What about player stats and customization?

Most RPGs gives us deep and expansive character upgrade skills. ME2 only gave us like 4 for each set.

It is clear that Bioware water down the RPG elements to make it appeal to your casual Gears of War type shooter player.

ME3 like ME2 is just going to be another typical shooter with interactive dialog and MINOR RPG elements. Nothing more.

if game is a shooter than its not rpg
its not rpg without proper leveling, combat system, branching in dialogues and conseqences, and a hell ton of a loot

@GameZenith

You make it seem like you've played ME3 and you know this as fact. You might turn out to be correct, but I think I'll wait for more concrete details before I begin to judge.

The branching skill tree and more robust customization options Bioware keeps talking about sound promising, but again, I want to actually see examples of how they work.

That means everything

It means even publications dont view it as an rpg first anymore

I don't think you don't even know what the heck you're talking about at all. I've been playing RPG games more than enough to know what they are. If a game gives you tons of choices, including small scale ones, that effects the outcome of the series let alone the game, that means that game is an RPG. Having shooter elements, like GeOW style cover doesn't change the fact that you're deciding which way you want to play. Not just on the surface side by creating a character or just wearing/customizing the armor, but by making choices that matters. And Mass Effect games does it better than any RPG out there. Not everyone is stuck in 1999, which is the time of isometric RPG's with D20 battle system. You might like those games, but don't ever call Mass Effect (including 3) a shooter with RPG elements without knowing what the heck are you talking about.

Liam lol I can't stand that dude.

it's like bitch but your shirt back on, your not blue or spikey get away from me