Mass Effect Series Catch-All

I believe it's representative of most conversations in ME1. Cool intro, then standing around.

Get a room, guys.

Yeah, I should've known better than to rise to Larry bait. He can't help but comment in the contrary to pretty much anything I ever have to say in this thread.

I've been repeating myself for the past half page at least.

Ain't personal. I'd say the same about any comment essentially saying that there was next to no world building in ME2 and ME3 (5% each). It's a ludicrous claim.

Man, I miss when games mattered this much. Now if a game is controversial, well, whatevs. In six months who will care?

Can I start over with a fresh ME2 even though I should really give Andromeda a shot? Can I play this along side Persona 5 or should I put that off too? Can I go back to ME1 after all this time?

Can I go back to ME1 after all this time?

Well, I think you know my answer.

Yes, you absolutely can. If you’re on the PC, you can simply add a texture mod and Faster Elecators, and you’re good to go! I replied it earlier in the spring, and my videos are still up on my Twitch if you want to take a peek.

I tried playing Mass Effect early in 2018, and I only made it as far as VIrmire.

I still love the characters, and the game is eminently playable. Even with the mods, though, I just couldn't make it all the way through because I've already played it at least five times. Probably more like 7, but I definitely remember five, because that's how many custom Shepards I still have in various end game saves. I have too many years of other games piled up and calling to me to invest enough time for yet another Mass Effect run, no matter how much I might enjoy it.

I must say, though, as Eleima mentioned, the texture and elevator mods really make a difference. Even without the mods, it still looks pretty good (but those elevators... I can do without Xbox 360 load times on my SSD-equipped PC :D). I'm pretty sure it will never happen, but it would be amazing to have a complete Mass Effect trilogy remaster in the latest Frostbite engine. As long as the remake kept the original Mako's bouncy bouncy!

p.s. Jan 1 was Jennifer Hale's birthday! Happy belated birthday!

Man, I saw a bunch of posts and thought I missed an announcement for a new ME. Oh well...

Stop teasing me like this!

You guys can always start up a new Mass Effect game. It's still good. ME2 is nice enough but it gets going a little too fast. ME1 ramps up nice and slow, and you can always select the easiest difficulty (or Normal, it's easy enough) to bypass the combat systems.

As someone who has repeatedly played Mass Effect 1, if you don't find the combat interesting (I don't, anymore) there is armor and a gun that are both basically god mode (super strong shields on the armor, and a gun that does 30,000 damage per shot). I recommend using both to trivialize the combat. You have to turn on the in-game console to do it, but it's worth it.

And of course, texture mods. I used the ALOT texture mod collection. It dramatically improves the look of the game.

Oh, ha, I should have chosen a better word--not worried that it's old and clunky, more of this:

BadKen wrote:

I still love the characters, and the game is eminently playable. Even with the mods, though, I just couldn't make it all the way through because I've already played it at least five times. Probably more like 7, but I definitely remember five, because that's how many custom Shepards I still have in various end game saves. I have too many years of other games piled up and calling to me to invest enough time for yet another Mass Effect run, no matter how much I might enjoy it.

I think five playthroughs across three Sheps to get all the achievements (I screwed one of the ally ones up at least once). Only enough playthroughs of the others to get their achievements which didn't require nearly as many playthroughs. I think I played through ME2 once right when it came out with no DLC, and didn't pick it up again until ME3 was coming out. Even popped the one ME3 achievement in multiplayer while doing an Insanity run--not even sure if I finished after that. So I've played waaay less of the last two than the first. Especially after ME3's multiplayer turned out so good!

Thing is, if I didn't play a game at the time, I can't find I can go to something in the pile. No interest unless I've already played it and enjoyed it.

Budo wrote:

Man, I saw a bunch of posts and thought I missed an announcement for a new ME. Oh well...

If there was a new ME announced, there would probably be ten times as many posts and about four new threads : D

I did start ME2 a month or so back, based on this thread. Need to get back into it.

Oh right I think the baby came early and I abandoned it. EDIT: Yep, last played Nov 19, a few days before. Haha. Completely forgot about it until now.

If I were a baby, I'd be happy to have a parent that plays ME2 to completion after starting it.

Okay, really enjoying this Mass Effect playthrough. The Mako is still awesome. Not looking for too much of a challenge with the combat, so running a Soldier Shep with Wrex and Garrus right now, maybe Tali and somebody else later in the game when we're leveled up and less squishy. I did all the achievements so I know I played through with everybody, but for some reason I feel like I spent less time with those three than with the others. Kaiden will probably survive just because powers become more useful and more fun in ME3. Oh, and I didn't spend much time with Zaeed and Vega, so will also be choosing a different class for Shep in 2 and 3. I played 2 the least of all, so might play that one twice.

Yeah, there's still a lot of magic here. I feel like I should rewatch the Battlestar Galactaca reboot just for the full decade nostalgia experience.

Just got done playing through the trilogy a few days ago. Started around Black Friday when I saw on Origin you could get all the DLC content for ME2 and ME3 for $10 a pop. I had played through ME1 and ME2 before when they initially came out on the Xbox 360 but by the time ME3 came out I had lost interest so other than purchasing it I never got around to playing it.

Was quite a bit of fun playing through the games. Here's some of my thoughts on the three games.

ME1:
- Installed the 2K textures mod. This really improved the look of the game. But once things started animating the illusion was somewhat broken. Still would highly recommend installing this
- Installed the 360 controller mod. Worked flawlessly throughout all three games. This was a must.
- Played as Fem Shep
- Played as Sentinel - tech/biotics mix with pistol as main weapon. Kept this class throughout trilogy
- Combat is terrible in the initial game. Enemies tend not to use cover and just rush you. As my class only had a pistol I died A LOT in first few hours of the game in most combat situations as I was just overwhelmed with enemies surrounding me and beating me down
- Romanced Liara
- Saved Ashley over Kaiden
- The Mako while fun initially really becomes a drag to play. If your shields go down it takes forever to recharge them.
- The best minor character to payoff in dividends in ME2 and ME3 is Conrad Verner. The guy asking for your autograph. Make sure you keep going back to this guy to complete his quest in this one. His reappearances in ME2 and ME3 are so much fun
- Bring Down the Sky DLC was not that good but worth going through - get some good armor to Tali there. The Pinnacle Station DLC is basically combat games against bots, which is terrible, so played two matches and called it quits
- Despite the poor combat and a bunch of dull side missions the story is the highlight in this game and Mass Effect turned out to be my second favorite of the trilogy

ME2:
- There are a surprising number of minor characters from ME1 that pop up and remember conversation choices that you had with them. I likely wouldn't have noticed this if I hadn't just completed ME1. But each time it just made me smile to come across these characters.
- Combat in this game was much improved. Enemies actually use cover rather than running right at you. The pistol was actually an effective weapon finally
- Mordin and Tali are probably my favorite characters in ME2 but man they are all so good
- So wish I brought Legion along with me on Tali's loyalty mission which takes place on the Asari flotilla just to see the Asari reactions to him
- I actually liked the mini-games (hacking, bypass, planet scan). Was kinda bummed they more or less got rid of these in ME3
- Wanted to romance Tali in ME2 but then read as Fem Shep I can't. So went with Kelly Chambers. But waited too long to do the Collectors base and she along with half my crew died. Oops! So ended up re-connecting with Liara in The Shadow Broker DLC which seemed like the correct thing to do in the end
- Sided with Samara in her loyalty mission. She has a nice story arch in ME3
- Lost Zaeed and Legion on the final mission. Didn't have a chance to do Legion's loyalty mission. Ugh.
- This is by far the best ME game in the trilogy. Everything is improved. Awesome voice acting and characters throughout. Loved building the squad and getting to know them better. Was like building a family.

ME3:
- The character I created in ME1 looked great in ME2. But when I went to import to 3 my Fem Shep looked like a monster compared to the NPCs. Sheps face textures looked low-res, the face structure looked so bizarre, my neck was too long. It was just creepy looking. I tried to fix it but it never looked right. Even the default faces looked bad to me compared to NPCs. So ended up downloading a custom face (ELE) and using that. Was a bummer to lose my Fem Shep in the end but got used to the new face that looked normal compared to all the NPC characters.
- Spend way too much time on the Citadel and having to return to turn in quests. The game seems a lot smaller as there is less galaxy exploring.
- EDI turns out to be one of the best characters and really enjoyed the interactions between Joker and her. I didn't talk much to Joker in the first two games but kept going up to the pilot seat after each missions to hear EDI and Jokers banter.
- Ended up choosing to be re-initiated as a Spectre which gives access to the little private room. Was very helpful as I used the gun range quite a bit to test all the new weapons
- Samantha Traynor, the new Comms specialist, is another character who is pretty fantastic. Loved that her sonic toothbrush saved the day.
- I thought The Citadel DLC was supposed to be done after you completed the game. When I began it the characters were talking about this being a vacation (a vacation when a war was going on?). So I completed the first part of the DLC but didn't go back to the second part (the party). What I did play was great though. Wish more of ME3 had a bit more humor and not always so grim.
- Did not get the war map at all when initially started playing. Kept doing a bunch of side missions and getting war assets but the percentages stayed the same. Wasn't till several hours in until I went online and found that doesn't change unless you do the multiplayer. Ugh. No interest in multiplayer. Still by the time I went for the end of the game I had the green bar filled completely so had my choice of endings to do.
- Did not like the idea that there were so many different endings to choose from. I had no idea what to choose at the end. I wasn't fully satisfied with the ending I selected. Wish they just built up the game towards a set ending of their choosing
- The final push was great though. A lot of action. Had the Extended Cut DLC, which I think adds some additional cinematics near the end, so that may have actually helped. Overall though the game felt smaller and I didn't have as much fun as in ME1 or ME2. But as a trilogy this series of games is pretty fantastic. Had a blast playing through each of them back-to-back.

Started playing Mass Effect: Andromeda. I had sunk 16hrs in to when it first came out but never got around to finishing it for one reason or another. So going to give it a go. It's really quite disappointing that Bioware didn't stick to their guns and complete this series. The game really got a bad initial rap with gamers over reacting to some of the graphical bugs. ME1 was pretty janky and they really turned it around in ME2 to create a fantastic game. Could have done the same with this series.

You may want to reconsider Mass Effect multiplayer. It's a cooperative team of up to 4 against waves of AI. I had many hours of fun with it. People still play it!

Completing the Pinnacle Station DLC unlocks some of the best equipment and mods in the game. That is pretty much the only reason to do it.

Crawley wrote:

- I thought The Citadel DLC was supposed to be done after you completed the game. When I began it the characters were talking about this being a vacation (a vacation when a war was going on?). So I completed the first part of the DLC but didn't go back to the second part (the party). What I did play was great though. Wish more of ME3 had a bit more humor and not always so grim.

You missed some of the best scenes in the series. The party was so much fun and it was a nice farewell to your crew and friends that the game was missing when it launched.

The combat is the best in the third game. In all three games, the superficial layer of combat is a cover shooter, but it's also a tactical squad game in real time (you can position your squaddies to take advantage of cover, pin down enemies or lay down cover fire) and also a JRPG-esque combo system starting in ME2. In ME3, it almost feels like everything combos into everything else, so even the Soldier gets to join in the combo-tastic fun and there's basically explosions all over the place nearly all the time.

Playing as a tank in ME3 with Wrex and Grunt in the Arena is just silly fun. Who needs cover? Not us. We headbutt each other for funsies!

I think the AI hiding out on the Citadel just said "organics will always look to control or destroy AIs"? Could just be a coincidence, but if not, that's funny.

BadKen wrote:

You may want to reconsider Mass Effect multiplayer. It's a cooperative team of up to 4 against waves of AI. I had many hours of fun with it. People still play it!

I also adored the multiplayer. Good times were aplenty.

ME3 co-op talk just makes me miss LobsterMobster.

RnRClown wrote:
BadKen wrote:

You may want to reconsider Mass Effect multiplayer. It's a cooperative team of up to 4 against waves of AI. I had many hours of fun with it. People still play it!

I also adored the multiplayer. Good times were aplenty.

Heck I still fire it up from time to time. Think I played a couple of hours on New Years Eve.

Crawley wrote:

- Saved Ashley over Kaiden

Well there's your problem!!

Glad you played them back to back! I did so last year, and it was just such a treat.

Stele wrote:

ME3 co-op talk just makes me miss LobsterMobster.

And now I'm sad.

IMAGE(https://i.redd.it/omzebce86m921.jpg)

Silly humans.

Was that a joke that still needed explanation 4 years ago? What's been happening in modern health classes?

Well, it was a little obscure. You'd only notice it if in your head you put together "vas " with those particular ship names from that single line of dialogue.

Moving on to ME2. The original is still so good, but after playing it for a while, I think only 2 is possible now because of how little I played it. These games belong to a different time. Heck, the store where I bought the first one just closed down.

I also think this means the end of Andromeda. Glad I gave it another shot I got far enough this time to get that same feeling of wonder and curiosity out of it that these games are so good at creating.

Even if I think this series is done for me, I hope it comes back for those that still love it.