Mass Effect Trilogy

[prodigydancer]

So I decided to play ME1 again. The combat is even worse than I remembered it. Cover barely works (it's much harder to move from cover to cover than in ME2), and you need to get quite close to the enemies to be able to hit them with powers. Half of the time your squad members don't move when you tell them to move. AR accuracy is abysmal.

I never really liked ME1 and now I remember why.

 

[Jarmaro]

Mass Effect 2 is free on origin today, so I you want to endure that shit after ME 1 go for it

 

[donkeymong]

So I decided to play ME1 again. The combat is even worse than I remembered it. Cover barely works (it's much harder to move from cover to cover than in ME2), and you need to get quite close to the enemies to be able to hit them with powers. Half of the time your squad members don't move when you tell them to move. AR accuracy is abysmal.

I never really liked ME1 and now I remember why.

Never had a problem with powers. And Ar accuracy is good enough if the player used crouch and burst fire like the tooltip recommends.

 

[oldmanpaco]

AR accuracy is abysmal.

The reason they got rid all weapon skills in ME2 was because people couldn't handle that accuracy was tied to skill level. Too complex of a system for some people. Not you of course, but some people.

 

[prodigydancer]

Too complex of a system for some people. Not you of course, but some people.

There's nothing complex about AR accuracy, it's just annoying. I'm playing Adept now but here's my old Soldier:

 

[Quillon]

It was better in Alpha Prot. No reason to make it pure shooter just cos its shooter-rpg.

 

[J1M]

So I decided to play ME1 again. The combat is even worse than I remembered it. Cover barely works (it's much harder to move from cover to cover than in ME2), and you need to get quite close to the enemies to be able to hit them with powers. Half of the time your squad members don't move when you tell them to move. AR accuracy is abysmal.

I never really liked ME1 and now I remember why.

Pick the infiltrator class, take the skills that give you AOE damage, invest in pistol, and skip the sniper rifle. You wont need cover and this play style isn't viable in the other games.

 

[oldmanpaco]

So I decided to play ME1 again. The combat is even worse than I remembered it. Cover barely works (it's much harder to move from cover to cover than in ME2), and you need to get quite close to the enemies to be able to hit them with powers. Half of the time your squad members don't move when you tell them to move. AR accuracy is abysmal.

I never really liked ME1 and now I remember why.

Pick the infiltrator class, take the skills that give you AOE damage, invest in pistol, and skip the sniper rifle. You wont need cover and this play style isn't viable in the other games.

Pick the vangaurd class and kill people with shotguns the way God intended. Your going to spend 90% of your time with Garrus, Wrex, or Liara so pick skills they do not have.

 

[platypusbutter]

Mass Effect games were never meant to be rpgs and you will never have fun with them if you expect a proper rpg-experience. They are popamole shooters with rpg elements, and if youre in the mood for a passable shooter playing in a decent setting throwing a somehow interactive lighthearted scifi b-movie flick at you then go for it. Otherwise, dont. Or do it anyways and be a whiny ass on codex about it.

This is why I think ME2 was the best out of the trilogy; it was more sure of what it wanted to be. Yeah the plot sucked but that's why 80% of the game was recruiting party members and side missions.

 

[prodigydancer]

Yeah the plot sucked

I don't know why people keep saying that. Ambushing and killing Shepard was perfectly logical after what happened in ME1, as was harvesting the humans (apparently the most competent combatants) to build a new Reaper. By the time when Shepard is revived by the Cerberus, very little is known about the Reapers and about the Collectors even less. So you try to find the Collectors base and learn more about their masters' plans, which still makes sense to me. Finally, destroying the base is necessary to stop the Collectors. They are essentially thralls of the Reapers, so there's no other way.

Just because there's no giant space battle in the end doesn't mean the plot sucks.

 

[pippin]

The story in the entire trilogy is... serviceable, at best. But you shouldn't play Bioware games for their stories and themes, since they are always more focused on characters and thir relationships. They expect you to get engaged with characters and learn about the world through them, and that's reinforced through their gameplay. Consider the polar opposite (imo), in TES games, where you have to go out of your way to learn more about the world, and you do that on your own.

 

[RRRrrr]

The reason they got rid all weapon skills in ME2 was because people couldn't handle that accuracy was tied to skill level. Too complex of a system for some people. Not you of course, but some people.

Yeah, people criticized Alpha Protocol for having terrible gunplay and inaccurate weapons and they hadn't even levelled them up once. At the same time they didn't even know that waiting a few seconds made your aim more accurate as they had only played popamole shooters before.

 

[Dedicated_Dark]

So, having played ME1 and having absolutely despised ME2 and having stopped playing 3 cause I rage quit-ed(?) in the dream sequence because of how fuckin retarded it was. Is it worth it!? for me to play 3 with MEHEM mod which removes the retarded kid from the game? I would like to finish the apparently "ONE OF THE GREATEST GAMING TRILOGY EVER MADE" garbage atleast once completely.

 

[donkeymong]

3 has its moments and decent gameplay, so yes. Even a quite fun run and build is possible(Sentinel with Barrier and Tech Armor).

 

[Padzi]

I feel that with every game the quality of the franchise was going down. I finished ME1 a couple of times as I did the second one. But ME2 was already missing something. ME3 was just a chore though. I finished it once and it took me several months. I somewhat liked the DLCs especially the Leviathan one. If they actually continued this storyline, Leviathans would make good villains for the next installment in the Milky Way galaxy.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Too complex of a system for some people. Not you of course, but some people.

There's nothing complex about AR accuracy, it's just annoying. I'm playing Adept now

Claims there's nothing complex about weapon skills
yet
plays the class that doesn't have AR skill
so
complains that:

So I decided to play ME1 again.. AR accuracy is abysmal.

Looks like paco hit the nail on the head right there. Retards, retards never change.

 

[Sykar]

Mass Effect games were never meant to be rpgs and you will never have fun with them if you expect a proper rpg-experience. They are popamole shooters with rpg elements, and if youre in the mood for a passable shooter playing in a decent setting throwing a somehow interactive lighthearted scifi b-movie flick at you then go for it. Otherwise, dont. Or do it anyways and be a whiny ass on codex about it.

This is why I think ME2 was the best out of the trilogy; it was more sure of what it wanted to be. Yeah the plot sucked but that's why 80% of the game was recruiting party members and side missions.

Derp Defect 2 was one of the worst games released in the last decade, easily on par with the likes of Oblivion and Fallout 3. Story, characters, and "RPG system" were retarded and dumbed down, the criticism of the likes of the Mako's sketchy physics and barebone planetary exploration from the first game, but with the undertone that people saw potential in it if done properly, led to the most stupid mini game of planet scanning in AAA titles I have seen in my life.

Don't get me even started on the retconning that game has done.

Yeah the plot sucked

I don't know why people keep saying that. Ambushing and killing Shepard was perfectly logical after what happened in ME1, as was harvesting the humans (apparently the most competent combatants) to build a new Reaper. By the time when Shepard is revived by the Cerberus, very little is known about the Reapers and about the Collectors even less. So you try to find the Collectors base and learn more about their masters' plans, which still makes sense to me. Finally, destroying the base is necessary to stop the Collectors. They are essentially thralls of the Reapers, so there's no other way.

Just because there's no giant space battle in the end doesn't mean the plot sucks.

I do not even know where to start to educate you as to why Turd Defecate 2 has a plot even shittier than FO 3 or Oblividerp. Instead I will just link to this video series. Listen, learn and be educated why you are part of the decline:

 

[GarfunkeL]

Exactly. The promise that ME1 showed was almost completely squandered away in ME2 and the even more retarded ME3 just finished it. A valid retard identification is to ask whether a person only had an issue with the ending of ME3. If they say yes, then they're a retard.

 

[Keppo]

Im playing right now Mass Effect 3 with all the DLCs for the first time, and imho it is good for what it is. Gameplay is improved, more smooth. Gunplay is better, more fluid than Mass Effect 1/2, moving is also better.

Story nothing special "Safe earth, bring allies", lacking compared to Mass Effect 1, on par with ME 2 ? Character progression pretty boring like in ME1/2. Atmosphere and music is also lacking compared to ME 1, in ME 2 u had Omega at least and some other pretty cool locations in ME 3 for now there is 0 cool locations without DLC which bring Citadela or Omega or even Leviathans every dlc mission is more fun than main game missions.

Companions and characters mostly copy pasta from previous game.

Overall, i think that the series is loved because this genre (SCI-FI or even more Space Opera) lacking good AAA games, u cant even compare mass effect to other games in genre.

ALIENS in Mass Effect series are too similar to humans, generic and boring (exceptions: Leviathans which are DLC only, Reapers or even these fucking Geths, which are AI, so yeah) but the rest are just humans cosplaying.

Krogans are at least likeable

 

[AstralStorm]

All this because someone tried to make aliens relatable to humans instead of, say, alien?

Looking back at this, Bioware improved steadily at one thing, combat. They tossed everything else, including mission design, writing, world building, even art direction.

TL;DR part follows in a spoiler tags in case someone really hasn't played the games. The ordering is meaningful in that ME2 is I think really the best game out of three, but not for the right reason. It's so bad plot and writing it's good - like a deliberate pastische.

ME2:

Spoiler

ME2 is the epitome of a Sci-Fi B movie and it is perhaps the only reason why it's enjoyable. I cannot even begin to list the number of bad sci-fi movie tropes it uses. Gameplay it's either too much sticky cover mole popping or your character being made of indestructium and/or exploiting bad AI. Prototype for new cover shooter gameplay. They did decent mission design in places.
It is longer than both other entries in simple mission count, however critical path is also pretty short. At least there is an actual reason to play at least some side missions and the game attempts to present this... badly... to the player. Plain old direct choice and consequence - do side missions or have people die in the final mission.
Terrible planet scanning mechanic inserted as dumb filler.
It got one decent DLC with a silly boss fight - Lair of the Shadow Broker. Three okayish badly marketed character DLCs. (Javik, Zaeed, Kasumi) One quite bad vehicle DLC. One ok "Cerberus doing its thing badly again" Overlord DLC which happens to have the most varied combat in the whole game. (Pity the vehicle is so terrible.) Some completely dumb weapons and armor DLCs.
Game is full of cheese. Ham. Eggs. Everywhere.

ME1:

Spoiler

ME1 looked like it tried to be hard sci-fi except it failed to be a good game, probably was a bit rushed and not play tested enough and missed critical exposition and some logic due to Bioware being bad at writing. Plus a lot of annoying issues such as inventory, enemy war cries, bullet sponges at high difficulty etc. Barring filler side missions, it is also extremely short. Got one decent side mission DLC, the other is garbage and filler.
The only well designed combat mission all in all is on Virmire.
Sort of maybe ok attempt, but not a good game really. Prototype and it shows. Every mechanic in here is half-baked.

ME3:

Spoiler

ME3 tries to be a PTSD or war simulator and fails hard due to bad writing, short length and bad mechanics. For example, it gets whole fleets and squads reduced to numbers, so you do not get to relate to them, which clashes with the theme they tried to set up. You do not even get to make toughest decisions because Hackett does it for you. The only things really important are the Krogan/Salarian and Quarian/Geth problems, none really that much directly for the war itself. Whole Cerberus arc is completely retarded and filler. That's it. Not enough for a game - it feels like an expansion for ME1 with shiny new graphics, new mechanics and extra amounts of filler - missions are long but repetitive with few highlights that look obviously designed.
Multiplayer is being forced and is complete garbage due to improper balancing.
Well, the ending succeeded at producing brain damage in many people. It gives 2 retarded options and one partly retarded: Make yourself a Reaper, Make everyone a Reaper, Kill all Reapers and other AI while destroying the galaxy.
The Citadel DLC feels out of place, like a bit of ME2. It is delicious cheese. Other Leviathan DLC tries to be a bit of ME1 with more interesting combat mission, but again feels out of place because ME has left hard sci-fi behind some time ago. More dumb weapon and multiplayer DLCs.
Game together with DLCs again feels like a prototype - writers not feeling the direction of the main game plot and messing around. Only shooter gameplay seems reasonably well polished. Prototype quality multiplayer.

 

[AstralStorm]

I forgot to mention some of ME1 choice and consequence things. It has that. Both your point gauges and some skills influence the dialogs. Unfortunately consequences are confined within single hub at most.
ME2 is direct except when it's not - on the final mission, Other than that none, nada, zilch. It only matters who you bring, who is loyal. With one DLC character there is a tiny bit more of a consequence.
ME3 only consequences are more points or fewer points, perhaps you also being unable to attain some results because of not enough karma points, picking your different ending in each hub perhaps.

 

[platypusbutter]

Derp Defect 2 was one of the worst games released in the last decade, easily on par with the likes of Oblivion and Fallout 3. Story, characters, and "RPG system" were retarded and dumbed down, the criticism of the likes of the Mako's sketchy physics and barebone planetary exploration from the first game, but with the undertone that people saw potential in it if done properly, led to the most stupid mini game of planet scanning in AAA titles I have seen in my life.

Don't get me even started on the retconning that game has done.

As I said the overarching plot sucks, but I don't agree that ME2 characters are worse than ME1. ME1 party members were practically walking info dumps but ME2 tried to actually give them some life and actual motivations. RPG elements are dumbed down because Bioware can't make RPGs, and in a rare moment of clarity they decided to not even try. Which I think is a good move for Bioware since it would help them get games out faster and smoother without alienating their biggest audience which would please their corporate overlords.

 

[donkeymong]

Actual motivations for aliens working for Cerberus? Shepard solving their daddy issues?

 

[AstralStorm]

Well, other than the stupid sigil spam, nobody goes out of the way to tell the aliens you're with Cerberus until they're at the ship. Shepard also has a Jobs-level reality distortion field.
I've reconsidered the spoiler policy.

Every alien has their own motivation for not caring about Cerberus: Samara has the silly code and subsumation thing, Thane wants a decent suicide mission and is used to working as an assassin freelancer, Mordin's a bit obscure and tied to his old age, Tali and Garrus just like and are this loyal to Shepard due to past, Grunt does not know any better and does not care, Legion is programmed (?) to find and follow Shepard if possible for its own reasons. What is more, none of them feel particularly threatened by this Cerberus operation, except Tali.

Now daddy issues also known as loyalty missions are a trope. There's no direct indication that doing those missions or not should change anything other than new clothes and maybe an extra ability and Jacob spewing some grade A BS at you if you ask him, maybe Joker mentioning it too. It makes the team feel unfit to be on a mission of this caliber. The human ones are worst: Jacob's is like himself full of bull and probably the most dumb Star Trek level cliche, Miranda's is also super contrived, Jack, Zaeed and Kasumi are insane in their own way. Thane's, Samara's, Tali's and Grunt's are literally daddy/mommy issues. Garrus has that former leader thing. Mordin's makes sense as a kind of loose end. Legion has a mission that actually feels most like a real mission.

But then again, ME2 is not following logic, it's following space opera cliches to the point and pushing them even further.

 

[Severian Silk]

I'm trying again to play this game, but the combat is so awful. Are there any tricks that help make it better?

[edit]

Mouse & KB or gamepad?