After playing Dragon Age II, I've got to say, I fear for Mass Effect 3. I really do. The story driving mechanic that Bioware used for DAII was just atrocious. I'm looking at all of these websides and press releases on how Dragon Age was going to be unique compared to every other game in Bioware's library, but it didn't amount to anything. For instance, the "story spanning a whole decade" feature.
1. None of the characters show any visible signs that they've aged or even changed the way they look.
2. All the districts look exactly the same. From the first day to the last, The shops are still open and being run the same keepers, the poor beggers occupy the same corners and the areas that should show change like the Quanari area are just closed off.
3. A lot of the 3 year transitions that occur in this game can easily occur over night. After the Deep Roads expidition, you can simply buy back your estate and start there. After the Quanari invasion, you're crowned champion and the next day can be the exact same as what happens in the next three years.
And what makes things worse is the way choices are played out. My first play through, Anders destroys a church. I get angry and kill him for doing that. Second play through, I tell Anders to beat it and never come back. When we get to the same point in the story line, HE COMES BACK and does the same gawddang thing, thus making the decision to kick him out entirely pointless. I hope the choices we make for Shepard in ME3 actually have an effect on the story.
