Was Mass Effect 3 as bad as I remember? - A colorful ending to a beloved trilogy

I never played mass effect when the games came out and only recently played them with the legendary edition after a Steam sale so as someone who didn't grow up playing or was keyed into the trilogy originally I gotta say they are pretty damn good overall but the major holdups that i see are so obviously a product of time. Like when i look at three and see they made this game in two years im impressed it came out as good as it was but im heartbroken that most to all of its major flaws, particularly in the writing, could likely have been fixed if it was given 3 or 4 years. I'm reminded of games like Elden ring which are given the proper time to fully develop and shocker, they turn out as masterpieces, and I am just sad that mass effect didnt get the proper time and respect it should have

Yeah. Some of those garbage side missions were just meant to introduce multiplayer maps.

The Starfox 64 edit is so, so good.

Why do so many people defend the citadel DLC? Playing through it it seems so boring and cringe. Brooks is a character I wish I could have shot the moment I saw her, so I hope I do get to kill her.

Having played through the trilogy just recently, man me3 made me miss the weapon system me2 had. Weapon weight is annoying, and I really miss the heavy weapons like the Cain. I used that nuke so often. Also enemy variety in me3 is so small, where's the attack robots at? 3 barrier enemies??? Me2 just feels so much better then me3. I mean at least in 1 and 2 you wear different Armour's, in me3 my soldier got given an armour set to wear instantly, and its the best set in the entire game...

I don't blame the devs for the main mistakes of ME3 (Illusive Man suddenly becoming evil, several ME2 characters being consigned to cameos, the letdown ending), I blame EA. They put so much pressure and time constraints on the devs, it's a minor miracle we actually got a pretty decent game. ME3 is far from perfect, but it's not the disaster some people say it is.

In the control ending its pretty clear Shepard keeps all his memories in fact that's the whole reason he doesn't become some massive reaper dictator

Yo Shep dogging Kaiden on that dinner bro down is crazy.

4 hours?!

No, I am sorry, making the IM throw away soldiers to "improve the Alliance" would have been worse. What I would have done though, is actually turning what was ONE xenophobic movement into a network of many. The game sort of depicts humans as the most susceptible to indoctrination. Instead having a Turian, Asari and Salarian rebel group as well would have been more realistic, faning the flames of xenophobia and corrupting the political system from within. That way the assault on the Citadel would have been much bigger and traumatising to every species instead of "oh, it was human racists" - especially since EVERY species has plenty of racists on display through-out the games. But yes, that would have meant creating a ton more enemies, so I get it. Still, we can dream.

Indoctrination theory solves the ending, even though the devs were too stupid to think of it and all the evidence supporting it comes from nonsensical stuff the writers didn’t understand was nonsensical.

I love the Star Fox music easter egg added to your video. Made me laugh

I've played this trilogy through 3 times. Never noticed the color thing, and the ending was admittedly kinda weak, but beyond that, this is an incredible game and fantastic trilogy.

I will say this in defense of the reapers not just bum rushing the council: The Reapers probably realized the the current sentients of the cycle were dispersed enough that while killing the council would have done damage, it was just more efficient to go directly to their worlds and ripping off their limbs before removing the head. I would guess harbinger was thoroughly checked the balance of power throughout the last 50,000 years, but I'm just takin' a shot in the dark.

I never played this series until a few years after the trilogy ended. Literally played the trilogy backwards, and all the pieces fell into place. I love the series as a whole, however i see why people aren't keen on the ending.

Side note, Jack and Tali are the best lovers

I fucking loved 75% of the game i just didnt like that it felt like gears and the ending, this review was amazing kudos

I beat ME2 at least 15 times. I haven't touched Mass Effect after beating ME3 once. And I never will. Way to kill the series.

Only game that made me cry as a child and draw tears as an adult except " Nier: Automata "

dude i didn’t even romance tali, that final scene fucking hurt. i cried. “i have a home” FUCK

After my 2nd playthrough ( as an adult ) as a kid id played through it at least 4 times . This game is literally Pick Vanguard, Mac Charge, Nova. And your Class skill.
And then take 1 weapon with weight Mod. Spam Y/Triangle then RB/R1 and youve beat the game .

The pizza delivery volos 😂 fucking mint 🤣

I think that the reason the reapers keep doing the "dumb" thing, as a super intelligent species, is because their real goal (as explained by leviathan) is the continuation of life. They made the citadel in the first place. I think they predicted that organic life would try to use it to defeat the reapers, but that it would take the whole galaxy coming together and working together to make it happen. And if organics can demonstrate that they can work together like that, they show that they won't continue to destroy themselves (including welcoming the geth and AI into the mix) and thus the reapers goal is achieved. So giving them time by not destroying organics out of hand, or destroying the citadel when they get the info from the prothean AI now makes sense

I personally loved Mass Effect 3 right up until the 3rd playthrough, then i was Somber and not fully satisfied, then i got the 4th Secret ending, had Hope.
Andromeda and the Muslim Racist working for them at that time who helped ruin ME3, got fired.
Now they are making ME4 , if they can pull it off id consider them above Obsidian in their Goldem Age.

This was a great series about a great series and honestly, I subscribe still to the indoctrination theory that was debunked by extended cut DLC. The player, not Shepard got indoctrinated to seeing certain solutions as good and certain as bad, whilethe symbolics behind it were different.

Thank you, what a trip down the memory lane. I was there on release and did not touch the series, apart from reloading the save after extended cut. I did not have Javik or Leviathan DLCs. I also bought Legendary editon on release just to have it, still have not installed it. It's... Hard coming back to it. The ending really sours the whole adventure.

how do you not understand the headspace of someone making threats over a video game? you literally make a living getting millions of views making videos about video games? not saying I agree or think its right in the slightest but I definitely understand it lol. Lots of people put time, energy, and are extremely passionate about video games, were there is lots of people and emotions, there are extremes/unstable people. A very elementary level in understanding the headspace.

You could have had the best ending, despite skipping part 1of the trilogy, if you just made the decisions that matter by doin the interactive comic about the first game that was still accessible at the time you played the the third.
I agree with your criticism but you should also mention that it was not the original development team that messed up the story.
In the end i admit i really enjoyed this video, thx for the hard work you put in this re-evaluation.

Bro Ashley is a far better written character. Kaiden sucks lol

ME3 wasnt bad. It just wasnt as good as 2.

Just a thought but if the Council, who I saved in ME 1, gave help from the start I would've been confused because that would be out of character for how they've been presented the whole series to that point. They were just as dismissive in ME 2 and, knowing how it would have gone if you don't save them, their response was fine to me. The decisions from previous games matter a lot in 3 because of how much rougher it is if you made poor choices in the first 2.

First time I played I romanced Liara, it was fun but the cuteness of romancing Tali in my second playthrough can't be beat, she's so precious...

Displate
At £79 a pop on the ones i like,
I will pass thanks lol.

but hey, ay least i went and had a look right?
XP

Andromeda is absolutely not worth covering but I would love to hear your take on it.

I liked how in the "unfixed" ending all the mass-relais explode and everyone dies. Very fulfilling ending.

one of my favorite things during tali's missions when i romance her in 2 and 3 is to bring whoever i romanced in 1 into the missions, 10/10 every time.

so many things end up differently like for example if noone of the crewmates get sucked dry in the end of mass effect 2 chambers apologies that she can't help as much on the ship as she can to the refugees that are there which is also a very great desicion.

Also would loved to have a option and early branch where your still with cerberas if your decisions in me2 were more in line with the elusive man

Personally I haven’t played or watched anyone play andromeda so it might be fun to do just because but “just because” is quite a small reason for 1-5 hour long project which will easily take ten times that amount of time to make

I keep seeing that everybody uses Verner as an addressing of thermal clip change but i remember the change happening because of the geth attack and how they could overheat your weapons and make them useless for some time, the whole "thermal clip" system was made so if they do that you can just quickly fix it. Or did i make that up and that was never brought up in game, then where did i hear that.

That N7 leather jacket you could wear rocked, though.

you are not in the courters.

yhqt about teefen?

Brothers...heed my words. Play all these games. Be good. Save everyone. And in the final game, leave the Shore lave /party DLC as your next to last mission. Jesus christ it was so good. Spent a whole day just enjoying every second of it. Perfection in every way!

Also, you forgot that. The "Breath Shepard ending" is part of the Extended DLC.

My first ever play through of the trilogy was as a vanguard. When I found the Charge-Nova combo…well, everything from that time is kind of a haze of bodies flying everywhere.

That weeaboo assassin edgelord almost totally ruined this game for me