# Mass Effect Legendary - my thoughts while I play these games (spoilers as I play) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [May 13, 2021, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984 "2021-05-13T11:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/524 "2021-06-09T16:44:08Z")
Yeah, but if you kill the Rachni queen in ME1, the one you see in ME3 is a Reaper-created clone. If you let her go, she destroys some of your War Assets. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/525 "2021-06-09T21:15:49Z")
Yeah. She’s a good asset if you did not kill her in ME1 and free her in ME3. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/526 "2021-06-09T21:27:55Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > One of the biggest criticisms of the ending is that your choices didn’t REALLY matter in the games My criticism is that the over the top epic scale of the Reaper invasion makes so much of what you do in the first 2 games moot. All those people you helped with their little problems? Probably all dead anyway. Parts of those vague heaps of bodies all over the citadel. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/527 "2021-06-09T21:47:04Z")
Huh. I never even considered what happened to all of the civilians and refugees on the Citadel when it got taken over by the Reapers. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/528 "2021-06-10T08:34:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The main point is Shepard was being indoctrinated from the beginning. I think that playing games with reality would have lessened the emotional impact of the story. Remember, Mass Effect is first and foremost about the characters; what’s the point of bonding with them if we later find out your relationships with them weren’t real? Besides, we already have a _Bioshock_. > [@hogarth](#): > > Huh. I never even considered what happened to all of the civilians and refugees on the Citadel when it got taken over by the Reapers. They’re all dead. Captain Baily, Thane’s kid, that poor orphan girl from the docks… all of them. That’s actually the one part of the game’s ending that really bothered me. If only they’d had some throwaway line about people getting out before the Reapers took the station, but no. It’s a small but inarguable blemish on a great game. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/529 "2021-06-10T11:22:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > They’re all dead. Captain Baily, Thane’s kid, that poor orphan girl from the docks… all of them. That’s actually the one part of the game’s ending that really bothered me. If only they’d had some throwaway line about people getting out before the Reapers took the station, but no. It’s a small but inarguable blemish on a great game. Huh, I didn’t realize that. Good point and kind of crappy storytelling. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/530 "2021-06-10T11:38:13Z")
I haven’t played the new version but the originals were great. The one thing that really bothered me was how inconsistent the writing in ME3 was; ME3’s DLCs destroyed the main game in every way possible. ME3: From Ashes, Leviathan, Omega, and Citadel all were just outstanding while the base game was just okay. I can’t be alone in this? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/531 "2021-06-10T11:41:57Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > ME3: From Ashes, Leviathan, Omega, and Citadel all were just outstanding while the base game was just okay. I can’t be alone in this? They are certainly essential and now that they come with the Legendary Edition, it’s hard to picture the main game without them. Hey, so I did all of them including Leviathan. Did Leviathan just add to my Military Strength or was there a cutscene of it doing something in the final confrontation? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/532 "2021-06-10T11:44:56Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > One of the biggest criticisms of the ending is that your choices didn’t REALLY matter in the games. It bothered me that the game seemed to go out of its way to make sure _certain_ choices didn’t matter. Did you put Anderson on the Council? Too bad - Udina took his place in between games. Did you let the old Council die and put humanity in charge? Too bad - there’s a new Council that’s exactly as nearsighted and ineffectual as the old one. Did you reprogram the renegade geth? Too bad - the new collective consensus is to side with the Reapers anyway. Did you destroy the Collector base or hand it over to Cerberus? Too bad - it has no effect on the plot either way. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/533 "2021-06-10T11:50:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It bothered me that the game seemed to go out of its way to make sure _certain_ choices didn’t matter. I have just come up with a new theory that explains it all, fortunately: both ME 2 and ME 3 were a dream! At the end of ME 1, Shepard is shown buried in a pile of rubble and at the end of the ME 3 “Destroy” ending, Shepard is shown buried in a pile of rubble. Therefore, it’s the same rubble and Shepard dreamed everything in between. Clearly it’s twice as good as the “Indoctrination” theory because it explains twice as many plot holes! E.g. why do guns suddenly use thermal clips, why do Shepard’s powers change, why has Shepard never heard of the Collectors and drell when everyone else has, why does Shepard work for Cerberus so willingly, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/534 "2021-06-10T12:04:58Z")
Repeat to yourself, it’s just a (game), I should really just relax… ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/535 "2021-06-10T12:22:17Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > E.g. why do guns suddenly use thermal clips Honestly, I was OK with the thermal clips, but I would’ve handwaved it differently than Bioware did - something alone the lines of “salvaged geth technology quickly lead to the development of new shield designs that were impenetrable by conventional weapons, so the only way to counter it was to overclock the heat sinks to the point that it was quicker to swap them out and discard them than wait for them to cool down”. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/536 "2021-06-10T12:40:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > They’re all dead. Captain Baily, Thane’s kid, that poor orphan girl from the docks… all of them. That’s actually the one part of the game’s ending that really bothered me It pretty much ruined the games for me. My husband replays them periodically and I leave the room for ME3. It’s the Alderon problem: they ramp up the mass destruction super high, to make it intense, but the actual horror can’t really be dealt with because it gets in the way of telling the story. So it just sits there, unaddressed. I hate it when NPCs already made just a little bit real, so that you care about their deaths, but then their deaths are treated as meaningless. It happens in all sorts of genres and it kicks me out of the story every time. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/537 "2021-06-10T13:09:23Z")
@Mahaloth, did you choose to encourage the “Blue Rose of Illium” to go back to her poetic krogan boyfriend in ME2? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/538 "2021-06-10T13:12:43Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > , did you choose to encourage the “Blue Rose of Illium” to go back to her poetic krogan boyfriend in ME2? I just looked this up and I must have missed it. I overheard a lot of sidequests and pursued them, but of course missed some. Is this one where you kind of overhear her doing poetry or something? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/539 "2021-06-10T13:14:29Z")
Actually, it was the krogan doing poetry, trying to win her back. The asari wanted to take a break from their relationship, because she was afraid he only wanted to be with her because that’s the only way he could have ever have kids. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/540 "2021-06-10T18:51:07Z")
Wow…I had forgotten about him. Great part of the game. Krogan poetry is almost as good as Vogon poetry (mixing sources there). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/541 "2021-06-10T19:26:06Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Actually, it was the krogan doing poetry, trying to win her back. The asari wanted to take a break from their relationship, because she was afraid he only wanted to be with her because that’s the only way he could have ever have kids. I actually believe I did briefly see the Krogan with the poetry, but I must have not stopped for it. I also saw a Krogan that wanted to try a certain type of fish and it was added to my sidequest queue, where it sat undone. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/542 "2021-06-10T19:34:45Z")
The side quest that I’ve probably missed the most times is the one in ME 2 where you can give a fake passport to an asari. I think I pick it up every time (during Garrus’s loyalty quest), but I forget to do anything with it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984/543 "2021-06-10T19:36:31Z")
I actually did that one, but I actually spoke to someone at the front desk and got them legitimate permission to travel. But, yes, you gain the quest from picking up the fake ID. I had a heck of a time finding where those ladies were sitting, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-effect-legendary-my-thoughts-while-i-play-these-games-spoilers-as-i-play/941984.md?page=28)