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Mass Effect Legendary Edition remaster trilogy

JDR13

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Joined
Nov 2, 2006
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The Swamp
I've never seen so many people overanalyzing such a medicore series.

I can understand it. Mass Effect was pretty stunning when it first came out - as I said in another thread, it was from a time when gamers still believed that immersive games could become an art-form, and in many ways Mass Effect showed some of that promise, especially in the context of it being a s-f epic that dealt with many grand themes that had been floating around in s-f since forever. First time playing through, it felt like a proper gesamtkunstwerk, with the added element that only games can have, of you being the character in the story, shaping it as you go (smoke and mirrors of course, but immersive enough to create a fine illusion, with gameplay that wasn't perfect, but good enough to sustain momentum). But really it was both the part-fulfillment of hopes and aspirations from the 80s and 90s, and at the same time the beginning of the decline, and it's been downhill all the way since then (not just the series, but games in general).

I'm playing through Legendary now. Third time playing through ME, second time through the others, and it now feels like an elegy, a slightly rickety but still captivating relic from bygone times, and the beginning of the poison that's killed gaming.

The reason we all worry it like a once-delicious but now cold meal is nostalgia for what could have been.

I'm surprised you can stomach playing through it again. There's no way I would ever replay ME. There are far too many better games out there.

I agree that gaming has declined in a lot of ways, but there are still good games being made. Just not by Bioware.
 

gurugeorge

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 3, 2019
Messages
7,435
Location
London, UK
Strap Yourselves In
I've never seen so many people overanalyzing such a medicore series.

I can understand it. Mass Effect was pretty stunning when it first came out - as I said in another thread, it was from a time when gamers still believed that immersive games could become an art-form, and in many ways Mass Effect showed some of that promise, especially in the context of it being a s-f epic that dealt with many grand themes that had been floating around in s-f since forever. First time playing through, it felt like a proper gesamtkunstwerk, with the added element that only games can have, of you being the character in the story, shaping it as you go (smoke and mirrors of course, but immersive enough to create a fine illusion, with gameplay that wasn't perfect, but good enough to sustain momentum). But really it was both the part-fulfillment of hopes and aspirations from the 80s and 90s, and at the same time the beginning of the decline, and it's been downhill all the way since then (not just the series, but games in general).

I'm playing through Legendary now. Third time playing through ME, second time through the others, and it now feels like an elegy, a slightly rickety but still captivating relic from bygone times, and the beginning of the poison that's killed gaming.

The reason we all worry it like a once-delicious but now cold meal is nostalgia for what could have been.

I'm surprised you can stomach playing through it again. There's no way I would ever replay ME. There are far too many better games out there.

I agree that gaming has declined in a lot of ways, but there are still good games being made. Just not by Bioware.

Ah, you see I'm sort of in the middle area where I like games with good mechanics AND/OR I like immershun. If I can goof off pretending that I'm a space hero on a big adventure for a while, I'm happy enough. Easily pleased, me :)
 

HansDampf

Arcane
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
1,471
Some of the reasons there was such a strong reaction:
-Mass Effect 2 had more choices and reactivity in its ending. Mass Effect 3 didn't even live up to the bar set by its own trilogy.
-Game director had literally said that the ending would incorporate choices from the trilogy and "not just be pick an ending with buttons A, B, and C".
-Instead of admitting that they ran out of time to execute their full vision or admitting the promises were impossible to live up to, they publicly defended the ending as an artistic choice and refused to change it to preserve "artistic integrity". :lol:
-The story and sequel implications of the ending upset people because it's difficult to imagine a Mass Effect game without intergalactic travel.
-No boss fight.
-None of the choices in the trilogy resulted in Shepard living through the ending.
-The version you played includes the (minor) improvements they made with a free DLC. Including the option to refute the 3 buttons ("yellow ending"). So much for "artistic integrity".
- RGB endings with copypasted ending cinematics.
- Starchild's explanation comes out of nowhere and contradicts everything you learn about the Geth and Edi.
- Destruction of Mass Relays means many people are going to die, but the author didn't care.
- The "best" ending (green) has Shepard rape the entire galaxy with space magic.
- And after all that, the game tells you to buy more DLC.
2tcGKK6.jpg

I also think that the ending is where the story finally collapsed in many people's minds. A similar thing happened with Game of Thrones. Most fans only hate season 8 but love seasons 1-7, even though you can see the shit creeping up in season 4 already (edgy book fans will say season 2) and it goes downhill rapidly from season 5 on. But there is still enough good material in there to keep the immersion up if you really want to, until the shit reaches critical mass.
 

Morpheus Kitami

Liturgist
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
2,476
I'm surprised you can stomach playing through it again. There's no way I would ever replay ME. There are far too many better games out there.
I feel like the only reason why anyone cares about Mass Effect is that its basically the only space opera RPG without any major issues in it. Set dressing is important or we'd all just be playing games where one block tries to kill all the other blocks. There aren't a lot of RPGs that allow the player to RP as a space captain exploring the universe. In this sense Mass Effect is one of those games which will not necessarily age, but be completely replaced one day by games that succeed in doing a Star Trek or Star Wars open galaxy experience without feeling like 99.9% of the game is pointless drivel. Until that time, we unfortunately only have Mass Effect, and I guess a few of those officially licensed MMOs for those properties.
 
Joined
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Messages
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Codex Year of the Donut
-Mass Effect 2 had more choices and reactivity in its ending.
The suicide mission is not the ending of ME2, the fight with the giant mecha shepard is the end of ME2.
ME2 has an objectively worse ending, this can't be argued. ME3's ending is only considered worse because it's the final one.
 
Last edited:

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
-Mass Effect 2 had more choices and reactivity in its ending.
The suicide mission is not the ending of ME2, the fight with the giant mecha shepard is the end of ME2.
ME2 has an objectively worse ending, this can't be argued. ME3's ending is only considered worse because it's the final one.
I don't want to debate semantics. Who makes it back to the ship and who died for the cause is part of the ending. That outcome is largely determined by player choice, regardless of whether you consider the ending to be the last mission or the video that plays after the boss dies.
 

Bad Sector

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Messages
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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
The suicide mission is not the ending of ME2, the fight with the giant mecha shepard is the end of ME2.
ME2 has an objectively worse ending, this can't be argued. ME3's ending is only considered worse because it's the final one.

I prefer the mecha ending...
...to the press-a-button-to-choose-ending-sliders-color-filter ending because while none of them is a good ending, the mecha one is at least a boss battle where you need to use the game's gameplay and whichever members end up on your team up to that point based on your previous actions.

Also the mecha is a matter of seconds to introduce itself and have you register what you see and doesn't take that long to beat it either. The ME3 ending's bullshit begins from the moment you enter the beam and is an endless slog of whatthefuckery
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
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Pathfinder: Wrath
This is in this month's Humble Choice along with Desperados 3. If you have even a passing interest in ME, it's worth subscribing (you can cancel any time anyway) especially since Desperados 3 is also a good game. No matter what you think of ME, the entire trilogy with DLC is worth 1 Euro (I.e. 9 games for 10 Euro).
 

Nano

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Messages
4,647
Grab the Codex by the pussy Strap Yourselves In
This is in this month's Humble Choice along with Desperados 3. If you have even a passing interest in ME, it's worth subscribing (you can cancel any time anyway) especially since Desperados 3 is also a good game. No matter what you think of ME, the entire trilogy with DLC is worth 1 Euro (I.e. 9 games for 10 Euro).
Or better yet, acquire FitGirl's versions of the original trilogy for even less than 1 Euro.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
This is in this month's Humble Choice along with Desperados 3. If you have even a passing interest in ME, it's worth subscribing (you can cancel any time anyway) especially since Desperados 3 is also a good game. No matter what you think of ME, the entire trilogy with DLC is worth 1 Euro (I.e. 9 games for 10 Euro).
Or better yet, acquire FitGirl's versions of the original trilogy for even less than 1 Euro.
you have to be on dialup for his repacks to be worth using
 

Kev Inkline

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Messages
5,072
A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
This is in this month's Humble Choice along with Desperados 3. If you have even a passing interest in ME, it's worth subscribing (you can cancel any time anyway) especially since Desperados 3 is also a good game. No matter what you think of ME, the entire trilogy with DLC is worth 1 Euro (I.e. 9 games for 10 Euro).
I already have ME1 and ME2 original versions, is H-Choice worth 8 eur - Desperados and ME3, that is?

(they're luring me back with a discount)
 

Lemming42

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Messages
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Location
The Satellite Of Love
Desperados 3 is one of the best games of the past decade IMO, and ME Legendary Edition feels improved enough upon what I remember of the original games to be worthwhile, so go for it.
 

Kev Inkline

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Messages
5,072
A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I just realized Legendary Edition includes Lair of the Shadow Broker which I don't have, so I guess it's a no-brainer then.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
I already have ME1 and ME2 original versions, is H-Choice worth 8 eur - Desperados and ME3, that is?

(they're luring me back with a discount)
You can technically get better graphical results from the original trilogy and mods, but LE includes all the DLC and you don't *really* need any graphics mods because it looks sort of acceptable. 8 Euro for both ME:LE and Desperados 3 is worth it, yes. You can gift the other games to friends or prospective lovers.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
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Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
So, has anyone noticed how the codex entry for the Presidium in ME1 says they don't have any problems with criminality because there's constant surveillance? This seems like it would have more massive consequences for the setting than just a throwaway line in a codex entry. It also implies a slew of other political choices.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
So, has anyone noticed how the codex entry for the Presidium in ME1 says they don't have any problems with criminality because there's constant surveillance? This seems like it would have more massive consequences for the setting than just a throwaway line in a codex entry. It also implies a slew of other political choices.
The Presidium is not the entire station. There are plenty of examples of crime in the wards.

There's also the matter of if the Codex is a meta narrator or if the Codex is presented through the lense of a particular viewpoint, like the Earth government.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
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Codex Year of the Donut
There's also the matter of if the Codex is a meta narrator or if the Codex is presented through the lense of a particular viewpoint, like the Earth government.
Neither, it's a mouthpiece of the council.
You can infer this from the ME2 and ME3 codex having different versions of events than what you actually experienced, the extent of which depends on your choices.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
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Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
This just shows how many more interesting things they could've focused on instead of the Reapers.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
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Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
Is there a way to tone down the lens flares in ME1? They are atrocious and even go through people's heads.
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
8,818
Location
Italy
pretty sure that's actually the ammo used to bomb the building. you don't even need to fire it, to accelerate it. all you need it to read a sentence or two.
(alright, it wasn't *that* bad, but damn, 90% filler)
 

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