Moving on - I find that the number of EA crossovers over the last few years sort of odd, but generally I have liked them. Bonuses for playing Dragon Age on Facebook that show up in Dragon Age II? That works. The odd Dead Space armor swaps? Odd, but it generally looks cool. Tying in Blood Dragon Armor from Dragon Age into Mass Effect? Sure, why not - that was my primary armor used in ME 3 truth be told. They're all under the EA wheelhouse though, so I found the Mass Effect 3 armor showing up in Final Fantasy XIII-2 a bit odd. I don't plan to pick it up, but maybe others will? It seems like Square Enix has Final Fantasy XIII characters crossing over quite a bit more as they explore the DLC world. I saw a rather odd article on IGN yesterday about them modeling Prada clothing too.
Probably of greater interest to me is that Bioware has announced that they will be delivering some extended ending content for Mass Effect 3 this summer, and that it will come in the form of free DLC. They promise it will feature new epilogue scenes and cinematics that will add additional information and detail for fans of the game. One odd note in there for me was that it will be free as long as you download it before April 2014. I'm not sure if that means they plan to charge for it after that, or pull its availability. It sort of makes me wonder if there will be an additional release later to house the inevitable paid download packages, and they will have this additional ending content wrapped into that? If so, that makes me wonder if they tipped their hats a bit to a potential release date for a Game of the Year type of release or not? Or maybe I'm reading too much into that.
The reactions I've seen online have been pretty amusing, but a bit disappointing as well. I think my favorite was someone claiming that Bioware would now be adding purple, black and orange rings to the mix. A lot of people are ripping into EA making jokes about how they can't believe EA would be releasing DLC for free. Most of the comments on the IGN board in particular have been pretty acerbic in my opinion. I guess I find that a bit disappointing because while we have not yet seen what this final cut will be, it is pretty clear Bioware is trying to do the right thing by customers and have fallen into this damned if they do, damned if they don't sort of trap now.
Any thoughts on this summer release date? Is it too late in your opinion? I'm actually sort of optimistic because that gives them plenty of time to work on it without rushing it. Of course it puts some additional pressure on Bioware to deliver in the face of what will be some pretty scrutinizing expectations.
What about the way Square Enix has been exposing their Final Fantasy XIII characters? Does the crossover seem strange to you too or not? Have you liked their approach to DLC to this point? Sound off and thanks for reading!
I will wait and see what the Extended Cut brings. I'm very skeptical that it can change my opinion that the ME3 ending was the worst in mankind's history of storytelling since the official word is that they're not actually changing it, just clarifying it, and that they'll proudly stick by the atrocious disaster they made...but I'll give them the chance.
ReplyDeleteI think the community would have been a lot more accepting and polite about it if they hadn't said outright that they wouldn't be changing it, just clarifying it and providing more closure. With an ending that obscenely terrible, that is a complete betrayal to nigh everything the ME series has stood for since Day 1, it's hard not to continue to spit acid at offers to "clarify" it. The logic of, philosophical basis of, and game role currently served by ME3's ending is fundamentally broken by all stretches of my imagination, so how they could possibly pull something worthwhile out of it without changing it completely is beyond my ability to comprehend, and that goes for many other gamers who you have observed and been disappointed by. But I, and most of them, will give Bioware the chance to make good by Mass Effect, and if the day comes when I can admit I was wrong to doubt and your disappointment was justified, nothing will make me happier than to do so.
Very strong sentiment there. I really didn't feel that the ending was as horrible as all that, my biggest complaint with it was that my actions just really didn't seem to show up and be reflected in the ending I guess. I am curious to see what comes of the additional content later though, because like you said - it is not as though they say they are changing it, just augmenting it.
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