(no subject)

[pearwaldorf]

I am full of fannish feels!

I watched Iron Man 3 yesterday and without spoilers, I can say that it was really fun (at least as much as the original), Pepper is badass, and it was much smarter than I was expecting. You should absolutely stay for the bonus scene at the end.

I also finished Mass Effect 2, and totally stressed myself out because I was trying to keep everybody alive during the suicide mission. (You don't understand how much I get attached to fictional characters DON'T JUDGE ME K?) On normal difficulty it isn't that terrible and as long as you pay attention to the in-game cues you should be able to pick the right type of person for the job. (I also love how the Wikia walkthrough talks you down from various places where you might see things and freak out, because I would totally do that).

But yes. I wish I could impress upon you how much I adore this series. There is so much love and detail and lore and character development put into this universe and I do not understand people who play the games and don't become irrevocably and deeply attached to it. Now if you will excuse me, I need to READ ALL THE FIC.

Comments

[deepsix]

thissugarcane sent me a flow chart telling me what to do to make sure everyone survived the suicide mission and I followed it RELIGIOUSLY. And I was still crying stress tears over it like a crazy person because WHAT IF SOMEONE DIED!!! EVEN THE ONES I DON'T CARE ABOUT!!!

If there are people who play ME and somehow end up not completely changed by the experience, I don't want to know them.

[pearwaldorf]

OH MY GOD THE FLOWCHARTS. I checked two of them JUST TO BE SURE. And I took Kasumi and Tali with me in the last big push even though I needed way more firepower than that (but I guess it ended up being better because WHY WAS THERE NO FUCKING AMMO IN THE BIGGEST FIREFIGHT IN THE GAME) and then the cutscene people were dicks anyways and AUGHHH and I'm kind of glad it's over. I look forward to playing ME3, but not the emotional trauma it will undoubtedly cause.

I was reading some interview with the writers of the Mordin/Tuchanka mission in ME3 and somebody casually mentioned they weren't really into the game on an emotional level and shot Mordin just to see what would happen and I just kind of went D: D: D: D: I mean, it's not like supporting Nazis or whatever, but HOW COULD YOU DO THAT AND SLEEP AT NIGHT D:

[thissugarcane]

you aren't that into Mordin if you hadn't played ME1 -- er, ME1 and 2 -- only, that's my theory. OH GOD WAIT, ARE YOU PLAYING ME3 FOR THE FIRST TIME?!

[pearwaldorf]

That's what pissed me off about the "Hey you totally don't need to play ME1 and 2 to play ME3!" marketing. You can, but you won't have any fun unless all you want to do is shoot things. But then again, I've always regarded Bioware combat as the thing you put up with to get to the fun stuff (although I was surprised by how much better the shooty shooty got in ME2).

OH GOD WAIT, ARE YOU PLAYING ME3 FOR THE FIRST TIME?!

I watched my husband play it through so I'm kind of prepared but it's so completely different when it's "your" Shepard (there are many Shepards, but this one is mine etc etc). I anticipate SO MUCH UPCOMING TRAUMA.

[thissugarcane]

okay, so you know the things you have to have done in ME2. man, IDK if V has told you the epic tweets I sent her before she started her ME1/2/3 run where I was all "do THIS and THIS and it might seem super trivial but for chrissake, don't even think about not doing THIS".

basically I can't in good conscience not offer to assist in making sure Rannoch ends peacefully. *g*

ETA: that's also what made me totally confused about the PS3 gamers. Like, ME2 is a good game in its own right, but, ME3 is basically a sequel to 1, not 2. so how could it really hit home? (how can you watch Return of the Jedi having only seen Empire?

[pearwaldorf]

She has not! I totally got all that stuff from my husband, and having him to do the things that seemed right at the time (Maelon's data, destroy the reaper base, etc) but having it bite you in the ass regardless. I don't believe there's a "perfect" ending, but I can mostly live with the things I fucked up in ME2.

Also being a completionist, I would totally go back and play ME1 on another platform if I were a PS3 player. And feel really bad for them if they decided to do the PC port. (jfc it was bad. I learned to XBOX because of it.) But I wonder how much of the lack of emotional connection to the third game was not having played the first for a lot of people.

[thissugarcane]

there were only a few things I was adamant about telling V, and the biggest one was the Geth/Quarian stuff - because there are a few things that I know are easy to miss / not necessarily instinctual. like NOT making sure to peacefully stop Legion and Tali from arguing, par exemple, I think basically screws up your chance at peace, PERIOD. and it's a fairly easy conversation to miss.

plus I knew if she ended up losing Legion she'd probably turn the game off in rage and never, ever turn it back on again.

I wonder how much of the lack of emotional connection to the third game was not having played the first for a lot of people.

I think that's it exactly - I mean, how can you truly get how inspiring (and frustrating) it is that the Councillors are asking for your help if you didn't spent upward of seventy hours fighting with them the first time around?

[pearwaldorf]

plus I knew if she ended up losing Legion she'd probably turn the game off in rage and never, ever turn it back on again.

actual lol

[thissugarcane]

she may deny it but not at all an exaggeration.

[deepsix]

man, you know I almost ragequit when Legion GAINED INDEPENDENT SENTIENCE AND THEN IMMEDIATELY DIED and I EVEN KNEW THAT WAS COMING.

so no I will not deny it.

[deepsix]

Oh god, I watched Mordin getting shot on youtube (I think linked from that same interview) and it's PROBABLY THE WORST THING EVER? I mean, I bawled like a baby through Tuchanka ANYWAY, but thaaat. Why would anyone do THAT?

but oh man, don't even get me started on the ME2 boss fight. It's SO BAD. Like, the only challenge is that nothing is powerful enough to really get the job done so you need a ton of ammo? AND THEN THERE'S NO AMMO. I played the whole thing on hardcore (or whatever the higher setting is) but I wanted so bad to lower it just for that fight because IT'S SO DUMB AND ANNOYING.

ME3 is so fucking traumatic. I was warned AND I was sort of spoiled for some of the trauma, but nothing could prepare me for that.

[pearwaldorf]

You made it through the video? I watched like three seconds of that and NOPED right out of the tab. (Apparently the one for Legion is even worse? If you side with the Quarians you have the option of shooting it. Like, multiple times. /o\ There are renegade choices that are understandable and necessary given the context and peril but some actions are just being a giant bag of dicks.)

ME3 fans are all kind of like war survivors, I suspect. The experience is different for everybody but there are enough similarities that you know what it's like.

[deepsix]

OH GOD WHAT? HOW COULD YOU SHOOT LEGION? THAT IS LITERALLY THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. LEGION! ;__; (I have a lot of feelings about robots, as D will confirm.)

[thissugarcane]

her feelings on robots make my world go round, sometimes, because then I know at least one other person in the universe is as excited about becoming a cyborg as I am.

:D?

also, this sounds like the part where Tali dies in ME3 - I got a txt about it from a friend who was playing the game day it came out and was like "nope never seeing THAT happen!" where she gets shot in the face in ME2 is bad enough, and I barely made it through that youtube vid.

[deepsix]

...she can get shot in the face in ME2?

[pearwaldorf]

I totally do not remember this either.

[thissugarcane]

I thought that if she was the specialist and -- she wasn't loyal? she'd get shot as she's trying to close the door. Like, turn around and just get shot as you're running away.

ahah, yes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2OezSq4euE

all the ways Tali can die in ME2. the shot-to-the-face part starts at about 1:35. not that I watched anything past confirming the shot itself because I'm a sap.

[deepsix]

well, I'm never clicking this link.

[pearwaldorf]

Oh god it's like a depressing version of Kenny. :( Seeing them all strung together like that is kind of funny in a faintly ridiculous way but I should not have clicked that link.

[thissugarcane]

ngl, I skipped through until I could confirm my brain wasn't making up trauma then immediately closed it!

[thissugarcane]

a. failure on DW's part: I can't favorite this comment.

b. I can't play the final mission on Normal, it's too stressful with the vents and the-- everything.

c. neither do I, V. Neither do I.

[deepsix]

I played it on hardcore and had Legion in the vents and spent the whole thing trying to claw my face off without taking my hands off the controls.

just saying

[pearwaldorf]

I do not even understand how you played it on hardcore. I played it on normal and listening to Tali wail about how she was roasting alive even though the stupid bar wasn't even 20% down was stupid stressful /o\

[deepsix]

It probably helps that I really like the shooting part? idk. Also, after playing Dishonored, I feel like nothing is really THAT stressful anymore.

(btw I just accidentally un-friended you or something while trying to reply to this comment because I'm an idiot. uh, in case you get a notification about that.)

[pearwaldorf]

I am coming around to the shooty shooty. This was more or less my first shooty game and it is not as bad as I thought it would be. (I am trying to puzzle my way through Fallout: New Vegas right now and I am really bad at FPS.)