Mass Alex: Mass Effect 3 - Part 08

Awww shit, I'm looking forward to this, 90 minutes too

Wrex.

Shepard

Wrex

Shepard

Wrex

Shepard

Wrex

Shepard

Mass Effect tactics game? Vinny, you have my attention. And hurrah, my nearly decade-long argument of ME3 rules seems to be gaining traction! Although shame that in my playthrough, that cool meetup in the med bay featured (best) characters that were both dead in my universe.

A new Mass Alex episode?
I've never gasped softly so hard in my life

This is personally my favorite mission and the conclusion of it actually made me cry one of the few times a video game struck me like that.

That plot twist around 1:07:00 threw me.

Talk to Cortez! It's not just James down there.

I’ve always held the opinion that, ending aside, the main story beats of ME3 are some of the best of the series. The intro on Earth, and all of the main priority planets are pretty incredible both because of their spectacle and the trilogy-spanning stories they resolve.

@vinny@alex The N7 missions (like Cerberus Lab) generally serve as introductions to the multiplayer maps. They're very straightforward combat missions (no dialogue or story choices) which have a tiny bit of story setup, usually ending with a transmission from Hackett where he says Alliance forces will have trouble holding the location (ie, him telling you to go play multiplayer). They are by no means essential, but they usually only take 15-20 minutes so maybe use them to pad out an episode's length if needed (like when last week's episode was uncharacteristically short). I am not sure if they eventually fall off the map, but you shouldn't worry about missing anything critical if you don't do them.

Oh hey Grunt is back!

@nasher27:I fully agree with the exception that I feel the PTSD analogue is handled poorly

Glad this is giving Vinny a second glance at this game. The primary mission beats in this game are the best in the series. Filled with great character moments, dialogue, and galaxy-spanning political implications the way the best epic sci-fi does. And they play very strongly on a trilogies' worth of decisions and character building. The ending drops the ball, and the "war asset" quantification of a lot of things makes it weird, but they nailed the trilogy-ending of a lot of the storylines.

Lani Milenna (Eve) also plays a ton of voices in Skyrim, including Irileth (Jarl Baalgruf's personal guard who you encounter at the start when you're in Whiterun). That's where I recognized her voice from.

Vinny,

Have Alex go to the Citadel to get his fish back, find Kelly Chambers on the station. She's listed on the map, but should be in the holding area. While you're there, make sure he checks all the shops, one should have a Fish VI for sale that automatically feeds his fish.

Eve is voiced by Lani Minella, whom you might know from several roles, like Bubsy, Rouge the Bat, or both protagonists of Half-Life: Decay. She's also several characters in Skyrim, and voices B'Elanna Torres in Star Trek Online, but if she sounds familiar, that's probably because she was the voice of Nancy Drew from 1998 to 2015, in a total of 32 games.

Vinny - You get fish by visiting the Citadel and buying them there. I believe at Kanala Exports. And you have to remember to feed them, or they will die and disappear.

@nasher27: Totally agree, I really loved the story resolutions of ME3, to the point where I wasn't overly bothered by the ending.

@sgtsphynx: I think it actually gets close to great as the game progresses, because as the casualty count rises you get shadows and whispers by known characters that sacrifice their lives through the course of the game.

It's honestly a pretty compelling way to give Shepard's internal guilt some weight using characters the player knows and may even love, as opposed to random kid the player has seen for all of 2 minutes

I have to say, this series is one of the highlights of my week. Thanks guys

@alex and @vinny. the omega missions can't be completed (you can't go back to omega after leaving unfortunately), but are pretty inconsequential.

So many good missions in this game.

@vinny fish can be bought on the citadel. the old fish are gone. they can only be obtained in 3 if you have dinner with kelly chambers in 2. she will offer to take care of the fish during that scene. then in 3, she shows up on the citadel at some point, and will give you the fish back

@jbick89: Yeah I agree, I've always thought the ending criticism is pretty overblown. If you're playing the game now with all the DLC it's totally fine, it's just nothing spectacular. I think the 'endings' offered by the game's main planets (Tuchanka, Rannoch, etc.) are the real 'endings' that should be considered when this game is discussed, and they're all fantastic.

Holy shit this game is good. People in the early 2010s were fucking idiots to complain about this.

I really wish this series was bi-weekly.

The War Readiness map is part of the online stuff, the servers are still up, theres still enough people to easily find a match, and you should! ME3's multiplayer is extremely good, way better than it has any right to be!

The ending when this was released was a dumpster fire. The ending now is just a massive and incoherent narrative disappointment.

At least we have the Citadel DLC.

Can a premium member explain something for me. Whats the consensus on the mass effects games from the crew. I assume jeff doesnt like them or thinks the ending crap is over blown but didnt like the gameplay. Im assuming Alex thinks their ok but over hyped or something. And Vinny, Dan, and Austin are fans.

I personally enjoyed it, even the ending at the time but im also beat them when they were all out years later ($20 all 3 in 3 weeks.) without the build up. Kinda like playing Halo 2 then 3 in a few days which makes halo 2's cliff hanger not so bad. I was impressed by the fable 2 like progression between games and didnt mind that the game didnt make witcher 3 like endings specialized for all my choices since that wasnt a huge thing at the time and i never expected it no matter how the company made it seem like it could be done.

PS: I thought 1 was heavy on rpg so much im surprised it gained traction with the COD like mass appeal audience. 2 was a middle ground that fit nicely for sales and a simplified, streamlined story including dialogue thats easy to understand for non-scifi fans. 3 was kinda a blockbuster mass appeal COD with an Anime like story but thats fine. I enjoyed them all. Multiplayer was decent too.

I wish they did these live instead.

Weird that they changed Mordin's voice actor between games

The tuchanka female has terrible writing as does most of ME3. Me2 was the start of the soul dying out of Bioware it's a shame :(

Gotta be reapers, right?

You'd think. You'd really, truly think.

As much as I appreciate the dumb Cobra Command vibes of Cerberus's rapidly inflating importance as the trilogy goes on, it really does start feeling silly just how much shenanigans they manage to get up to. This black ops outfit gone rogue fished enough ships and people out of Martin Sheen's couch to assault and/or occupy how many planets? Cerberus? Again?!

But I mean I guess Omega isn't a planet exactly. And the shield guys arereal fun to snipe through that slot.

@gobybear: This Dragon Age: Inquisition fan would respectfully disagree.

Alex, the Krogan lady is ensign Ro Laren!

Edit: Well, apparently I was WAY off, and have been since the release of ME3 :P I wonder why I was convinced?

When Wrex says Mordin has a quad, and Alex goes, "What?" IT'S BECAUSE KROGAN HAVE 4 BALLS. Just saying

I hate the binary good/evil choices of bioware games.

Not taking Liara along with Garrus for this mission was a big missed opportunity.

This is not for me to judge by any means but I'm of the impression that Alex has had a really good time with them overall

I believe Jeff actually wrote GB's Mass Effect 3 review so there's that

Haven't played it since the release year. Pleasantly surprised how well this is holding up.

I really like the quick glimpses of stressed-and-overwhelmed Shepard. Humanizes the character in a meaningful way instead of just relegating her to a cipher for the player's choices. Didn't see that a lot in the first 2 games, great as they are.

I enjoyed 3 when it came out, but I've forgotten a lot of the smaller details of the story over time. I'm glad this series is giving me a chance to appreciate those moments in real-time all over again!

I wonder if @vinny and @alex would be up for doing something similar with the Dragon Age series in the future?

@alex you should try out all the other weapons when you have the chance, I know you LOVE the Valkryie but the other weapons are pretty dope too

Watching this reminded me of how hyper mega uncomfortable everything about the female Korgans' portrayal in this game made me feel and I can't really pinpoint why