@@toomanydewgongs you have to recruit garrus in ME2. its really weird Shepard still recognizes him... like "holy shit are you that totally random cop i snubbed 3 years ago?"
Yeah, all that build up across 2 games just for the third to be full of replacements. It just feels... empty. I tried this once, having all of the replacement squadmates except for miranda, and I felt really dirty. After the playthrough, I took SEVERAL cold showers.
Ya, that's one thing that kind of makes me ehh about the choices. Honestly most of MEs choicest aren't really about different but equally engaging experiences they are more between a more satisfying experience or a lackluster one. The virmire survivor, and kind of killing wrex, and Mordin's death are kind of the only the ones that really feel like a fleshed out experience that don't feel like "the same events play out but just worse."
@@Noschool100 Being lazy and losing many squad-mates is not really a major decision path though. I wouldn’t blame the developers for not putting too much efforts into these scenarios most people never see. The popular decisions (paragon and renegade paths) are worked out very well. What we see in this video is only about tying up loose ends without too much fuss, as these are rarely seen. It only looks strange of we intentionally play badly.
@@juzoli ya, I mean I get why put more effort into stuff people would see but the imbalance of content is more a trait of how they decided to handle choice. Ashley & kaiden is probable the the biggest equal choice we can really make but the consequences of that is they are basically dropped from me2 and 1/2 of me3 cause development is expensive. So the decision to really flesh out one side of outcomes makes sense financially and it works okay as I think the aspect that draws people to mass effect are characters and setting, but it does cause mass effect to be more of a math test than a choose your own adventure. if you do the correct stuff you get the good outcomes and leaves little reason to deviate from just doing everything and occasionally needing a reputation check to solve any problems.
While Mordin is like that awesome asexual who gives you medical advice out of respect for the health and safety for his friends. I love that contrast so much.
@@astralFox but he's probably not asexual tho. I think he's likely on the more promiscuous side given what we know. Definitely not into Shepard though. He cites "doctor-patient confidentiality a sacred trust" but I think he's letting her down easy with banter. Don't think the ol' "alien space opera" holds as much novelty for him as it does for hungry hungry Shepard, lol. On a side note how funny would it be if they made a new protagonist who yeah will save the galaxy and everything but aside from that just leans into the whole "bang aliens" stuff? Like isn't even coy about it. None of this one-person romance locking, I'm trying to experience the galaxy here! That'd be damn hilarious right?
@@Sotka_ot_grudi I'm the oddball that never recruited Legion and didn't care to keep Tali alive. She always dies in the second game for me even though logically she, being a tech wiz, shouldn't have had that much trouble with a door.
@@Lord_Phoenix95 Because everyone mourning his cheating ass is just as annoying as his flaunted cheating. I don’t care that it’s never canon anymore on my games. •NEVER FORGIVE• SOB “How long was I supposed to wait, Shepard?” HOW ABOUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOU PUT A BUN IN THAT CHEAP SHITTY OVEN??
@@Norinia Yea, fuck Jacob. Worst Character AND worst Romance option in Mass Effect. Hell, he`s worse than even Ashley, Kaidan, AND Morinth. And it`s even worse how Jacob gets to live happily ever after whereas Shepard potential dies.
@@Norinia yeah when he cheated on my FemShep, I went back to ME2 just to get him killed. I did it by having him get carried away by a seeker swarm. He can join his dad in hell for all I care.
@@Norinia who exactly is mourning him? can you point me to them? i'm a big fan of jacob and also able to look past bioware's shitty, lackluster, stereotypical writing and i'd love to meet others who also have critical thinking skills :)
"In the interest of science, how do Krogan mate?" "Very clumsily!" Oh my goodness, I love Eve so much. One of my favorite characters, she's such a great character. She truly is the Krogan Queen 👑
The only advantage of Wreav is that he's too dumb to know the truth about the sabotage, which isn't that much to go for as most players would choose to cure the genophage.
It's good that Mordin's replacement Padok is the best substitute character in the game considering that Mordin himself is the most likely squadmate to die during the Suicide Mission.
Yeah you have to be quite careful. I suppose with his attitude toward Kirrahe, it kinda makes sense that he's not so good at "holding the line"? Thinks it's all chest thumping, military bravado (his words). So when it comes to needing it... not the most survivable. Very good choice to send back with the crew, if everyone surviving is what you're aiming for. He can handle that. At the same time I can kinda understand the relative lack of effort put into Dagg, as it's actually quite difficult to get Grunt killed unless you just don't open his pod (which I'd also say is a very unlikely choice to make). Possible but requires some planning (my current Shep's an "Earth First" type so she's completely bonkers evil and wants all the aliens killed).
Yup, the first time I played the Suicide Mission, Zaeed died because apparently he was a bad choice for squad leader; that loss I didn't care about. Then with the stand off scene Mordin was the only other death then I looked for a guide and reloaded the save.
@@MaxVids1 Zaeed the reckless merc who usually works alone? Probably not a good squad leader, yeah. What surprised me more and hit me harder on my first playthrough was Garrus being a bad tech expert choice. He's always calibrating! But I should've remembered. He's always calibrating guns. Not doors.
I really like that both Padok and Mordin have very understandable reasons for curing the genophage. For Mordin, it's more of a personal drive to fix something he views as a mistake. For Padok, it is more of a general ethical issue of the Salarians interference with Korgan, that is still very believable and not forced.
I actually didn't like Mordin a lot so I let him die in ME2 and my first ever ME3 playthrough was with Padok and I honestly quite liked him. It felt a bit weird that he got the big emotional sacrifice since I never got to know him all that well. Other than that he was a nice character. More sociable than Mordin for sure.
I feel like most people would support that... Undoing the infertility of an entire race especially after they defeated the Rachni... Very easy to land on that side
As Wrex said about Wreav "That guy was a pain in the ass anyways." I'll take my trigger happy, shotgun wielding, illustrious leader Krogan any day. Wrex is always welcome on my ship.
In Mass Effect 1 Wrex tells you he kills civilians and robs cargo ships as a merc. He's a scumbag. Granted, Wreav is no better, like all krogans. Curing the genophage? lol Who would do that.
A major thing left out of the commentary on the Geth VI I'd say is the heartbreaking Shepard interactions with it, if Legion was recruited but died on the Suicide Mission (happened on my first playthrough). Shep numerous times will try to be buddy-buddy with the VI, and it just... rejects them every time. It's a very interesting dynamic with Shepard grappling with the imperfect resurrection of an old friend. "We fought the Collectors together! We were friends, Legion!" "And then we died." gets me every time.
I can't play Mass Effect 3 without Garrus or Tali. Even if there's an option to get them killed on the Collector base, I just hate the fact that this is even possible.
Yeah, you'd think those two would at least have some sort of plot armor but then again, the devs did want you to feel the weight and responsibilities of your choices.
I don’t like that’s it’s possible not because I don’t want them to die, but because they could have died means that any major importance in the plot is removed for any possible sequels, like Garris for example, besides being a bro like always, he has like 0 plot significance, same with pretty much all the other squad mates introduced in mass effect 2, they basically just get like a side mission where they say hi, or if they are dead are just replaced like no big deal.
I didn't visit him because I was doing the genophage question when I got the message and was on the last mission so I waited till I finished to go visit him but when I went got back to the citadel it was under attack so I didn't get to see my favorite companions death scene
@@covexvortex If you send Kaidan to the bomb and Ashley to assist captain Kirrahe, you have to save her to save him by helping the soldiers. If you prefer Kaidan, you can switch them around, but Kirrahe is at the same place, not by the bomb.
@@covexvortex Yep, I fucked up too. You NEED to quickly kill everything and everyone on your way to talking to the reaper, to save Kirrahe. Never knew he could be saved until I saw a video of him taking a bullet in ME3.
@@timlamiam It took me 3-4 playthrough to be mentally prepared for the bad decisions. Then I did 2 such playthroughts. One speedrun with 0 sidequests and conversations. And one which was completionist, but all the bad choices (betray Wrex, bad choices on suicide mission, kill the real rachni but release the clone rachni, send Legion to Cerberus etc…). It’s also fun:) But now I have to went with another good playthrough.
Padok also drops a nice bit of Krogan Culture on us by explaining how the Krogans name their children; all the males of the clan would get together for a belching contest, the sound the loudest belch makes becomes the new Krogan's name.
Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Miranda, Kasumi, Jack, Grunt, Legion, Mordin, and Zaeed were such an integral part of my Mass Effect experience that I honestly forget it's even possible for them to die.
I liked Kasumi because of her loyalty mission, it was a fun little heist side quest that lowered the "we're all gonna die, but we'll die swinging" vibe everyone threw at me. Zaeed...well I'll admit he was mostly just filled my the 'grumpy uncle' void since Wrex didn't join me.
I didnt have kasumi's dlc, she seems alright though But Zaeed, I did his loyalty just for completion/suicide safety sake, but thats the only time I ever even looked at him, he just seemed kinda generic and out of place in the squad
It kinda makes sense that Shepherd might not have much reaction to Raan's possible death at the end without Tali. Shepherd would have seen up to four people die by suicide via gunshot at that point.
@@torbbi1069 It's up to three more, now that I count them. Fai Dan of Zhu's Hope, Saren and the Illusive Man all may die via self-inflicted gunshot in addition to Samara and Raan. With all the backstories available and so much trauma through the series, Shepherd can potentially be a mess of psychological problems.
man, I freaking loved Dagg. He left a fairly big impression on me in the short time he was given. Yeah, he's a stereotypical Krogan in many regards, but unlike most of them, he's not an asshole in the least. He just likes fighting. A LOT. And there's something really engaging about someone who seems to be enjoying himself so much. He really did die doing what he loved most. Plus, he seems pretty honorable, a trait I usually value a lot Definitely among my top 4 Krogans, and part of a very short list of Krogan I think are worth a damn.
Just seen Dagg on RUclips, but god I Loved Him, fore sure he's a sterotyp - but he does the Job great. Some Krogan I would like to have at my site in such a war.
Dagg is my fav Krogan. He is just a soldier doing his job, helping you out. No fuss, no annoyances, just an outstanding Krogan who knows his assignment. With the other Krogans, you always get to hear their grievances or just find a way to get under your skin (even if it's unintentional). I was pretty sad when we left him to die. He would have made a fine addition to the team, if not assets. As for Wreav, I would be more surprised if he actually gave a damn about Dagg. Dagg may be that fallaway character, but he is probably the most memorable Krogan for me, even tho the Rachni mission didn't matter much
As much as I love Mordin, with Padok Wiks being a great character in his own right I think it’s worth letting Mordin die at least once just to experience him.
I sent him as the escort in my first playthrough because I thought the crew might need medical attention after their ordeal and Mordin’s status as a brilliant xenobiologist made him uniquely qualified to examine them for any hidden effects of their captivity. It turned out to be the best decision, just not for the reason I gave.
@@erickpoorbaugh6728 I had him go because the escort was supposed to sneak the people out and who better for that job than one of the best former STG agent, but yeah your headcannon sounds way cooler
it wasn't her being less useful, but having less reason to. tali only stood by you in the argument for peace because of how she came to see legion as more than just a machine.
Jondum Bau's complete passivity and lack of struggling or fighting back when the random C-Sec guy was choking him to death always makes me laugh my ass off. You're a Spectre, dude, handle this situation. If they wanted to make it more believable. Have the random C-Sec guy be the one at the terminal and you don't suspect him. Then the Hanar says "My colleague has just uploaded the virus." That's when the camera focuses on C-Sec guy. Shepard can go take out the C-Sec guy and have the Hanar use his tentacles to immobilize and strangle Bau. If you've talked to Zaeed in ME2, he mentions that Hanar are surprisingly strong and have good grip. So this would pass as possibly threatening to a Spectre. Much more than a random red shirt C-Sec guy at least.
1:10 Wreav is so frustrating that I decided to help Aria retake her couch midway through the Genophage arc. 8:28/9:00 Are these just the default in original Mass Effect 3 for players who didn't purchase the respective ME2 DLCs?
@@mycomnithegreat434 No he means that if you don't have the DLC, as I didn't, these take their role. Separately, if you DID have the DLC but they died during the assault, then their replacements also take their roles.
In my opinion, Xen is pretty damn good as a character, probably one of the most unique ones in ideology amongst her people, plus Morrigan's voice gives her an extra edge. Unfortunately we can only see more of her if Tali dies.
Claudia Black also voiced Liara's dad and the difference is crazy. But on a side note - I loved her voice so much from DA, that I looked up her other film roles. Her character on Farscape is epic. I definitely recommend it. She's even a more amazing actor than just a voice.
Thank goodness this guy was willing to let the squad die to find out what happens because I sure didn't have the guts to. Also poor Kirrahe at 7:10. "Hold the line" to the bitter end.
Thane survived my Mass Effect 2, but I never noticed him in the hospital before the Cerberus attack. Kirrahe stood in during the attack as if Thane was dead, but Shepard still said "That was for Thane, you son of a bitch!" when killing Kai Leng. It confused that hell out of me when I played!
On my playthroughs without Thane Shepard would say "That was for Thessia you son of a bitch" which I've honestly always preferred since it showed how much Shepard cared for people completely unrelated to them. I'm guessing that since you kept Thane alive in the save the game just assumed you met up with him and the dialog was picked the moment the game started.
Iirc Falere has a line where she mentions that Shepard got Samara killed if she dies during the suicide mission. Dunno what she says if you never recruit Samara though.
I will say I do wish there was a way to have both of them by the end, maybe something even more difficult than the requirements for quarian-geth peace. But oh well, guess it does make for a more catching game if you have to make sacrifices for the greater good
One thing I love about Padok Wiks is his interesting views on the universe. He's a scientist, so he looks at life with a logical and academic outlook. But he's also very spiritual, believing that our actions have a lasting effect in the universe. Both of them helped create the genophage, and Mordin cures it because of his regrets, but Padok does it because he believes he has a moral obligation to fix it.
@@dirtysanchez654 At least I know what a quotation mark is like hello.. why is there a random quotation mark at the end? 😭 Did you steal that comeback from a website or something? LMFAO
While you mentioned the Banshee Morinth cameo - it's worth mentioning that if you sell Legion to Cerberus, rather than activating him, he appears in the Cerberus HQ mission as a named Nemesis sniper enemy - and if Jack survives ME2, but you simply ignore the Grissom Academy mission in ME3, she appears in the Cerberus HQ as a named Phantom biotic melee enemy.
The reason there wasn't an actual person to replace Garrus (like how Wiks replaced Mordin or Wreav replaced Wrex) is because they didn't expect anyone would want to kill him... Especially not those who wanted to romance him. But since there was a possibility of him accidentally dieing in ME2 they just gave the lines over to Corinthis.
Hope the new mass effect has such a dynamic choice and effect system. Even for a first playthrough, having a bad choice feel worse later, would be inspiring.
@@janeshepard9549 I don’t promise to not use the resurrect all option in the end though:D It depends on what happens to Garrus. I kind of want to see Mordin die though, after seeing this video.
I've played the Mass Effect trilogy numerous times and I've never lost any companion. I didn't know there where replacements, so your video is very informative to me.
I never understood why they gave to developers this kind of deadline... Cost cutting is never a good option if you are known as the best...but EA is such a joke and ruined BioWare
@@Andre80.5 Seems to me the original sin behind Bioware's troubles was these games just not selling quite as well as you might imagine. Even like Fallout: New Vegas might've sold 3x the copies of Mass Effect 2. So the classic Bioware game design, after several of them, just deemed not lucrative enough. Kinda sad and shitty.
It wasn't there considering the footage in the video used male Shepard, but in the scene where Traynor talks to Shepard instead of Garrus, if you play as Femshep, you get a somewhat amusing scene of Traynor being...ahem...'distracted'...by Shepard's bottom. Definitely not worth killing Garrus for, but rather amusing nonetheless.
I made sure to keep all of my team members alive in original release of ME2, so I could have them all in ME3. I didn't learn that there were substitute characters in ME3 until last year (2020). I felt like Sally Field in restaurant dinner scene in MRS DOUBTFIRE... "THE WHOLE TIME!? THE WHOLE TIME!? THE WHOLE TIME!?"
It's so weird that Tali is a full, permanent squadmate in 3, since she has the highest chance of dying: She can die to a lack of ship upgrades, and has the second lowest "hold the line" score behind Mordin. Mordin however will likely be safe in your squad, or escorting the cr3w.
Originally, she wasn't going to be until the last minute due to her extreme popularity. Her role was meant to be filled by EDI. However, Tali is a fan favorite, so they added her in. Her late addition is part of why she shows up so late in the story. A shame - I would've liked more Tali, tbh
If I remember correctly, you can still have Kirrahe show up to save the councilor. Even if Thane is still alive, by not talking to Thane in Mass Effect 3.
@@jamesherb4384 That's true. The reason being is because Thane was in the final stages of Kepral's Syndrome and he required daily treatment, so eventually, he would have died during the game
I've played ME through probably a dozen times or more, and most of this stuff I've never seen before. I just can't bear to let any of my homies die! Good video!
When I first played Mass effect 2 and 3 it simulated all my actions in ME1 it simulated that I killed Wrex on Ilos and let Ashley die on Virmire. So when I played through these two games I liked Weeav a lot but had no idea one of the GOATS Wrex was even a character until I replayed the trilogy. Ashley too. Mass Effect is amazing
Hey Dan! I have an awesome idea for the next video! You know that you can replace Doctor Chakwas in ME3 with some other younger doctor (can't remember her name). You could make a video showing differences if you have Chakwas and when you instead chose the other one. Just FYI if you are wondering about the next video.
If Padok Wiks is the second Wrex's source of information in STG, in case Mordin is dead, does Wrex find out about your betrayal when you choose not to cure the genophage?
He does. Wrex will say "Wiks wasn't my only source in STG" during the confrontation. The scene will play out basically the same. I touch on it in this video ruclips.net/video/2mOnPr4rqdw/видео.html
Tbh, Wrex having so many salarian sources is bs in the first place. Even if you whiped out all sources that Wrex had, he would have bugged Normandy SR2 while being only on Normandy SR1 and Illusive man thought it was a feature of the ship AND would recreate the bugs OR Wrex would hack EDI with his omnitool and gain the information. Or he would pay the Shadow broker for the Info with developers forgetting that the Shadow broker is Liara. Seriously, ME3 has more plot holes and plot devices than I ever imagined. They simply had to make a lot of shortcuts in order to make it in 2 years.
@@titanhades4331 I didnt prove anything. All I said was that its ridiculous something like this would be possible or would go past EDI unnoticed. Him hacking EDI is bs outright.
About this from 9:45 there is one dialogue. Falere mentioned that she've heard her mother was working with shephard and she died on collectors base and it appear only in this outcome.
I had a few of these outcomes during some of my playthroughs just to see how it played out. But I never had the guts so let either Garrus or Tali die during the suicide mission. Now that I watched this, I'm glad I didn't.
Probably already known, but Claudia Black also plays Liara's other mom. She's the bartender in Conrad's bar in ME2 and the bartender in ME3. Some nice dialog if you've hooked up with Liara.
For these things I love Mass Effect. I have played each game at least five times but in each playtrough I find new things that never cease to amaze me.
I finished the trilogy at least 3 times and doing different things Everytime and I still didn't saw everything.. that makes me happy, so much content. I am hoping to play again once I get my hands on the legendary edition. Mass Effect still one of my favorite games till this day.
I prefer morinth over Samara but they literally just ganked morinth into a renamed banshee and a few emails, would have chose to kill Samara but morinth adds nothing to me3, I'm disappointed
@@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle the Leviathan mission in ME3 also gets you access to that skill. And I really like Morinth so it really was a shame how little impact she made. It makes sense for her character to just run off and end up being converted I guess. But at least give us a trail of interesting destruction to investigate, or something like that? An unloyal Jack similarly just gets converted (by Cerberus rather than the Reapers... if that's even a distinction at that point!) but she has to be unloyal for that to be the case. Morinth just gets that treatment regardless. I guess because she cannot be unloyal? Still the most disappointing squadmate result.
@@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle I do like an ME2 playthrough having already unlocked it, with AI Hacking on one side of the controller and Dominate on the other. Shepard showing the Reapers how to indoctrinate with style! :D
@@varric yep, turning her into nothing more than a named version of one of the generic enemies. Shame to see, but certainly one of the more likely outcomes, as she's such a glass cannon and so fragile during the end of ME2.
i lost wrex on virmire during my playthrough of the trilogy, and thus got wreav. i liked him, as a character that is. he was extremely dickish and sometimes i was genuinely anxious he would screw things up for me, but that’s what i liked about his presence. and hearing him get put in his place by eve is great too
another thing worth mentioning could be the mentions of Tali and Garrus when being on Menae/Rannoch (which is also very sad because it reminds you they are dead ooooofff)
I remember my first playthrough of the whole trilogy. I did very little of the side content, most of my squad mates died, and I was locked out of every ending except for Control due to a lack of war assets. By the end, I was very confused as to why I couldn't destroy the leaders, and didn't know that there were multiple endings until MUCH later. I was very young at the time.
10:00 That's exactly why I laugh when people complain that "your choices didn't matter in the end" thingy. Can you imagine how much extra content they'd have to create for ALL the unique choices you made over all three games? We'd have like a hundred different endings, if not more! The games provided a good story, beginning middle and end, and the choices you made did have an impact, as this video pointed out. But ultimately the story had to end with Shepard defeating the enemy they fought over the course of the entire trilogy, there wasn't really any other ending than that!
Good vid, this felt like it was almost an entirely new story when I saw this I knew a few of these but never saw most cause I always try to save everyone.
Yeah, I don't have the desire to lose a squad mate for a bland experience in ME3. Besides, it makes Citadel:Shore Leave that much more depressing. In my very first play through YEARS ago, I lost Wrex on Virmire. I didn't realize that side missions were that important. I also lost a few squad mates during the Collector Base on more than one occasion (Garrus once, Mordin a few times, and Jacob once, I think). To date, I haven't played through the trilogy with a lost squad mate (Kaiden notwithstanding). I don't have the heart for it, I guess.
It’s James. I also got James when Wrex was alive, but the bomb exploded on Thuchanka, and I also betrayed him, even though I didn’t have the confrontation with him yet.
This video exemplifies why I can’t rate Mass Effect 3 as a perfect game. Well, this and the very ending. Just having a few minor differences in dialogue is a far cry from the ‘your actions have consequences’ promise of the series. Those consequences seem pretty superficial in the final analysis. Another major issue I have is the way Ashley and Kaidan became a single character after Virmire. It’s highly absurd that both Ashley and Kaidan would have pretty much the same exact dialogue on Horizon in ME2, and that they would both be assigned there in the first place. And that only becomes more absurd in ME3 when they both have the exact same dialogue in a number of places in the story, and both have the exact same story trajectory. Ashley and Kaidan had very different career trajectories prior to ME1, and very different personalities. The only thing they have in common is that they are Alliance soldiers. It would have been much more realistic to have only Ashley or Kaidan show up on Horizon and berate Shepard about Cerberus. If they are dead in that playthrough, then the Alliance sent someone else, and no confrontation occurs. You could then encounter the Virmire Survivor at a different point in the story, with different dialogue, and a different outcome. And that could all continue in Mass Effect 3, with only Ashley or Kaidan being a Spectre candidate, and the other doing something else entirely. Just having them both living the same exact life with the same exact dialogue after one of them dies feels really ‘game-y’ in a game that otherwise feels very realistic and immersive. I think it makes a lot more sense to have Surviving Kaidan's story play out as we see it in the games, with him being assigned to Horizon and becoming a Spectre, since he was an officer and a biotic, and pretty much the poster boy for the Alliance. I think if Ashley's story had taken a very different turn, being sort of drummed out of the Alliance because of her family history, we could have had a much better story with her that would really make people want to replay the game. Maybe Ashley became involved with Aria T'Loak on Omega, and her story ends with her helping to save the galaxy in a very different way that feels much more personalized. I just think it could have been so much better.
Interesting Video. It´s not a Problem for me with the spoilers because I will never get the bad outcomes. In all my Playthroughs I saved the crew. What an cool twist that you can only get peace between Geth and Quarians when you worked for it in ME 2 and ME 3.
Here's an incredibly dark idea I had (at least in part based on Big Dan's joke from 'not releasing Grunt' video of Grunt becoming a mega Krogan Husk), have any squadmates who died during 2 or 3 becoming an enemy in the final missions of ME3 (like the Jack Phantom and Morinth Banshee). Eg: have Cerberus recover Legion and have it still become the 'Legion Assassin' unit the same as selling it to Cerberus and Morinth still become a Banshee if she slips away in a failed version of Samara's Loyalty Mission. Or (the darkest idea I came up with) have GARRUS become Marauder Shields if he died during the Collector Base or have him merged into a Brute with Grunt if the Krogan also died. Also maybe have Jacob take Kai Leng's role if he survives rather than having him in the Ex-Cerberus Scientists mission (either have him remain committed to Cerberus or for a hideout he's located in get raided on The Illusive Man's orders and have him forcibly indoctrinated in an attempt to throw Shepard off balance during Citadel, Thessia and Cerberus HQ).
An idea I had for Miranda. If you don't complete her loyalty mission and she survives. She remains loyal to Cerberus. She plays a more antagonistic role. When you first meet her on the Citadel it's how she normally would be. Tells you she left Cerberus and is there tracking down Oriana, and in all meetings plays along with you. The first major hint is in Priority: Citadel where you find a Pad mentioning an "Agent L." The big reveal is in Priority: Horizon. Where she betrays you and you have to fight her.
This is really interesting. I wonder if anyone will make a series like Mass Effect again. All of the time and effort to make dialogue, animations and storylines, a company would probably say it’s not cost effective.
"Did you lost your teammates do to bad decision? Call the R*-Team." *Replacement Think about a whole parallel universe story where Shepard never became Specter or died in the past and we get a weird replacement with this as his/her team... Seems priceless to me. Also because they aren't specters or even military they just hopp around in a Black Cargo freighter with a red stripe on the side... And the Krogan wears Gold chains arround his neck and hates Planetary Landings. Okay enough weird A-Team references no one gets...😅
I like imagining a totally alternate Mass Effect where Shepard never even joined the military, and everyone fills similar roles it's just really obscure characters. Led of course by the first human spectre, Conrad Verner. Who's haunted by having had to choose between Khalisah and Fist on Virmire. And who didn't like being forced to take over Captain Jenkins's ship, but knew it had to be done and begrudgingly went along with the advice of Earth councillor Gavin Hossle. Remember saving the Thorian only to have it indoctrinated by Reapers in the next game? Shame you couldn't do the same with the Krogan Queen at the end of Noveria. How about Fisto finally joining the squad in ME3, though? About time huh! I really liked the DLC characters too, Barla Von's such a cutesy little thief and Patriarch is totally the ship's grumpy grandpa. At least the ME2 ones anyway - Vigil was a bit of an asshole in ME3. Why'd he have to be a crucible scientist, couldn't we have got a spirit of vengeance or something? Gotta go for that Elcor romance though. I mean what are your other choices? The vorcha's just gonna die anyway, and Wilson just cheats on you (plus why's Conrad so flirty with him in the first place? Just because he wasn't that Jacob guy who Oriana shot when you woke up in the base after being rebuilt by Exo-Geni?) Anyway, Admiral Traynor's available on vidcon.
All my squad mates were alive at the end of ME2 but I didn’t encounter Zaeed at all, Kasumi for like 5 sec but didn’t understood what I had to do for her and never saw her again, and I was too late to meet Thanes and suddenly I was at his funeral without. Which is great because that game can be play differently then. Loved it.
I once mistakenly clicked that i side with the Geth during Rhanock mission... my eyes teared up and i didnt play ME for the rest of the day.... next day i reloaded older save and fixed everything
First time I played ME3 I didn't have my ME2 save from my old HDD, I MAY have imported a recent ME1 playthrough at the time if that was possible can't be sure... but I played through the game with (almost) ALL of these replacements as a result (or whatever was default I guess for skipping ME2), not knowing that the original characters were even supposed to be there. Crazy when I finally replayed it during LE with proper imported ME2 saves to see the Jack, Wrex etc. scenes without the annoying B tier replacements.
You mentioned the extra bit with Traynor if you haven't got Garrus. This is actually really good if you're romancing her as FemShep as you get a unique cutscene where Traynor is checking out Shep!
I never knew any of this lol, I got pretty lucky and played through the entire trilogy without losing anybody that wasn't a guaranteed death. Kaiden/Ashley, Thane, etc.
The reason why there is like no actual SQUAD replacement for Garrus is because they didn’t expect you to fail that bad.
It blows my mind that Garrus is an optional party member in every game yet I can't imagine Mass Effect at all without him.
Same goes for Tali.
Well that, and he doesn't actually do anything.
@@Farzlepot Calibrations!
@@toomanydewgongs you have to recruit garrus in ME2. its really weird Shepard still recognizes him... like "holy shit are you that totally random cop i snubbed 3 years ago?"
It’s kinda funny how Mass Effect 3 just kinda breaks apart if almost all of your squad mates are dead
Yeah, all that build up across 2 games just for the third to be full of replacements. It just feels... empty. I tried this once, having all of the replacement squadmates except for miranda, and I felt really dirty. After the playthrough, I took SEVERAL cold showers.
You get what you deserve… :D
Ya, that's one thing that kind of makes me ehh about the choices. Honestly most of MEs choicest aren't really about different but equally engaging experiences they are more between a more satisfying experience or a lackluster one.
The virmire survivor, and kind of killing wrex, and Mordin's death are kind of the only the ones that really feel like a fleshed out experience that don't feel like "the same events play out but just worse."
@@Noschool100 Being lazy and losing many squad-mates is not really a major decision path though.
I wouldn’t blame the developers for not putting too much efforts into these scenarios most people never see. The popular decisions (paragon and renegade paths) are worked out very well. What we see in this video is only about tying up loose ends without too much fuss, as these are rarely seen.
It only looks strange of we intentionally play badly.
@@juzoli ya, I mean I get why put more effort into stuff people would see but the imbalance of content is more a trait of how they decided to handle choice. Ashley & kaiden is probable the the biggest equal choice we can really make but the consequences of that is they are basically dropped from me2 and 1/2 of me3 cause development is expensive.
So the decision to really flesh out one side of outcomes makes sense financially and it works okay as I think the aspect that draws people to mass effect are characters and setting, but it does cause mass effect to be more of a math test than a choose your own adventure. if you do the correct stuff you get the good outcomes and leaves little reason to deviate from just doing everything and occasionally needing a reputation check to solve any problems.
Padok Wiks is the equivalent of that one friend who is into very strange things, but will take the fall for everyone.
Must be why I'm so fond of him, I think I'm that type myself lol.
I loved him as much as Mordin and was just as sad when he passed
Padok is easily the coolest replacement NPC.
While Mordin is like that awesome asexual who gives you medical advice out of respect for the health and safety for his friends. I love that contrast so much.
@@astralFox but he's probably not asexual tho. I think he's likely on the more promiscuous side given what we know. Definitely not into Shepard though. He cites "doctor-patient confidentiality a sacred trust" but I think he's letting her down easy with banter. Don't think the ol' "alien space opera" holds as much novelty for him as it does for hungry hungry Shepard, lol.
On a side note how funny would it be if they made a new protagonist who yeah will save the galaxy and everything but aside from that just leans into the whole "bang aliens" stuff? Like isn't even coy about it. None of this one-person romance locking, I'm trying to experience the galaxy here! That'd be damn hilarious right?
The Rannoch arc is incredibly emotionless if you have BOTH Legion and Tali dead.
That's normally how it plays out for me.
@@alonzorandolph1718 Why not creating peace betweeb geth and quarians?
@@Sotka_ot_grudi I'm the oddball that never recruited Legion and didn't care to keep Tali alive. She always dies in the second game for me even though logically she, being a tech wiz, shouldn't have had that much trouble with a door.
@@alonzorandolph1718 you must understand, that door had a handle. And you know how icky these can be....
@@alonzorandolph1718 Bruh just do the loyalty missions in me2
"Did you send Jacob into the vents at the end of ME2", I chocked on my tea
He also offers. How can you not!
@@Lord_Phoenix95 Because everyone mourning his cheating ass is just as annoying as his flaunted cheating. I don’t care that it’s never canon anymore on my games. •NEVER FORGIVE•
SOB “How long was I supposed to wait, Shepard?” HOW ABOUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOU PUT A BUN IN THAT CHEAP SHITTY OVEN??
@@Norinia Yea, fuck Jacob. Worst Character AND worst Romance option in Mass Effect. Hell, he`s worse than even Ashley, Kaidan, AND Morinth. And it`s even worse how Jacob gets to live happily ever after whereas Shepard potential dies.
@@Norinia yeah when he cheated on my FemShep, I went back to ME2 just to get him killed. I did it by having him get carried away by a seeker swarm. He can join his dad in hell for all I care.
@@Norinia who exactly is mourning him? can you point me to them? i'm a big fan of jacob and also able to look past bioware's shitty, lackluster, stereotypical writing and i'd love to meet others who also have critical thinking skills :)
Dude, Shepard's reaction and unnatural stillness after oriana and her dad fall out the window is hilarious.
Ash "Shepard?(waves hand in front of his face) OK, who put the commander in a stasis field?"
Shepard has seen a lot of folks die at that point. Just a drop in the ocean.
I can't take this "NOOO!!" seriously after watching Gamer Poop. It was just really hard before because it's so hammy, but now it's impossible.
@@dive_bomb3r I care about you -Ash- Miranda *DAMNIT*
@@dive_bomb3r Garrus "Are you ready to be a...woman"
Shepard "NOOO!!!"
"In the interest of science, how do Krogan mate?"
"Very clumsily!"
Oh my goodness, I love Eve so much. One of my favorite characters, she's such a great character. She truly is the Krogan Queen 👑
Barakha I believe her name is, or something along them lines,
@@hellhound9362 Bakara???? Idk I like calling her Eve. Short and Sweet
@@LenaVoices aye, eve is easy to say, but bakara is krogan, lol as wrex would rudely say 🤣
@@hellhound9362 that's entirely fair. Wether she's Eve or Bakara, I love her and she is one of my favourite characters
@@LenaVoices may see more of her in the new mass effect depending whether she survived for you or not,
The only advantage of Wreav is that he's too dumb to know the truth about the sabotage, which isn't that much to go for as most players would choose to cure the genophage.
And that you can convince mordin to not die trying to cure it
I'd bet more players are willing to sabotage it if Wreav is the leader, being a big jerk and planning a future war against the rest of Council space.
Alright. I'm doing it. I'm actually gonna do it this time. I'm gonna kill Wrex and Mordin. God help me.
@@dianabarnett6886 Actually if u kill Wrex and destroy the Cure in ME2 u dont have to kill Mordin in Me3 :)
@@knixerino7463 I'm going for tragedy here.
It's good that Mordin's replacement Padok is the best substitute character in the game considering that Mordin himself is the most likely squadmate to die during the Suicide Mission.
he died for me :(
Yeah you have to be quite careful. I suppose with his attitude toward Kirrahe, it kinda makes sense that he's not so good at "holding the line"? Thinks it's all chest thumping, military bravado (his words). So when it comes to needing it... not the most survivable. Very good choice to send back with the crew, if everyone surviving is what you're aiming for. He can handle that.
At the same time I can kinda understand the relative lack of effort put into Dagg, as it's actually quite difficult to get Grunt killed unless you just don't open his pod (which I'd also say is a very unlikely choice to make). Possible but requires some planning (my current Shep's an "Earth First" type so she's completely bonkers evil and wants all the aliens killed).
Yup, the first time I played the Suicide Mission, Zaeed died because apparently he was a bad choice for squad leader; that loss I didn't care about. Then with the stand off scene Mordin was the only other death then I looked for a guide and reloaded the save.
Yeah. That's why my Mordin always takes the rescued crewmates back to Normany. :)
@@MaxVids1 Zaeed the reckless merc who usually works alone? Probably not a good squad leader, yeah.
What surprised me more and hit me harder on my first playthrough was Garrus being a bad tech expert choice. He's always calibrating! But I should've remembered. He's always calibrating guns. Not doors.
I really like that both Padok and Mordin have very understandable reasons for curing the genophage. For Mordin, it's more of a personal drive to fix something he views as a mistake. For Padok, it is more of a general ethical issue of the Salarians interference with Korgan, that is still very believable and not forced.
Nope, for Padok it's kink
I actually didn't like Mordin a lot so I let him die in ME2 and my first ever ME3 playthrough was with Padok and I honestly quite liked him. It felt a bit weird that he got the big emotional sacrifice since I never got to know him all that well. Other than that he was a nice character. More sociable than Mordin for sure.
I feel like most people would support that... Undoing the infertility of an entire race especially after they defeated the Rachni... Very easy to land on that side
@@luske2 How did you not like Mordin?
As Wrex said about Wreav "That guy was a pain in the ass anyways." I'll take my trigger happy, shotgun wielding, illustrious leader Krogan any day. Wrex is always welcome on my ship.
First time I played ME 3 I didn't import any save. When I found out he died on Virmire I was mad. Wreav is an asshole
i love wrex and cant imagine progressing the game without him. in all my playthroughs i always keep him and garrus
@@paolopesare3566 the fact that the default is wrex dying says a lot about bioware, honestly. their default imports are always so miserable.
@@jamesherb4384 that's their way of saying "You should have played the other games, you jackass"
In Mass Effect 1 Wrex tells you he kills civilians and robs cargo ships as a merc. He's a scumbag. Granted, Wreav is no better, like all krogans. Curing the genophage? lol Who would do that.
A major thing left out of the commentary on the Geth VI I'd say is the heartbreaking Shepard interactions with it, if Legion was recruited but died on the Suicide Mission (happened on my first playthrough). Shep numerous times will try to be buddy-buddy with the VI, and it just... rejects them every time. It's a very interesting dynamic with Shepard grappling with the imperfect resurrection of an old friend.
"We fought the Collectors together! We were friends, Legion!"
"And then we died." gets me every time.
"We are not Legion"
I can't play Mass Effect 3 without Garrus or Tali. Even if there's an option to get them killed on the Collector base, I just hate the fact that this is even possible.
Yeah, you'd think those two would at least have some sort of plot armor but then again, the devs did want you to feel the weight and responsibilities of your choices.
Me neither
I don’t like that’s it’s possible not because I don’t want them to die, but because they could have died means that any major importance in the plot is removed for any possible sequels, like Garris for example, besides being a bro like always, he has like 0 plot significance, same with pretty much all the other squad mates introduced in mass effect 2, they basically just get like a side mission where they say hi, or if they are dead are just replaced like no big deal.
First time I finished MS 2, actually only Garrus and Tali survived 😂.
Then I reloaded and finished all loyalty missions.
Then only Mordin died
Bailey and Kirrahe also replace Thane even if he survived ME2 but you forget to meet with him at the hospital before Cerberus attacks the citadel.
Correct
See, I must have messed smth up in ME1, bc I accidentally forgot to visit the citadel before the attack, but I didn't get Kirrahe
I didn't visit him because I was doing the genophage question when I got the message and was on the last mission so I waited till I finished to go visit him but when I went got back to the citadel it was under attack so I didn't get to see my favorite companions death scene
@@covexvortex If you send Kaidan to the bomb and Ashley to assist captain Kirrahe, you have to save her to save him by helping the soldiers. If you prefer Kaidan, you can switch them around, but Kirrahe is at the same place, not by the bomb.
@@covexvortex Yep, I fucked up too. You NEED to quickly kill everything and everyone on your way to talking to the reaper, to save Kirrahe. Never knew he could be saved until I saw a video of him taking a bullet in ME3.
Been playing ME for years and there's still stuff I don't know about. That's what's great about this channel teaching me new stuff.
Thanks dude! I appreciate that.
I just can't make the shitty wrong choices just to see what happens so thank god we have Big Dan to do it for us.
Just today, I replayed the ME3 ending and got a scene where they said 50% of Hammer landed. I have never gotten that scene before.
@@timlamiam Serious, I can't imagine continuing a game where Garrus dies.
@@timlamiam It took me 3-4 playthrough to be mentally prepared for the bad decisions.
Then I did 2 such playthroughts. One speedrun with 0 sidequests and conversations. And one which was completionist, but all the bad choices (betray Wrex, bad choices on suicide mission, kill the real rachni but release the clone rachni, send Legion to Cerberus etc…). It’s also fun:)
But now I have to went with another good playthrough.
Padok also drops a nice bit of Krogan Culture on us by explaining how the Krogans name their children; all the males of the clan would get together for a belching contest, the sound the loudest belch makes becomes the new Krogan's name.
What
Lol
What
Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Miranda, Kasumi, Jack, Grunt, Legion, Mordin, and Zaeed were such an integral part of my Mass Effect experience that I honestly forget it's even possible for them to die.
All right exept Kasumi, empty character, dont even remember her looks, never used her.
@@solod69 cap
I've never played with Kasumi or Zaeed.
I liked Kasumi because of her loyalty mission, it was a fun little heist side quest that lowered the "we're all gonna die, but we'll die swinging" vibe everyone threw at me. Zaeed...well I'll admit he was mostly just filled my the 'grumpy uncle' void since Wrex didn't join me.
I didnt have kasumi's dlc, she seems alright though
But Zaeed, I did his loyalty just for completion/suicide safety sake, but thats the only time I ever even looked at him, he just seemed kinda generic and out of place in the squad
4:25 "Homeboy gets ganked by a Cerberus trooper" Geez lol I never realized prangley is popped by just one trooper in that cutscene.
Later cutscenes in the shuttle ride is emotional too.
It kinda makes sense that Shepherd might not have much reaction to Raan's possible death at the end without Tali. Shepherd would have seen up to four people die by suicide via gunshot at that point.
When you put it that way, it's actually really sad.
@@henryviiifake8244 Yeah, it is.
who are the other 2 if you don't mind? i only know of raan and samara
@@torbbi1069 It's up to three more, now that I count them. Fai Dan of Zhu's Hope, Saren and the Illusive Man all may die via self-inflicted gunshot in addition to Samara and Raan.
With all the backstories available and so much trauma through the series, Shepherd can potentially be a mess of psychological problems.
@@Kattbirb ah okay, thanks for the refresher! agreed
man, I freaking loved Dagg. He left a fairly big impression on me in the short time he was given. Yeah, he's a stereotypical Krogan in many regards, but unlike most of them, he's not an asshole in the least. He just likes fighting. A LOT. And there's something really engaging about someone who seems to be enjoying himself so much. He really did die doing what he loved most. Plus, he seems pretty honorable, a trait I usually value a lot
Definitely among my top 4 Krogans, and part of a very short list of Krogan I think are worth a damn.
Just seen Dagg on RUclips, but god I Loved Him, fore sure he's a sterotyp - but he does the Job great. Some Krogan I would like to have at my site in such a war.
Still Grunt is my boi.
Dagg is my fav Krogan. He is just a soldier doing his job, helping you out. No fuss, no annoyances, just an outstanding Krogan who knows his assignment. With the other Krogans, you always get to hear their grievances or just find a way to get under your skin (even if it's unintentional).
I was pretty sad when we left him to die. He would have made a fine addition to the team, if not assets.
As for Wreav, I would be more surprised if he actually gave a damn about Dagg.
Dagg may be that fallaway character, but he is probably the most memorable Krogan for me, even tho the Rachni mission didn't matter much
As much as I love Mordin, with Padok Wiks being a great character in his own right I think it’s worth letting Mordin die at least once just to experience him.
Since Mordin dies when you as much as look at him funny at the end of 2, thats good to hear.
@@TheSorrel aye his easy death is why when I’m wanting him to live I almost always send him on escort without even thinking 😂
I sent him as the escort in my first playthrough because I thought the crew might need medical attention after their ordeal and Mordin’s status as a brilliant xenobiologist made him uniquely qualified to examine them for any hidden effects of their captivity. It turned out to be the best decision, just not for the reason I gave.
@@erickpoorbaugh6728 that's a great headcanon though.
@@erickpoorbaugh6728 I had him go because the escort was supposed to sneak the people out and who better for that job than one of the best former STG agent, but yeah your headcannon sounds way cooler
It always baffled me how Admiral Raan was less useful than ordering The quatrains to stand down than Tali.
it wasn't her being less useful, but having less reason to. tali only stood by you in the argument for peace because of how she came to see legion as more than just a machine.
Imagine playing mass effect 1 without realising there's an explosive shot on the mako
wait what
I only realized it in my second run
Explosive shot? You mean like the tank cannon?
Just discovered it recently after years of playing.
Don't need to imagine.
Jondum Bau's complete passivity and lack of struggling or fighting back when the random C-Sec guy was choking him to death always makes me laugh my ass off.
You're a Spectre, dude, handle this situation.
If they wanted to make it more believable. Have the random C-Sec guy be the one at the terminal and you don't suspect him. Then the Hanar says "My colleague has just uploaded the virus." That's when the camera focuses on C-Sec guy. Shepard can go take out the C-Sec guy and have the Hanar use his tentacles to immobilize and strangle Bau. If you've talked to Zaeed in ME2, he mentions that Hanar are surprisingly strong and have good grip. So this would pass as possibly threatening to a Spectre. Much more than a random red shirt C-Sec guy at least.
1:10 Wreav is so frustrating that I decided to help Aria retake her couch midway through the Genophage arc.
8:28/9:00 Are these just the default in original Mass Effect 3 for players who didn't purchase the respective ME2 DLCs?
For Kasumi & Zaeed, if you never brought the DLC or they died in ME2 then those are the replacements regardless
@@JEBERNARD thought so.
@@JEBERNARDso if you played ME2 and they survive, you don't need the dlc?
@@mycomnithegreat434 No he means that if you don't have the DLC, as I didn't, these take their role. Separately, if you DID have the DLC but they died during the assault, then their replacements also take their roles.
In my opinion, Xen is pretty damn good as a character, probably one of the most unique ones in ideology amongst her people, plus Morrigan's voice gives her an extra edge. Unfortunately we can only see more of her if Tali dies.
Great character in the same vein as Udina, I always thought. A complete and utter asshole, just a very satisfying one to butt heads against.
I love Admirals Raan and Xen, mostly based on the wonderfully unique female voices the two actresses have.
@@carlsiouxfalls definitely a big plus in both cases!
She has a lot of dialogue on the Normandy if Tali's alive, too. Including mention that she used to dissect her plush toys as a child.
Claudia Black also voiced Liara's dad and the difference is crazy.
But on a side note - I loved her voice so much from DA, that I looked up her other film roles. Her character on Farscape is epic. I definitely recommend it. She's even a more amazing actor than just a voice.
it's amazing how much extra work they made for themselves by having soo many squadmates that can kick the bucket.
Urdnot Dagg- "Time to die!"
Shepard- "That's the spirit"
Dagg- "No I mean me... I'M about to die!!"
They could have inspired like a whole 10% more playthroughs of the game if you could invite Mordin to the Citadel DLC party after keeping him alive.
or legion.
Thank goodness this guy was willing to let the squad die to find out what happens because I sure didn't have the guts to. Also poor Kirrahe at 7:10. "Hold the line" to the bitter end.
Thane survived my Mass Effect 2, but I never noticed him in the hospital before the Cerberus attack. Kirrahe stood in during the attack as if Thane was dead, but Shepard still said "That was for Thane, you son of a bitch!" when killing Kai Leng. It confused that hell out of me when I played!
On my playthroughs without Thane Shepard would say "That was for Thessia you son of a bitch" which I've honestly always preferred since it showed how much Shepard cared for people completely unrelated to them. I'm guessing that since you kept Thane alive in the save the game just assumed you met up with him and the dialog was picked the moment the game started.
You never read your emails, do you?
Iirc Falere has a line where she mentions that Shepard got Samara killed if she dies during the suicide mission. Dunno what she says if you never recruit Samara though.
Still breaks my heart if you betray Wrex in ME3 and sabotage the cure. He finds out and confronts you on the Citadel, and you have to kill him
that confrontation is so brutal
I doubt I'll ever be strong enough to do such a playthrough
I did that once....legit shed a tear. I was actually talking to the game saying "Don't do this Wrex. Please don't make me do this."
I will say I do wish there was a way to have both of them by the end, maybe something even more difficult than the requirements for quarian-geth peace. But oh well, guess it does make for a more catching game if you have to make sacrifices for the greater good
One thing I love about Padok Wiks is his interesting views on the universe. He's a scientist, so he looks at life with a logical and academic outlook. But he's also very spiritual, believing that our actions have a lasting effect in the universe.
Both of them helped create the genophage, and Mordin cures it because of his regrets, but Padok does it because he believes he has a moral obligation to fix it.
Garrus and Tali are two of my favorite characters🙂❤️😊 thanks for this awesome video BigDanGaming 💯🔥🙃
wow garrus and tali are your favorites? you're so quirky and unique
@@nam9085 Your IQ does not even make a respectable earthquake.”
@@dirtysanchez654 At least I know what a quotation mark is like hello.. why is there a random quotation mark at the end? 😭 Did you steal that comeback from a website or something? LMFAO
Bro who cares@@nam9085
While you mentioned the Banshee Morinth cameo - it's worth mentioning that if you sell Legion to Cerberus, rather than activating him, he appears in the Cerberus HQ mission as a named Nemesis sniper enemy - and if Jack survives ME2, but you simply ignore the Grissom Academy mission in ME3, she appears in the Cerberus HQ as a named Phantom biotic melee enemy.
The reason there wasn't an actual person to replace Garrus (like how Wiks replaced Mordin or Wreav replaced Wrex) is because they didn't expect anyone would want to kill him... Especially not those who wanted to romance him. But since there was a possibility of him accidentally dieing in ME2 they just gave the lines over to Corinthis.
Hope the new mass effect has such a dynamic choice and effect system.
Even for a first playthrough, having a bad choice feel worse later, would be inspiring.
Bioware punishes in the sequel if you get squadmates killed.
Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. It all makes sense.
Part of Shepard’s success was coming from the great team he has built.
Except with mordin: padok is far better.
@@janeshepard9549 I just recommended it on another thread.
I didn’t try it yet, but I plan to do it on my current playthrough.
@@juzoli It's worth it ;)
@@janeshepard9549 I don’t promise to not use the resurrect all option in the end though:D It depends on what happens to Garrus.
I kind of want to see Mordin die though, after seeing this video.
I've played the Mass Effect trilogy numerous times and I've never lost any companion. I didn't know there where replacements, so your video is very informative to me.
Imagine how much more fleshed out it could have been provided the not having like 18 .months to make the entire game
I never understood why they gave to developers this kind of deadline...
Cost cutting is never a good option if you are known as the best...but EA is such a joke and ruined BioWare
@@Andre80.5 Seems to me the original sin behind Bioware's troubles was these games just not selling quite as well as you might imagine. Even like Fallout: New Vegas might've sold 3x the copies of Mass Effect 2. So the classic Bioware game design, after several of them, just deemed not lucrative enough. Kinda sad and shitty.
I genuinely like Kirrahe “holding the line” till the end, more then Thane.
It wasn't there considering the footage in the video used male Shepard, but in the scene where Traynor talks to Shepard instead of Garrus, if you play as Femshep, you get a somewhat amusing scene of Traynor being...ahem...'distracted'...by Shepard's bottom.
Definitely not worth killing Garrus for, but rather amusing nonetheless.
Glad I'm not the only one that noticed that, lol
I made sure to keep all of my team members alive in original release of ME2, so I could have them all in ME3.
I didn't learn that there were substitute characters in ME3 until last year (2020).
I felt like Sally Field in restaurant dinner scene in MRS DOUBTFIRE...
"THE WHOLE TIME!? THE WHOLE TIME!? THE WHOLE TIME!?"
I love how they made it safe to kill off Jacob 🤣😂
You could finish ME2 without ever recruiting Tali. I never did that, and I wonder if Tali would be there in ME3?
I have a video on that actually :) ruclips.net/video/xHsxl81VWoQ/видео.html
TLDR - she doesn't :/
Dude simply mentioning the scene with Legion and what he says when deciding what happens in the Quarian vs. Geth war has me on the verge of tears.
Just saying.... Totally felt ya when you said, "Goddess forbid" during Garrus's.... Ahem.... Death.....
It's so weird that Tali is a full, permanent squadmate in 3, since she has the highest chance of dying: She can die to a lack of ship upgrades, and has the second lowest "hold the line" score behind Mordin. Mordin however will likely be safe in your squad, or escorting the cr3w.
Originally, she wasn't going to be until the last minute due to her extreme popularity. Her role was meant to be filled by EDI. However, Tali is a fan favorite, so they added her in. Her late addition is part of why she shows up so late in the story. A shame - I would've liked more Tali, tbh
@@rogen8094 I mean Wrex was even more popular, and he wasn't a full squadmate, for similar story-reasons that Tali shouldn't have been.
@@gabrielrussell5531 Fair. Wrex totally should have been as well
If I remember correctly, you can still have Kirrahe show up to save the councilor. Even if Thane is still alive, by not talking to Thane in Mass Effect 3.
you can. though it doesn't do anything to keep thane alive.
@@jamesherb4384 That's true. The reason being is because Thane was in the final stages of Kepral's Syndrome and he required daily treatment, so eventually, he would have died during the game
I've played ME through probably a dozen times or more, and most of this stuff I've never seen before. I just can't bear to let any of my homies die!
Good video!
When I first played Mass effect 2 and 3 it simulated all my actions in ME1 it simulated that I killed Wrex on Ilos and let Ashley die on Virmire. So when I played through these two games I liked Weeav a lot but had no idea one of the GOATS Wrex was even a character until I replayed the trilogy. Ashley too. Mass Effect is amazing
You lack of love for ash is unacceptable
Viks is so good that i wish we could have had both him and Scientist Salarian at the same time.
5:51 that look Shepard gave her after she offed herself was hilarious. 🤣
Padok is a great character, I would’ve loved to see him and Mordin interact
I kept everyone alive and was looking for a video exactly like this, thank you.
So it just zaps all of the emotion from the choices that matter in me3
That emotion was already spent when those companions died. Now the cold choices are just what's best for earth.
Hey Dan! I have an awesome idea for the next video! You know that you can replace Doctor Chakwas in ME3 with some other younger doctor (can't remember her name). You could make a video showing differences if you have Chakwas and when you instead chose the other one. Just FYI if you are wondering about the next video.
You can choose Dr. Michel in Huerta.
What??????
If Padok Wiks is the second Wrex's source of information in STG, in case Mordin is dead, does Wrex find out about your betrayal when you choose not to cure the genophage?
He does. Wrex will say "Wiks wasn't my only source in STG" during the confrontation. The scene will play out basically the same. I touch on it in this video ruclips.net/video/2mOnPr4rqdw/видео.html
Tbh, Wrex having so many salarian sources is bs in the first place. Even if you whiped out all sources that Wrex had, he would have bugged Normandy SR2 while being only on Normandy SR1 and Illusive man thought it was a feature of the ship AND would recreate the bugs OR Wrex would hack EDI with his omnitool and gain the information. Or he would pay the Shadow broker for the Info with developers forgetting that the Shadow broker is Liara.
Seriously, ME3 has more plot holes and plot devices than I ever imagined. They simply had to make a lot of shortcuts in order to make it in 2 years.
@@BigDanGaming Damn, Wrex truly is much more thoughtful than his brother
@@Dark_Voice Actually, it's not hard to imagine Wrex having a few Salarian contacts. You just proved this by showing how practical he is.
@@titanhades4331 I didnt prove anything. All I said was that its ridiculous something like this would be possible or would go past EDI unnoticed. Him hacking EDI is bs outright.
About this from 9:45 there is one dialogue. Falere mentioned that she've heard her mother was working with shephard and she died on collectors base and it appear only in this outcome.
This is what makes these games so great, idk how many times I’ve replayed the trilogy and always find something new or something I haven’t done
It does make you appreciate how much detail BioWare did for mass effect even you didn’t get everyone killed
I had a few of these outcomes during some of my playthroughs just to see how it played out. But I never had the guts so let either Garrus or Tali die during the suicide mission. Now that I watched this, I'm glad I didn't.
Probably already known, but Claudia Black also plays Liara's other mom. She's the bartender in Conrad's bar in ME2 and the bartender in ME3.
Some nice dialog if you've hooked up with Liara.
For these things I love Mass Effect. I have played each game at least five times but in each playtrough I find new things that never cease to amaze me.
You finally made the video. Thanks Dan. Thank you for accepting my suggestion
I played ME3 before any of the others. For a while, I thought most of these were the main characters
Yep! And you learned your lesson: 'Never start a trilogy by the third!'
I finished the trilogy at least 3 times and doing different things Everytime and I still didn't saw everything.. that makes me happy, so much content. I am hoping to play again once I get my hands on the legendary edition.
Mass Effect still one of my favorite games till this day.
I prefer morinth over Samara but they literally just ganked morinth into a renamed banshee and a few emails, would have chose to kill Samara but morinth adds nothing to me3, I'm disappointed
@@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle the Leviathan mission in ME3 also gets you access to that skill. And I really like Morinth so it really was a shame how little impact she made. It makes sense for her character to just run off and end up being converted I guess. But at least give us a trail of interesting destruction to investigate, or something like that? An unloyal Jack similarly just gets converted (by Cerberus rather than the Reapers... if that's even a distinction at that point!) but she has to be unloyal for that to be the case. Morinth just gets that treatment regardless. I guess because she cannot be unloyal? Still the most disappointing squadmate result.
@@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle I do like an ME2 playthrough having already unlocked it, with AI Hacking on one side of the controller and Dominate on the other. Shepard showing the Reapers how to indoctrinate with style! :D
@@Torthrodhel Jack get kidnapped by Cerberus if you fail to save Grissom Academy in time.
@@varric yep, turning her into nothing more than a named version of one of the generic enemies. Shame to see, but certainly one of the more likely outcomes, as she's such a glass cannon and so fragile during the end of ME2.
i lost wrex on virmire during my playthrough of the trilogy, and thus got wreav. i liked him, as a character that is. he was extremely dickish and sometimes i was genuinely anxious he would screw things up for me, but that’s what i liked about his presence. and hearing him get put in his place by eve is great too
Correction wrex doesn’t have to die on virmire for wreave to be leader instead. If you don’t recruit him wreave will still take over
Makes sense, since without Shepard recruiting him, Wrex would still be out being a mercenary.
But BigDan said that... 1:14
@@mranthonymills coulda swore I only heard him say if wrex dies in me1
another thing worth mentioning could be the mentions of Tali and Garrus when being on Menae/Rannoch (which is also very sad because it reminds you they are dead ooooofff)
In my latest Playthrough i will meet nearly all of them. Only Tali, Legion and Garrus survived
You monster you
@@JenMaxon i know. Maybe i revive Grunt and Jack with my Saveeditor
How did you manage to get Miranda killed? I've been playing these games for nearly a decade and even on my worst run she somehow got away just fine.
@@clay1430 Dont make her Loyal and bring her to the End Fight.
I remember my first playthrough of the whole trilogy. I did very little of the side content, most of my squad mates died, and I was locked out of every ending except for Control due to a lack of war assets. By the end, I was very confused as to why I couldn't destroy the leaders, and didn't know that there were multiple endings until MUCH later.
I was very young at the time.
10:00 That's exactly why I laugh when people complain that "your choices didn't matter in the end" thingy. Can you imagine how much extra content they'd have to create for ALL the unique choices you made over all three games? We'd have like a hundred different endings, if not more!
The games provided a good story, beginning middle and end, and the choices you made did have an impact, as this video pointed out. But ultimately the story had to end with Shepard defeating the enemy they fought over the course of the entire trilogy, there wasn't really any other ending than that!
Good vid, this felt like it was almost an entirely new story when I saw this
I knew a few of these but never saw most cause I always try to save everyone.
Yeah, I don't have the desire to lose a squad mate for a bland experience in ME3. Besides, it makes Citadel:Shore Leave that much more depressing.
In my very first play through YEARS ago, I lost Wrex on Virmire. I didn't realize that side missions were that important. I also lost a few squad mates during the Collector Base on more than one occasion (Garrus once, Mordin a few times, and Jacob once, I think). To date, I haven't played through the trilogy with a lost squad mate (Kaiden notwithstanding). I don't have the heart for it, I guess.
If Wrex died in ME1, then who would come to Shepard's rescue in that fight with the mercs during citadel dlc ?
James fires a rocket.
I think its James but dont quote me
It’s James.
I also got James when Wrex was alive, but the bomb exploded on Thuchanka, and I also betrayed him, even though I didn’t have the confrontation with him yet.
Yep it's indeed James, he fires a big rocket at the shuttle
Videos like this are why I love RUclips. Great video topic idea
This video exemplifies why I can’t rate Mass Effect 3 as a perfect game. Well, this and the very ending. Just having a few minor differences in dialogue is a far cry from the ‘your actions have consequences’ promise of the series. Those consequences seem pretty superficial in the final analysis.
Another major issue I have is the way Ashley and Kaidan became a single character after Virmire. It’s highly absurd that both Ashley and Kaidan would have pretty much the same exact dialogue on Horizon in ME2, and that they would both be assigned there in the first place. And that only becomes more absurd in ME3 when they both have the exact same dialogue in a number of places in the story, and both have the exact same story trajectory. Ashley and Kaidan had very different career trajectories prior to ME1, and very different personalities. The only thing they have in common is that they are Alliance soldiers. It would have been much more realistic to have only Ashley or Kaidan show up on Horizon and berate Shepard about Cerberus. If they are dead in that playthrough, then the Alliance sent someone else, and no confrontation occurs. You could then encounter the Virmire Survivor at a different point in the story, with different dialogue, and a different outcome. And that could all continue in Mass Effect 3, with only Ashley or Kaidan being a Spectre candidate, and the other doing something else entirely. Just having them both living the same exact life with the same exact dialogue after one of them dies feels really ‘game-y’ in a game that otherwise feels very realistic and immersive.
I think it makes a lot more sense to have Surviving Kaidan's story play out as we see it in the games, with him being assigned to Horizon and becoming a Spectre, since he was an officer and a biotic, and pretty much the poster boy for the Alliance. I think if Ashley's story had taken a very different turn, being sort of drummed out of the Alliance because of her family history, we could have had a much better story with her that would really make people want to replay the game. Maybe Ashley became involved with Aria T'Loak on Omega, and her story ends with her helping to save the galaxy in a very different way that feels much more personalized. I just think it could have been so much better.
All these games are about having a good illusion of choice, its impossible to make it any more complicated with realistic budgets and timescales.
@@HelmuthGerka it's not impossible, it just requires creativity.
Interesting Video. It´s not a Problem for me with the spoilers because I will never get the bad outcomes. In all my Playthroughs I saved the crew.
What an cool twist that you can only get peace between Geth and Quarians when you worked for it in ME 2 and ME 3.
Here's an incredibly dark idea I had (at least in part based on Big Dan's joke from 'not releasing Grunt' video of Grunt becoming a mega Krogan Husk), have any squadmates who died during 2 or 3 becoming an enemy in the final missions of ME3 (like the Jack Phantom and Morinth Banshee). Eg: have Cerberus recover Legion and have it still become the 'Legion Assassin' unit the same as selling it to Cerberus and Morinth still become a Banshee if she slips away in a failed version of Samara's Loyalty Mission. Or (the darkest idea I came up with) have GARRUS become Marauder Shields if he died during the Collector Base or have him merged into a Brute with Grunt if the Krogan also died.
Also maybe have Jacob take Kai Leng's role if he survives rather than having him in the Ex-Cerberus Scientists mission (either have him remain committed to Cerberus or for a hideout he's located in get raided on The Illusive Man's orders and have him forcibly indoctrinated in an attempt to throw Shepard off balance during Citadel, Thessia and Cerberus HQ).
Calm down, Satan
@@JollyWanker had a feeling that I'd get a reaction like that even without the Garrus part...
An idea I had for Miranda. If you don't complete her loyalty mission and she survives. She remains loyal to Cerberus. She plays a more antagonistic role. When you first meet her on the Citadel it's how she normally would be. Tells you she left Cerberus and is there tracking down Oriana, and in all meetings plays along with you. The first major hint is in Priority: Citadel where you find a Pad mentioning an "Agent L."
The big reveal is in Priority: Horizon. Where she betrays you and you have to fight her.
This is really interesting. I wonder if anyone will make a series like Mass Effect again. All of the time and effort to make dialogue, animations and storylines, a company would probably say it’s not cost effective.
"Did you lost your teammates do to bad decision? Call the R*-Team."
*Replacement
Think about a whole parallel universe story where Shepard never became Specter or died in the past and we get a weird replacement with this as his/her team... Seems priceless to me. Also because they aren't specters or even military they just hopp around in a Black Cargo freighter with a red stripe on the side... And the Krogan wears Gold chains arround his neck and hates Planetary Landings. Okay enough weird A-Team references no one gets...😅
I like imagining a totally alternate Mass Effect where Shepard never even joined the military, and everyone fills similar roles it's just really obscure characters. Led of course by the first human spectre, Conrad Verner. Who's haunted by having had to choose between Khalisah and Fist on Virmire. And who didn't like being forced to take over Captain Jenkins's ship, but knew it had to be done and begrudgingly went along with the advice of Earth councillor Gavin Hossle.
Remember saving the Thorian only to have it indoctrinated by Reapers in the next game? Shame you couldn't do the same with the Krogan Queen at the end of Noveria.
How about Fisto finally joining the squad in ME3, though? About time huh! I really liked the DLC characters too, Barla Von's such a cutesy little thief and Patriarch is totally the ship's grumpy grandpa. At least the ME2 ones anyway - Vigil was a bit of an asshole in ME3. Why'd he have to be a crucible scientist, couldn't we have got a spirit of vengeance or something?
Gotta go for that Elcor romance though. I mean what are your other choices? The vorcha's just gonna die anyway, and Wilson just cheats on you (plus why's Conrad so flirty with him in the first place? Just because he wasn't that Jacob guy who Oriana shot when you woke up in the base after being rebuilt by Exo-Geni?)
Anyway, Admiral Traynor's available on vidcon.
Never noticed there is a banshee named Morinth...thats dark
I laughed when Oriana and Henry fell
Thanks for going over these so I never have to sacrifice my besties myself ❤️
Wiks was funny af. XD
All my squad mates were alive at the end of ME2 but I didn’t encounter Zaeed at all, Kasumi for like 5 sec but didn’t understood what I had to do for her and never saw her again, and I was too late to meet Thanes and suddenly I was at his funeral without.
Which is great because that game can be play differently then. Loved it.
Why anyone would do this is beyond me
Same
I like that you make these videos. Because no matter how many times I replay the games I always have to make sure everyone lives no matter what lol
I once mistakenly clicked that i side with the Geth during Rhanock mission... my eyes teared up and i didnt play ME for the rest of the day.... next day i reloaded older save and fixed everything
First time I played ME3 I didn't have my ME2 save from my old HDD, I MAY have imported a recent ME1 playthrough at the time if that was possible can't be sure... but I played through the game with (almost) ALL of these replacements as a result (or whatever was default I guess for skipping ME2), not knowing that the original characters were even supposed to be there. Crazy when I finally replayed it during LE with proper imported ME2 saves to see the Jack, Wrex etc. scenes without the annoying B tier replacements.
I started playing Legendary, and in all of my original playthoughs I had never lost Kirrahe, so now I wanna see what happens in ME3
I'm surprised you didn't actually play the line "i punched him in the face" from padok
This is the video I've been waiting for.
4:28 Wouldn't want to be that soldier at debriefing. His standing orders were to capture Prangley - ALIVE. Not kill him.
Love Urdnot Dagg. Wish he was given more time. Maybe even having him join in on the Citadel fun if Grunt was the leader
You mentioned the extra bit with Traynor if you haven't got Garrus. This is actually really good if you're romancing her as FemShep as you get a unique cutscene where Traynor is checking out Shep!
I would have never seen most of these, so...thank you! Like, I wondered! But had no idea how they fit in all those possibilities!
I never knew any of this lol, I got pretty lucky and played through the entire trilogy without losing anybody that wasn't a guaranteed death. Kaiden/Ashley, Thane, etc.