How Mass Effect failed at stealing stories

[elenuial]

So, a couple months ago, I played Mass Effect 3, and like so many others was appalled by the ending. Although a lot of other people have written about how and why it’s bad, most of it is fan rage. There were a couple of writers tackling it, but they seemed pretty ignorant of games and what they do and how they work and their history. Lots of

Comments

[elenuial]

If you enjoyed the crazy conspiracy elements of the Illuminati Trilogy and like cyberpunk, I can highly recommend Deus Ex without reservation. Lots of it doesn't age too well, especially in areas like graphics and voice acting, but it remains one of the best story-games in existence. It's a trailblazer in terms of allowing real narrative choice while reinforcing it with gameplay elements, and I've yet to see a game match up to it. It's even more impressive when you realize how seamless that is, and what you thought was just a linear storyline that seemed well put together wasn't just another novel with fight scenes you play through.

Also, I liked ME3, and I'm replaying it right now. There's a lot it does right, or at least gets adequate. It also just happens to be a pretty good study in poor writing and missed opportunities.

[londo]

I need to remember to read this post in a couple months when I have played ME3. Dammit.

[elenuial]

Be very public about finishing it, and I'll try to remember to link you back here.

[asakiyume]

I *LOVE* this essay. Fantastic. I haven't played any of the games, but I've lived with/known enough gamers to have sensitivity (I think) to the issues you've raised, and I just--really love reading about them and how they play out. Plus, I think games as a story medium, and the issue of writing for them, is fascinating.

Your imagined writers' dialogue there at the beginning made me laugh and reminds me that I need to see Babylon 5. (Which I keep bouncing off of... why? Not sure. The guy with the wacky hair has an annoying way of talking... <--this, I think, can be taken to mean, I have irrelevant aesthetic quibbles which get in the way of my enjoyment, but I should try pushing through

[elenuial]

Plus, I think games as a story medium, and the issue of writing for them, is fascinating.

Me too! That's why I can't stop thinking/talking about them.

The guy with the wacky hair has an annoying way of talking

You'll have to get over that quibble if you want to enjoy the show, because that character is one of the best in the series! For what it's worth, I think B5 might still be my favorite sci-fi TV series to date, despite the fact that a number of elements don't age well at all, and there is plenty of cheese to be had. New Battlestar Galactica was amazing when it was amazing, but you had to ignore the parts that weren't amazing, especially when they congealed into awful mush at the end. :(

I keep reading reviews of books with damaged, traumatized heros.I don't read much YA besides the super popular stuff, but I can get what you mean. I should say, though, that I think experiencing trauma and recovering from PTSD are related but different experiences. Part of the reason PTSD is less common in storytelling is because it's so

[sealwhiskers]

I'll agree with Elenuial that Londo Mollari is one of the best characters on B5 (although there are several other good ones). Just endure the quirks and uneven moments of the first season, and then when you get into season 2, 3 and 4, you'll get all the great stuff. That show is iconic on any scifi lover's shelf!

[asakiyume]

I think I can probably get over my aesthetic distaste. People whose opinions I really respect all love the show; I just need to start at the beginning and stick with it long enough to fall in love.

[asakiyume]

P.S. One of the ninja girl's former roommates is both a Mass Effect 3 fan *and* has played Deus Ex (and liked it). Wish I could get her take on what you write here! (Her meaning the former roommate, not the ninja girl.)

[elenuial]

You are free to send her the link, of course! I still get hatemail over my ages old post entitled "Fight Club Sucks." XD

[asakiyume]

That's a thought! I could send her a message over FB.

[sealwhiskers]

Well, I agree with you on the gist of this, while still liking large parts of ME3. The ending, having not experienced the other game, was actually something I didn't mind at all, and this has made me feel quite alienated from the rest of the gamer community. I was fairly moved by, not necessarily by Shepard and her fate, but by the realization of the consequences of the loss of all the ME devices, and the little after snippet of the two humans stargazing.
I did absolutely see some poor writing where there has been fairly little of that in ME before, and I think the game was shamefully short compared to the other two games. Still, I'm a ME fan, and that hasn't changed.

[elenuial]

I did like the game. I enjoyed it quite a bit. And while the writing in general slipped, the ending was just so much more shocking because of just how long the ball had to be dropped, if you get what I mean.

But, you know, if it was the thought of a universe newly separated and irrevocably losing some key technology that moved you, think of how much more awesome that would be if they telegraphed it, and perhaps explored some of those ramifications, even for 30s of footage!

If I weren't on some level a fan, I imagine a divorce would quickly follow, since hazliya has taken up writing Bioware fanfiction. ^_^

[hazliya]

Haters gonna hate.

[elenuial]