Max @max@smeap.com

Renegade Space Witch won this fascist renegade space witch style armor breaking the scoreboard in the silly arena place. It’s subcontracted gear for Cerberus with the color scheme applied but not the logos or other details applied. Had nice stats, seemed appropriate for RSW’s place in the galaxy. Took screenshot in (ex-)Cerberus base for verisimilitude.

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/KXCTJBEN

At first I had some regrets I didn’t find the perfect “full crew” time to do it, but then it started unlocking content slightly differently than when I did it as “endgame” the last time and maybe the very different experience isn’t the worst experience of it anyway. Good job designers I guess

Relatedly, I forgot how the “party” DLC started or what it’s A plot excuses were for the truly important B plot of the “party”, and I had no idea how “early” in the game it unlocks (given it was endgame DLC for my OG playthrough), so I accidentally kicked it off early and by the time I remembered where it was leading I was having too much fun and also sunk cost fallacy of all the gameplay fights

Some of the ME3 side quests I hit the feeling of “oh yeah there was a multiplayer map that was the same or similar to this spot”. Again emphasizing that weird feeling that I must have played a bunch of the multiplayer. Weirder still how often feels like that hits more than “I remember this mission now” for some of the quests chains

My “rule” through through these playthroughs has just been (mostly) sticking only to missions that, to avoid the completionism of my Paragon playthroughs. It’s interesting how ME1 was main quests only, ME2 was main quests plus selected key side quests, and ME3 just about every side quest shows up on the galactic map. (As flashing lights rather than tags, but still.)

In case anyone was worried that Renegade Space Witch wasn’t showing all the scars of being nearly 100% Renegade.

Nearly because ME3 merged the bars again and I’m not avoiding Paragon points entirely (don’t even think I can in ME3), just being super Renegade.

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/RJGJRGDW

Specifically, I mean it is so stupid Angular is using property injection at all! Many projects died in the Dependency Injection wars of the early 2010s to leave us the message on their corpses that even if DI is sometimes (!) useful the only *way* is constructor injection.

It further doesn’t help that Angular can only property inject in the first place because it is using Experimental (!) decorators support it shouldn’t ducking be using in Production code. Morons

So many necessary uses of the damn it operator (!) in Angular if you turn on strict mode in Typescript simply because Angular’s @Input is property injection rather than constructor injection. So stupid

Flipside, so far ME3 in the LE is gorgeous in 4K (Auto-)HDR. Other than the creakingly small map sizes the engine supported and papered over asset loads with too many doors and elevators, in some ways it looks better than DICE’s Frostbite engine on a good day. This remaster seems its own nose thumbing at EA’s Frostbite or Bust mandate to Bioware.

Finally realized what was feeling “off” about ME3 in the LE:

1) I replayed parts of ME1 and ME2 several times, but this is my first revisit to ME3 and I don’t remember a lot of this (even considering very different Shepard/timeline)

2) It’s really weird, but the multiplayer is missing. I think I played a lot more of it than I needed to, and I enjoyed it, and it’s weird all the little holes tearing it out have left (“oh yeah that needed multiplayer time before”)

Renegade Space Witch at the opening of ME3. The facial scars are gone from ME2, but everyone keeps telling her the galaxy’s scars are not. The fascist uniform is different trading Cerberus whites for Alliance blues, but still the same fascist collar (and ideology really). The violet eyes are how you know she is a witch. Still wants to talk to the galaxy’s manager.

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/VYXU96CE

I deeply associate the piano theme with ME3 especially because of its use in the opening. I assumed that was Mansell’s thing and kind of out of place, but I noticed the predecessor piano theme more this time in my ME2 playthrough a few times and that especially it does play in some of the final few moments. Playing them back to back rather than years apart it also makes the intro seem less of a music shift than I recalled it feeling to have that theme central in the opening.

The ME3 opening made more sense for this character. “Your are in trouble for this thing with mass casualties you did intentionally.” Yup RSW did that intentionally with no kinder intent. Caught her.

They finally let Renegade Space Witch talk to a manager! Unfortunately for the galaxy it was only an Assistant Manager in Training, barely out of diapers.

There were some ugly casualties. RSW didn’t have too much patience for research, but enough to survive the encounter with the Assistant Manager with *some* survivors.

(ME2 complete.)

Renegade Space Witch in ME2 at 100% Renegade with the scars and evil red iris to prove it. (Still wearing fascist military uniform “casually”.) One last loyalty mission on the horizon, then to find out how much patience RSW has for finishing up mining/research before demanding to speak to The Collectors’ manager. (Probably not much?)

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/7C2TXG9N

Neat. This Admiral in the Migrant Fleet was voiced by “Avasarala” of The Expanse several years before The Expanse.

Oh and also if it weren’t obvious: Renegade Space Witch is an Adept (Biotics focused) playthrough, the other reason for “space witch”

(My main ME playthroughs are all Sentinel, apparently one of the rarer choices, but I think Sentinel is a a blast)

I had some idea how fast the Renegade Scars show up, but between importing the save and just decisions in the “tutorial missions” and one mission so far (saved “Archangel” first thing), so much Renegade so quickly

Bonus photo of the face side with most scarring, plus the Blood Red for Serious and Bright Red for Fun combat armor

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/G5WPJQNU

Renegade Space Witch V2 (early in ME2 of Cerberus SSV SR-2 Normandy)

Still the “I want to talk to the galaxy’s manager look” with violet eyes so you know she’s a witch. Now with Fascist Jacket and Renegade Scars so you know she means fascist business while working for Space Fascists. Also bonus pink eyebrows for fun

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/6AQE8BU7