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Jan 2, 2015





SubponticatePoster posted:

Elevate me

We descend into a majestic Prothean ruin and observe the pinnacle of people moving technology. In other words we go into a grubby pit and ride elevators. Inside we find Benezia's daughter, Liara and she's being hunted by Saren's goons.

In ME1 Liara is sort of the equivalent of a nerdy girl. She's naive, shy, and unlike all those other Asari she dresses sensibly. I like Liara but she's not portrayed very well in ME1. By the time 2 rolls around she's capable, confident, and pretty :black101: She also finds a sense of humor somewhere. At the beginning of ME3 she casually executes a couple of Cerberus dudes who were chasing her like it's nothing. In 1 however, the "barely more than a child" comment is sort of gross and creepy (they could have said "barely considered an adult" and sounded less :pedo: ) and they kind of go out of their way to emphasize how Liara is pure and virginal unlike those slutty Asari we've been running into. Also her idle animation is this :stare: thing where she sensually runs her hand down her chest. WTF Bioware.

Wrex is right that in combat her biotics come in handy. She's got singularity, which in 1 results in hilarious clusterfucks because the objects all have their own physics. Nothing like levitating an entire room of crates into the ceiling and then flinging them around. Give her a good pistol and decent armor with cooldown reduction; you won't be disappointed.



Liara is rather mature for her age, most asari at that point in their lives are thrill-seeking mercenaries and/or strippers. Being childish means something different to the long-lived asari I guess. At some point you realize that being an adult means more than just deciding you can live a life of wanton pleasure you can eat icecream every meal just because you make your own decisions now.

Pittsburgh Lambic posted:

Mass Effect 3's plot was all over the place, but made moves in the right direction a lot of the time. What really pulled me into the game was the crushing hopelessness, of watching the galaxy losing more to the Reapers day by day. You have your victories, and those victories are dramatic enough to feel like they might mean something in the war, up until the Reapers make their next move.

The game kept that rhythm right up until the ending, which shat itself by being a sudden tonal shift and a hollow attempt at resolving everything in a semi-palatable manner. I like to think that the canonical ending is the one where the Crucible is damaged, blows up when activated, and almost completely annihilates galactic civilization, setting the stage for a new war against the yahg.

The odd thing sbout ME3 is that 40-95% of it is pretty good - that's what makes it all the more frustrating. The percentage varies based on your tolerance of Kai Leng, phantom ghost boy sequences, the convenient discovery of the crucible plans the moment it was needed (right next door to earth no less), stupid sexy EDI, the changes to Cerberus and of course the ending, which might include the entire final sequence. Pretty much anything that was uniquely introduced in ME3 that's not Javik or Thessia. If you can at least tolerate those things you might see how they're thematically appropriate and contribute to the whole but that might be asking a lot of someone. The genophage, the Quarian-Geth conflict, etc did play out satisfactorily at minimum for most on the one hand but the other those were issues brought in from other games. Either way I can appreciate the inverse correlation of writing & game-play vs time in this trilogy.

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wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


I'm pretty sure the boxy steel elevator was put in by the archeological team, like the catwalks.

Judge Tesla
Oct 29, 2011

:frogsiren:
This was also the first video game Ali Hillis, Liara's voice actor did vocal work for, so she sounds a little flat compared to 2 and 3, and the dozens of games she's appeared in since.

Up Circle
Apr 3, 2008
I never bought Liara as a stone cold killer. Her conversations in 2 had me literally laughing out loud at the entire concept of her and all that shadow broker nonsense.

Judge Tesla
Oct 29, 2011

:frogsiren:

Up Circle posted:

I never bought Liara as a stone cold killer. Her conversations in 2 had me literally laughing out loud at the entire concept of her and all that shadow broker nonsense.

If you are in a relationship with her, she more or less says that her stone cold killer speeches are just an act she puts on as a public face.

Manic_Misanthrope
Jul 1, 2010


Hanging up on the Council is the best part of a Renegade run. They even start to point out you're just calling them to hang up mid-call.

Taffy Torpedo
Feb 2, 2008

...Can we have the radio?
Oh man perfect timing for this thread, I've been doing a trilogy playthrough and just started ME2. Was doing it as an Infiltrator but I might switch to Vanguard for 2 and switch back for 3, cause three games in a row with the same playstyle would probably get boring.

ME1 is one of those games where it's everything almost works but doesn't. I think if you gave it the combat of 2/3 and made the Mako sections less poo poo it'd be my favourite for sure. I liked the more RPG elements like having more skills to level and upgrading weapons and armour and stuff, even if that did come with the problems of endless crates filled with useless poo poo and "oh my god how is every tier IV pistol worse than the loving Stinger II?" and the like.

Oh well still love it though and one day I will actually finish a Renegade run.

Regalingualius
Jan 7, 2012

We gazed into the eyes of madness... And all we found was horny.




I still maintain that ME3's Vanguard was the single most fun experience to play in the entire series.

SubponticatePoster
Aug 9, 2004

Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.
Slippery Tilde
Combat in 3 is a delight on any class. I think that's why you can still find MP matches with no problem since it's just combat distilled down to it's purest form. I was one of those people who thought "Christ, why are they shoehorning in some dumbass MP thing this is gonna suck" and in checking my stats to date I've played 2229 games for a total of 846 hours, am ranked 5381 in the world on N7 leaderboards and 2115 on achievements for PS3. I have BotB and almost all of the special weekend challenge medals (I think I missed a total of 4 weekend events). It's insane how much I've played that game.

Lonos Oboe
Jun 7, 2014
TRUTHFUL STATEMENT: This one enjoys biotic butts.

hard counter
Jan 2, 2015





SubponticatePoster posted:

Combat in 3 is a delight on any class.

I agree, mostly. Pure biotics and techies get a ton of fun abilities and ability combos to work in with gunplay while the mixed classes range from having the perfect blend of abilities & survive-ability to living fast and making enemies die harder. I do think soldiers get the raw end of the deal by 3 though since any class can use any weapon, weight affects ability cooldowns and infinite ammo guns exist. They're still fun but they didn't quite keep pace with the other classes in the way those uniquely branched out and received improvements. Maybe soldiers should have had exclusive access to non-plot heavy weapon load-outs? Alternatively if you're picking the straight fps class you're probably doing that because you love that poo poo so maybe I shouldn't be so hard on them.

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


The entire reason 3 is such a tragedy is that the vast majority of the game is really good, then we get to the end.

Pittsburgh Lambic
Feb 16, 2011

quote:

LORD POLONIUS

Aghast, what, ho. Terrified beyond reason, help, help, help.

HAMLET

Enraged, how now, a rat. Murderously, dead for a ducat, dead.

[Lumbers over to curtain and awkwardly penetrates the fabric with a cranial-mounted omni-tool blade]

LORD POLONIUS

In mortal agony, oh, I am slain.

[Loud thump from behind curtain after about ten seconds]

QUEEN GERTRUDE

Horrified, oh me, what hast thou done.

Lonos Oboe
Jun 7, 2014

quote:

HAMLET:

O, I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit:
I cannot live to hear the news from England;
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.

(Dies.)

HORATIO

Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy- ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL

J.theYellow
May 7, 2003
Slippery Tilde
This thread is making me care about Mass Effect.

Aces High
Mar 26, 2010

Nah! A little chocolate will do




I think the only thing that I hate about the first Mass Effect is that enemies have the same skills as you (kind of) which means that snipers have Assassination. That means they can kill you in one hit and it is loving annoying because snipers are everywhere :argh:

DeusExMachinima
Sep 2, 2012

:siren:This poster loves police brutality, but only when its against minorities!:siren:

Put this loser on ignore immediately!

Manic_Misanthrope posted:

Hanging up on the Council is the best part of a Renegade run. They even start to point out you're just calling them to hang up mid-call.

Joker can comment on your asshattery in later games too. Warnings for ME3 videos if you care:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SOshFIUeos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YAQ5XH7kcg

It's been a few years since I've played ME so my memory may not be 100% but I'm pretty sure those conversations don't just happen automatically. I think they're variables saved all the way from ME1 and used by Bioware 5 years later in ME3 because I don't recall it happening in my Paragon trilogy run.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIfx32iAjzU

Psion
Dec 13, 2002

eVeN I KnOw wHaT CoRnEr gAs iS
I've seen the second one even on a no-hangup import, the first I think requires a plot flag.

SubponticatePoster
Aug 9, 2004

Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.
Slippery Tilde
Now that we've got everyone I'm gonna do a lap around the ship and do some chatting. This won't make for a super exciting video so I can either split it up over a couple of updates or just get it out of the way, whichever folks prefer.

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

SubponticatePoster posted:

Now that we've got everyone I'm gonna do a lap around the ship and do some chatting. This won't make for a super exciting video so I can either split it up over a couple of updates or just get it out of the way, whichever folks prefer.

Just chat to one or two crew members at a time at the end of the next few videos. People who don't care about that can stop watching then. I liked how you basically dealt with one companion at a time in Inquisition, so doing something similar for ME should work just as well.

Judge Tesla
Oct 29, 2011

:frogsiren:

SubponticatePoster posted:

Now that we've got everyone I'm gonna do a lap around the ship and do some chatting. This won't make for a super exciting video so I can either split it up over a couple of updates or just get it out of the way, whichever folks prefer.

Tali doesn't really have anything amazing to say, she's pretty much a walking Encyclopedia for Quarian culture in ME 1, expect to hear the word "Pilgrimage" a lot if you do chat to her.

Aces High
Mar 26, 2010

Nah! A little chocolate will do




that's not entirely true, she has trouble sleeping because the ship is too quiet :v:

SubponticatePoster
Aug 9, 2004

Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.
Slippery Tilde

Judge Tesla posted:

Tali doesn't really have anything amazing to say, she's pretty much a walking Encyclopedia for Quarian culture in ME 1, expect to hear the word "Pilgrimage" a lot if you do chat to her.
Hey I've got no problem skipping people until they have something interesting to say. Or leaving it out entirely, although a couple of people in the thread have mentioned they never played 1 so I thought I'd show off at least some of it.

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Tali is worth bringing along everywhere purely because I don't have to leave a high level decryption or electronics object lying around.

monster on a stick
Apr 29, 2013

wiegieman posted:

Tali is worth bringing along everywhere purely because I don't have to leave a high level decryption or electronics object lying around.

You get that with Kaidan too. Plus Lift.

Bobfly
Apr 22, 2007
EGADS!

SubponticatePoster posted:

Hey I've got no problem skipping people until they have something interesting to say. Or leaving it out entirely, although a couple of people in the thread have mentioned they never played 1 so I thought I'd show off at least some of it.

Despite what I've said earlier, I think ME1 works well enough as a highlight reel of sorts. The story does have its high points.

hard counter
Jan 2, 2015





Judge Tesla posted:

Tali doesn't really have anything amazing to say, she's pretty much a walking Encyclopedia for Quarian culture in ME 1, expect to hear the word "Pilgrimage" a lot if you do chat to her.

Too bad Sten was qunari and not quarian.

"So, tell us about your pilgrimage."
"no."

Thesaya
May 17, 2011

I am a Plant.

SubponticatePoster posted:

Hey I've got no problem skipping people until they have something interesting to say. Or leaving it out entirely, although a couple of people in the thread have mentioned they never played 1 so I thought I'd show off at least some of it.

I am one of those and I would love to get as much conversations as possible. However the format of putting it at the end of videos sounds like a good one.

Kurieg
Jul 19, 2012

RIP Lutri: 5/19/20-4/2/20
:blizz::gamefreak:

hard counter posted:

Too bad Sten was qunari and not quarian.

"So, tell us about your pilgrimage."
"no."

That would mean there's also an Iron Bull quarian. And that would be amazing.

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

Kurieg posted:

That would mean there's also an Iron Bull quarian. And that would be amazing.

We had an Iron Bull Quarian.

His name was Kal'Reegar.

And he had a rocket launcher.

CoffeeQaddaffi
Mar 20, 2009
Personally, I liked the way you did the conversation videos for DAI. But if you're looking to shake it up, I'd say film all of the conversations and throw one or two people in at the beginning or end of a slightly shorter video to pad it. Maybe do all the one and done conversations in one video, plus one or two ship based side quest.

Or however you like, you seem to have a pretty good idea of how you want your LPs to go.

DeusExMachinima
Sep 2, 2012

:siren:This poster loves police brutality, but only when its against minorities!:siren:

Put this loser on ignore immediately!

monster on a stick posted:

You get that with Kaidan too. Plus Lift.

Tali isn't literally made of cardboard though. And also not doomed to always get left behind in a nuclear blast. :fry:

Aces High
Mar 26, 2010

Nah! A little chocolate will do




also Kaidan doesn't get a shotgun :black101:

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

DeusExMachinima posted:

Tali isn't literally made of cardboard though. And also not doomed to always get left behind in a nuclear blast. :fry:

Neither is Kaidan. Bye, xenophobe!

mauman
Jul 30, 2014

Whoever's got the biggest whiskers does the talking.

Aces High posted:

also Kaidan doesn't get a shotgun :black101:

Tali can't lift a Geth Colossus with her mind <_<

hard counter
Jan 2, 2015





Kurieg posted:

That would mean there's also an Iron Bull quarian. And that would be amazing.

The hedonistic pansexual Iron Bosh would just be sick all the time :ohdear:

Judge Tesla
Oct 29, 2011

:frogsiren:

DeusExMachinima posted:

Tali isn't literally made of cardboard though. And also not doomed to always get left behind in a nuclear blast. :fry:

You can make up for this though by siding with the Geth in ME3 which results in the entire Quarian race being wiped out, Tali included!

My Q-Face
Jul 8, 2002

A dumb racist who need to kill themselves

Pittsburgh Lambic posted:

Garrus could have become a legendary figure like Shepard, but it all came down to the hand that he was dealt. If not for being suddenly approached by a group of angry humans wanting everything Garrus had learned during his failed investigation of Saren, Garrus would have lived and died alone, forgotten as soon as the Keepers showed up to cart his body away to the reprocessing vats.

But this isn't exactly true. You can ignore Garrus or decline to take him with you and he will still go to Omega to become Archangel, except instead of being old friends, you will vaguely recognize each other, like "Oh yeah, didn't I meet you in the council chambers that one time?'. And then become best friends by ME3 anyway.


Doc Morbid posted:

My favorite thing about Zaeed is how people put him in charge of the fire team or send him to escort the crew, and then it's a total surprise to them when everyone gets killed. It would be even better if everyone but Zaeed died in those situations, but oh well.

:wth: Ahahahaha! I never realized this! That's hilarious.


Aces High posted:

I think the only thing that I hate about the first Mass Effect is that enemies have the same skills as you (kind of) which means that snipers have Assassination. That means they can kill you in one hit and it is loving annoying because snipers are everywhere :argh:

I liked that enemies had tech abilities and could cast overload on you, which a lot of people took to be the game bugging out because they couldn't shoot any of their weapons and never put two and two together. It's the same thing with enemies having Warp and Fire effects in ME3MP.

My Q-Face fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Jan 7, 2016

SubponticatePoster
Aug 9, 2004

Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.
Slippery Tilde
Cheaters prosper

Off to Noveria in order to cheat ourselves some P/R score. Along the way we hax0r a dude's Blackberry, agree to smuggle for a jellyfish, murder an unpleasant woman, and get an rear end in a top hat arrested.

The Asari thing with pseudo-native nicknames gets dropped really quickly (thank god). Liara is Little Wing and we are apparently an unshiny (or stupid) rock. It's here at the beginning of 1 and it never comes up again except as a callback in 3, though admittedly a fairly good one. It doesn't make sense in game context that we can literally kill people for interfering with our mission and yet we get stonewalled by a crooked middle-manager. I'd have liked it more if they just offered you the opportunity to shoot Anoleis where he sits and take his loving pass, or you get a lot more xp/credits for doing it the other way but I guess game padding is important. You can not agree to help Parasini, get Qui'in to hand over his pass and be on your merry way. You get credits if you choose that option, hence Tali's comment.

For once Bioware's buggy conversation loops benefit us and our goal of a full P/R bar. The way you do it is after agreeing to help Parasini, go talk to Qui'in. Use the P/R choice and get your points. Then talk to him again and ask about Benezia, then choose "ask something else." The testify option will be there, pick your poison and do it ad nauseum until you're happy with your score. It's a relative thing (if you have too much in one score or the other you'll stop getting the 2nd option) so I recommend doing a couple red/blue and then switching it up. This also works on 360. The higher your P/R score, the more points available in charm/intimidate so I also threw some points into that so we can buy poo poo cheaper and sell them for more.

I'll grab the vendor's smuggling package off-screen because you just get some credits for it. You can return it to the jelly or go find Inamorda yourself and sell it to him directly. We're gonna veer off the main plot and do BDtS since you get some really good stuff out of it, notably amps/omnitools.

e: I spel gud

SubponticatePoster fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jan 7, 2016

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monster on a stick
Apr 29, 2013
I think you can also just give the package to the Administrator and get the pass, which should be the fastest way.

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