PixlBit

One year and one day ago, I came home to find my copy of Mass Effect 3 had been delivered. Everything that happened this gen had led up to that moment where I could finish the fight against the Reapers. Four days later I finished it, leaving a little confused and unsure of what actually happened in those final few minutes. The next day, I went through countless Google searches looking for some kind of hope, just anything that would give me a better ending than what I got. This search was all for nothing, however, as it was the true ending and for the next week I was depressed. I'm not even joking, food tasted worse, I couldn't enjoy any of my other games or anything on TV. I should have been starting another new game in ME3, but I just went to my studies to forget about it. It may sound pathetic now, but I had never been as invested in a series as I was in Mass Effect.

Though the ending was changed and I am fine with the endings we have now (romancing Thane combined with Control actually gives the perfect end to Paragon Shepard's story in my opinion). I'm sure I'd be over it if the endings weren't changed and I'd still be replaying Mass Effect over and over as is, enjoying how near perfect everything was to me until those last few minutes. Yet despite the story being over, for some reason Bioware kept releasing DLC for Mass Effect 3. These first two packages fleshed out the Reapers' origin story and let you tie together a loose plot point in ME3. Yet I couldn't help but feel they should have been in the main game. Maybe not as much content or without the new gimmicks, but the basics of their plot should have been a part.

I enjoyed these DLC packages. I felt what they offered was worth my money and I always enjoy going into them while replaying the trilogy. I just would have rather have them be much smaller in exchange for a delay to be on the disc. It just felt like DLC in a game meant to end a story arc felt pointless. This set my expectations that the Citadel DLC would just be more of that. I'd ultimately enjoy it like those, but ME3 is just not a game that should have had DLC. And it proved all of this wrong.

Citadel is not another package to acquire a new war asset against the Reaper. You get that, but it's not the point. It's not something to add to the story of the game. You get that, but it's not the point. So what is the point of Citadel? There are two actually: Satire and celebration. A satire of all those weird quirks in the trilogy. A celebration of your accomplishments and the adventure you've had with your squadmates. It's a package meant to reflect on the series. It feels more like an epilogue more than a side story. 

Come for the Wrex. Stay for the fanservice.

The initial package consists of a mission split up into 4 missions. New weapons and upgrades are introduced. Two of these consist of the standard shooting missions. One of these is similar to Thane and Samara's loyalty mission in Mass Effect 2 as you infiltrate a casino. The last is more shooting that culminates with an amazing boss fight. The story to this is incredibly goofy. Characters joke around an almost absurd amount, pointing out nearly every meme the series has created. The villain has an absurd backstory. Think of it as satire, however (which I think was Bioware's intention) and it is FUCKING AMAZING. I was laughing my ass off to the point where I died three times because I was laughing too hard.   

Really though, the mission is just an excuse to get to the post game content. This includes a new giant section of the Citadel that feels a lot like a shopping mall. There's all kinds of fun to have there including an arena which plays out similarly to a more arcady version the multiplayer. The reason that this is such an excellent addition is it lets you bring along all your party members absent in 3 to fight with you. So if you want to bring Jack, Miranda, or Wrex along, which I did, this DLC will make you very happy.

But these all pale in comparison to the real star of the DLC. The characters. Many characters have an area in the Citadel where Shepard spends time with them. These play out a lot like Persona 4 of all things, as it is much like spending the day with your Social Link friends in that game. The ultimate best point, however, is the party where you can invite nearly every crew member who boarded the Normandy. I'm not going to say anything other than THIS PARTY IS FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!!

Noting will be able to prepare you for this party. 

Mass Effect 3 Citadel is the perfect way to end off the series. Had it been on the disc, it would have been out of place. As DLC, it's perfect. It feels like a love letter to fans disappointed by the ending. It is fanservice at its finest.It's so good that a piece of DLC is now my pick for Game of the Year. Sure, the year's only three months in, but I really fucking loved Sly 4, so yeah...