This week, Nick, Chip, and Kura are joined by producer and editor Jarret who to look back at the entire Mass Effect Legendary Edition and trilogy. They begin by talking about Jarret’s role in forming the show. Then they talk about how Nick would mispronounce names regularly. Jarret then shares his thoughts on the ME3 finale. They talk about how several sequences in the finale are the same with a different color tint. They talk about how the ending didn’t land right and compare it to other notable finales from games and shows. They discuss how difficult it is to create a satisfying ending. Nick shares some statistics for his playthroughs of the trilogy. They wonder about which ending will be made canon in the next Mass Effect game. Nick wonders how the Geth will fit in since there were two decision points that could have wiped them out. They debate if the next game will kick off another trilogy.

Next, they discuss how the game industry evolved during the development of the trilogy, and how that impacted each of the games as they were released. They mention that Mass Effect 5’s development will cost more than any of the prior games. Jarret points out that the community was riled up around ME3’s release since that was around the time of gamergate. Chip mentions that people were upset about Jessica Chobot’s inclusion in the game. They discuss the vocal minority driving the conversation. The consider how Gamestop influenced the series, and argue that Javik should not have been a pre-order bonus or DLC. They remember midnight launches and how digital versions have changed that. They talk about various strategies for getting players not to trade in games like multiplayer passes.

They then talk about playing through the MELE knowing how decisions in ME1 would affect ME3 and war assets in particular. They talk about how ME1 suffers in comparison to ME2. They mention the evolution of Bioware’s development around the dice-rolling RPG. They also talk about how television technology changing affected the series.

Jarret talks about several of the decisions that affected him. Nick mentions his love for the Citadel DLC. They consider Kaiden, and talk about the evolution of the characters over the course of the trilogy.

Thank you for listening to Squad Goals - A Mass Effect Legendary Edition Podcast! Please send any comments or questions to [email protected] or @squadgoalsN7 on twitter.

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