The Beginning of the End
The Reapers arrive on Earth and James should have warned Shepard not to pay attention to any kids....
Nick, Chip, and Kurabara are back this week but they are NOT talking about the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Instead, they are taking a week to talk about Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, the anime movie that falls in between Mass Effect 2 and 3.
They begin by talking about its run time (about 90 minutes), and get into talking about the production values and the voice actors. This is a movie that is about Vega, a character from Mass Effect 3, and his backstory. They debate if this is worth watching. They talk about the 3D CGI sequences. They consider James’ viability as an NPC, and talk about the animation style.
After recapping the beginning of the movie which details a Blood Pack attack on the colony of Fehl Prime, Nick comments how the Krogan second-in-command Brood looks like another anime character. They comment that they struggled to learn everyone’s names. Kurabara brings up Essex harassing Camille, and that leads into a run down of the characters. They discuss Milque and Vega’s conversation about choice. They talk about the Blood Pack forces and how Milque survived getting shot. They talk about the shuttle crash.
Next, the story advances two years, and they talk about the Collector attack on Fehl Prime. They wonder about Shepard’s status during these events, and Chip points out that there is a ME2 reference to Fehl Prime. They talk about how the Collector threat is obscured initially. They discuss how the antidote research is the unmentioned reason why the crew is stationed there. They consider the James and April relationship, and then look at the James and Treya relationship. They talk about their initial reaction to Messner, and the convenience that the APC wasn’t working right when the Collectors hit. They evaluate Liara’s cameo, and discuss how the collector pods work. They talk about everyone’s disbelief in the Reapers. They consider Camille’s fate and talk about the Collector Ship and its guns. Kura wonders about James’ decision to leave April behind. They talk about Messner and Cerberus and the return of Brood.
Finally, they talk about Vega’s assault on the Collector Ship. They talk about Brood’s many guns. They talk about how the biotic powers are well represented in combat. They talk about Messner turning on Brood, and Vega’s earlier ploy with the antidote. They mention the Prothean Beacon, and Vega failing to save Treya when she was in the pod with the data. They wonder about the number of Collector Ships and mention that Vega and Shepard are the only two people to destroy a Collector Ship. They evaluate Vega’s decision and talk about Vega flashing through the consequences at the end. They compare Vega’s choices to those made by Shepard. Chip points out that Vega is getting Renegade points for what he did. They talk about how Shepard would have fared with the same choices, and how the movie ends with Vega reporting to Vancouver.
Thank you for listening to Squad Goals – A Mass Effect Legendary Edition Podcast! Please send any comments or questions to squadgoals@mash.gg or @squadgoalsN7 on twitter.
Hosts
Nick Zielenkievicz
Host of WoW! Talk! and The Tauren & The Goblin. Sometimes known as the Video Games Public Defender. Wants to play more Destiny and Marvel Heroes but WoW is all-consuming. Decent F2P Hearthstone player. Sad that he lost the Wii that had Wrecking Crew on it. Would be happy if the only game ever made was M.U.L.E. Gragtharr on Skywall-US. Garresque on Ravencrest-US.
Chip Locke
Chip has a boring adult day job and then burns as much free time as possible playing the videos james. Fond of a variety of MMOs, JRPGs, and action games without active time button mashing.
