Don’t get commenter KillerIri5h wrong; he loves Mass Effect 3. He just wishes the game would love him back just as accurately. What does that mean? Find out in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku.
Could someone ask Mass Effect 3 to stop looking away from me?
Mass Effect. This series is one of the reasons I got into video games. More to the point, it helped show me what area I wanted to focus in on in my career. So I would definitely classify myself as a fan of the series. Mass Effect 3 however has been a bit disappointing in a large area… the animation.
(For the most part this is a spoiler-free piece)
This is a huge surprise to me actually. I know the first Mass Effect suffered issues when it came to textures loading. Mass Effect 2 had some clipping issues here and there (but nothing too major). But Mass Effect 3 has some serious animation issues when it comes to certain dialog scenes.
Okay, let me give you an example; for my first play through, I’m playing my fem Shep and Liara is her love interest. When you’re on the Normandy talking to her, Bioware did a pretty good job adding in those little lovey cute things that you do/say with someone you care about(you know, the stuff you wouldn’t admit to doing here on the internet forums). It really fleshes out the relationship and makes them feel more like a couple than just a “hook-up” that happens at the end of the game. So, *slow clap* bravo Bioware. Love it. But suddenly, my Shep and Liara’s head pop back and forth. Or their head look-ats are now focused intently on something off screen, while the dialog suggests they’re talking about something intimate (later figuring out for some odd reason their heads are glued to wherever Glyph is).
The character position information appears to be off from what the animator made to how it was implemented in-game. So now the characters that are supposed to hug are now clipping into each other or not touching at all. Next time you play, just watch how after a cut-scene ends, how Shep and the NPCs will “pop” to different places ever so slightly sometimes.
Notice how this isn’t a complaint about story, or not enough options, etc, etc. I understand making a huge game of this scale; you’re still not going to be able to get what every single person wants in the game story wise. And the animations I’m focused on aren’t tiny little side-quest stuff you’re getting from overhearing a conversation on the Citadel. I’m talking about main quest stuff here. Relationship building cut-scenes that Mass Effect has become famous for. Stuff that clearly has a lot of thought behind it… but gets killed by animation glitches and bugs. Which is horrible, because I want to experience this story, this game, as it was originally intended. So what happened?
Let me be clear though, in the end, I still like the game. I think it’s impressive what they’ve been able to pull off over the course of 3 games. I also recognise being a “fan” gives way to forgiving certain mistakes or over-sights others might see. It just sucks whenever I find myself getting lost in a character’s story, that I’m reminded I’m playing a game when heads start popping all over the place. I guess the final question is; who else is seeing issues like this? Is this just a strange coincidence on my part? Some odd Clue board game-like mystery where I’m the only one holding the cards that point to Fem Shep with Liara, in the Normandy Library, using the Xbox 360?
About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run.
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