Anyway, to get back on track with things or maybe a little bit happier, I wanted to post some things that I actually did enjoy that the game because I really did this game up until the feats wife and then Shepard on The Citadel.
I dictated some notes while I was playing the game and you can tell when I was really interested in something or really disinterested in something because there was a decided lack of notes. First off, I was hoping that Ashley would look closer to her original model in the game, and not just like the pictures prior to release. Sadly, this was not the case. I still think she looks horrible and nothing like she used to. Why did they decide to change her hair, and why is her face so different?
Also, I felt like in the beginning of the game on earth some of the animation was strange and bad. In the very beginning Shepard does this turn and points at the Council reinstating her as a specter, and it looks so bad that it appears to be something out of deadly premonition.
I also felt like this is one of the best late title cards in a game. And, I really like the new piano theme that they played during the credits. Overall, I thought the music was fantastic.
As for me overall start of the game, I feel things were very rushed and not fully explained. I also didn't really like the angle presented with the kid, especially since he is the only kid you have ever seen in this universe. However, since I was playing as a female shepherd, the superior shepherd, I felt like there was this added motherly aspect to her and the kids. This is one of the reasons why I think playing as a female shepherd is the best shepherd because there's always just added layer of dimension either with sexism or mothering or any sort of other aspect that get added into this universe. It isn't just that Shepard is the first human Spector, she's also the first female human specter.
I also thought, in conjunction with two, that the lighting and the filmmaking quality, mostly the camera work and editing cuts, are substantially improved. I think the hardest thing going back to playing the first game is this lessened quality in these aspects.
I also like the handling of Ashley in the beginning of the game. I thought it was a nice touch that she was hurt, but I did wonder what it would've been like if it was a male Shepard and Ashley was the female romance option and him seeing her hurt, or if it was Kayden and he was the romance option from the first game. It would've probably added a lot more to that.
I thought the meeting, the first meeting, with the council was very underwhelming. I felt like the scene was too short, but I know nobody really likes the Council, and so maybe they didn't want to waste anytime with them.
I also didn't like the fact that the Normandy was changed once again. I did not like that there're more levels, more load screens, but I did like the fact that the characters moved around this time. It made the ship feel a little more alive.
I also liked the way they approached same sex in this game. I like the fact that the guy in the cargo hold had a husband, and the incidental dialogue in the single and the citadel where the one woman was trying to contact her wife. It made things feel progressive, and it didn't feel that forceful.
I don't remember the first interaction with Miranda that well, but I didn't know if originally that I thought no real good reason was given for not helping her. It seemed obvious that something was going to happen later in the game, but the explanation for not helping her was not explicit.
I think one of my favorite characters from this game, from the series, turned out to be Jack. She has really interesting changes, really realistic changes, and as funny as all get out. She is totally better than anything from the promotional materials suggested in the second game.
In fact, I thought there was a lot more humor in this game than the previous entries. In a way this is very strange considering the general melancholic atmosphere throughout the game.
I might've had audio troubles because a lot of the voices seem off. It took me a while to get used to Rex's voice, and I noticed Mordans being off. I didn't know at the time, but I guess they did change voice actors for mordin.
I also didn't care for how in the start of the game a lot of the missions began the same way. Something happens, it turns out Cerberus is doing something bad, and then defeat Cerberus.
Also, maybe it was because I was playing Shepard in the dress, but you look a lot thinner as that she's lost a lot of weight. In one respect this is a good idea of showing the strain of war on her body, but it also just seems weird. Am I the only one who noticed this?
It was shortly before the geno phage mission that it really dawned on me that I could not imagine playing this game any other character other than the one I created in one and two. All of these characters, all of my choices, are having an impact dot dot dot even if that means they are little bit forced.
It's also worth saying that morein's death was really touching. He had a very nice arc throughout two and three. Also the use of music during his death, and the shooting out of the green light, is really good. I love that first piece of music from the first game, and inserting it into that moment was wonderful. You see this a couple other times throughout this game, but I will mention those later.
Something about the assault on the citadel did not sit right with me. I wouldn't say that it felt rushed or incomplete, but just very surreal. The attack on the first citadel was nothing like The Citadel you experienced in the game so it felt more natural. But with this one, the fact that you knew these locations and walked through them normally, made it strange. Also, I feel like the paragon and renegade options should have been the same for confronting udina. Either way, he should have a bullet, with the paragon option just wounding him, and the renegade option killing him. In fact, where they're less interrupts in this game compared to two?
Also worth noting at this time, I felt like the side missions were really good. That is, the ones that did not involve just scanning random planets.
I also really like Conrad Verner. He finally does something right, even if he doesn't really take a bullet for you. He thinks he does, you think you does, and even when you realize he was safe the entire time, it still feels right. It's a wonderful handling for such an incidental character. Which also is in stark contrast with Kelly Chambers dying. They just put a bullet in her head? What a horrible way to resolve her character.
Also, it was weird seeing Ashley join the ship so late in the game. I thought that since she was up for so much of it, she would just not factor at all. also, two specters on board the Normandy seems odd.
Jacob looks thinner as well.
I also had a couple of strange glitches while on the citadel. Character would become invisible, and I would be talking to a character, even though I can hear their voices. This happened to liara, and wanted to c-sec officers.
I felt like you see in a lot of twin towers in the background, and I wonder if they should've made explicit allusions to Cerberus being terrorists and maybe bring a current terrorism aspect into the game. However, with the handling of the ending, I do not think that they're writing staff would've been up to making this a good idea.
I did not like the death of Legion. I thought it was very silly, and I really did not understand why the time he had to die in order to help the remaining gas. This also have the music from the first game as well, but since it was Alreay done with Mordin, and much better, it wasn't as impactful. Also, in the very next scene with tali, they play the music again. They should not have played it twice so fast.
Speaking of, I love all the loose ends, and all of the characters, coming together and tying up so nicely. Everything up to th final assault on Cerberus is wonderful. I love Garrus's goodbye, I love tali getting drunk, and I love the handling of Liara's Romance.
For me, I never really liked Cerberus and the illusive man, so everything leading up to those two points is unfulfilling to me. I thought kei lang was a horrible character, and his boss battle was awful. I also do not like the way he died, and the silly renegade prompt to do really nothing.
I also feel like there're supposed to be some major revelations on the Cerberus station involving Shepard and the Lazarus project, but I felt I already knew all the things that they were telling me.
Two last quick things: I really like all of the goodbyes you say while on earth, and I love the whole first section at the end, right up until the white light and Sheppard entering The Citadel. I really think they should've found a way to end it much sooner, or not have the illusive man be the ultimate antagonist. As many have asked, where was Harbinger?
And lastly, where were the cities in this game? There was no Novera, Omega, or anything. There was only The Citadel. I would've liked to seen either old cities, or new cities.
Sorry for the formatting. I dictated these notes into my iPad, and some of the spelling and grammatical errors can be a little confusing, but I think most of it comes across okay.
