So I’m a huge fan of this series ever since I saw the first screen shots. It looked like KOTOR in a brand new universe and like Star Trek met Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars in a bar and then all three of them had kids together.
I just started my billionth run through of the Legendary Edition trilogy (seriously, it’s becoming a problem. I’ve done at least 5 full play throughs since it released and that’s not even counting the original versions of the trilogy) where I’ve gone back to my fem!Shepard Vanguard roots. I’m intending this to be a 100% run through, and I’m mainly doing it because Jennifer Hale was on God-mode when she recorded her lines for Commander Shepard (not that I don’t like Mark Meer as well, just it’s fucking Jen Hale!) and I honestly missed her work while on my last run, which was my first ever time playing as the male!Shepard. This run is on my Xbox, as I’m taking it with me on holiday to Scotland.
I actually just recently started my first play through of Mass Effect 1 Legendary Edition. I’ve never played these games before, despite being a bit of a Sci Fi nut and really into Bioware RPGs.
I really love how Bioware gives me an opportunity to talk to a tonne of interesting, cranky and sometimes a little typical archetypal characters in zones. I must say, the combat isn’t really anything to be in awe over, I think I’d rather just have a Dragon Age Origins/II combat system overlayed on this, but it’s definitely enjoyable and I’m excited to play more.
ME1 can be rough when it comes to combat, it was their first attempt (no wait, what am I talking about? Jade Empire was before this) at a non-turn based combat system. It can be a little janky at times for sure, I remember really struggling with it at first, couldn’t even beat the prologue planet.
It improves massively in ME2 and by the time of 3 it’s a well oiled machine.
And you hit the nail on the head of why I love this series so much. It’s the characters and the way they interact with Shepard, the different viewpoints you come across on your journey through the Milky Way. BioWare games are built for me, I think. Even if the game is ass they nail the characters and interactions!
Mass Effect is the only game that’s ever really given MGS1 a proper run for my favourite game ever. I adored the series but the first game in particular I have so much love for. I remember replaying it for the 6th/7th time years ago before the LE was announced and finding a new conversation and cutscene on the Citadel right at the beginning of the game and I just thought “wow, how much has this game got?”. Wall’s OST is phenomenal, the Mako was a disaster yet I loved it and I loved exploring in it, it was so damn good.
I do really like 2 but felt it was streamlined a little too much, 3 was a nice conclusion although did feel light in places (and I won’t discuss that ending, especially the original one), although it sounds like the DLC helped it. I never actually got to it in the LE unfortunately, getting time to play when it came out was tough and ultimately perhaps I had just spent too much time on the games already to really push myself to finish it.
I tried Andromeda and gave it an honest chance, a good 8-10hrs but it was so bloody boring, the gameplay, the characters, the Ryders, the plot. I didn’t find a thing fun about it. I hope ME4 will rekindle my love for the series again.
Huge fan of Mass Effect, easily one of my favourite series. I couldn’t believe how dire Andromeda was. ME4 has the potential to be amazing but there’s just something in my gut that feels off. Hope I’m wrong.
I’ve actually just Concluded my 2nd playthough of the trilogy, even watches the anime movie that goes with 3. I beat the on the original run but i was a different person back then. I also boringly only did paragon choices my original playthrough.
I have to say, playing the game the wayi wanted to, making the choices and dialouge i’d mostly go for. Renegade might be my true fav way to play Mass effect now. I enjoyed the series soo much more now.I wish there was more Omega/hubworlds, especially in 3, feels a lil like a rush job. I had fun with it. the best the game has played EVER but i guess i understand they dont want me going around have a laugh when the galaxy is about be be whipped out.
Garrus is such a bro, they did such an amazing job making him likeable, i found it hard to never NOT put him in my squad. SOOOOO let’s get down to business. Let’s talk about these ending/revamped or not.
Obvious ME3 end game spoiler
ontrol ending, this was the choice i settled on over true destroy. I know you see Shep gasp for air and if shep is back in ME4 this will probably be the true ending. Liara doesn’t have circuit boards tattooed to her body and the possible dead reaper in the background makes me want to lean Destroy but for all i know it’s just a dead reaper from the war.
Can i hear some ending choices and why you reasoned this was the best choice for the galaxy? tell me another story about the Shepard!
I chose the synthesis ending. To me, it was the best choice for peace and co-operation throughout the entire galaxy and has no negative effects for the galaxy as a whole. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t choose this one, tbh!
Of course I can’t speak for everyone, synthesis was also my original choice back on release but this time around, role playing my character more to my true self than I did before (back then I was a by the books paragon). I found it hard to make every form of life conform to such a vast and life altering change. All biological life are beautiful and astounding and synthetics are intriguing in terms of philosophy and their understanding/perception of reality.
I’m not against someone’s individual choice to become a synth/cyborg but I just couldnt make that decision For everyone in the known galaxy. There will be people out there, religious types for instance who’d probably look at this decision I’ve made as a punishment or a curse, or course some will look at it as a blessing too but I don’t want to be responsible for possible suicides on a massss scale.
I just found it fun thinking about the long lasting ramifications of my decision, even though in reality it doesn’t really matter. It’s kinda were Bioware dropped the ball. At least by the end my mind and beliefs has infected and overwritten the reapers and for the foreseeable future they are tools for rebuilding and protection from possible future threats. Can my Ai be corrupted? Who’s to say? Bioware didn’t think that deeply on it.
I went with Destroy, almost every time I play through. It’s just the most satisfying ending for me. Shame about EDI and the geth, but the Reapers are worth stopping for good.
I’m still wildly disappointed with the endings, even after the Extended Cut. It just feels like such a let down after such pin perfect buildup.
That was the other choice I leaned on hard but I felt too bad for my boy joker finally getting his Ai waifu love, find him both annoying and hilarious BUT he kinda did save my life a couple times… But I guess also the reason I died in me2… You know what I think I made the wrong choice!
I chose this on my first playthrough too, but over time began to feel it wasn’t right. Much like what Paul said above about forcing a decision like that on others, but even disregarding that, after what was a long and ultimately very, very strange final section in which honestly nothing ever really felt like things were right, you encounter this space kid that tells you all this shit, and going with the synthesis ending just feels like you believe and go along with everything he says since he leads you in that direction, selling you this utopian idea of symmetry. The thing is, Shepard never trusted a single reaper at any stage before. Even though they listened to whatever reapers had to say, even though reapers had been around for so long before humanity and essentially all organic races and had a different understanding of the cycles of the universe than anyone else did, Shepard never agreed or went along with it. So why would he/she decide the fate of the galaxy based off of what this annoying little fuck says?
This felt forced, i know we saw the kid running throughout the game but how the heck does it make sense in the end? I’d much rather have seen him off at the edge of the screen during pivotal moments, glaring like G-man from half life, I do a double take then he’s gone. Because it felt rushed i decided to take him completely at face value. I had nagging thoughts in the back of my head wondering if he was being forthcoming with all the details but in the end i just settled. Bioware never planned to continue this and did the bare minimum to make me feel like my decision made a real difference. Except for shooting starchild the galaxy is kinda fine. Even the ai, i think, are hinted could be retrieved at some point and the mass relays would be repaired, just much slower.