The Official Spoilers Thread.

It was Aria's speech where I saw most of that. Of course she can inspire the people: how can she lose if she can fucking teleport?

turian mating dance

As much as I loved seeing Omega again, and as interesting as Nyreen was, I'm sadly inclined to agree.

Stuck between the cusions of Aria's couch. He just made up that whole 'It'll win favour with Aria' story to get Shep motivated.

I liked Omega. Sure it wasn't that ambitious in terms of what it did, just being its own side story with no wider-reaching game changes, and there are missed opportunities there, but I knew what I was buying, based on previous DLCs, and I wasn't unduly disappointed. There was a lot of fun gameplay, some great visuals that really opened up the scope of Omega, and a lot of Shep/Aria content, which is what I was really after.

I liked Omega. I just don't think it was worth 15 bucks.

Sten of the first Dragon Age game is now the Arishok. (for bioware canon at least)

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Age:_Those_Who_Speak

:D

In itself, I don't think the Omega DLC was bad. Nice aesthetic and tone, interesting and well-done cast of characters, and fairly enjoyable combat.

Beyond that, though? Very forgettable and rather underwhelming, with virtually nothing to make it compelling in terms of canon or the bigger picture, other than the entries on the turian Cabals. Doesn't help that completion earns you nothing more than a few weapon upgrades, a couple of abilities, 40-50k credits, and 425 War Asset points. No new hub, squadmates, systems to explore, or even post-mission dialogue from the crew or Aria. And while I suppose I've been spoiled by the glut of information on the Shadow Broker's terminals in LotSB, even the general story of the Leviathan DLC was more compelling than this. Sure, the character development and narrative pacing are better in Omega, but for 1200 MS points, I'd hope for that and more intrigue or relevance to the main plot.

Ah well, time to see if my greater anticipation for Dragonborn was well-founded.

It was.

Very, very mixed feelings on Mass Effect 4.

Speaking as one of the handful of people in the English-speaking world who seemed to actual enjoy the ending of Mass Effect 3 (and the finale of Battlestar Galactica, to boot), I really do not want to revisit that universe. For me, it ended when I fired the Crucible. Any return - even one set millennia in advance or thereafter - would cheapen the impact. And if like me, you got the destroy ending, that was pretty grim, indeed.

Plus, I am simply not sure if BioWare can overcome the surplus of bile they built up with ME3. I looked at BSN today, and about half the threads on the front page were "omg, how could me3 win rpg of the year". Most of these people will probably come crawling back when, and if, ME4 is released, but you really don't want such a poisonous cloud hovering over your new title.

I'll probably end up buying it. But it's because of the concept, not the universe. I truly believe that BioWare should simply score a tick next to Mass Effect and move on. Start another space opera; wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. They successfully did it with Mass Effect in the first place, and they can do it again. If they do end up setting it far in the future or the past, they'll have to basically rewrite everything, anyway. Why not ditch the title and all its associated baggage while they're at it?

@Proctor : Because the universe is here it works and its amazing, so let's use it.
As someone less original who hated the ending, I think that when most people complain about ME3, they're not saying "the mass effect serie is bullshit and ME3 even more", they're saying "you were doing gold and then you managed to spoil most of it by giving in to hubris. Don't do it again". That's what most people don't get (the "they are entitled" people).

So I'd play a ME4, but I sure hope they'll go with a canon ending similar as CDN's, because it's the one that makes the most sense while keeping the most possibilities open.

BSN is a cesspool.


The first Mass Effect took two years of development time after its official announcement. By this point the game universe has over seven years of active work done on it, both in the games and in related media. There's still an anime coming out. The series has won a number of awards and is, above all else, profitable. That's a lot of world-building and money to throw away.

I do agree that the ending's put Bioware into a bind, and that any game set after ME3 will piss someone off just by existing. Could the next game cheapen the original series? Sure, but that's no guarantee. It's a big universe, and Bioware, contrary to what BSN would have people believe, is filled with a lot of smart, professional people. No reason to make a judgment until more info about the next game comes out.

And to be fair, I am a little worried, since Bioware Montreal is in charge now and the Omega DLC, which they wrote, didn't exactly blow me away. We'll see.


Like Star Wars, it's an established brand. Not using ME in the title would more than likely cost sales. See: the Bioshock cover "debacle", for what I mean.

I'd like to see more sidestories or smaller focus stories in the ME-verse. I don't need a super-spectre saving the galaxy for every installment. Explorer, diplomat, trader, pirate, John Doe the colonist and everyone else would be interesting to explore and flesh out the life of people in the ME galaxy.

Throwing in my two cents here:

The problem I see with the "Mass Effect brand/universe is too valuable to throw away" argument is that what's always seemed to me to be the selling point of that brand/universe is not so much any of the actual story or setting details, as it is the emphasis on player choice. Other games can have major choices, yes, but the ME series was supposed to have the impact of those choices carry across the entire trilogy - and despite what some people will say, I think that's exactly what it did (even if the impact was sometimes fairly superficial).

But, like 4Eyes said, it's going to be very, very difficult for Bioware, even with the best of intentions, to do a sequel without declaring some form of canon ending. And I think if that's what they do, it's going to deal a serious blow to the core of Mass Effect. Space operas are a dime a dozen, but stories that are really built around the interactive nature of video games are awfully few.


This I do agree with. It's the main reason why I like the sound of the "no Shepard 2.0" announcement Bioware made a while back.

Also to be fair, BW Montreal had a hand with the DLC for ME2 as well as a good chunk of the cinematics in both games, so there is reason to be at the very least cautiously optimistic about them receiving the reins.

Very much this ^. But It'd be tough to sell it to people in tie, since the current paradigm in media seems to be "always bigger, and with more explosions".


I don't think it's the emphasis on player choice that made you create a character on a ME roleplaying board ;)

Some screenshots from the next DLC:

Casino on the Citadel

What is presumably the krogan version of a Banhammer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFZoaTCrggQ

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-01-mass-effect-3-reckoning-dlc-leaked-in-new-patch-data

not sure if legit but...CO-OP MISSIONS IN SINGLEPLAYER CAMPAIGN AFFECTED BY YOUR PLAYTHROUGH CHOICES

I was ready to be skeptical but... Sounds kind of legit.

If what is said in the article turned out to be true, it would be pretty amazing.