Mass Effect 3 - The End

So last week I finally finished playing Mass Effect 3. I know there are a lot of people who are dissatisfied with the ending, with the story, with the game, and with the series as a whole now. I figured I’d toss in my thoughts after taking a little while to digest them.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!



SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

When I first finished the game, I was struck with a sense of “… that’s it?” There was no big boss fight. The last time I had actually been in any appreciable combat felt like it was the beginning of a long-winded fight to get to the end. But it basically turned out to be a string of cut scenes through to the end, and then it didn’t really matter what you chose to do. Whether you chose to control, synthesize, or destroy, the only change was that in one of those three choices, you had an outside shot of surviving. Other than that, nothing you did mattered.

Add to that the fact that the final confrontation with the Illusive Man was terrible. I said nothing to him that I had not said to him in the past, yet for some reason this time he listened to me? There was nothing different this time around than any other, so why did it end differently?

So after the game ended, I felt dissatisfied. But the feeling only stuck with me for a few hours. It was like any other session I sat down to play the game. When I killed the Quarians, I felt dissatisfied because I felt like I was giving a choice to the Geth and they chose a path I didn’t want them to take. But when I prevented the cure for the Genophage from being sent up, I felt satisfied because I felt like I was stopping the next great war from occurring. Both those lows and highs stood with me for a little while and then disappeared into the backdrop of the entire Mass Effect series.

And that’s pretty much how I feel about the ending now. It just faded into the entire story. When it comes down to it, if I played 70 hours of ME2 and 3, there were probably 5 hours I disliked the game. Most of those were the driving the hovertank in the second game, the planet scanning in the second game, and the last 5-10 minutes of the third game. Other than that, I had a fantastic ride.

So that’s pretty much where I’ve come down now. The game was a blast and fell apart at the end. But the story was good enough that to me, I can deal with focusing on the journey rather than the destination.

I don't regret my time playing the game, and in fact, I just picked up the first Mass Effect so I can create a character and go through the entire story with one character. Looking forward to the play-through.

Oh, and I have seen the Indoctrination Theory of the ending. Very well-done, I think, and I like using that as my interpretation of the end to Mass Effect. I approve.

Game of the Week - 3/20/12

Our gaming store has started a new tradition every Tuesday night: the Game of the Week. Two of our regulars (or semi-regulars) are selected for whatever reason (usually one challenging another) to compete in the Game of the Week. The loser must buy the winner a beer that night, and all week beforehand, trash-talking ensues. Usually side-bets are placed on the game too as people throw their support behind one player or the other.

The first game was between Skill-less Brian and Aaron, another local henchman. Despite the bluster and high-stepping, the game ended in a tie and all the bets were left unsettled.

The second game was between eChris and Gamer’s Lounge Bill. We talked briefly about that game on the most recent episode of the Gamer’s Lounge – head over and take a listen if you haven’t already.

Last night, Second Generation Awesome Dan and I faced off against each other. The match was 35 stones, him taking Leviticus and me taking McMourning. We were each allowed to reflip our strategy once without cost since we were picking our masters before knowing the strategies.

I had just played a game with a poor showing from my deck, so I gifted my deck to another McMourning player at the store and bought a new one.

Dan’s first strategy flip was Slaughter, which he reflipped to get Treasure Hunt. Leviticus is not the best at Slaughter. My first strategy flip was Distract, which I reflipped to get Slaughter. I didn’t want Distract because I didn’t think I could kill him, and a single Waif properly placed could end my shot at keeping him away. But Slaughter was stacking things in my favor quite a bit, so I offered to reflip for a different strategy, but Dan stood firm and we went forward.

My crew: McMourning, Chihuahua, Canine Remains x3, Sebastian, Shikome, Belle x2, Crooked Man, 8 stones
Strategy: Slaughter
Schemes: Stake a Claim, Grudge (Rusty Alice)

His crew: Leviticus, Steampunk Abomination x3, Rusty Alice, Ashes & Dust, Canine Remains, 3 stones
Strategy: Treasure Hunt
Schemes: Soulless Life, Assassinate (McMourning)


TURN ONE: LEVITICUS INITIATIVE
I started out in a pretty standard fashion, as did Dan. McMourning killed off two of his canines for 7 body parts. The third dog was just out of range for Leviticus to kill with his spell. My Shikome rushed along the buildings to keep hidden from reprisal but near enough to Rusty Alice for the next turn if I won initiative. The Steampunk Abominations moved up together, one away from being able to bring out a Desolation Engine. At the end of the turn, Levi died and respawned.


TURN TWO: MCMOURNING INITIATIVE
I started off with my Shikome, figuring this was the best shot I had at hitting Rusty Alice. It Nimbled out, then Charged Rusty. I cheated in Severe damage, then attacked again due to Fast, scored a hit and cheated in Moderate damage to kill her off. Two points down for Grudge. Leviticus responded to the attack by turning around and wrecking my poor Shikome, turning it into a Steampunk Abomination. He now had four on the table ready to build a Desolation Engine.

I tried to use my Belles to Lure Steampunks out of position so that they couldn’t form together, but Dan managed to pile them all together. As a last-ditch effort, I tried to have the Crooked Man channel Cave In on the bunch to see if I could kill one, but Hard to Wound meant my attack landed at a (-) flip and I did 2 wounds to one of the models.

The Steampunks formed the Desolation Engine and charged McMourning, but a Soulstone kept me from being hit. McMourning responded by activating and killing off the Desolation Engine with some nice flips. Two Steampunks popped out as a result and I managed to kill one of them off before the end of the turn. The Ashes & Dust ended the turn by lunging into McMourning, dealing only a couple wounds to him after a prevention.


TURN THREE: MCMOURNING INITIATIVE
This is where my newly-purchased deck showed its favor. Dan flipped a decent card for initiative but I flipped a 13, putting me well out of reach.

McMourning started by taking down the Ashes & Dust in two attacks, then killing the Ashen Core with his Fast attack, and then using the Scalpel Sling to launch himself into Leviticus and deal him some wounds (six, though he prevented a few of them). Levi activated and retaliated by dropping McMourning by a good chunk of wounds. I had to toss stones to prevent and still ended up with only a couple wounds remaining. Fortunately Dan didn’t have anything else that could really hurt McMourning. I spent the rest of the turn trying to Lure and kill the Waifs, but I wasn’t able to beat his resists and only killed one of them to force his respawn to happen farther back on the table. His Dust Swarm moved around the table to try to get a line on the Treasure Counter, I think, but my crew was now surrounding it.


TURN FOUR: MCMOURNING INITIATIVE
My deck continued its love for me giving me another 13 for initiative. McMourning started out and went full-bore into Leviticus, killing him before he could activate. The Dust Swarm moved in on the Treasure Counter, but Sebastian managed to kill it off.


TURN FIVE: LEVITICUS INITIATIVE
At this point I had wrapped up 6 VPs and was keeping the Treasure Token well-protected. It was a tough spot for Dan. He started by grabbing Assassinate as Leviticus wrecked McMourning. I moved my remaining Belles, Sebastian and Canine Remain up to the Stake a Claim point while my Crooked Man remained behind by the Treasure counter.


TURN SIX: LEVITICUS INITIATIVE
Leviticus killed off Sebastian in a couple swings, then finished off the wounded Belle. I killed the resulting Steampunk Abomination and hung tight on the Stake a Claim marker. I flipped to see if the game would go on and it would. Damn.


TURN SEVEN: MCMOURNING INITIATIVE
I charged with my Canine Remains and scored a straight flip for damage. I tossed my Red Joker and added a Weak on top leaving Leviticus with only 3 wounds left (he was out of stones by now). Leviticus killed the dog to make a Steampunk, and I killed the Steampunk. My Belle remained on the Stake a Claim, and my Crooked Man remained behind, close enough to move in if the game went on to turn 8. I flipped to see and it didn’t.


The game finished in McMourning’s favor.

McMourning: 8 (Slaughter 4, Grudge: Rusty Alice 2, Stake a Claim 2)
Leviticus: 4 (Treasure Hunt 0, Assassinate: McMourning 2, Soulless Life 2)


Nayte and Bill both earned beers on side-bets, Nayte claiming two on a 2:1 bet with eChris, and Bill taking the bet against Pierre. I earned a second beer from Dan, having also bet on eChris to win the following week.

At dinner, Skill-less Brian challenged me to the Game of the Week next week. Strategies have already been flipped and masters have been chosen. I am playing Ressers again and Dan will be giving Brian a crash course on how to beat Kirai with Lady Justice. My strategy next week is Plant Evidence and his is Deliver the Message.