I played the Mass Effect games back when they were originally released, and fell in love with the series during the first game. The second in the series cemented my love of it, as it took everything from the first game and refined it. I loved the third game in the series up until the end and remember being disappointed when I first completed it.
I completed the first game, then completed it a second time before the second game's release. I went back and completed both of them again in time for the third, and never replayed the games after finishing the third.
Then the legendary edition was released a few years back, and I replayed the series once more. I got right to the middle of the third game at the time, and life got in the way, so I stopped, but recently I loaded my save and instantly became obsessed with it.
Each night, when the kids were asleep, I'd get in 1-2 hours of it until I inevitably passed out.
My Character Felt Very Over-Powered
That's one thing I noticed during my playthrough of the final game.
Firefights were not challenging at all, and that kind of spoiled the fun, and took me out of the story of this game a bit.
We are in this epic final push against the reapers; all the worlds of the Milky Way are fighting desperately for survival. The bodies pile high all around us, entire battalions being wiped out in minutes, cities and - at large - worlds are falling... nobody can stand against this horde of cosmic terrors.
Who's that? It's Commander Shepard, of course. He and his two companions are just strolling through the streets where the fighting is thickest, and their shields haven't dropped once.
That was kind of funny to me; hearing the absolute chaos taking place, and the total annihilation of worlds, while I was barely breaking a sweat.
I had a pistol which took out the biggest enemies in a matter of seconds, so yeah, it was a little bit immersion-breaking.
For my next playthrough, I'll be doing it on insanity difficulty, for the achievements, but also to feel like my squad and I are in danger to some degree.
The Ending
I was so sad when it was all over, and because I only ever played the third game once, most of it was brand new to me, which I was so happy about.
The end was heart-wrenching because I felt like I needed some sort of epilogue to say goodbye to all of the characters.
I played the Citadel DLC, which has us throw a massive party where we can invite all of our companions around for a last hurrah. It did help to have those final moments with everyone, knowing the end was near, but I just wish there was a bit more.
I chose the destroy ending, and had nearly 8,000 military assets, so I managed to get the ending slide where Shepard survives. But, rather than having to imagine what happened, I would have loved it if there was a small additional DLC released, where we could explore the aftermath of the war, and just talk with everyone, and get started on the rebuilding efforts.
What Was Lacking?
One major thing that bugged me about the game's ending was primarily during the final battle when we arrived back on Earth.
I felt like going around and doing all of the side missions and gathering the huge force was a bit of a waste of time, as I saw very little evidence that anyone I gathered was there helping us.
Sure, the fleet was immense, but I didn't see any Geth, whom I managed to help, or the Quarians. I didn't see any of Aria's mercs, or any of the other races I managed to recruit. It was mainly just Humans, Turians, and Krogans. So, what was the point?
It would have been nice to see the final battle drastically change based on our war assets. I almost got all available assets, but, narrative-wise, I felt like I gathered barely any.
I know it would have been tough on the team, but I would have loved to see that final battle look completely different based on how much we managed to accomplish throughout the games.
For example, imagine getting there and seeing the top brass completely disappointed in the severe lack of help, or vice versa, seeing them jump for joy with complete confidence based on how many people we brought together.
I heard some mods help expand it, but seeing it in the official game would have been great.
All in all, it was a brilliant end to the series, and when it was all over, I was satisfied, but it left me wanting so much more.
In fact, it left me wanting to stay in the universe a bit longer, so I went and bought a series of four Mass Effect novels. Which, I can't wait to arrive.
