Should Mass Effect 2's DLC Arrival have been an Expansion Pack?

[Winter]

Yes!

While many put the blame for ME3's issues at ME2's feet the real issue here is that there was a way to get around this problem with what is, IMHO, the worst DLC of the series Arrival. Arrival is a 1 hour DLC that excites for a plot point that was scrapped between the second and 3d game. Originally Shepard was suppose to be on trial for destroying the Relay in Arrival but that was scrapped and the destruction of the Relay is such a minor plot point that if you didn't do it NOTHING changes ME3.

When I was working on my rewrite of ME3 I came to realize that I NEEDED to set up a few points a resolve a number of minor plot points in order to fix the problems I had with ME3 as a whole but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then I saw Chuck's review of Dragon Age: Origins' Expansion Pack Arrival and realized how I could work around it.

The basic concept was to release a Demo/Expansion Pack for a Reboot of ME3 which would be a remake of Arrival that would work to lay the ground work for my ME3. The basic set up is that there would be 5 missions, with about 5 or 6 squad mates that would be about learning of the Reapers arrival in a Batarian System and that we had to find a way to stop them.

During this mission we learn that the the Batarians have the Dead Reaper that they found before the events of the series, the one from Dis, which helps set up Leviathan which will be a key factor in taking on the Reapers in the coming war with them. I also worked to make it clear why the Relay had to be destroyed as the EP deals with Reaper tech and a weaker Reaper that's been directing this from behind the scenes and even with the Thanix cannon this thing doesn't die until the Relay is destroyed.

BUT you can get a message out to the Batarians in this system so they can evacuate and while you can't save everyone you at least can save some of them.

Also the Virmire Survivor is here so they can have their arc of learning to trust Shepard here instead of in ME3 where it, IMO, it's a overall annoying distraction to the main story.

So, to help set up how we can beat the Reapers with what we learn from the Leviathan of Dis' corpse and resolving a few minor plot points from ME2 that I felt hurt ME3 as a whole I think Arrival should have been an Expansion Pack and I think this would have helped ME3.

[CharlesPhipps]

Honestly, sabotaging the Relay and delaying the Reapers' arrival by decades if not destroying many of them would have been a decent end to the series.

[TGLS]

Honestly, sabotaging the Relay and delaying the Reapers' arrival by decades if not destroying many of them would have been a decent end to the series.

Yeah. It'd also make the entire plot of ME2 relevant.