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

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Join me as I relive BioWare's shift from good writing to cliche action movie writing.
For merch and merch accessories: www.thesaltfactory.store/
Thanks to / getgianni for the awesome Shepard, Wrex, Thane, Legion, Cerberus troop and Stargazer voices.
The audio and drawings for this one were done by my talented wife: / cakefan220
Hey I stream on twitch: / thesaltfactory_
Twitter: / saltiestfactory
Discord server: / discord
Patreon: / thesaltfactory
Songs:
Most of the Mass Effect 3 OST
Donkey Kong Country 2 - Funky the Main Monkey [Restored] by Jammin' Sam Miller: • Donkey Kong Country 2 ...
Roxas Theme from the Kingdom Hearts II OST
Zero from the Ace Combat Zero OST
Part of the Mass Effect 2 LotSB OST
9999999 from the Portal 2 OST
Titus' Theme from the Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine OST
Quarian Flotilla from the Mass Effect 2 OST
Corneria from the Star Fox 64 OST
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
03:03 - Character Creation/Tutorial/Leaving Earth
10:50 - Mars
16:40 - Citadel/Equipment/Galaxy Map
26:12 - Palavan/Jack mission/Javik recruit
34:22 - Citadel Part 2
42:11 - Tuchanka related questing
01:01:31 - Cerberus Citadel attack/Citadel Part 3/Samara mission
01:14:30 - Shore Leave DLC Part 1
01:23:53 - Omega DLC/Jacob mission
01:38:03 - Quarian & Geth related questing
01:53:27 - Displate ad
01:55:34 - Companion analysis
02:29:29 - Act 3 start/Citadel Part 4/Thessia
02:40:31 - Post Kai Leng depression/Cerberus side quest analysis
02:48:16 - Leviathan DLC
03:04:29 - Shore Leave DLC Part 2
03:18:53 - Sanctuary/PTSD dreams/The Illusive Man & Kai Leng
03:32:20 - War Assets/Final mission
03:42:45 - The many ending(s) of Mass Effect 3
03:52:45 - Final thoughts
04:02:57 - Outro
Thanks for watching!

[@NobodyOfficial.]

“A fucking space ninja stole our Prothean Tamagotchi.” Best description of that mission I’ve ever heard.

[@WesleySmallz80]

Everything around Kai Leng is pure gold

[@RazorsharpLT]

Honestly sad that i can't witness it. Not going default shep in a review video is a sin. He's the ONE character we all found a common connection with. Making your own just seems like a bit of a slap in the face... kinda sad, since i came here to re-experience shep

[@Ultralightaman]

@@RazorsharpLT my Shep looks like Obama

[@bruhgod123]

fucking jetstream sam from metal gear rising revengeance steals our sentient prothean tamagotchi

[@RedDrake110]

@@bruhgod123 comparing kai leng to sam is a sin... Let's call him monsoon instead...but even that might be an insult to monsoon

[@IshanDeston]

Oh you forgot the best part of the Vanilla Ending... when old guy is like "But this was just one of the stories of the shepard" and then it pops up a "buy DLC" window. To really give you that middle finger feeling.

[@danielstocks9088]

Wait that happened how did I forget ?

[@voittolehti2432]

Also the fact that you couldnt get max fleet points without online play before the patch

[@nagger8216]

@@danielstocks9088 It didn't straight up take you to a menu of all the DLC, but it was basically an emotionally manipulative """Thank you""" letter from Bioware for sticking with them and Mass Effect throughout the trilogy with a tease of more things to come in the form of DLC iirc. It's probably been long patched out of both the original and remastered versions of the game at this point but it's been awhile since I've played ME3

[@brandonlyon730]

@@nagger8216It probably wasn’t intentional to make people by future dlc ‘s but seemed like Bioware or EA was patting themselves on the back after an extremely half-assed ending.

[@toastedt140]

@@brandonlyon730 They still have the letter at the end of the remaster and its still as tone deaf with all the dlc included from the beginning

[@josephsylvain6953]

I love Liara saying on Thesia "it must be reacting to you Shepard cause you interacted with the beacon on Eden prime." Nah, I think it's cause there is living breathing Prothean standing next to me.

[@They_Hit_The_Pentagon]

Yeah that’s what Javik says

[@RedDrake110]

Liara spends the whole of thessia just trying to deny Javik's suggestion of the truth the last dialogues of their conversation go Javik: The asari hoarded our technology, look what ended up happening Liara : The protheans used reaper tech, look what happened to you Javik : So, you do bite. Good, save it for the Reapers Javik just knows how to talk someone down.

[@erikhendrickson59]

Only if you paid for that DLC, lol.

[@Phoenix27272]

Saren had a similar role to Kai Leng in that he was as skilled as Shepard and worked against them. The difference was, Saren was a tremendously well executed and well written villain.

[@DemonLordSparda]

I think it is tremendously funny that Kai Leng comes across as pathetic in ME3, because he is. He truly believe that because he is skilled, he deserves to win. He doesn't even put in any planning, he just assumes he'll come out on top. The only reason he gets away on Thesia is because the Illusive Man did all the planning, and the Normandy had to leave due to the Reaper invasion. EVEN THEN they track his stupid ass to Sanctuary, thwart another Cerberus OP and find out where the Illusive Man's base is. Just a tremendously pathetic villain. I like him because he makes me laugh.

[@thelastcrow5660]

Saren was definitely a perfect foil.

[@LegendaryDarkKnight602]

Kai Ling got that ass smacked by a Drell with Keprel Syndrome for a good minute.

[@Phoenix27272]

@@LegendaryDarkKnight602 Very True. Thane at his best was probably the best hand to hand squadmate Shepard ever had though.

[@patrioticshitstain]

Saren was also not an OC from what are generally considered to be really awful books and comics, with one in particular being so factually incorrect about a bunch of stuff that it was pulled, rewritten and an official apology given out by BioWare. I haven't been able to confirm it, but it feels like he was a passion project by the creatives responsible for the specific spin-off media, and thoroughly hated by everyone else on the team, because he swings back and forth between "the biggest awesomest badass who never loses, has a harem of sexy ninja chicks and has superpowers that nobody else has and that break how the technology is supposed to work" and "edgy 14 year old wannabe-tough-guy who gets his shit slapped in by a terminally ill space-tuberculosis patient who can't go a day without dialysis."

[@ElodieCunningham]

The point that really disappointed me in the endgame was that the factions you ended up recruiting for the fight just aren't seen. I had this idea of seeing rachni and krogans fighting alongside you, but the battle is identical no matter who you side with

[@vinccool96]

It was cut because it was rushed

[@gelwocuthbert1360]

And bruh I actually didn't mind most of the BS with Andromeda but I literally got to the end and said, at least this, at least they did something here to only to have like 4 lines over the radio come in and like 3 less enemies on screen for a 100% playthrough lmao

[@mabiniss2]

During the end game when you're on Earth you do see Rachni soldiers running in the background in some areas alongside Alliance marines and you do see Krogan in the cutscenes but yeah, in actual gameplay it's just normal Alliance soldiers and makos everywhere you look.

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

Multi Billion Dollar B.S. EA Corp

[@Zigzf]

On my first playthrough that was literally what I expected for the whole game. Like, ME2 last missions change a lot depending on who you find/bring, so logically the ME3 would work the same way, right? But nope, all those recruited forces are just points with some lore text slapped onto them. It was so disappointing...

[@DocTaxian]

Related to the Citadel DLC: You can invite almost everyone on the crew up to the apartment before the party, not just after. You just have to go back and forth from the Citadel a few times and read the e-mails where they sort of ask for an invite between missions.

[@riemaennchen]

Getting the cutscene where you "invite" Grunt makes this DLC worth it.

[@goobersunshine3864]

You don't even have to leave the Citadel. All you have to do is leave the apartment, (maybe) visit another location on the Strip, then come back. You will usually see more options for squadmates to invite up.

[@TheMasterUnity]

@@goobersunshine3864 This is only if you’ve finished most, if not all missions. Otherwise you’ll have to do a mission and then come back

[@snek1973]

​@@TheMasterUnityimportant thing to note is the arena counts as a mission

[@Ancient_Path]

It’s always weird seeing other people’s Shepherds in cinematics.

[@NeonSuperNovas]

Right 😂!

[@hundkebab2433]

the only Shepard I've ever known is the Vin Diesel Shepard everything else feels wrong

[@megakillerx]

When i don’t see a Shepard that isn’t a blonde haired cro-magnon on my screen. Then he isn’t Commander Shepard to me.

[@highdefinition450]

ikr even just the different armor colors is kinda cursed lol. mine has to be red

[@Khtras]

Funny enough, his Shepard looks so similar to mine, it didn't even register when I watched the video

[@LaigledeMeaux]

When you talk about Kai Leng needed to be in the first or second game to have an actual impact to the story, I always thought he should have been the crew member you leave behind on Virmire. They get the same treatment as you by Cerberus, but this time put in the control chip.

[@romxxii]

There's another fan fiction that suggests Jacob taking Kai Leng's place, as he's already Cerberus, already gets into pissing contests with you during ME2, and can be an outright pissy bitch if you choose another romance option.

[@Rick586]

That would've been an excellent twist that added a lot of weight to replaying the entire trilogy.

[@Biodebatable]

That would've been a great choice with added replayability given the different skillsets the two choices have plus a chance for some good old talk no jutsu in the final confrontation. You would lose out on the sheer hateability of kai kemg though.

[@DragonessYT]

He's the antagonist of the Redemption novel. He's awful. Even with his... Development he's stale as hell.

[@Rick586]

Imagine being so desperate to bully someone that you try to make fun of them for reading their email.

[@ardoronro6677]

I always love the renegade dialogue when it comes to telling the quarian fleet to stand down. He list everything he did to help the quarians followed by "I'm through saving you. If you continue to attack, I will stand and watch as the geth lay you to waste." And when they do, he smirks. Kills me every time.

[@luisgay5897]

If only all the renegade actions were so satisfying.

[@bruhgod123]

if only admiral gerrel wasnt a war monger

[@RedDrake110]

shep will smirk even in the paragon prompt.. but yes.. renegade prompt is better in this case.

[@TheDancerMacabre]

I love how smugly he says "Keelah Sali" It feels like such a "Fuck you" to the Quarians.

[@nyyfandan]

I can't believe you skipped right over the true final boss of the trilogy. Marauder Shields.

[@rawrxdnuzzlesuwu]

dont forget the 3 huskateers

[@Drefsab]

HIS NAME WAS MARAUDER SHIELDS

[@MistahJay7]

I always find it funny how we add shields to his name like its actually his last name or something 😂

[@novagona2023]

He tried to save us.

[@Raphael_Bizmann]

@@MistahJay7 He tried to shield us from the ending. His nobleness will never be forgotten.

[@ruppelspoopels]

I always thought Jacob disliked Shepard, he's the only companion that cheats on you. So, Shepard not giving him medigel is par for the course.

[@my5head]

Not enough people talk about how Jacob spends the ENTIRETY of ME2 disagreeing with every decision made by Sheppard.

[@davidduncan5897]

Just a note: You can get the "invite friend" options done before the Citadel Party. You just have to leave the apartment and come back multiple times. I think they designed it so you invite some friends over, go hang out on the strip, come back and then invite more friends. That way the ending where you go back to the Normandy ends on that really emotional note.

[@solicitr666]

You can also do it in little pieces throughout the story, if you do the "clone" adventure fairly early.

[@artur6912]

2:34:07 IF only it where that simple. Javik was day one dlc and the most blatant example of cut content to make it in to DLC at the time, that's why he's so well integrated in to the game. In fact this whole scene was basically designed to have Liara and Javik in the party for it.

[@erikhendrickson59]

Yup total horseshit. They knew that every hardcore Mass Effect fan was obviously gonna purchase the playable-Prothean DLC character.

[@fenrisvermundr2516]

You were also supposed to save either him or her. Then one of the devs got mad cause it meant his wife could die. Which is why From Ashes actually became a day one DLC. EA may have played a little bit into but it was mostly that dev.

[@artur6912]

@@fenrisvermundr2516 I'm way past being in love with Bioware and I got disillusioned with them to the point I can believe it was a decision made there and not on EA level. Regardless which company made the call, it was still a shitty decision, because the level of integration Javik had in the game (when compared to Kasumi or Zaeed) clearly shows that he was supposed to be in it from the start, and was cut out at a very late stage of development.

[@playlistforlistening]

On-disc DLC, if only that was the worst shitty practice. You said what I was going to say.

[@nateyourzek5249]

Javik was not day one DLC. He was pay-wall content. There are plenty of articles and reddit posts documenting programmers finding him on the disc files and enter a command to unlock his content. On console this meant you had to spend $10 more bucks on content you already owned with your $60 purchase. This whole game is such a slap in the face. From the logical fallacy of the reapers destroying everything about this game to the funnel of decisions that you thought would matter but didn't. My personal distaste comes from the reapers. They aren't acting like reapers, and From ashes tries to retcon this is. The gist of my theory is this; every cycle the reapers warped in to citadel space to wipe out leadership and to shut down the relay network. With transit cut off, and all the records at their disposal the reapers could go system by system and maximize their harvest. Cycle after cycle this happens. Even in Mass effect 1 that was the endgame. Mass Effect 2: Arrival hinged on destroying the relay to stop the reapers. My implication is that if the reapers got to the relay they would warp to the citadel and...well Bill Paxton says it the best. So, why does this break Mass Effect 3? Well two major factors. 1. The reapers engage in a full-scale galactic war that destroys billions of bodies that could be harvested for the cycle. 2. the reapers don't rush to the citadel at the start of the game. Instead they wait till the end to take it...and don't shut the relay network down! If Shepard was the biggest threat wouldn't they shut down the network, use the transit records from the relay, find The Normandy and send the entire fleet after it? My theory on this is that EA wanted mass appeal, not cohesion. that is why combat has a faster pace and is more dynamic. Dice was brought in to help with the sound editing of the guns and the special effects. The mini games and RPG elements were stripped down and made linear. There is even an option to make the game action oriented and truncate your dialog options to make the pace of the game streamlined. This game could have been a masterful war of attrition slow burn, but EA wanted to milk as much cash out of this game as possible. Which circles back to Javik. His story shows a ground war with the reapers to improve ME3s internal logic. He is also a soldier and has nothing to scientifically contribute to the end game. I apologize for the rant. This game gets me very passionate and emotional.

[@LiarraSniffles_X3]

Instead of: "you saved the council but we're not going to help, go help this turian if you want help." It could have been: "you saved the council and we're going to help but the main turian fleet is stuck with a reaper attack, go help them and they'll help you." Same quest, same mission, basically zero dialogue changes yet it at least acknowledges your save file. This isn't that hard to do!

[@12SickOne34]

I know it's been a year but Most of what is rightly criticized would not have been difficult to fix or change. But it would have taken time. And time is money for investors - And investors want their money back, promptly.

[@solicitr666]

Thessia: the dialogue runs MUCH more smoothly with Javik-- more evidence that he was part of the original game and they cut him out because EA is greedy.

[@shadowrosegaming3566]

"OK so we added this prothean character and got all the voice lines and missions sorted it will be amazing" EA "great how much are we charging for this dlc" "dlc?"

[@Robul96]

He was even included in the physical version of the game, literally on the game disc lmfao

[@looinrims]

‘More evidence’ my boy Javik was in the original script for me3

[@RedDrake110]

and Thessia is basically Javik calling the asari out on their hypocrisy from start to finish. (Never really liked the asari councillor from the start... bit of a hypocrite that one. Only when she saw Shep resolve the Krogan conflict, the Citadel siege and the Quarian-Geth conflict that she deemed fit to randomly "help" out/expect a similar perfect resolution) It was sad to see Liara desparately trying to defend her race's actions...despite the truth staring them in the face. (I mean, when your fundamental beliefs are being challenged.. who wouldn't). If it was Samara, she would have a downright existential crisis right then and there.

[@MrPronGogh93]

They cut out javik not for EA, but because bioware did rewrite the story: javik used to have a much larger role with the crucible.

[@NoahGooder]

"they used to eat flies" that line had me laughing way more then i should

[@shadowrosegaming3566]

When

[@pbluma]

@@shadowrosegaming3566 First conversation with Javik after you return to the Normandy. J: The lizard people evolved? Liara: I believe they're amphibian. J:... They used to eat flies :) Liara: *Leaves*

[@LegendaryDarkKnight602]

He also later says that they used to lick their eyes with their tongues.

[@hundkebab2433]

the smugness with how he delivers that line makes it comedy gold

[@cord113]

The "fetch quests" for Aria to get the gang leaders on her side isn't part of the Omega DLC, that's just part of the base game. Once you get an email from Aria that says "it's time" you can just skip all that and go straight into the main Omega mission.

[@MistahJay7]

Salt can be quite dense. Lol

[@Tempistfox]

Always liked that if you don't romance either of them Tali and Garrus end up together in a relationship. While Liara was largely absent in ME2 doing her own stuff Garrus and Tali have been at Sheppards side all through the trilogy and end up a mirror of Sheppard personality. Both striving to be like Shep and both ending up as leaders in their own right.

[@tortoiseoflegends4466]

I love the Shadow Broker note that being with Shepard is holding Garrus back from realising his potential as a great leader. TBH I've always felt that having Mass Effect 2 be with Garrus as the protagonist could have been brilliant.

[@malcolmalexander5484]

My favorite romance is definitely Tali but I feel like I'm cock blocking my best bud so I go Liara these days 🤣

[@Jojje94]

@@tortoiseoflegends4466 There's so much spin-off potential in the Mass Effect universe. Garrus' days as Archangel being just one of them.

[@TheBackwardsLegsMan]

@@Jojje94 I think this falls firmly under the scope of "I don't trust modern Bioware not to fuck it up." I would love a good Mass Effect game too, but I just don't trust them not to brick it. The Citadel DLC was fantastic though. An entire game that just takes place on the Citadel (or Omega in the case of Archangel) with the same vibe as that DLC would be amazing. But could modern Bioware do it?

[@bizzapandare1209]

@@tortoiseoflegends4466 But it is a full potential as a "Shepard" potential, or back to his angsty ME1? Let's remember that in ME2 Garrus was after a traumatic event, angry at everything and everyone. Full Renegade or at least Paragade. Shadow Broker wasnt a token of morality either.

[@Funinightmare]

Wrex went from a ruthless, bad ass veteran in me1 to a jokey, fun loving grandpa who can still knock you out in me3 And I love it through and through

[@endershepard7117]

Well I don’t and I didn’t. Wrex childlike boisterous behavior and teenager like false sense of invincibility. Along with his reckless aggressive actions like when we arrived at the Salarians Homeworld. Are what strongly aided in convincing me that Eve was wrong about Wrex being an anomaly amongst Krogan men and a mutant. Because in spite of the fact that Wrex wants good for his people. He often behaves precisely like the Krogan back in the day did when interacting with other powerful and influential species. Wrex is no different from the Krogan Ambassador who caused a ruckus right before the Krogan Rebellions War. Wrex more than anyone caused me to believe that he wouldn’t be around long enough to keep a cured Genophage Krogan in check. Even when we were on Tuchanka Wrex failed to de-escalate the situation and Eve had too. And there is no way that Eve is gonna always be able to be by Wrex side to keep him from making things worse. Especially if Krogan get multiple extra-solar colony worlds! Even in Mass Effect 1 Wrex was reckless af! He told C-Sec that he was gonna assassinate Fisk. He dared C-Sec to try and arrest him. He threatens to kill Commander Shepard on Virmire in front of armed STG and Shepard’s own squad! As much as I like Wrex look. I like Wrex voice (In ME1). I like his stories. Wrex is a reckless idiot when he chooses violence over civility.

[@gnat6216]

​@@endershepard7117 you missed one important note. Unlike other Krogans he actually talks and open to options. In ME1 any other Krogan would just try to shoot you, he listened and agreed. In ME2 he actually forces clans to unite and stop infighting. These werent just some plans, he actually did this. In ME3. Salarian homeworld, he acted ruthless but the most valuable thing to his entire race was kidnapped by STG while theres reaper envasion going on. And even then he only threatened them, didn't shoot. Other Krogans wouldnt hold back, Wrex does and actually belives Krogans should stop wars. With Eve's help they got all chances to do it.

[@Leviathan1494]

​@@endershepard7117 L take, Wrex is still a Krogan at the end of the day. It's in his DNA to be violent, and without violence there's no way he could have united Tuchanka. But he's also one of the few Krogan that can make long term plans for the good of his species. Every time Wrex acts recklessly there is a reason for it. C-Sec is too spineless and tied up with red tape to stop him or capture him. At Virmire he sees a cure to the genophage that the Salarians are trying to destroy. Even the Salarians there say "Saren has cured the Genophage". In what world would he not be angry that everyone else is trying to destroy it? The thing he has spent centuries dreaming about curing. I think his reaction is warranted. Wrex is the best of his species because he has all.the Krogan tendencies but is able to rise above them when it really matters.

[@waleedkhalid7486]

My favorite part in the entire series is when the entire United fleet comes out of the mass relay towards Earth. It was just… perfect. All the running around to get people to put aside their differences for the greater good, all the crap Shepard had to wade through, and death he had to experience, all culminated in that moment. It brought a tear to my eye, and it still does to this day.

[@Salt_Mage]

Kai Leng continues to sour my mood every time I hear his name. The books only make the character worse. He breaks into Anderson’s apartment and eats Anderson’s cereal to assert dominance at once point. He also pisses in one of the potted plants - yes that is actually written in a novel for this franchise.

[@scrotumscratcher2474]

sounds like fucking kai lang. only makes the renegade option so much sweeter

[@broonters2671]

He breaks into Anderson's apartment not to kill him, but to steal his Lucky Charms and take a wizz on a plant??? Fucking hell.

[@TheMaestroMizerous]

*Shows you a picture of Kai Leng*

[@noctisastrum7495]

They honestly should have replace kai leng with the virmirre victim ashley/kaiden it would have been way more better but granted kai leng didnt exactly set a high bar

[@billyboleson2830]

I sew why fans of books hate video game books...

[@FoxyFoxlyn]

One of the things that annoyed me about ME 3, was that they removed the ability to holster your weapon. It looks really weird in the cut scenes too. I loved seeing the animation of the guns folding and unfolding in 1 & 2.

[@MexicanJay-zp7ce]

Shits anoyying like im walking around talking to people and my gun just hanging out pointed at them

[@FoxyFoxlyn]

@@MexicanJay-zp7ce Exactly! In 1&2 they make a show of Shep putting their gun away.

[@dominicp9296]

Ya that was always weird to me also. It didn't bother me a shit ton but it was weird for sure

[@FoxyFoxlyn]

@@dominicp9296 It really annoyed me. I love the details in my games.

[@HazzronIV]

Shepard forgot basic gun safety in the midst of all those reaper attacks. In fairness, seeing how they indoctrinate others, he might just be playing it safe. Well, safe for him anyhow.

[@Sir_Phobos]

Honestly I think if the person he was chasing was in the dream was Jenkins, the first person he lost in the reaper saga it could be stronger. Then every time he crossed a tree it was another lost character, then it ended with Ashley/Kaiden it would be more impactful than tunnel kid.

[@suzuyajuuzou8235]

Playing a fem shep and romancing thane in 2. Staying loyal to him in 3. His funeral is one of the saddest moments I’ve ever experienced in a game ever. When you get his last videos he tried to send you. It’s so heartwarming/heartbreaking

[@micheleosullivan4430]

Agreed! It is the first and only time a game made me tear up!

[@xXJoveXx]

lmao

[@missingaria2503]

You're telling me, I romanced Kaidan in 1, he f-in betrays you at the start of 2, I am won over into love again by the amazing Thane and stay loyal to him in 3, then LESS THAN AN HOUR AFTER HE DIES that half of a dying Krogan's brain cell that is Kaidan goes "soooooo wanna get back together?" I have never wished I saved Ashley more than I did in that moment.

[@suzuyajuuzou8235]

@@missingaria2503 I am so sorry lol. I play female characters alot(as a male) and I can say with no real certain reason, Kaiden rubbed me the wrong way from the start. I did one play through where I saved him 👀😂

[@voteDC]

It's possible to romance both Liara and Thane throughout the trilogy and get all of their related content. The only thing you miss is the Ghost sequence in the Citadel DLC at the very end.

[@njones52]

The omega dlc didn't begin with the fetch quest missions, those where in the vanilla game. Omega starts once you get in the car with Aria. They didn't make the beginning bad they made a bad vanilla quest and tied it into a way better one.

[@maraudershields283]

I like the Omega DLC, but I kind of wish the mid-arc missions had been liberating the 3 main gangs and their leaders to join Aria’s cause (though his was essentially the idea of the citadel missions). 2 gangs and you can progress, 3 gets you a better ending to the DLC, and there could have been great callbacks to Garrus’s recruitment mission in ME2.

[@Onishiro]

Omega is one of the worst DLC Bioware's ever done. Everyone is out of character; Aria is acting like some dickhead, the citizens of Omega are happy-go-lucky, Talons, a Turian exclusive gang, are now inviting Krogan, humans and Batarians, you have no reason to care for the people of it and Nyreen was a waste of space that thankfully takes LTG's advice, and Petrovsky is suddenly some honorable guy and isn't indoctrinated like 99% of Cerberus at that point. The creatures introduced in the comic are a total joke. I hated every single second of it.

[@njones52]

@@Onishiro I'm glad you wrote a long winded essay on how much you hated it, what do you want me to do about that?

[@ragnos2262]

@@njones52 Absolutely unfathomably based response

[@linuxnbg94]

@@Onishiro That's gotta be the worst take I have ever seen

[@tacticalmanatee]

When you wake up from the Citadel Party there is an easy to miss datapad next to the bed. It contains messages from Mordin. It was a very touching little addition, and the last entry made me tear up a little.

[@RedK11]

What does it say?

[@darrenweston2527]

@@RedK11 it says 'Remember Joe'

[@Chris-uy2qe]

@@darrenweston2527 Who's Joe?

[@darrenweston2527]

@@Chris-uy2qe Joe Mama

[@Chris-uy2qe]

@@darrenweston2527 lmao

[@solicitr666]

A shoutout to the clever way they wrapped up the Conrad Verner side story, in a Rube Goldberg way that pays off IF you completed various trivial tasks in 1 and 2. It's really very funny as each new step drops ("Would this collection of Matriarch Dilinaga's writings help?")

[@joezilla29]

Your don't even need to collect all of the writings. Just get one and ME3 will flag you as having found them all. A pleasant surprise for me, since exploring with the Mako became so tedious I eventually gave up trying to finish the quest.

[@InterloperBob]

3:04:00 you keep asking "why didn't the reapers attack the citadel 1st" when that was the entire plot of ME1 and if not for Shepard (and Vigil before him) they wouls have warped into the Citadel and reconquered the galaxy exactly how the beat the Protheans. Vigil and Shepard just stopped them.

[@PabloYaos]

well they did in ME1, why not in ME3 ?

[@Whiteythereaper]

@@PabloYaos the Prothean scientists on Ilos that froze themselves used the Conduit to travel to the Citadel after the Reapers left at the end of their cycle. They disabled the Reaper's ability to control the Keepers and make them open up the Citadel relay to allow them to travel straight there from their Dark Space home. Sovereign is a scout Reaper that doesn't leave the Milky Way as he watches over the expansion of the species ready to signal that the next Extinction is needed. When he signalled the rest of the Reapers this time, the Citadel didn't respond & he had to get Saren and the Geth to undo the Prothean sabotage. Shepard stops him before he can do it, meaning that the Reapers have to travel the slow way and enter the galaxy from the edge. When they usually arrive, they immediately assault the Citadel and destroy whatever Galactic Government is in charge, cutting off those below from help. They use the Citadel archives to see exactly where all current spaceworthy species are located using Census records and location records and start the extinction with the upper hand so no species can fight back for too long. In Mass Effect 2, Harbinger tries to use the Collectors to create a new Reaper so they can assault the Citadel again with an advance scout, but Shepard shuts down that plan by assaulting their base.

[@KepleroGT]

There are a lot of plotholes in ME3 but yeah, this isn't one of them. They don't attack the citadel first because they don't have remote control over it, it's literally the point of ME1.

[@Ryan-yu5kt]

@@Whiteythereaper You seem to know a lot about the lore so my bad if im 2 months late But I just finished 3. Why would Cerberus and TIM resurrect Shepard and send him to stop the collectors if TIM was indoctrinated? Shepard destroying the base actively foils the Reapers plans.

[@bonfiregaming1747]

The illusive man doesn't begin getting indoctrinated until after the events of me2. He uses the technology from the reaper base (Or somewhere else if you destroy it.) To start trying to find a means to control them.. inadvertently indoctrinating himself in the process.

[@robertb.warren4749]

*Shepard:* Illusive Man, the reapers are evil! *Illusive Man:* From my point of view, the galaxy is evil!

[@user-qd3cb2wo8h]

That dialog has "Revenge of the Sith" vibes.

[@robertb.warren4749]

@@user-qd3cb2wo8h That's where I got it from. Lol. For some reason, the dynamic between Shep and the Illusive Man reminded me of it.

[@TheMasterUnity]

Renegade control Shepard: I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire.

[@zuzoscorner]

"Team Rocke tis blasting off again!" lol

[@wastelanderone]

Honestly like, both aren't wrong lol

[@shockfire3DG]

The Citadel DLC is really meant to be played either right before the point of no return (before Cerberus HQ) or after the game ends and you reload to play it. It has such a different tone and is meant as an appreciation and humorous story and cooldown with the squad. I love it for that. I think you did a disservice to yourself by starting it so early, especially without Tali there. There are romance specific dialogues that only really come to fruition after you've committed to a romance. Anyways, love the whole vid, just wanted to get my thoughts out on that.

[@WalterTheWalrus]

Are you telling me there are people who play it without their partner there?

[@uhobme2028]

I like to play it after Rannoch as it's at a point where you have most of your companions available to attend but just far enough from the end as some companion content only become available after doing additional missions. I also like to headcannon that after the Battle of Rannoch, the crew would need a breather and the ship would need repairs.

[@Grivehn]

@@uhobme2028 That is correct, but it likely even hits better after Thessia. Everyone is down, so they need to cheer up a little.

[@lvl6humancleric216]

Tali poisoning herself with cheese and then spending the night casually talking about maybe possibly dying because of said cheese had me cackling. 🤣

[@ownage11445]

Yep you gotta do this after priority horizon in order to get Miranda to show up. Also go to the party and see Miranda actually dresses up to go for a fun night on the town with Shepherd is also a nice touch.

[@BOSKD]

1:00:00 funny thing for Mordin's scene, if you never got him to sing the Scientist Salarian song in ME2, he has different dialogue.

[@cosmictreason2242]

Took me years to learn that the original tune is from the play "The pirates of penzance" And called "The model of a modern major general"

[@YoungMrBlue]

Uhh that timestamp shows the thresher maw fight

[@samuelclayhills3298]

Man imagine if Kai Leng was the villain of the citadel and the clone was in the main game. The email bit would be hillarious in such a silly dlc and cerberus making a clone would be extremly on point.

[@shadowrosegaming3566]

That would've been much better tbh

[@interregnum_]

An unromanced Liara spends a lot of her downtime conversation not really succeeding at hiding her big ol’ crush on you, and I kinda love it. And I really like how that changes her final chat before the end run. It’s adorable.

[@justanaverageguy912]

agree as a shrygma male myself, i ofc play these games romanceless from start to finish, only allowing myself a quick brojob with my man Steve from the lower decks.

[@chimpsmart1724]

@@justanaverageguy912 Unless you run femshep, then you're giving the brojobs.

[@SerDerpish]

@@justanaverageguy912 excuse my ignorance, but what’s a “shrygma”? Based on context it sounds like some kind of variant on asexual/aromantic but urban dictionary is mum on the word (as of the time of this writing) so I’d like to know what it means if it’s not too much trouble

[@theirishviking9278]

@@Penguin-MD ...why a mushroom?

[@11Survivor]

@@theirishviking9278 Shrooms = hallucinogenic narcotics

[@mrdewarion]

You can actually save Kelly Chambers by making her change her appearance and name. It's a dialogue option at some point before the Cerberus attack.

[@RevolverOcelot1]

Yes. Was looking for this comment.

[@Lucef]

What I like most about this is, that convincing her to change her identity is actually a Renegade option, yet it results in a positive outcome.

[@oliviawilliams6204]

Ironically it's a renegade option

[@jeremygilbert7989]

@@oliviawilliams6204 Further reinforcement on how Paragon and Renegade doesn't mean shit anymore in this game

[@oliviawilliams6204]

@@jeremygilbert7989 I kind of disagree on that for this case. Paragon Renegade was never about more good or evil, or good consequences bad consequences. It was meant to be more Good cop or ruthless cop, either case your still a cop. The ruthless cop being more pragmatic and assertive that she should change her name and identity make sense. I'm more pissed at the obvious evil choices the game throw at us that i'm like "Who would even behave that way?"

[@LivingxPrime]

If you're a biotic in this game, all action cutscenes featuring Shepherd are uncanny.

[@shadowrosegaming3566]

Uncanny or just fucking hilariously fucked

[@BiriBiri925]

Literally my experience in this game. I've always played biotic.

[@inkchild4115]

I was so confused when he pulled out the arm blade thing in one cutscene knowing my shephard could literally biotic blast people with his fists

[@KravMagoo]

Well...the issue is that Shepard is NOT a biotic, plain and simple. You can play the game as though he is, but he isn't. YOUR Shepard might be, but THE Shepard is not. Kaiden was turned into a biotic due to a (probably deliberate) accident with eezo. Nothing in Shepard's backstory indicates such exposure, so he isn't biotic. In games where players get to portray themselves in the role of the main character, such as KOTOR & KOTOR 2, regardless of the variety of options players of the game have to "experiment" for the sake of "replayability", there is nevertheless a particular canon characterization, and in the case of Shepard, he is a non-biotic paragon soldier, and probably a spacer war hero, maybe a colonist war hero.

[@alexinivai08]

​@@KravMagoodaddy chill

[@infinitebombdog]

Those random Cerberus missions were to introduce new multiplayer maps in the original ME3. Instead of using a known area, they made new maps then added these missions to explain them.

[@faelarheal-leaf8157]

God that somehow makes those missions even worse

[@Aerowarrier]

The fact that a Shepard who hasn’t romanced anyone in the entire series aside from Kelly ends up sleeping with Javik after they both get super drunk is low key fantastic

[@RedheadJack]

I discovered this yesterday to my absolute horror when I realized I missed the deadline for Liara's romance

[@inkchild4115]

@@RedheadJack can't imagine how liara would feel finding out you had a one night stand with the last living prothean

[@s0undw4v3]

Probably jealous.

[@Aerowarrier]

@@s0undw4v3 but of who???

[@anthonytitone]

@@Aerowarriershe just wants to join in

[@Bloodletter8]

My wife and I started calling Kai Leng "Samurai Jackass" back in 2012 and the name stuck. I honestly forgot he had an actual name until I watched this video.

[@bluesrike]

I only refer to him as "Lieutenant Bastard"

[@Mykedigz1]

Kaiden feels completely different in ME3 because he is. In ME1, he & Ashley are different characters with their own personalities, backstories, & motivations. But only 1 of them survives. From there, BW merger them into one character. Your interactions with them are identical. I’ve played the game through several times. The only difference is Kaiden is a romance option either way, while Ash is only a romance option for male-shep. I obviously have no direct knowledge as to why they did this. But my guess is to make that particular choice an aesthetic one. Kaiden & Ashley are EASILY the least likable characters in ME1. So essentially both Kaiden & Ash die in ME1. From then on, they are replaced with “generic male/female Virmire” survivor. They have no effect on the story. You just have a male or female former crew member.

[@DemonLordSparda]

This isn't remotely true at all. Kaidan and Ashley are entirely different in ME3. In ME2 they are essentially the same. Kaidan has tremendous survivors guilt, he's a higher Alliance Rank than Shepard, he has a squad he trained. Ashley is mostly prideful and enjoying her promotions. I don't think there is a single conversation that is the same with both of the outside of Mars.

[@Tito_michi]

Not to mention that Ashley's original writer Chris L'Etoile left Bioware before ME3.

[@crawman334]

Ashley has one of the best character arcs and romances in the entire trilogy. And besides samara (if you even count that as a romance) it's probably one of the most difficult one for Shepard as a character. Ashley goes from an ignorant, racist stereotypical human to being friendly with basically the entire normady crew and having being WAY more trusting of Shepard during the citadel attack depending on your choices. Don't get me wrong, she's still very morally questionable. But she had one of the biggest character arcs in the series, ashley from ME1 and Ashley from ME3 really are different people from a lot of standpoints

[@endershepard7117]

Bro, you are so wrong. It was so clear to me that whoever was in charge of writing Ashley’s scenes in ME3 didn’t like her character. Whereas a lot of heart and love was invested in Kaiden Alenko’s scenes in ME3. 1. Ashley who kept her distance from Shepard like he had Covid-19. Expects Shepard to visit her repeatedly at the hospital. 2. Be emotional support for her when she’s comforting her younger sister who loss her husband. 3. Then Ashley gets drunk on the Normandy and is lying on the floor. And it’s all treated like a joke. Ashley in ME1 didn’t even drink real liquor on the Normandy to celebrate Armistice Day but in ME3 she doesn’t give af! Ashley looked real good in ME3 but her character was treated like trash. And all blame goes to the writers. This is a great video esssy about how well written Ashley is in ME1: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nV6vgnV4aNtkfcksi=fJZK0OVAsE-52ADN

[@endershepard7117]

@@Tito_michiI did not know this. So he abandoned his little girl and she was devoured by ravenous wolves who didn’t like her or understand her. What a shame. What a tragedy.

[@declanwhite9009]

From memory, the Renegade and Paragon options when talking to the Illusive Man at the end are locked out if you don't say certain things to him throughout the game

[@LMarti13]

Your overall point about "always choosing the blue or red option" makes everything else meaningful is correct, BUT you accidentally choose a really bad example to make that point because a LARGE percentage of players don't have that option unlocked during the final dialog with the illusive man. You only get that option if you selected all blue or all red in all your conversations with him in the entire game. My first playthrough, I completely missed one of them because it was hidden behind an investigate that I sloppily missed. Reading around the internet, a lot of other people ran into the same issue, and I strongly suspect a large percentage, if not a majority, of people who play the game don't have those options in the final conversation.

[@Elite7555]

Which just underlines how bullshit this mechanic was.

[@sergiomendoza4850]

Having played through the entirety of the trilogy twice, I never got this dialogue option. Not once, in both an entirely renegade and paragon play through its just a bullshit game mechanic.

[@onemoreminute0543]

Same. I didn't know this. I ended up going for red on my first Illusive Man meeting and then blue on the second, so I didn't get it. Should have done the same thing I did with Saren in ME 1. Such a satisfying moment to keep hammering home the blue option so that he breaks free of the Reaper control and blows his brains out

[@rozenzoon]

I really wanted to best ending, so I searched everything up. It was my first time playing and despite that, I still walked clean past the red/blue thngs straight into the beam. I saw my Shepard disintegrate and I was like ''wait a second...''. I closed and reloaded that shit😂 The image will not leave my mind for a while😪

[@BTroit]

3:41:15 To get all the illusive man checks you need to have a maxed out bar (easy to do tbh) and have picked paragon or renegade the other three times you talked to him (mars/thessia/Cerberus HQ). You can actually miss those pretty easily if you don't go through all his dialogue options. From a story point of view it's you eroding his confidence every time you talk to him, not just a final speech that somehow makes him do a 180. But I agree that it doesn't really come across that way in the cut scene.

[@DangerIncFilms]

In regards to the Reapers not going after the Citadel in this game right at the start, you have to realize that while it may have just been a single Reaper, Sovereign got his ass eaten out for lunch in ME1. Coupled with not being able to just relay-hop straight there (read the Prothean scientists’ patch notes from the first game) without attracting too much attention, and them basically coming from the edges inward, it’s entirely believable for the Citadel to be one of the last places to be attacked.

[@tovek77]

Not to mention attacking the citadel would 100% unite every race in the galaxy at once. Divide and conquer.

[@trustytrest]

More importantly, the reapers do not care about the order they do their invasion in. It's not a war to them, but a feeding. The citadel and its members have to worry about logistics and all that; the reapers need only slowly advance their way through.

[@rippspeck]

@@trustytrest For some immortal being that has been around for maybe millions of years, a harvest that only takes a couple of centuries is pretty damn short.

[@zafelrede4884]

The only reason Sovereign got so easily destroyed is because his shields failed after he assumed control of Saren and Saren got finally killed.

[@DangerIncFilms]

@@zafelrede4884 They can’t be sure what the reason for Sovereign’s defeat was. All they could possibly know is that this cycle possibly has something able to kill them.

[@dieyng]

Your ideas on the ending are not wrong. However, that is the beauty of video games, you can give all players the ending they want. I always bring up Dragon Age Origins as the best example. The endings have so much range, you can sacrifice yourself, sacrifice your partner, give Loghain the chance at redemption, you can go from heroic but bleak to basically full-fledged happy ending. Mass Effect 3 should have had an ending like that, so that we all could get the ending we wanted and played three games through for.

[@ooostarb3rryooo]

I know this comment was a year ago but I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks DA Origins had the best variety of endings, and I wished ME did too.

[@GG-ou7it]

Commander Shepard has become a legend by ending the Reaper threat. Now you can continue to build that legend through further gameplay and downloadable content.

[@rayvonehackshaw3399]

I believe you can actually save Kelly chambers by talking to her before the attack about changing her identity, so that in this moment that Cerberus approaches her, she does not identify as Kelly Chambers. *This may have been mention already, in which case carry on

[@RustedKing]

While that's true it doesnt make her death any less dumb lmao

[@HisMagnificence]

I forgot to do that last time I played and felt so bad.

[@cosmictreason2242]

Haven't played the game. Why is her identity burned, so to speak? Why does cerverus want to keell her?

[@haraldhimmel5687]

I'm glad you didn't trash the game for 4 hours straight because its probably the most memorable for me. Shepard uniting the galaxy and solving every long standing conflict was just the natural thing for him to do. And yes, the "best ending" felt like they planned to do something and in the end they didn't bother but left in the stub for some reason. Which.. is a feeling I got at a few parts in the game. Like the dream sequences with figures that look an awful lot like "oily shadows". No wonder people snapped and fantasized their own ending and puzzling together "clues" like Shepard getting indoctrinated. Oh and I think you're off with your assessment that the illusive man is that noble grey area type in ME2. That's precisely the image he wants you to believe after bringing you back but depending on the choices you've made, you could tell that he is pretty much just shitting you to get what he wants. Like in the first mission, when you let Cerberus take the Quarian to "make sure he is allright", they will really experiment on him until hes just a shell of his former self. So they arguably always were ruthless and without morals. The player just didn't necessarily see through it depending on his playthrough.

[@jbainsley5401]

From Ashes, the DLC for Javik was Day One DLC. Released along-side the base game. You got it as a pre-order bonus if I remember correctly. So the dialogue at the Asari Temple checks out.

[@Aerowarrier]

I do love how much Wrex treats Liara like a little sister. Like he loves her so much, and has so much respect for what she’s become. It’s even better knowing she’s 1/4 Krogan

[@Kris-wo4pj]

he does the same for tali during the citadel dlc they talk about shotguns and she says shes still using all the advice he gave her during their travels in me1

[@niftygoose4292]

She is 1/4 Krogan? I thought she said in ME1 that she is whats known as a "pure blood".

[@lunaticq2283]

@@niftygoose4292 She's Pureblood due to being born from two asari however her Mother Aethyta, who you meet on Illium in ME2, has a krogan parent.

[@niftygoose4292]

@@lunaticq2283 hmm, don’t remember that but I’m replaying it now so I’ll check that out. You would think that insult would be used on some one who has generations of only Asari. At least that’s what I assumed

[@strawberrylotlizard]

@@niftygoose4292 I think because of their long lifespans is a generational disgust instead of familial thing

[@Lowrholler]

"Shepherd I'm dying from space polio." I laughed way too hard at that

[@mounne13]

I honestly saw Keprals as Space Cancer but Polio is way funnier

[@jeremygilbert7989]

@@mounne13 I saw it more as Space TB since it targets their ability to absorb oxygen in their lungs.

[@Xavier_Destalis]

​@jeremygilbert7989 we all know that it's really space chicken pox.

[@CorvusCorax12d]

Honestly in love with ME3. Yeah the ending wasnt really the best they could've had but the entire game is the ending, not just the last 5 minutes

[@rometherevenant8749]

Making a sequel after Mass Effect 2 was always going to be a very tough act to follow.

[@voteDC]

As good a game as ME2 is it really also has to shoulder part of the blame for ME3's flaws. ME2 didn't advance the main plot of the story at all. We are still at the point the Reapers are coming and need to find someway to stop them. At the very least the plans for the Crucible should have been found during a ME2 mission.

[@Noooiiiissseee]

​@@voteDC This is an absurd take. It's like saying The Two Towers doesn't move the plot of The Lord of The Rings along because the ring still needs to be destroyed after it.

[@LinearConvolution]

@@Noooiiiissseee I'm kind of in the middle of you and @voteDC on this. ME2 advanced the world and the characters a lot but it didn't do much for the overarching conflict with the Reapers. There was just a missed opportunity to dive more into the Reaper's methodology and the extinction cycles by exploring the Collectors (ie what happened to the Protheans), as well as the nascent human Reaper. ME2's ending basically lacked an "Ilos - Vigil" moment that the first game tremendously benefited from. Still one of my favorite games of all time, and my favorite of the trilogy overall.

[@voteDC]

@@Noooiiiissseee Forgive the late reply. KZbin doesn't seem to notify me of them. The difference is that the plot does get advanced in the Two Towers, the ring is moving closer to Mount Doom and Rohan is saved to become an ally. Mass Effect 2 doesn't move the plot forward. Everything needed to stop the Reapers is found or happens in Mass Effect 3. I mean you can get most of the main cast killed in 2 and it barely makes a difference to how 3 plays out.

[@Thechezbailey]

"Aaaa huuuuuuuman reeeeaper!!!" Lol ME2 is a silly romp. People acting so harsh towards 3 and not towards 2 is silliness.

[@k3salieri]

Damn, doing the Citadel DLC without Tali. Man I could never imagine doing that. It really is best to wait till the point of no return since you need to finish Horizon to invite Miranda.

[@k3salieri]

@Anonymous G Right, keep thinking it's Noveria. XD

[@PetitTasdeBoue]

Yeaaah I went in with everyone except Miranda because she was taking so long to prepare herself LOL

[@jamestoze4714]

Exactly, no miranda means no Jack and Miranda conversation at the party! Definitely missing out there.

[@DemonLordSparda]

He really needs to think through his order of missions. Unfortunately he's pretty lazy if you go watch his Twitch vods. I like his man content, but he doesn't put forward any planning

[@zafelrede4884]

I did the DLC without a lot of the party, mostly because i didn't know it was coming.

[@corevo7570]

Whenever one of your videos drop its like an event to me. Where I mentally map out my day so I can listen to your video in one go. Even if I don’t always agree with all your points, you always explain yourself in a way that’s logical and entertaining that I hang off every word. I look forward to watching this and it all your future videos.

[@zordo90]

Couldn’t have said it better. Haven’t watched yet, but I’m planning my day around it lol

[@zimgamingchannel]

What Corevo said!

[@lachlanmillett3182]

Best comment I’ve read bro. Like @Joseph Daniels couldn’t of put it into better words

[@fulltimeslackerii8229]

simp

[@somethingsomethingusername7871]

Word

[@Kodasa_Sinclair]

It's worth mentioning that in regards to your summation of the reapers not attacking the citadel immediately, that they DID try that. That's what the entire first game was about. During the first game part of Vigils exposition states that the reapers revealed the citadel trap and cut off the heads of prothean government before anyone knew what was going on. Sovereign was attempting to do the same thing, however it was stopped by Shepard, who also uploaded a modified prothean code gained from Vigil that prevented the reapers from accessing the citadel remotely via the keepers. That and the events of the Arrival DLC from ME2 are why the reapers instead attacked the galaxy the way they did in this game.

[@greatmatt301]

I haven't played the arrival DLC yet (just started 2 again with DLC) but i thought the citadel sabotage ala the protheans only stopped the reapers from using the citadel as a mass relay. That wouldn't stop them just entering the milky way and immediately going for the citadel right?

[@g.4279]

The worst part of the ending is the tonal shift. Mass Effect goes from autistically describing the physics behind how everything works to literal space magic. Like how exactly does everyone become an AI-organic hybrid?

[@BradTheAmerican]

There's also that dumb line from Star Kid, "even you are part synthetic", presumably due to Shepard's cybernetic implants that any Alliance soldier seemingly has, which makes me wonder if people with pacemakers or smart contact lenses are considered "synthetic" for the purposes of being violated by the Crucible. But there's also a wider language problem, because even a lab-grown fully organic limb replacement that's 100% indistinguishable from an original limb from birth would technically be synthetic. How does the Crucible even measure the state of "synthetic"? It all feels way too "gamey" in the worst illogical way, like if people had INI config files that could be opened up and checked for 1s and 0s in the appropriate profile settings. And I also wonder what kind of hippie space juice gets injected into everyone's brains in the synthesis ending to somehow end all "space racism" between organics and machines, as if the only reason for conflict between them was that one superficial difference rather than any sort of individual personality issues or politics or whatever.

[@Spaceman_u]

Kai Lang has to be the funniest villain ever. The fact that he writes you a mail saying how great he is and how bad Shep is just unbelievable 2:41:13

[@MrSpartan993]

He’s such a try hard loser honestly. I could never take him seriously.

[@bennygerow]

They set him up to be such a badass and he was really cringe.

[@yol_n]

@@bennygerow they tried doing both. The game makes him a badass and a punching bad at the same time (Thane even mocks him). But fail both miserably. Its like they didnt know what to do with him

[@brandonlyon730]

@@yol_n Yeah and they cover him up in so much plot armor it’s ridiculous.

[@bennygerow]

@@yol_n that's the part I don't get. Tonally it doesn't work on either level, and seems like one writer started it and left the project, and another person took over and hated the character so they made him a bitch.

[@darksideon]

The funny thing about the man talking to the child about Shepard, is that the little boy is actually a shrunken down model of an alliance officer😄. I never realized just how much reused assets were used for ME3. In the beginning the civilians running from the reaper are just purple and gold copies of Jack.

[@00110000]

They literally had a model for a child in the game already, why wouldn't they just use that?? Unless it's like an inside joke among the devs

[@piotrkarp9562]

@@00110000 Probably to cut time with rigging and animating it.

[@funtourhawk]

They had like no time to make ME3 compared to the 2nd or 1st

[@BenD0v3r32]

I finished ME3 today, and noticed it too, haha.

[@BenD0v3r32]

@@00110000 My thoughts exactly.

[@adrenjones9301]

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

[@Leonfei]

Citadel has always been my favourite dlc. It was the last one released, after all the controversy over the ending, and struck me as a love letter from the devs to the series. Also, the humour is fantastic, self-referential humour is my jam, and Citadel delivers it in spades.

[@BradTheAmerican]

I've always been really conflicted about the Citadel DLC. The humor is great and it works fantastically as a standalone thing, but it just doesn't fit with the rest of the game's tone and plot. Space Hitler is committing genocide right down the metaphorical street and we're going out for sushi dinner in luxury restaurants, planning heists, and partying for shits and giggles. And it makes no sense why the reapers didn't already take over the Citadel since that's the center of galactic civilization and where 90% of all relay traffic ends up going, and the Citadel was always the first target in previous cycles.

[@thesmooze3185]

I think my favorite part of the Citadel DLC is that it really emphasizes what makes Shepherd special, you pull people together. The entire time the crew is acting like this is some big family trip, not them being attacked while on shore leave. and it all gets naratively capped off by the ending. you and the clone are clinging to the ramp, just moments before he was ranting about "what makes ypu so special!?", only to be answered by Shepherd's crew, your family in all but blood, saving you... while the clone's "friend" leaves him to save herself.

[@smartalec2001]

Someone called it "Shepard's Loyalty Mission"

[@tristandelasuertemexcla]

That’s a perfect name for it

[@dinosdaniel3508]

Throwback to the ending of the second "The Mummy" movie.

[@hersh1138]

Citadel dlc was pure comedy which was a fun change of pace for that game. Liara calling someone a cheater for shooting while she was on a ladder for instance.

[@rippspeck]

I dunno man, to me, the entire shore leave thing felt like wacky fanservice. In my opinion, they did the overall theme of the game a disservice by making a "sitcom episode". The clone plot was kinda good, tho. Not extraordinarily well executed and filled to the brim with tropes and clichés, but it made sense.

[@Innocuous_Inc.]

I think andromeda might be worth covering as a sorta "what went wrong?" Kinda video. I remember being actually kinda impressed by the moment to gameplay, but i also remember tye bugs, the wonky facial animation, and saying "this choice makes no fucking sense" on multiple occasions.

[@thesilverblueman]

having played to end the gameplay gets old its a long game in the bad way it also took the driving from me1 and made it somehow worse existing solely for transport

[@putowtin]

I think (aside from the repetitive gameplay, a reused plot "Oh the bad guys turn us into them", and the fact that the game was so broken at launch) the biggest thing that went wrong was the expectation that the Pathfinder would be another Shepard, a confident space marine. Instead we got to play as someone not ready for command who is fallible. I really enjoyed Andromeda and plan another playthrough soon

[@chronichavok9847]

@@putowtin The first team briefing was the first and only scene in the game I liked that wasn't fuuny glitch. Seeing the contrast between Shepard and Ryder as leaders was one of the few things i liked about the game, even if the rest of the game didn't sell Ryder growth that well.

[@ArcAngle1117]

@@chronichavok9847 I would say the reason it has a hard time selling the growth is because of how open the story is. It's a lot harder to write scenes meant to show a steady character arc when you have no way of guaranteeing which order the player will do content in. The Original Trilogy keeps character development either to personal missions or ship conversations specifically for that reason.

[@zalabit927]

...also that Krogan fight, jesus christ🗿

[@Mysteriousstranger6]

This trilogy was my life at the time, I couldn’t wait for number 3 , the day it released I got my copy and spent the next 3 days completing the game.. perfect ending played online and scanned nearly every planet. That ending tho my god did it take a hit to my love but I chose destroy as the other options were too bizarre to me.

[@anthonyernst999]

I just started playing it 12 days ago for the first time, and I already finished it. I think the destroy ending is the best ending, especially since if you do it right, you end up surviving. The only real loss in my eyes is EDI. Not a fan of the geth

[@BradTheAmerican]

@@anthonyernst999 I find Control to be the most practical and future-proof. Destroy only kills all reapers and other robots who are in the Milky Way Galaxy and nearby to a mass relay, and you can only do it once unless you wanna risk destroying all the mass relays again and crippling galactic civilization every time you use the Crucible. But what if there are more reapers in dark space? Surely the super intelligent reapers would know better than to put all of their eggs into one basket for a single invasion since they also knew the Crucible plans existed since the previous cycle. And each cycle supposedly takes centuries to completely wipe out, so surely there's no rush for them to have 100% mobilization. With Control, you now have a reaper military force that does Shepard's bidding, such as defending the galaxy from any potential leftover reapers or other threat. Even if there are no more reapers in dark space, you still have a reaper workforce to rebuild everything and to restore order. Also, the Star Child doesn't say that Destroy kills off only robot races. He cryptically and nonsensically says "synthetic", but doesn't define what that means beyond saying that Shepard is also synthetic. Shepard merely has cybernetic implants based on their military specialization, so does that mean every implanted Alliance solder also risks dying from the Crucible? Do people with pacemakers count as "synthetic?"

[@Obelisk-oj4fu]

I was waiting for him to find out about how "High" of a risk vanguard is as a class in ME3 so many enemies can instantly kill you in the game, it's insane

[@FamusJamus]

The worst part of the ending for me was knowing it was a one-way trip to give the Reapers hell, choosing a depressed Javik as a squadmate because that sounded right up his alley, and then having to send him back when the drama gods decided he stubbed his toe.

[@nagger8216]

It's a one way trip, with way higher stakes than the actual suicide mission in ME2, but quick we gotta call in the Normandy all the way from orbit or take it away from providing fire support somewhere to evacuate two people because they're Shepard's squadmates and one's most likely the love interest. Gotta have that cheap drama, baby

[@arantir4150]

@@nagger8216 That scene was added in the extended cut DLC. One of the complaints with the ending was that after the mad dash for the beacon we never saw our squadmates again. But yeah, we went from: "We can't land near the beacon because of that Destroyer Reaper" to "Joker we are under fire from the Harbinger. We need an evacuation now"

[@brandonlyon730]

@@arantir4150 Yeah and it just made Harbinger look stupid for not blasting away the large Normandy ship away, and makes Shepherd dumber for thinking that was even a good idea in the first place.

[@TheMasterUnity]

@@brandonlyon730 Presumably it’s because Harbinger was too busy blasting away people running for the beam. Which is a much higher priority than just some ship.

[@brandonlyon730]

@@TheMasterUnity Seems like a pretty lame excuse it’s not like the Normandy was tiny transport, it’s pretty big ship, and it was out in the open just a short laser beam would easily destroy it in seconds. This just felt like a lazy way for the writers to fix a plot hole in the original ending.

[@Drefsab]

Shore Leave is the true ending to ME3 and I will not hear otherwise. Also, hearing Mordin sing Amazing Grace was the perfect way to hear from him one last time.

[@TheDarkkilla12]

I know some people consider Citadel DLC to be the actual ending to the game. And that’s a better explanation than what we got.

[@TheKurtkapan34]

there is a mod for that. takes out the parts about reapers from dialogues and makes you play the dlc after the finale.

[@ember-evergarden]

Objectively wrong opinion but okay, stay in denial.

[@Drefsab]

@@ember-evergarden You must be real fun at parties.

[@prestonmitchell9135]

@@ember-evergarden cope, seethe, L, ratio, excommunicated

[@HaddaClu]

🤣 God your custom dialogue was the highlight of this this video in terms of perfect humor insert. 3:51:17 had me laughing harder than it should have. This whole video was a perfect breakdown and review and I cant believe just how much work you put into it. I hope you give Andromeda some time as well. I feel it was unnecessarily dunked on way too hard and it has gotten better with time.

[@missingaria2503]

For James, I always looked at him as Sheppard's sounding board/unwinding buddy. Like, you go on mission, come back, throw some punches, talk it all out, get your thoughts in order, and can go on being the amazing Commander you are with a clear head. Sometimes, as the player, it would help me kinda chill out after a tense/sad mission. But I think the reason I feel that way about him is because I am a veteran myself and this is basically what we'd do between convoys to bond. Def not my favorite, but I like the guy quite a bit for providing that role in a way that felt genuine to the military experience.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

I think what put me off James immediately was knowing he was played by Freddie Prinze Junior who, at the time, was really only known to me as "that pretty boy actor from the 90's teen romance movies". But once I actually got over that and spent time with the character...yeah, great character, probably one of the better ME companions IMO. Shame about the obligatory anime movie tie-in that the character shows up in.

[@bhthereaper]

This must have been a lot of work, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but one small inconsistency. The relay to the citadel was changed, in the first game it was revealed that the prothean scientists changed the signal on the citadel so that the reapers could not use the citadel relay without physically interfacing with it. Hence they could not reach citadel space until they have reached the next relay that linked to it. Thus it could not be a first target since it was near the middle of the galaxy. This is I guess easily missed since it wasn't brough up much in the subsequent games. Also, the citadel project was kept a secret from the reapers in past cycles. No previous cycles had gotten to the point where they physically needed the citadel.

[@pelicanofpunishment6]

There’s another inconsistency. In ME2, Samara claims she has 3 daughters and there are 3 Ardat Yakshi in the galaxy. Yet there is a monastery in ME3 to contain many of them. Which is a lot, considering Banshees are Ardat Yakshi Reaperised. Which leads to another inconsistency. The PTSD Asari in the hospital had a commando friend she wanted to be lovers with but couldn’t due to a “medical issue.” This commando was an AY but not in the monastery.

[@alexpage4355]

@@pelicanofpunishment6 To be fair, Samara said there were three that she _knew_ of. One of her stated goals, should she happen to survive the suicide mission was to continue scouring the galaxy in case there were others lurking in the shadows, out there.

[@aracniphobia1]

I think the monastery was also for known carriers of the ardat yakshi gene, like so they couldn't reproduce, and the reason Samara wouldn't be there too is that she seems to have sworn to celibacy as a justicar

[@pbluma]

So, let me get this straight... The Reapers built the Citadel, created the Keepers so that they would maintain it and hide its true purpose. The Protheans find out, and eventually a small team reprograms the keepers so they wouldn't obey their masters anymore, and also remove their ability to control the mass relay network, forcing them to fly at regular FTL speed. This time one of them who remained in the galaxy has to use Saren in order to gain control to Citadel's'' master controls'', he fails. Shepard then destroys the Alpha relay when he finds out that that's the systen where the Reapers would come first and this is the relay they're going to use for their invasion, because actually it's the oldest known relay in the Milky way and it has the capability to send mass to various places, even as far to to the Citadel, so... Now that it's gone, Harbinger is annoyed even more than before because now they have to make a detour and that takes time. And as far as I remember, they get to the Citadel in the 3rd game at the end, what do you mean 1st target? Are you talking about the Citadel being the first target in the previous cylces? Like it couldn't have been the first target because they had to get there first using one of the relays close by? I don't understand what you meant by ''Hence they could not reach citadel space until they have reached the next relay that linked to it. Thus it could not be a first target since it was near the middle of the galaxy'' I mean, the Citadel, being a mass relay itself, leads to dark space where they hybernate, and they used it to take control of the network, isolating everyone. Kind of like... Give command to the keepers for activation, jump to the Citadel and kill the governments there and other important leaders, then reprogram the relays and prevent the enemy from using them, use the several nearby relays to spread and genocide faster. Then again, I might be just re*ar*ed, it's late and I'm tired :D

[@LegendaryDarkKnight602]

A lot of them looked like they were missing shots that were headed straight towards Earth.

[@Aerowarrier]

Trainor is an absolute weirdo, if you romance her then Edi talks about how Shep is like 40% biotech and Trainor gets super turned on and wants to try and figure out how to make her spine glow, like she’s such a freak but it’s low key fantastic

[@ppprulz]

I think you also join her in the bath if you romance her, been a while though. And isnt she locked for femshep only?

[@ElecTrishian924]

@@ppprulz Yeah, she's gay

[@Aerowarrier]

@@ppprulz you do and she is. She’s 100% gay and thriving on it between Edi and Femshep lol

[@zelohendricks51]

Traynor is one of the best Romances imo

[@Amrylin1337]

The spine glow is a reference to BSG.

[@Topdawg42]

Regarding Liaras romance, if you play shadow broker you have the chance to get back together. Or you can break up with her in a good way. If you do that she won't be pissed in 3. You will just be good friends.

[@dieyng]

The tragedy about ME3 is that they did so much right, especially in regard to the characters and companions, only to have it fall apart at the very end. Not that the game doesn't have its flaws apart from it, like you mentioned the journal is horrible compared to the other games, I mean I actually had to write stuff down on paper to remember them, without having to search for it endlessly; that you have to stand and listen to conversations in the hope it might start a side mission, instead of just talking with the NPCs and of course the way a lot of our decisions didn't really matter at all. In regard to Kai Leng, he does appear in the Mass Effect novels trilogy about Anderson. And those were published before the game.

[@whatthehec108]

I love how Cortez's death was just glossed over when it was easily avoided.

[@Giddog40]

Yeah, when he got to that part of the video I just thought, so he didn’t talk to Steve

[@thehucklebillyfenn]

He was probably meming but he said that he played the entirely of ME2 in four hours for his review. He likely only plays and does things he feels are necessary.

[@whatthehec108]

@@thehucklebillyfenn It's understandable, considering how big these games are. He probably feels some amount of pressure to get them out as soon as possible, so missing some details is fine. I was just amused by how casual his death was mentioned, as if it was an unchangeable story moment. Besides, I've always considered these a review from a more casual standpoint.

[@TheTexasDice]

"STEEEEEEEVEEE" "It's okay, I'm alright." "ok"

[@aschles503]

@@thehucklebillyfenn When he said this, it didn't make any sense to me. He easily has over four hours of footage in his Mass Effect 2 video. In fact, the mass effect 2 video he uploaded is four hours long. And his video has so much cut content from his playthrough, like all the combat and cut-scene lengths, and all the talking to different people and crew members. So I don't think he was referring to doing all of Mass Effect 2 in only four hours, but I don't know what else he would have been referring to? I think he was referring to something else, he just worded it quite poorly. Edit: I just realized that when he said "the four hours I took for my mass effect 2 playthrough" he was talking about his video length, not that his entire playthrough took only four hours.

[@nathanielhughes8071]

"Maybe I'm missing aomwthing" in regards to the geth. Yeah, Legion explains it to you after you free him. The reapers didn't just take control of the geth, the geth sought out the help of the reaper because the quarians attacked. Even without the reaper signal, the geth are still at war and you are with their enemy.

[@MrSpartan993]

GAWD he’s fucking dense sometimes.

[@Inuzumi]

Been wondering. I remember the final fight before entering the laser being a mess. Brutes and husks spawning from literally thin air all over the place. Was that fixed in the remastered version to at least some degree?

[@wander7984]

I love when Grunt says "its grunting time" and proceed to kill a lot of racni

[@MrAjking808]

Stop the joke was never funny

[@WillFarshore]

Ok the "I'm dying from space polio" sequence had me gut laughing in a way I really needed today. Thank you so much for doing these. That earned a like and a sub.

[@Syenthros]

Also: Yes to Mass Effect: Andromeda. I didn't think it was a particularly good entry in the series, but it deserves to be talked about.

[@Texelion3Dprints]

Honestly the bad games are the best to talk about. With good games it's just "wow this was awesome, and this too, and this, and I love this character" and the few negatives are seen as nitpicking. With bad games you can learn something from their mistake, or you could discover that there are some good points you haven't seen before.

[@mr.steinhaus6014]

Decent game overall if it didn't have the "Mass Effect" label. I replayed a few months ago and had a great time.

[@Prodigial]

@@Texelion3Dprints What's there to learn that hasn't already been known? Don't hire people for clout and diversity when they are subpar. Don't rush out a buggy mess of a game. Don't try to "fix" a system that has worked for you in the past when you don't have the talent to build up a new system. The team that made Mass Effect Andromeda is so vastly different from the team that made Mass Effect 2 (the highlight of the series) that they should've known it would fail. Another example is how Obsidian was able to come in and make the best Fallout game by FAR in only 1 year while Bethesda has continuously botched the franchise and doesn't know what it stood for or what to do with it; Obsidian had people on its staff behind the first two games who understood the series whereas Bethesda just saw a cash cow.

[@grilledleeks6514]

I don't agree. It really did nothing deserving of being talked about.

[@Alva_Lombax]

its such a shame as well, cuz even with all the shortcomings of ME3, ppl where still hyped about adromeda, adn that game has a massive plot twist, even tho it lacks impact

[@KaNoMikoProductions]

Javik was not inserted into the game after release. He was not only day-1 DLC, but he was literally ON THE DISK.

[@AwkwardGMCorbin]

This was my experience when the game first launched to a T. 85% of the game I loved except for the ending. To put it into perspective: Preordered the game day 1, did not get any of the DLC including that extra companion. I told my girlfriend at the time I’d be MIA for a few days. And I 100% completed the base game. At the end, the best moment for me was Legion’s story. And the moments in between. I’d tell my friends “Sure the ending sucked, but the journey was amazing! I don’t care that I didn’t get a million and one endings. What I got was a journey that respected each side character and relationship my Shepard had. And that’s what I needed and what I got.

[@theonegoldengryphon]

Actually, you can be locked out of the paragon and renegade options in the final conversation with the Illusive man. To get them, you have to have picked paragon/renegade at every single opportunity the game gives you in previous conversations with the Illusive Man, a couple of which are hidden behind other dialogue. I missed one by accident, so I was locked out

[@venkateshshenoy4888]

Yes, this is actually something I really liked in ME3. You have to consistently choose Paragon/renegade throughout the entire game, and you'll see cracks show in the Illusive Man's demeanor as you get to the last few. I very much didn't agree with that criticism of his.

[@ember-evergarden]

Which is stupid because just choosing Paragon or just Renegade is dumb. You have to pick both

[@gamn6834]

Same problem, unless you are skipping dialogue you always go left first for extra info, then you go paragon or renegade there is no point in going for neutral, there are like 1-2 in which you talk to IM and the option on the left just continue the dialogue instead of giving more info, but you would still not miss it.

[@misternich4935]

@@gamn6834 they removed neutral dialogue for most of this game

[@thechatteringclown]

2:33:59 slight correction. javik was dlc, yes, but he was day one dlc, meaning you could buy the dlc the day the game launched. which, apart from causing a lot of outrage, because why wouldn't you included a fully fleshed out companion in the game when he's already completely finished by launch, means the whole game was programmed with javik in mind. they didn't have to go back to adjust anything for him, as he was always meant to be there. 3:03:02 you seem slightly confused how things work here. the reapers attacked the citadel during the prothean cycle a.) because that's where their point of entrance was meant to be, which we managed to disable during me1 and b.) due to the protheans being a single unified space empire they only had one centralised government, which resided on the citadel. by taking over the citadel, the reapers could get rid off their entire leadership at once and throw the remaining planets in chaos. however, it is made clear that that wouldn't work in our cycle. in our cycle the council is more like the un. yeah, they make some important large scale decisions, but ultimately each member has their own government, that makes their own decision independent from the council. therefore the reapers can't just attack the citadel and throw the galaxy in turmoil like they did with the ptotheans, as all that would happen is that each race would simply fall back to taking orders from their own government instead. thanks to the decentralized leadership structure of this cycle, the reapers attacking the citadel would do absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, so they don't really have a reason to do so. not until they learn about the conduit once cerberus get their hands on the AI on thessia.

[@voleNTV]

Yes, I would like to see you cover Andromeda. Especially with all of the supposed updates and improvements it's gotten. I recently bought it for a second time, this one on PC because it was on sale and have yet to fully beat it. I got about halfway on PS4.

[@saintjames1995]

Andromeda is just so ungodly boring. Great combat tho

[@MrSpookersMcGeeThe1st]

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.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Played through the entire trilogy as the Soldier and didn't discover the charge-nova combo until I started playing the multiplayer in 3. Since then, all my playthroughs are Soldier in the first game (because it's the least janky class) and respec to Vanguard for 2 and 3.

[@uhobme2028]

Man, EVE has got to be one of the most underrated characters in the franchise, only playthrough I could bring myself to betray the Krogan is the one where Wreav is the sole Leader left.

[@artur6912]

1:40:52 I love how choosing a different class totally alters the perception of some levels. I played as a sniper so this room was a breeze for me, but I also recall the final fight with Petrovsky, locked in a room full of adjutants, you barely even mentioned the fight since it was a perfect match for the jump,nova,shotgun combo but I really struggled with that fight because getting close to enemy or rapid fire where two things my shep sucked at.

[@bigbrexitdad879]

i fucking raged at the Petrovsky fight playing infiltrator

[@absollum]

I played it with an engineer, and if I didn't have my turrets and drones, I would have died a lot.

[@StevenZephyc]

It became really obvious if you played multiplayer that there were really only 3 classes: Soldier & infiltrator a.k.a the distance cover shooters Adept, engineer, sentinel, a.k.a middle distance magic casters Then there's vanguard a.k.a get me closer I want to hit him with my Omni sword

[@ViperPilot16]

My first playthrough I was an engineer so I kept hearing "I forgot your an engineer in all this shooting". It was honestly kinda funny, especially after you just uno reverse card Petrovsky lol.

[@NilRacing]

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...

[@alcoholicgoat]

This is a really great video and I echo a lot of sentiments in it. Glad to see a more nuanced video painting ME3 in a much fairer light and not writing off the entire game. The ending is really difficult to justify.

[@DraculOkeanos]

Slight correction - at 1:06:19 you mention the Salarian Councillor being the one who tried to double-cross the Krogan. That's actually incorrect - the Salarian Dalatress, while she looks very similar, is NOT the same person as the Salarian Councilor. They really should have named these two, though.

[@PsyrenXY]

They did name them actually: Dalatrass = Linron, female Councilor (saved, ME1) = Valern, male Councilor (didn't save) = Esheel, female

[@DraculOkeanos]

Oh! Thank you! So yes, Valern/Esheel is less of a shitheel than Linron.@@PsyrenXY

[@kaptenteo]

Javik was actually in the launch version, but Bioware had blocked access to him and his recruitment mission unless you paid extra for it (or had pre-ordered the game, I think). So he wasn't inserted after release.

[@noneofyourbusiness7010]

Originally he was intended to play a much bigger role in the story but publishers decided they wanted a day 1 dlc so his role was changed drastically

[@GamerPete101]

@@noneofyourbusiness7010 That’s not why it was changed. Originally he was so pivotal to the story that the devs realized Shepard had become a glorified chauffeur taking this plot critical character where they needed to be. So they cut him and reworked the story. Then, when they were making decisions about DLC, they decided to bring him back. Contrary to the narrative of content being cut for DLC, a more common circumstance is that content cut for other reasons gets repurposed as DLC.

[@wngmv]

You did not get javid for free if you had pre-ordered the game. I pre-ordered and had to shell out an extra $10 for it. That, plus what was the first loot box (upgrade in the oven coop multiplayer) made me3 an incredibly greedy game.

[@MishraArtificer]

@@wngmv The "From Ashes" DLC with Javik was included in the Collector's Edition; I got it on my PC version, back in the day. Did you get the standard release?

[@hihihi1q23]

One thing that's interesting about this game is that Jennifer Hepler - who worked as a writer - was harassed to the point she quit because she said she didn't like gameplay and preferred story, and wished there was a way to skip combat to get to the story. She was widely mocked. Fast forward to the present year, and virtually every story-driven game has a 'story mode' option that basically lets you skip combat lmao.

[@NishmoTheGreat]

I vehemently enjoyed the Star Fox message pop-up sound at 2:46:34. Just wanted to let you know that your editing has been top notch

[@BillyKatze]

Thanes death hits even harder when you play as FemShep. "Kolyat, why did the last verse say 'she'?" "The prayer was not for him. He already asked forgivness. It was for you." in his last moments in life he asks his gods for mercy on your soul. god damn.

[@monkeybone1080]

You get that as Maleshep though, just without the "she" part obviously.

[@Kris-wo4pj]

@@monkeybone1080 hits harder with the gender switch

[@monkeybone1080]

@@Kris-wo4pj Opinions

[@jamesiron4010]

everything is worse if you're a woman

[@MerrilMicra]

Garrus used to be my fav romance just because the whole there's no shepard without vakarian thing really worked for me. But now I'm a lot more grown up I can appreciate the grief and angst of Thane's romance so much more and after I replayed recently I ended up regretting not romancing him. He's my fav now

[@Aerowarrier]

God seeing Garrus holding back a bawling Tali while she watches her love go off to almost certain death hits so fucking hard. I forget who I had with me on my Talimance playthrough but I missed that and I regret it now

[@NeverSaySandwich1]

Tali died in my playthrough and the writing for it was so dumb

[@jeremypurdy1833]

@@NeverSaySandwich1 How was it dumb?

[@LostShipMate]

@@NeverSaySandwich1 You mean when you choose the Geth over her people? When she watches everyone she considers family die, and decides to follow them by falling off a cliff?

[@kittogashi8561]

I decided to be Javik's buddy in my last playthrough. Watching him get poleaxed at the end, essentially being commanded to survive hit harder than I thought it would, and made even his modest-at-best character development impactful.

[@wilsonweiseng6485]

Seeing Garrus stutter in front of a female is... wow this is the wise-crack Garrus i remembered

[@dabluflcn]

I’ll die on Indoctrination Theory hill.

[@wrayday7149]

The bear and the dog reference is in regards to if you come under attack by a bear and your dog comes to your rescue. You sacrifice the dog to buy time to run away from the bear.... because at the end of the day, it's just a dog. A lot of people on the Ashley Hate train never bother to listen to what she is saying. They don't take into account the fact that she has been in the military fighting aliens her entire life. She just lost her squad to aliens who wiped out the colony she was on.... and it turned out it was done by an agent of the Citadel. Then she witnesses the Council wipe that under the rug, disbelieve Shepard's evidence, and the guy who killed her team get away with it.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Not to mention that the people who just discount Ashley because she's "space racist" don't just forget she has all the reasons you stated to backup her views, but that by the end of the first game she's also mellowed out on those views after working with the multi-species crew of the Normandy. Meanwhile, Kaiden just has headaches as his character arc.

[@JpK_23]

Grunt falling from the hospital had me dying of laughter. Best character hands down.

[@solicitr666]

"I love you, Grunt."

[@LegendaryDarkKnight602]

Just press this button and say "no."

[@Silvertough123]

So, you mentioned at the tail-end of your discussion on the Leviathan DLC that it was silly that the Reapers didn't immediately attack the Citadel and repeat what they did with the Protheans. The thing is, they were planning on it, but you stopped them. In Mass Effect 1, you learn that a small group of Prothean scientists who survived the purge traveled to the now empty Citadel and basically reprogrammed the Keepers to be immune to the Reaper's influence. Without that influence, the Reapers were unable to use the secret mass relay at the heart of the Citadel. They then attempted plan B, which was to use the Alpha Relay. You destroyed it in the Arrival DLC in Mass Effect 2. So basically, the Reapers were forced to start from the outer edges of the Galaxy and work their way in towards the Council races, instead of being able to overwhelm them all in a targeted strike at their government, like they had done for countless millennia.

[@ramirogodfrid7331]

👏👏👏

[@grzegorzflorek5623]

That doesn't explain why they haven't rushed to capture the Citadel as the first objective. If they did, they would cut our access to FTL and Mass Relays, and stopped any chance of organizing united resistance. Instead, they cherry picked different worlds for harvest. I'll explain why. Because if the Reapers did this (as simple logic required), we would have lost already. There would be no way to leave our systems, to escape Reapers, or to gather resources from the entire Galaxy to build Crucible in a safe place. Reapers had to make a brain dead decision for this game to have any reason to exist. So basically, a plot convienience. That's it.

[@rickoshay5525]

@@grzegorzflorek5623 The whole pulling-out-a-super-weapon-at-the-last-minute felt like a real shoehorn. We were supposed to win originally because the Reapers lost the Citadel, as well as the element of surprise.

[@grzegorzflorek5623]

@@rickoshay5525 Yeah, that too. That should have been explained in ME2, not at the last second...

[@thechatteringclown]

​@@grzegorzflorek5623 what are you talking about? FTL and mass relays have nothing to do with the citadel. they work perfectly fine on their own. no, it is explained that they didn't bother rushing the citadel because it wouldn't really do anything during our cycle. unlike with the protheans, who were united under one centralized empire and had all their leadership sitting in one place, therefore making the citadel a prime target, the council in this cycle doesn't really matter all that much. yeah, they make some important decisions, but at the end of the day they are just a bunch of ambassadors sitting around and arguing all day. i mean, what would attacking the council actually accomplish? nothing. humanity would still have their leadership on earth to give them orders, the asari would still have their leaders on thessia and the turians still would have their leaders on palaven, ect. us actually being a coalition of planets with a decentralised government instead of being one unified empire actually saved our butts, since, unlike with the protheans, the reaper don't have a single target to destroy to take out our entire leadership at once. they have to spread their attention between several planets, spreading out their forces in the process, which bought us just enough time. the reapers don't really have a reason to attack the citadel until they learn about its importance from cerberus.

[@Piketom1]

1:04:00 The game does address this either in the scene or a little later when you follow up with Thane. He says that the assassin should be ashamed that a dying Drell was able to top him from killing his target.

[@TheTrevbear]

1:52:55 It doesn’t matter what I’m doing or where I’m at, the second I hear this, the tears just start rolling down.