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Mass Effect Trilogy

GarfunkeL

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So I finally finished my first playthrough of the entire trilogy. I had played the first and second games a little bit back when they were released but never completed them - nor had I ever played the third. But with my new PC, I figured what the hell. Let's give waifu-shooter a spin.

I went with Renegade Fem Shep, Adept-Soldier-Adept (bad call, should have remained Adept in ME2, soldier was damn boring), and Liara was my waifu. No, I didn't cheat on her during ME2.

It's pretty obvious that writers / designers changed between ME1 and ME2 - the game changes quite drastically. Women get more sexualized, every companion becomes "unique" like this is Final Fantasy, and the retarded inventory from ME1 is gone completely. Even more, the cliche but workable sci-fi plot of ME1 gets an utterly retarded future fantasy sequel. I don't understand why Shep had to die to join Cerberus, how Cerberus could get all the resources it utilized, why the Collectors were working for Reapers, why use human tissue to create a Reaper anyway and what the fuck, the entire game is one massive plot hole. So ME3, which its stupid, cliche alien invasion plot, is at least going back to being sci-fi. Too bad that the ending, which is stupid beyond all measure, ruins it. Whoever came up with Synthesis needs to stop writing.

EA/Bio never bothered to fix all issues on the games. I had to use console commands to disable the rendering of shadows on two levels in ME1 to be able to proceed and encountered numerous small bugs and scripting issues in ME2 and ME3. Usually the type of that a quest wasn't marked completed in journal or a side-quest didn't start when it was supposed to, and such. But there were only a handful of CTDs and no other major issues.

I guess everything really has been said about the mini-games, the companion quests and such. Driving the rover in ME1 was a pain but also kinda fun, seeing alien landscapes and all that. Mining in ME2 ranks in my top five of worst busy-work in a game ever. ME3 worst sin was cut-scene powers for enemies - especially Kai-Ling who literally was immortal in every fight. I tested. There were some cool levels as well and if ME2 did something right, the shooting parts certainly became more visceral. I didn't much like the sticky cover mechanics, as they hindered fluid movement, but it was workable.

The tech and biotic skills never made much sense to me but I guess you must have wizards in an RPG, regardless of the setting. And it was fun throwing enemies in the air and slam them against walls.

I don't know which writer was responsible for the Shep-Liara lovetalk at the end of ME3 but it was very well done. Too bad Bioware then had to ruin it by including one of their cringy-awkward animated sex scenes. Jesus christ, they were a disaster in Dragon Age, why the fuck would you include them here? Just fade to black after a kiss. And Garrus was a bro. Maybe the "farewell" chats at the end of ME3 wouldn't have been as effective if I hadn't just played all three games? Dunno.

So all in all, I don't regret the time wasted playing these - they are the epitome of "good for what it is". Often I found myself wondering how amazing the games would be if X was done differently or Y was more like Z and so on. Like, why are we restricted to just 2 companions at all times? Yeah, consoles I know. At least ME2 ending utilized almost the entire party, though it was pretty minimal. One of the most awesome moments of FF6 is how, in the final dungeon, you create three parties that include all of the heroes, and take different routes to the final boss, and how the parties have to interact with each other. I expected to see something like that in both ME2 and ME3 endings but of course I was disappointed.

Somebody remake Mass Effects but make them play like JA2? Now that would be amazing.
 

Bumvelcrow

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Playing any video game is wasting time.

GarfunkeL, Shamus Young's epic ME retrospective, as linked by the estimable Infinitron in this forum, has just finished, and not only is it a good read but will provide further ammunition for bashing the 'plots' of the latter two games. At the very least it will give you the opportunity to brofist my witty and snarky responses.
 

Sulimo

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Playing any video game is wasting time.

:nocountryforshitposters: Go back to rpgwatch

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Respect your Elders, boy. You are only allowed to tell your juniors to go back to rpgwatch.
 

GarfunkeL

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Bumvelcrow thanks for the tip about that retrospective. Young analyzed the series very well. It is quite disconcerting how many dumb things I was glossing over because my brain had already switched off and I just wanted to get to the end and/or I was invested with (some) of the characters. I guess it's telling that I never used any of the new ME3 characters in a mission unless forced to do so, instead relying on Garrus, Liara and Tali - plus always picking Wrex the few times it was possible. I can't fathom ever replaying the series like I do with Fallout or IE/GB games or other, actually good games. Oh well. So much wasted potential.

Oh and has it ever been revealed who fucked up the genre and tonal changes in ME2 and especially 3? Was it Casey Hudson? Or just Karpyshin getting booted out of lead role and then of the studio?
 
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Ninjerk

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Imagine spending as much time as he did doing that retrospective. Really puts "wasted time" into perspective.
 

Bumvelcrow

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Young analyzed the series very well. It is quite disconcerting how many dumb things I was glossing over because my brain had already switched off and I just wanted to get to the end and/or I was invested with (some) of the characters.
Yup, that's exactly how I felt. I enjoyed ME2, but hated the fact that I was forced into Cerberus and that some of the more interesting characters' personalities had been radically changed to fit the new macho, gung-ho theme (Liara the most obvious example). I enjoyed the game but the whole plot grated against me since the first thing I'd have done in Shepard's position would be to give Cerberus the middle finger and turn the Normandy in to the alliance. By the time I was a few missions in it no longer felt like a sequel to ME1 and I just had to go with it or stop playing. If you can compartmentalise it as a side quest while you wait for the real ME2 then it's quite a fun game.

Oh and has it ever been revealed who fucked up the genre and tonal changes in ME2 and especially 3? Was it Casey Hudson? Or just Karpyshin getting booted out of lead role and then of the studio?

Shamus continues to refer to just 'the writer', since as he probably accurately points out, it would be practically impossible to disentangle who did what and why at this stage. At some point, though, somebody must have made the decision for the tonal about face at the beginning of ME2 and the total abandonment of everything that was set up in the first game, and it would be nice to know who it was and why. The difference in quality between the main quest and the character quests suggests it was probably broken up into various writing teams. While ME2 could be enjoyed out of context, ME3 actually tries (extremely badly) to continue the main plot from the end of ME1 without any foundations that should have been set up in ME2, and the end result is an incoherent mess.

Incidentally, I'm currently playing through ME1 again after being inspired by the retrospective, and it's not the story driven sci-fi masterpiece I had enshrined it as. The story is so-so (at the moment, before we meet Sovereign), the combat is tolerable, but it's the atmosphere that is most remarkable, and the sense of being in a functioning world. But it really does feel like the Bioware sequel to KotOR at times.
 

Xor

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I remember thinking Mass Effect was dumbed down for mass audience appeal when I first played it. Back then, I didn't know how bad it would get. It was only in a later playthrough that I really came to appreciate the first game. That's not to say that it was amazing or anything, ME1 suffers from plenty of "biowarisms" - an absolutely terrible inventory, cringeworthy dialog, plot holes, level design issues, etc. But the universe held a lot of potential and the premise - eldritch machine gods are coming to wipe out all sentient life - could have potentially been amazing if done well. Saren was a well-done villain (especially by Bioware standards) and the rest of the main cast were all passable. The last hour or so of the game had some pretty dumb moments, though.

ME2 I tolerated for its mindlessness, but putting any thought into it at all basically ruins the game.

ME3 was so terrible that I can't even find the words to describe it, luckily other people already have.
 

J1M

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I remember thinking Mass Effect was dumbed down for mass audience appeal when I first played it. Back then, I didn't know how bad it would get. It was only in a later playthrough that I really came to appreciate the first game. That's not to say that it was amazing or anything, ME1 suffers from plenty of "biowarisms" - an absolutely terrible inventory, cringeworthy dialog, plot holes, level design issues, etc. But the universe held a lot of potential and the premise - eldritch machine gods are coming to wipe out all sentient life - could have potentially been amazing if done well. Saren was a well-done villain (especially by Bioware standards) and the rest of the main cast were all passable. The last hour or so of the game had some pretty dumb moments, though.

ME2 I tolerated for its mindlessness, but putting any thought into it at all basically ruins the game.

ME3 was so terrible that I can't even find the words to describe it, luckily other people already have.
No. That is the one part of the Mass Effect universe that really sucks and is the root cause of many other narrative problems.
 

Severian Silk

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Got bored with ME1 rather quickly. The game felt very "fake". The locations didn't feel real. Wasn't a good party RPG. Wasn't a good shooter RPG.
 
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Bumvelcrow thanks for the tip about that retrospective. Young analyzed the series very well. It is quite disconcerting how many dumb things I was glossing over because my brain had already switched off and I just wanted to get to the end and/or I was invested with (some) of the characters. I guess it's telling that I never used any of the new ME3 characters in a mission unless forced to do so, instead relying on Garrus, Liara and Tali - plus always picking Wrex the few times it was possible. I can't fathom ever replaying the series like I do with Fallout or IE/GB games or other, actually good games. Oh well. So much wasted potential.

Oh and has it ever been revealed who fucked up the genre and tonal changes in ME2 and especially 3? Was it Casey Hudson? Or just Karpyshin getting booted out of lead role and then of the studio?

Go with your first impression and you'll enjoy your life more. Mass Effect delved hugely into the emotional and associative (like the Dark Knight Rises) and was never meant to stand up to intense logical scrutiny.

That's just the way it is.
 

pippin

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EA/Bio never bothered to fix all issues on the games. I had to use console commands to disable the rendering of shadows on two levels in ME1 to be able to proceed and encountered numerous small bugs and scripting issues in ME2 and ME3. Usually the type of that a quest wasn't marked completed in journal or a side-quest didn't start when it was supposed to, and such. But there were only a handful of CTDs and no other major issues.

The ME1 pc port is famous for being shit. IIRC the graphic quality is stuck in Medium due to some errors in coding made by a third party company in charge of the port. Some .ini fixes help you with that of course.
The only other problem I had was in 3, where one of the quests has you heling a hanar iirc, you have to install some shit in some terminals to get data. One of them wouldn't activate properly, so I had to edit the save. Other than that, not a single ctd or game breaking bug. I gotta say most Bioware games work like this for me, so you have to give credit where credit's due.
 

oldmanpaco

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I remember an interview before ME2 came came out where one of the Dr guys or Oster or whoever saying that console players did not understand how RPG combat mechanics worked and thus they had to eliminate stuff like % chance to hit being partially dependent on the skills. And if the skill didn't matter then why have so many of them? They just confused people. Anyway that's when I knew ME2 was going to be trouble.

Say what you will but about classic Bioware but ME2 is really the dividing line. No matter your opinion of the games before that point they at least tried to make RPGs. From ME2 on it was just gay sex and the awesome buttons.
 

Makabb

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Mass effect 1 and 2 collection for 7$ on steam :smug:


Don't forget you will get bored after playing for 10th time.
 

oldmanpaco

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Mass effect 1 and 2 collection for 7$ on steam :smug:


Don't forget you will get bored after playing for 10th time.

Cannot get the DLC on steam though. At least not all of them. Not the worst thing in the world but irritating as hell.
 

J1M

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If you replay Mass Effect 1, go with the Infiltrator and max out pistols + aoe skills. Ignore the sniper rifle. This build is quite fun and was removed from the sequels.
 

pippin

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Mass effect 1 and 2 collection for 7$ on steam :smug:


Don't forget you will get bored after playing for 10th time.

Cannot get the DLC on steam though. At least not all of them. Not the worst thing in the world but irritating as hell.

I think you need to buy them through Origin and then install them so you can use them on Steam. Buying the games on Steam gives you a cd key to activate them on Origin as well.
 

Vibalist

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But the universe held a lot of potential and the premise - eldritch machine gods are coming to wipe out all sentient life - could have potentially been amazing if done well.

I remember thinking this as well way back when I played ME1 for the first time. The whole thing with Sovereign was very Lovecraftian. But I don't think there was ever any chance whatsoever Bioware would really commit to that sort of storyline. To have Mass Effect take place in a universe where mankind is ultimately doomed to perish in a cycle of violence at the hands of indestructible, mechanical Cthulhus would be too hard a sell for a mainstream audience. Imagine all the fanboy rage when people realize all the endings are bad.
 

Popiel

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Imagine all the fanboy rage when people realize all the endings are bad.
Well, not to defend biodrones here, but that rage would be somewhat justified. It all obviously depends, but I do believe that if you give player ability to make choices, these choices should be able to make a difference, choices should matter in some way. Mass Effect would be so much better a series if they would follow more lovecraftian, fatalistic route, and indeed all endings should be bad in a way, but player should be able to somewhat succeed. At least in a way in which new Refusal ending works - we fail to end the cycle, but give some hope to the next.
 

NeoKino

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The party members in ME are pretty pointless anyways,they add practically little tactical depth to the modern Whac-A-Mole gameplay that can't be replaced by giving Mark Vanderloo extra skills. They are poorly written, Badly design, and except for Wrex or Garrus absolutely insufferable. Half the time it's like they are not even there, Their two cents in Missions are shit , in fact many of the recruitment missions plot would be no different whatsoever if the party members that correspond to them were gone.

As for gameplay even ME1 shouldn't be considered an RPG, and I'm far from a Purist where the only RPGs are old turn based CRPGs pre turn of the century. Slapping character progression and Loot systems does not make a game an RPG, Mass Effect has no real Choice or Consequence, the gameplay is indifferent to how you build your character unless you ar eplaying insanity, and the slkills don't affect the game state in a meaningful way. Dialogue system is simplistic giving the illusion of choice and nothing you do in the game change the gameworld in any significant way----------------------------------------------^
 

Coma White

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Am I the only one who felt like Mass Effect 2 would have been way better as its own standalone game? Like a sci-fi Ocean's 11 in which you navigated this outlandish alien underworld like a B-rate Han Solo. Making deals with various black market gangs and then double-crossing them, like New Vegas' faction system on steroids. The first half of the game you'd make your mark on Omega, and then the second half would be uniting the underworld to take down the Collectors.
 

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