Quote:
Originally Posted by killtrocity
Definitely in agreement here. Not sure why we can't have streamlined gameplay and exploration 
I'm done talking about the storyline for ME3, but suffice to say I had no motivation to play any DLC or extended cut after finishing the game the first time, in stark contrast to ME1 and 2. I didn't even hate the ending like many folks, but there was zero payoff. The gameplay is fluid and streamlined, but there are plenty of fine-tuned shooters out there, and 20-40 hours is a lot of time to devote to something.
On the subject of writing endings, Vince of Breaking Bad:
The lack of a "walking off into the sunset" is not the issue with ME3. There's a difference between tone and payoff.
Also, I'm not sure how much the following factors in, but you were well-prepared to brace yourself for a lackluster ending and therefore likely lowered your expectations to some degree. I'm currently in the fifth season of The Sopranos and am well aware that plenty of folks were unsatisfied with the series finale. This is inevitably going to affect my overall impression of the finale, because I know not to expect payoff.
In any case, Mass Effect is a fine series. I am however extremely wary of the streamlined, simplified approach Bioware has adopted for its recent games and will hold off on trying further Dragon Age,ME, or KOTOR (maybe? with the recent acquisition?) titles until reviews roll in |
What, exactly, would qualify as adequate "payoff"? I'm really not sure what you were expecting, aside from maybe an epic final boss fight, which I wasn't expecting (and I wasn't expecting one even before I read the spoilers).
ME suffers from
Lost Syndrome. The storylines of both
Lost and
Mass Effect were about personal journeys, and people mistakenly believed they were about some elaborate mythology of their respective universes. The reality is, the mythology was just window dressing. In fact, both
Lost and
Mass Effect started to lose steam when their respective stories started to focus more and more on the mythology and less on the characters. The reason for this is, the mythology of both was never the core strength of either; in fact, it was likely the biggest weakness of each. Emphasizing this only made the deficiencies more glaring.
Some people will blame that on a lack of vision and creativity of the writers, and to an extent I agree with that (the writers of both clearly wrote themselves into corners at places), but again, the mythology was never the core focus of either
Lost or
Mass Effect.
In the end, yes, ME3 (as well as the last season of
Lost) was a bit rushed and could have been done a little better, but fans who perceived the series as something it wasn't are as much to blame for the alleged "disappointment" that was the ending because they were expecting something that the series wasn't.
The ending was fine, "payoff" or otherwise.
And Vince Gilligan was one of the main writers for
The X-Files. He's in no position to talk about payoff (or lack thereof) in a series.
