xxxIndyxxx: There was no urgency even though the story states otherwise, making the game very boring to play for me.
Crackpot.756: Because ... game, maybe. It's true. Shepard's all, "'sup, reapers are about to eat the galaxy, little help?" And everyone else, "Maybe later, solve my problems first."
Well, thats a problem with most rpgs I know. They simply don't do "urgency". Ever. The very concepts of grinding and/or sidequest can be fine gameplay elements, but they kill any form of pacing.
Dragon Age : "The king's army has been defeated, and a horde of abomination is about to attack the village! You have to flee while I go to the capital to warn the reserve army!" "Mmmkay, but before you go, there are 3 bandits who stole a goat, could you please eliminate them? We'll give you 3 silver!" "3 silver? Oh, okay, for that money I can do bounty hunting for a while, I'm sure the undead horde will wait for me!"
Any JRPG ever : "The dragon of the fiery mountain of doom that has razed 3 cities is near your village! I need the Ice Blade of Dragnslaying to vanquish it!" "OK, 3780 Gold! If you want, you can go into the forest and chase goblins for a few month to get the money" "Oh, okay then, I'm sure the dragon will wait!"
etc...
In ME3, it's even worse because :
- You're in the middle of a freakin' capital-A Apocalypse, but still have time to do tourism
- Nothing you do really feels like it matters (Yay, I just killed a reaper. Meaning this planet will be destroyed next week instead of right away. Yawn)
- The guys getting killed on Earth will wait for you no matter how long you linger
- You take half the game reinforcing the citadel, helping people out in it, solving problems there, and then learn it has been destroyed without a single mission (or even cinematic) about it.
- And then all you did all game long means nothing because the problem is solved by a freakin' litteral Deus Ex Machina, with equally shitty "options".
I won't say I hate this game, because some parts of it were fun, and there were some nice battles, but storywise and rythm-wise, it was a HUGE disappointment