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[Qwomo]

You know what really highlights all the inadequacies of the Mass Effect games?

Play Deus Ex Human Revolution and then play Mass Effect 2 immediately afterwards.

The amount of "choice" in ME2 is absolutely laughable and the variation in gameplay borderline pathetic. 9 times out of 10, Bioware does not know how to resolve a situation without flatly resorting to uncreative samey gunfights. Playing the Kasumi mission, for example, was a breath of fresh air until Bioware predictably just launched the whole thing into an annoying protracted combat sequence.

 

[APZonerunner]

Yes the planets were largely uninteresting. The level design itself for them is also terrible.

Personally my idea would have been to make each planet is own stand alone thing with a hub town of it's own. Each planet has its own main quest, but unique side-quests for each that deal with that planets own story. You know it would help expand and get you into the ME universe. I rather take that then a bunch of boring seemingly random side stuff in what seems like randomly generated areas.

Content creation is getting more difficult, it seems, and a lot of developers have decided the easiest way to deal with it is to copy stuff. From ME1's cookie cutter moon bases to Final Fantasy XIII's crap "go kill this monster as quick as you can", it's happening all over. At least ME's moon bases were often rich in context with dialogue, text and other story options even if the base designs were the same and did have a few mercs, husks or rachni inside every time.

In ME2 they pared it back to avoid the copy/paste. Some people like that, some don't, but a lot of people act like the lack of variety in ME1 is one of the worst cases of laziness this generation and it just isn't. ME1's planets were okay. They could do them better now, I'm sure, but the series has changed course.

 

[jackdoe]

As for the ending, it's going to be pretty terrible. No way around that.

Haha. Epilogue ending slides just like Dragon Age Origins? Cheap way to ensure multiple "endings".

 

[To Far Away Times]

Mass Effect is either a shitty FPS with above average RPG elements, or a shallow RPG with above average combat.

 

[opticalmace]

As long as ME3 focuses on the main story and not character recruiting I will be satisfied.

And a single villain to draw ire a la

Spoiler

Saren

would be great.

 

[Jinfash]

I liked it too, but I understand why some people didn't.

It was a very buggy experience for me, mostly collision detection and physics issues (even after taking gravity into consideration). The repetitive nature of the missions and generic (reused?) locations didn't help either, a complaint I'm aware many have strongly voiced before. But in all fairness some of my technical complaints were mitigated when I tried the PC version.

Edit: fwiw, I thought you said "I don't understand why some people didn't." A very ridiculous thing to say, I thought lol.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I hate how BioWare is copping out from their original vision for Mass Effect. Instead of delivering a complex RPG with deep space and planet exploration elements (as they described the first Mass Effect and got relatively close to; just needed more planets to explore and more unique side stuff to do), they decided that was too hard to do and instead regressed significantly from that original vision.

Both games are still a significant cut above the norm, but if BioWare had fully committed to expanding on ME1 and reaching toward their original vision for the series instead of trimming and regressing from that design, ME2 could've been an unprecedented classic rather than an above-average shooter with an engaging story but with much of the complexity stripped away. ME3 seems to be moving even further in that direction, which is why I won't even consider buying it until their GOTY edition with all the DLC comes out.

After hearing BioWare's spin on the first game pre-launch, if you would tell me that the third game would be a linear shooter with turret sequences, I would have laughed you out of the building. I guess that's me expecting devs to try and build on their past successes rather than ignore them entirely.

That's always been my problem with how the series has headed.

They didn't quite meet their goals with the first game. Areas were empty, alien races felt underdeveloped, and for an experience RPG developer there was no excuse for that inventory system. Well alright, it's still enjoyable enough. Now that they'd gotten their feet wet in next-gen development and they've proven the value of the series, they should be able to flesh things out for the seq- oh, wait, no, they want to make it a third-person shooter that's interspersed with even more awkward dating sim segments and "badass" Renegade actions.

 

[kmfdmpig]

I loved Mass Effect 1. Were the shooter mechanics clunky? Sure, but the RPG elements were fun, the story was interesting and many of the environments were cool.

I loved Mass Effect 2. Were there some ways in which it felt like a step back? Sure, but the shooter mechanics were much better and some of the characters were still very interesting.

I'm looking forward to Mass Effect 3. It's hard to tell if they're just saying what they think people want to hear, but it sounds like they will have shooting mechanics better than 2 and start to bring back some of the complexity from 1, which sounds like a winning combination to me. Mass Effect along with Borderlands and EDF has been the highlight of this gen for me.

 

[I'm an expert]

I knew next to NOTHING about the ME series but got 2 as a gift last week. Started it up, about half way through recruiting the squad at the beginning. What surprised me was this:

Knowing nothing, I thought the ME series was an RPG. 2 is not an RPG, or at least not one with an abundance of customization of skills, items, or equipment. The only thing that seems to be the focus of customization is whether your character is paragon or renegade, which to me equates to about as much choice as being good or bad in Infamous.

The writing and dialogue are very good and I am enjoying the universe, but from my 13 or so hours with ME2 all I can really say about it is it's a pretty sub-par third person cover based shooter with a few menus with slider bars/points to give.

It's one of those games where you want to progress, but it isn't very fun doing so. Kind of surprised this won so many game of the year awards.

 

[MrMephistoX]

Why did they have to make a terminator baby

That destroyed a huge part of the plot and the lore for me. I was under the impression that reapers were cold machines that despised organic beings but they had to retcon that into a ridiculous plot twist. They needed all of these humans to make 1 terminator reaper. What was the point since they already had an army (you see a glimpse of it at the end of ME2 and in the trailers for ME 3).

It's not really a retcon: why do the Reapers reap the seeds of organic life every 30k years unless they need organic life to survive and evolve. It makes sense that the Reapers would go after humanity which (according to Mordin) is much more genetically diverse at the DNA level than any other species in the galaxy? Oh well people never GET the middle till they reach the end.

 

[Sennorin]

Thx for the topic

I *do not know* if ME3 will feature a satisfying ending, but from what I have seen so far, this is what I fear for:

- Reapers are turned into generic big monsters that need to be hit enough, instead being the near-undefeatable nightmare that we learned about in ME1
- the game is about journeying from alien species to alien species to gain their trust and combine their fleets, which will be the solution to finishing off the Reapers
- Emphasis on humans being the *most awesome species* continues

What I would hope for in an ideal world:

- Proceeding the game, only to witness how the Reapers are messing up the whole universe. Shepard´s biggest success in those mission would be to save his own ass
- The Illusive Man actually * does* something important. Like finishing the human Reaper by himself as his secret weapon against the Reapers.
- Maybe gathering all the alien species´ fleets would still be part, but even if you had all their trust, their fleet would still be destroyed without any effort by the Reapers
- The Reapers cannot be beaten and your only choice between the various endings is, if your Shepard becomes a Reaper himself, or your Shepard watching the downfall of the universe, viewing from different vistas depending on who you choose to spend the death of the universe with

People should complain less about Mass Effect 2 and more about Mass Effect 1.

No. ME1 had an incredibly unique atmosphere thanks to its classic-scifi feeling. It also successfully combined RPG- and active fighting-mechanics in combat. Biotic powers were limited to two classes, whereas in ME2 everyone is now a biotic fighter. While the planets were too repetitive in terms of layout, ME2´s super-linear mission-style is the opposite extreme. And ME1 gave me more choices that made me feel like they are meaningful.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

You know what really highlights all the inadequacies of the Mass Effect games?

Play Deus Ex Human Revolution and then play Mass Effect 2 immediately afterwards.

The amount of "choice" in ME2 is absolutely laughable and the variation in gameplay borderline pathetic. 9 times out of 10, Bioware does not know how to resolve a situation without flatly resorting to uncreative samey gunfights. Playing the Kasumi mission, for example, was a breath of fresh air until Bioware predictably just launched the whole thing into an annoying protracted combat sequence.

This is why I'm so disappointed that the only sequence in the entire series which really feels like an RPG quest line is the Noveria sequence for getting a pass to the garage. There were a bunch of outcomes! It almost felt like a real western RPG!

 

[Qwomo]

Biotic powers were limited to two classes, whereas in ME2 everyone is now a biotic fighter.

Um. Nope. The classes between the two games are exactly the same in terms of overall architecture.

 

[elfinke]

Why cant I play with Wrex and Garrus as my side kicks again? They made the best team in Mass Effect 1. It has yet to be matched. If you arent going to allow this Bioware dont even make the fucking game.

internetbrofist.gif

I agree with this post so much my pants now have a rip in them.

 

[Kyoufu]

Meh. After the massive disappointment of ME2 and DA2 I've come to terms with reality. Bioware is shit under EA. I'll still buy and play ME3 but my hopes for it are not set high at all.

 

[evangd007]

People should complain less about Mass Effect 2 and more about Mass Effect 1. The latter game was broken, filled with bloat, had universally boring characters (except for Wrex and Ashley), re-used bland locations almost as much as Dragon Age 2, was mediocre at story and dialogue and downright bad at gameplay. It was a fundamentally dumbed-down game and a significant step down from Baldur's Gate 2.

ME2 had problems, sure, but the action was actually half-competent and the characters were infinitely more interesting. The writing was generally better (the Mordin Solus stuff was a clear standout) and the scenarios were less repetitive and more distinct. There were inconsistencies and retcons from the first game, of course, but who cares when the first game was so mediocre?

I'd argue that ME2's characters were universally boring with the exception of Mordin who, unlike every other squad member, was actually important to the plot. I found the actual plot of ME2 was so immaterial that I can't understand why it's seen as superior to ME1. I mean, sure ME1 used the normal Bioware flowchart for the plot, but ME2 didn't even follow the narrative flowchart of introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

For the rest of my rebuttal, I'll take a snip from my post in the other thread:

The bigger problem is that the plot doesn't affect the characters. In ME1 you got everybody early on and they were mostly blank slates insofar as what Shepard knew about them. They gained dimension as you inquire about their history and talk about the missions with them. In ME2, you are told right off about how badass these guys you're recruiting are, and none of them have much input about the overarching plot because, well, the overarching plot consisted of a total of 3 short missions and a ton of exposition from the Illusive Man.

That's why the ME1 characters are so beloved while the ME2 characters are not. They were defined by events such as confronting Wrex on Virmire and choosing between Kaiden or Ashley, not because they are some hyper-competent badass something-or-other, all of who seem to be in need of some form of therapy.

I'll use a pencil-paper RPG analogy: ME1 characters are ones where the player writes a basic backstory but while playing the campaign makes an impace on it and has the character evolve, while ME2 characters are ones where the player writes an overwrought backstory that makes their character out to be the greatest contribution to society ever, then proceeds to be lame in the campaign.

In addition, on my current playthrough of ME1 I appreciate its combat system more. Playing as a Sentinel made me realize the nuance of the combat system: It's just as much controlling your enemies and the flow of battle with your abilities as it is about shooting. A well placed and timed lift could turn a loss into a win. ME2 was all about shooting and using whatever ability the current armor the enemy had called for.

 

[Rebel Leader]

I need to go on record as the guy who loved piloting the Mako.

The guy.

It was awesome! I spent so much time taking that fucking thing off big-ass jumps and just acting like a space asshole. I loved it. I understood the hate, I guess, but I found it remarkably fun. They replaced it with mineral scanning in the second game. I never finished the second game. RELATED?

went on 1 planet... driving around minding my own business
and then........

HOLY FUC!
IT A GIANT WORM!

 

[Snuggles]

Unless you cheat by finding a character code online, your custom Shepard will always look ghoulish from certain angles.

 

[Narag]

Unless you cheat by finding a character code online, your custom Shepard will always look ghoulish from certain angles.

That's a plus for us renegade Shepards!

 

[Vamphuntr]

People should complain less about Mass Effect 2 and more about Mass Effect 1. The latter game was broken, filled with bloat, had universally boring characters (except for Wrex and Ashley), re-used bland locations almost as much as Dragon Age 2, was mediocre at story and dialogue and downright bad at gameplay. It was a fundamentally dumbed-down game and a significant step down from Baldur's Gate 2.

ME2 had problems, sure, but the action was actually half-competent and the characters were infinitely more interesting. The writing was generally better (the Mordin Solus stuff was a clear standout) and the scenarios were less repetitive and more distinct. There were inconsistencies and retcons from the first game, of course, but who cares when the first game was so mediocre?

I'm not sure about the BGII comparison. Do you mean that ME is worse than Baldur's Gate II or is it DAII ? DA, DAII and ME 2 are also worse than BGII.

Basically ME 1 had crappy gameplay, a broken inventory system, RPG elements, recycled assets, less linear dungeons, a broken vehicle system and a good story.

ME had amazing gameplay, no RPG element, no inventory, linear dungeons with crates, required awful mineral collecting mini game, terrible story and a broken vehicle system added through DLC.

I don't see how one is clearly mediocre. It's basically similar to the Infinity Engine games :

Icewind Dale I/II is all about Dungeons and Battles and have a minimalistic story.
Planescape Torment is amazing story wise (story, characters, party banters) but terrible gameplay wise
Baldur's Gate I/II is a mix of both worlds. You get decent dungeons, battles and exploration but the games also have a decent story with NPCs joining your group and having their own stories.

All of them are pretty good, I wouldn't call any of them mediocre.

 

[kliklik]

Dropping off Water_Wendi's great thread:
What? LTTP: MASS EFFECT is evolving!

Speaking of that, they just released the free port version 0.7.0 of Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters on this past Monday!

 

[elrechazado]

1 was epic
2 was a major shift and a major letdown
3 I have zero expectations or even excitement at this point

 

[BravesCountry]

Why does Bioware even pretend that you can explore the galaxy? That was one of the MAIN reasons I bough the first game and it turned out to be a fucking JOKE. Any side mission was the exact same shit over and over and it was bland bland BLAND

/end rant

 

[Qwomo]

Unless you cheat by finding a character code online, your custom Shepard will always look ghoulish from certain angles.

y u no luv me

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Both games are ridiculously overrated. The gameplay is poo. BioWare is overrated too. That is all.

 

[truly101]

Mass Effect 1 implies a thematic direction and approach to the material that Mass Effect 2 does not actualize.

The disagreement in the community about it all stems back to what the first game was able to suggest about the direction of the story, the presentation of the universe and the goal of the game in general. Which is to say it was a flawed, but good attempt to recapture the so-called "80's synth" feel of good soft sci-fi.

Mass Effect 1 suggested, via its narrative approach, world-building, and non-combat gameplay systems, a whole approach to sci-fi that is pretty goddamn discontinuous from the second game. That doesn't make Mass Effect 2 a bad game. It just has a much different, and much more shallow, focus.

To those gamers who were not invested in the implicit direction Mass Effect 1 seemed to point the series, Mass Effect 2 is the clearly better game. To those who were, Mass Effect 2 is a good game that very VERY clearly does not live up to what it could and should have been and is therefore nothing but a disappointment, no matter how "objectively" better it might be.

This should all be obvious by now, of course.

I don't get this from ME1 at all. For one, I keep seeing people say ME1 was a great homage to the whole space sagas from the 50's 60's, 70's 80's. This is boggling to me as space operas from the 50's and 60's were very different stylistically from those in the 70's and 80's. In terms of art style ME1 draws far more from the 70's 80's style and ME2 is very consistent with it.
In terms of world building, sure, the first game in a series in going to be usually be stronger in that dept than the sequel, it has more to establish. In terms of non-combat gameplay systems, I'm completely lost here. ME1 was essentially dialogue trees and bad combat, 2 doesn't deviate much from that formula other than the combat is better. Actually there are more combat free side missions in ME2 than ME1.
I think it also needs to be acknowledged that Bioware painted themselves in a corner when they ended ME1. Saren is dead, Sovereign is destroyed, their chief method for infiltrating the galaxy has been activated and thwarted. Bioware essentially left the second game with nothing to build on other than the nebulous "the reapers are out there..." sure whatever.
What I'd really want to know from people that liked ME1 more strictly based on potential, is what did you honestly expect this series to be? I don't mean this as an insult or troll attempt, I mean a serious answer. What did you think this game would become other than what it is? Anything to compare it to? See, to me, I didn't follow the ME1 hype train up to release because I didn't get a 360 until after it dropped. All I knew was people were expecting it to essentially be a Star Wars free Kotor with a more involved and dynamic dialogue tree (that didn't really pan out) My expectations were much more tempered and in line with what was actually in the game. I think part of that has to do with being a console gamer. I had no grandiose hopes for the ME series and when I played ME2, it seemed obvious to me, that it was the game ME1 wanted to be (story notwithstanding). People who saw some other lionized vision for it just confused me, I didn't get any of that from the first game at all. But I think it would help if I knew better what people hoped they were getting, instead of what they got.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHY MASS EFFECT 2 WILL ALWAYS BE A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT TO ME

The thing that attracted me to Mass Effect in the first place was BioWare's emphasis on planet and universe exploration. No game (that I've played) has done--or attempted to do--something like that on such a grand scale. There was something innately satisfying about satiating that human desire to explore by landing on seemingly uncharted worlds in the far corners of the galaxy. I thought this would become even more fleshed out for the sequel, but not only was it not fleshed out it was basically OMITTED. This, to me, seemed like a staple feature for the series, but I guess BioWare disagrees.

Yes, the missions on these planets were subpar, but they could have been IMPROVED. Yes, the Mako was annoying to control at times, but it could have been IMPROVED. All that was worth it to really feel like I was exploring the galaxy, landing on these foreign planets with vistas unlike anything I've ever seen. Now that's gone. Fuck.

 

[The Technomancer]

Why does Bioware even pretend that you can explore the galaxy? That was one of the MAIN reasons I bough the first game and it turned out to be a fucking JOKE. Any side mission was the exact same shit over and over and it was bland bland BLAND

/end rant

I really really feel this way, but I try to put that part of me away when I talk about ME1 and ME2. The games just aren't what I want out of a big-budget space RPG, but I do my best to evaluate them on their own merits anyway.

FWIW I thought ME1 was a much better game on my second playthrough when I skipped pretty much every sidequest.

 

[Kitschkraft]

You know, Im still a junior so I cannot create new threads, but it would be an interesting thread that goes like "Who believes that ME3 will have a satisfying ending? - aka The Anti-Lost".

Every thread basically turns into that anyways lol.

It will probably have some very fun action set pieces, great graphics, be very will put together etc. Reviewers that work for magazines and websites that just play the games as quickly as possible and that barely think about games critically are sure to give out lots of 10's, A's, 5/5's, etc. With it launching on all three platforms, I expect it to be the highest selling game in the franchise (Although it will probably not sell as much on PC and possible 360).

I think that people who are more critical on things like story, theme, tone, characters, writing, dialogue, etc, are going to have a lesser view of the game. Especially those of us who were excited about a respectable sci-fi videogame adventure after ME1. The story seems like it will certainly be another recruitment based thing, and they have also spoken about this "war effort" mechanic that sounds like a very generic way to quantify the players progress towards "a good ending" as opposed to a more dynamic approach to the story.

Honestly, if they were going for anything more than just generic game story telling, they wouldn't have dropped the ball with ME2. The story is damn near impossible to fix after that.

 

[Snuggles]

http://www.abload.de/img/screenshot040r4sg3.jpg

y u no luv me

TOGGLE HELMET, OH DEAR GOD, TOGGLE HELMET

 

[WanderingWind]

THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHY MASS EFFECT 2 WILL ALWAYS BE A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT TO ME

The thing that attracted me to Mass Effect in the first place was BioWare's emphasis on planet and universe exploration. No game (that I've played) has done--or attempted to do--something like that on such a grand scale. There was something innately satisfying about satiating that human desire to explore by landing on seemingly uncharted worlds in the far corners of the galaxy. I thought this would become even more fleshed out for the sequel, but not only was it not fleshed out it was basically OMITTED. This, to me, seemed like a staple feature for the series, but I guess BioWare disagrees.

Yes, the missions on these planets were subpar, but they could have been IMPROVED. Yes, the Mako was annoying to control at times, but it could have been IMPROVED. All that was worth it to really feel like I was exploring the galaxy, landing on these foreign planets with vistas unlike anything I've ever seen. Now that's gone. Fuck.

Uh, you can't, like, improve games man. If ME threads have taught me anything, it's better to just remove things than make them better. Less is more, man.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

The overall plot in ME1 is better, ME2 was an odd sequel for sure but people on GAF only want to poke holes in the second game and ignore the bullshit from the first. Double standards, but hey, that video games.

Or they acknowledge this but ME2 is much easier to rip on because it's so blatant?
Yes? No?

 

[a Master Ninja]

I just can't see the defeat of the Reaper fleet being done in a satisfying way. In ME1 they established that the fleets of the main races aren't up to the task. Shepard is going to find their Kryptonite somehow and it'll probably be lame.

 

[Orayn]

I like the Mass Effect series, cliches and all. I'm not a braindead drooling fanboy, but my overall feelings about both games are positive. What I can't stand, however, is Bioware's scorched Earth approach to "improving" their games.

Mass Effect had a lot of near-identical equipment, excessive loot crammed into your inventory at every opportunity, and a cumbersome menu system. What did Bioware do? They limited the generic loot to money and resources, then axed all of ME's stat-bearing weapons in favor of a handful of basic varieties for each weapon class. The menu system took the biggest hit of all, as I no longer have a Goddamn inventory screen, but rather have to pick my gear on the Normandy or immediately before the start of a mission.

Mass Effect had a bunch of palette-swapped planets for you to explore with the Mako, which lead to some annoying scavenger hunts and awkward battles in the generic copy/pasted bunkers and caves. Mass Effect 2, on the other hand, canned planetary exploration in favor of a few Cerberus Network hovercraft missions and a mini-game, shifting side quests to "canned" encounters.

Mass Effect's skill tree had some not-so-useful branches, and it was pretty easy to do a bad job of optimizing it. Mass Effect 2 added a limited ability to respec, but drastically shrunk the number of available skills, including ones I could use in combat.

It's like for every reasonable solution Bioware could have implemented, they over-corrected and damaged what a lot of people did like about the original.

 

[Ezduo]

My general opinion on Mass Effect 2 has always been that it's a more streamlined version of Mass Effect which in many ways took a lot of the charm from original by making it feel more like a disjointed third person shooter with some talking sections as opposed to a somewhat seamless "open world" RPG. It also reeked of lazy as instead of fixing the admittedly shitty inventory system and Mako sections, they just cut them out entirely which is not what I think people wanted. Better they take the criticisms to heart and work to fix them than just going "fuck it" and throwing the ideas out completely which is a mindset that worries me about Mass Effect 3. The only area I felt they went in depth with oddly enough was the mining sections which were just tedious and boring. I still think Mass Effect 3 could work though. If they could just find a middle ground between the two games I'd be happy. There's a lot that works with this franchise and each game did do some things better than the other (admittedly I think the original did more better than the sequel).

As for the story, I'll honestly be surprised if it isn't terrible. Based on the way the Reapers have been presented an entire army of the things should be pretty much unstoppable barring one gigantic deus ex machina inducing asspull that will probably take the form of a super powerful weapon that has never been referenced and will be introduced in the third game (I assume). If they can avoid that I'll be surprised and if they can actually pull it off without it being contrived I'll be downright floored. We'll see though, even if the overall narrative is a let down I'm sure some of the stories involving the squad mates will be pretty good.

 

[kliklik]

http://www.abload.de/img/screenshot040r4sg3.jpg

y u no luv me

Looks like a screenshot from Chronicles of Riddick.

 

[Typographenia]

Oh dear, this thread did actually happen.

I need to go on record as the guy who loved piloting the Mako.

The guy.

Lies!
Mako sections were one of my favorite parts of the first game. You are not alone.


I didn't hate ME2, I just think they took all of the things I liked about ME1 and made them worse, while taking the things that I hated about ME1 and made them better.

 

[AcceptableGhost]

THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHY MASS EFFECT 2 WILL ALWAYS BE A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT TO ME

The thing that attracted me to Mass Effect in the first place was BioWare's emphasis on planet and universe exploration. No game (that I've played) has done--or attempted to do--something like that on such a grand scale. There was something innately satisfying about satiating that human desire to explore by landing on seemingly uncharted worlds in the far corners of the galaxy. I thought this would become even more fleshed out for the sequel, but not only was it not fleshed out it was basically OMITTED. This, to me, seemed like a staple feature for the series, but I guess BioWare disagrees.

Yes, the missions on these planets were subpar, but they could have been IMPROVED. Yes, the Mako was annoying to control at times, but it could have been IMPROVED. All that was worth it to really feel like I was exploring the galaxy, landing on these foreign planets with vistas unlike anything I've ever seen. Now that's gone. Fuck.

Uncharted worlds... with nothing on them... and no meaningful gameplay. Great. The more I hear about ME1 the more it reminds me of how much of a mediocre ARPG it was.

 

[AniHawk]

I just can't see the defeat of the Reaper fleet being done in a satisfying way. In ME1 they established that the fleets of the main races aren't up to the task. Shepard is going to find their Kryptonite somehow and it'll probably be lame.

it was the power of friendship all along.

 

[Narag]

Uncharted worlds... with nothing on them... and no meaningful gameplay. Great. The more I hear about ME1 the more it reminds me of how much of a mediocre ARPG it was.

Those worlds needed reduced and their missions brought up to par with the first DLC. I just pull up a planet map on the web anytime I do side missions anymore.

 

[truly101]

Or they acknowledge this but ME2 is much easier to rip on because it's so blatant?
Yes? No?

I dunno, ME1 is pretty easy to rip as well. ATTACK OF THE ROBOTIC CUTTLEFISH FROM DIMENSION X!!!!!!! Sure the T-800 super boss was not great, but when your previous villain is a robot cuttlefish...well....

 

[The Technomancer]

Oh dear, this thread did actually happen.

Well this thread was happening anyway every time a bit of ME3 news was released, so I figured we should centralize it.

 

[Snuggles]

Well this thread was happening anyway every time a bit of ME3 news was released, so I figured we should centralize it.

I think it's a fun idea for a thread. Mass Effect is strange because I really like the series but at the same time, I have so many problems with it. Either way, I'm always down to chat about it.

 

[truly101]

I just can't see the defeat of the Reaper fleet being done in a satisfying way. In ME1 they established that the fleets of the main races aren't up to the task. Shepard is going to find their Kryptonite somehow and it'll probably be lame.

Spoiler

its water btw

 

[Lothars]

I love Mass Effect 1, it's not perfect but it's a great game, I love Mass Effect 2, it's better than Mass Effect 1 but has some problems as well.

I am so excited for Mass Effect 3 and I think it's gonna be a great game that will close out the trilogy in a satisfying way.

I know some people won't like ME3 but I think those are the same people to bash ME2 in every single thread, who knows maybe it will change some minds.

 

[Orayn]

I think it's a fun idea for a thread. Mass Effect is strange because I really like the series but at the same time, I have so many problems with it. Either way, I'm always down to chat about it.

This kind of dissonance is all over the web. I immigrated to GAF from /v/, where you'd have incredibly popular and fast-moving "Mass Effect General" threads, and right next to them on the front page would be accusations of "Bioware Defense Force" directed at anyone who said anything even remotely positive about the series. To be honest, I'm starting to confuse my actual complaints with the ones I read on the internet every three seconds, though I think my previous post in this thread described them pretty clearly.

 

[Atrus]

Yes, the missions on these planets were subpar, but they could have been IMPROVED. Yes, the Mako was annoying to control at times, but it could have been IMPROVED. All that was worth it to really feel like I was exploring the galaxy, landing on these foreign planets with vistas unlike anything I've ever seen. Now that's gone. Fuck.

You are absolutely correct and have pointed out why there is such a disappointment with Mass Effect 2 when compared to the first. Mass Effect 1 started off as an RPG that was unique and had a lot of potential despite it's poor shooting mechanics, whereas Mass Effect 2 eliminated this for the sake of becoming an average at best third-person shooter.

The story of both games is roughly on the same scale but the gameplay in the second was a lot more disappointing when you found out that most of the game was a linear corridor shooter with little to break it up.

Mass Effect 1 hinted at the possibilities of so much more but the aspirations were killed off.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I dunno, ME1 is pretty easy to rip as well. ATTACK OF THE ROBOTIC CUTTLEFISH FROM DIMENSION X!!!!!!! Sure the T-800 super boss was not great, but when your previous villain is a robot cuttlefish...well....

Right, when your previous villain is an ancient robot squid, it does make it even more silly when the final boss of the sequel is a giant robo skelly bones with three eyes who is a baby made out of people goo.


Also something I never realized that someone on another site brought up: throughout the entire game they keep talking about "the mission" and how they might not come back and how they need a team, etc. And since you'd been tuned into the ME2 marketing, you knew it was a "suicide mission" against the Collectors.

But in the game, nobody actually explains why it's a suicide mission because nobody knows what they're going to do on the other side of the Omega 4 Relay. There's no planning, there's no speculation about what's on the other side except more Collectors, nothing until they figure out that their base is near the galactic core (lol). It's not until they get there and crash the Normandy 2 on the base that they finally go "Hmm, now let's make a plan of attack here."

It's just, "It's a suicide mission! We'll need the best small squad of elite fighters, hackers, and scientists in the galaxy to take them down." When in reality, nobody knows what's on the other side or what the mission actually is. What if there were two Collector bases? What if it was some kind of solar system of Collectors? Or there was a (adult) Reaper there? How the fuck would a small 13-man team in a cruiser take down that?

But no, it's conveniently just a single base that can be taken down by a team comprised of unique little snowflakes perfectly suited for its obstacles.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Maybe the Reapers will be beat by the power of culture! They've never felt love, so we just need to blast some music their way.

 

[Ceebs]

I honestly think the games are merely average in every way. (except for ME2 being a bit of a looker if you are not forced to see the terrible armor textures)

What I do not get is what makes people so apeshit for them. Every aspect of the games is average at best. Their universe feels like it was ripped from a random stack of sci-fi books, their characters are "hey look at my one unusual character trait that will be the focus of a sidequest", and the various gameplay has been done much better in tons of games. Every time I see someone say "ME2's story was amazing" my head feels like it's going to explode.