash before my eyes with that slow song playing. So many gut punches. This game was nearly perfect to me

For me it was Miranda's death. I was with her in Mass Effect 2, but I wanted to go back with Ashley (don't ask me why), so I rejected her in the beginning of 3. The first shock was that she actually cried. She sounded like she didn't care in ME2, so I thought she would just say "okay fine !", and there I was, breaking her heart. Then I refused to help her, both times she asked for my help, I refused because somehow I didn't trust her. I didn't trust that she'd really left Cerberus.

And then, she finds herself alone in front of Kai Leng. I didn't even ask her why she needed my help, and all along she wanted to do the right thing. I've never felt more guilty about the death of a virtual character. That was fucking tragic. I couldn't continue playing after that.

The moment with Garrus on the Citadel. On second thought, anything with Garrus.

My favorite part was where I sided with the Geth and doomed the Quarians. It's a numbers game, baby. Your number is up.

Plenty of my tags have been named already, so a few more:

Shepard taking the piss out of Williams when she's drunk, and the recurring theme of:

"You're a terrible Commander,"

"'You're a terrible Commander'...?"

"You're a terrible Commander, Sir."

I loved flirting with Tali and getting called on it by Garrus. The whole arc with her was fantastic.

The Turian looking after the teenage girl was heart breaking.

Kirrahe's little fuck the politicians moment

Finding out the Protheans uplifted the Asari

Shepard having a personality. I never felt like he, as a named character who spoke without input and already had a defined role, really should have been a blank slate. ME3 seems to reinforce this, having Shepard have a personality of his own that is then further influenced by your actions, instead of being wholly determined by them. The fact he gets sad and angry, or cracks jokes, or just shows fatigue or weakness with his friends, is made especially powerful after being a super-soldier for two games that punches reapers and fucks aliens.

The game may be less polished that 2, but the writing is, in my opinion, leaps and bounds ahead.

Up until my last chance to say goodbye to my squadmates I had expected to say that my favourite moments were the entire Quarian/Geth conflict, the Prothean revelations on Thessia, everything Garrus or the frightening sound design on the Palaven moon mission.

But I almost wanted Liara's goodbye to last forever, even though my Shepard romanced Miranda.

Damn, lots of stuff in this thread that I didn't see. But my favorite moment, which just floored me, was watching the war on Earth from the final room. Just an amazing visual.

I loved the last couple hours (especially the suicide run), the small character moments (Garrus sniping, chatting with Anderson at the end, etc.), making it to the Illusive Man's room, anything involving Javik, and the Cerberus attack on the Citadel. Lots of super memorable stuff, and the whole tragic atmosphere of the game just sticks with you.

Surprisingly, Grunt's last stand against the ravagers almost had me in tears. So I had a big grin when he came back.

Killing Kai Leng. I fucking hate him.