Advice to new players. Max out either Persuation OR Intimidation every chance you get. So long as you have the maximum amount of ranks in those two skills you will get all of the dialogue trees. With persuation you get the blue (nice) dialogue and with Intimidate you get the red (mean) dialogue.
I don't know if you can max both and still have a good character. I maxxed only one. Maxxing one opens up some pretty nifty options throughout the game.
I freaking loved Mass Effect. It had its problems: persistent texture pop-in, meaningless sidequests, identical worlds. I definitely loved the combat though, and I kinda hope they go even more shootery for the next one. Also, sci fi > fantasy.
Most shockingly for me, I actually really got into the story, to the point that ME2 is probably my most anticipated sequel. Sure, the story was a bit familiar, but it was presented very well, the writing was great and most of the characters were likeable.
For Mass Effect 2 I want:
1. Unique planets to explore with less randomly generated mountains, and maybe some vegetation.
2. Continue the story: I was so into ME's story, that all they need to do is not fuck it all up.
3. Clean up the visuals, keep the art style.
I only played Mass Effect recently. I skipped it at first because the reviews weren't as great as I was expecting and there were too many other games at the time.
It's a really good game but it has its flaws. I don't understand why it's the best ending to a game ever though, please someone tell me why.
I don't think it's as good as KOTOR, but it's a fun RPG and still one of the best games on 360. The level design is stunning at times and I am tempted to play through it again.
I laughed out loud when I punched the news reporter later on in the game. I only wanted to say no to her and my character hit her in the face.
Launching guys in the air while you shoot at them and watch them float away is cool
This thread piqued my interest. After watching the Gametrailers and Gamespot video reviews, I'm sold.
Picking the game up today.
I hope the game's not too hardcore for me. The combat in KOTOR really turned me off, but it sounds like ME is more action oriented so I'm hoping for the best.
The story, atmosphere and visuals of this game look so amazing I just have to try it.
I hope the game's not too hardcore for me. The combat in KOTOR really turned me off, but it sounds like ME is more action oriented so I'm hoping for the best.
Nah, it's not too hardcore. There isn't a whole lot to micromanage. And you can choose an "auto-level" option if you don't feel like managing each characters skills.
All the items and weapons are categorized by I, II, III and so on so it's super easy to tell which items are keepers and which are not.
The learning curve for battles is pretty low, you'll be set by the end of opening world.
This thread piqued my interest. After watching the Gametrailers and Gamespot video reviews, I'm sold.
Picking the game up today.
I hope the game's not too hardcore for me. The combat in KOTOR really turned me off, but it sounds like ME is more action oriented so I'm hoping for the best.
The story, atmosphere and visuals of this game look so amazing I just have to try it.
I did not like Mass Effect. I came in expecting this game to give me the roll playing experince that Elder Scrolls did not. I was hugely disappointed.
I'm not someone who really gets into a games mechanics, so stuff like balance and class trees do not interstest me. Whatever is fun for me works. Thats not my problem with this game. I wanted it to be huge role playing experience, it wasn't though. First let me say the story was really disapointing. Its like every sci-fi cliche rolled into one game and its not like its handled really well or anything. How many times does the "ancient civilization that created something" have to be used? Plus its not like the characters were anything interesting either. They were all pretty much familiar personalities.
Another thing I was disappointed in is the idea of choice in this game. There really isnt any. Yeah you can chose to let a teammate die, but guess what? It doesn't change the story at all really. The story still comes down to the same conclusion. The two times that you have to chose to let a teammate live or die are really superficial as that choice will only effect that character and its not like those characters have any impact on the main story. Which is another major problem with this game's story. If you wana play through the linear story, you will barley know anything about your party members.
Pretty much the last thing that disappointed me was the truly awful level design. Its almost pathetic. The levels are sparse and really forgettable. They almost remind me of Quake 3 multiplayer levels. They lack interesting details and are really plain. Lets not forget that most of the side quest take place in bunkers that all look the same.
Oh and the enemy ai is really dumb which leads to some pretty boring battles.
Put in an hour and a half so far and all I can say is WOW. So far, it's great. I'm not much of an RPG'er but I hope I'll grasp the inventory and squad stuff all right. Because right now, I just want to keep playing.
And holy smokes at the graphics and art style. THIS is next gen!
I thought the decisions were pretty big. This is a trilogy and you can't have some truly outlandish and widely diverse decisions in the first game without making the next games impossible to make.
I think the medical term for 'mass effect' implies a relatively minor change in one place that has reprocussions throughout the rest of the body. Bit of guesswork, but i think it's safe to assume that decisions made in the first game will affect the second and third.
- He's ugly and probably smells awful IRL
- I don't like his attitude
- He's a mercenary
- He's whiny about the genocide thing; deal with it, dammit, I didn't do it
- He's a hypocrite because he kills masses of his kind without thinking twice despite the fact that his race is on the brim of extinction and he goes on and on about it
- He's the backstabbing type, I can see it in his eyes
- He draws all the attention towards my group when I enter a room
- He doesn't have any self-control and is choleric
Well, there's all that and I always play the asshole role in RPGs because I'm such a nice guy in real life and need a counter-balance.
I think the medical term for 'mass effect' implies a relatively minor change in one place that has reprocussions throughout the rest of the body. Bit of guesswork, but i think it's safe to assume that decisions made in the first game will affect the second and third.
No, the term mass effect in medicine refers to the result of physical pressure of something that grows inside a being. So if you have cancer in your brain and surrounding cells die down because the cancer presses on them, if the cells had a function that's now disturbed, the misfunction is called mass effect.
Well, looks like i'm going to have to wait a bit longer. I get home and I notice a delivery attempt note on my door... but the damned thing says I need to pay $31.55 in brokerage fees! Guy probably never traded with a Canadian before. Hopefully Goozex can help sort this out.
Alright, well the Goozex thing has been taken care of but since I was really looking forward to playing it over the weekend I decided to pick it up anyways ($35 at Futureshop!)
I don't think it sold all that well at that particular Futureshop, it still had it's original street date sticker on it! Bright orange on neon green is a horrible combination, btw...
And here's my character...
So far i'm about six hours or so into it and i'm really enjoying it
(just finished rescuing Liara T'Soni)
. I have some peeves about it, though, but i'll save those for another time when i'm deeper into the game.
Alright, well the Goozex thing has been taken care of but since I was really looking forward to playing it over the weekend I decided to pick it up anyways ($35 at Futureshop!)
http://i36.tinypic.com/qxqikz.jpg[IMG]
I don't think it sold all that well at that particular Futureshop, it still had it's original street date sticker on it! Bright orange on neon green is a horrible combination, btw...
[IMG]http://i36.tinypic.com/2h58il2.jpg[IMG]
And here's my character...
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/2nbr3tz.jpg[IMG]
So far i'm about six hours or so into it and i'm really enjoying it [spoiler](just finished rescuing Liara T'Soni)[/spoiler]. I have some peeves about it, though, but i'll save those for another time when i'm deeper into the game.[/QUOTE]
Hope you enjoy it!
Like I said, once you get to Virmire and beyond your mind will get FUCKED by how awesome it is.
Incredible game, I haven't played a bioware game since Baldur's Gate and I absolutely loved this. There's a few bits I thought were a bit flawed, I found the citadel kinda confusing, the side quests eventually got boring and it was quite small, in both game length and size of the galaxy... seeing the galaxy map left me with a false impression of size where very few planets are able to be landed on and when they are they're quite empty. I'd have liked to have found more space ships or cities like the citadel but I never felt the quality when you follow the storyline lacked, it was quite engrossing. There's some definite points they can improve on (and I'd be disappointed if they didn't) but as far as I'm concerned it's a great game, couldn't put it down.
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
sorry if this hasbeen asked already or beaten to death, but will the ability to install this to the 360 hard drive soon make the texture loading problems and popup?
sorry if this hasbeen asked already or beaten to death, but will the ability to install this to the 360 hard drive soon make the texture loading problems and popup?
I sure hope so. What's even more annoying is when a texture is loads fine but then a second later it reverts to a low resolution version for no reason.
So I was exploring some planets and I got a call from an Admiral (who sounds a lot like Lance Henriksen) about this ship full of L2 Biotics with a hostage... holy shit, my party got it's ass kicked quick. I don't think there's any way I can clear that ship at my level and with my equipment, but I thought the game matched itself to your level?
So I was exploring some planets and I got a call from an Admiral (who sounds a lot like Lance Henriksen) about this ship full of L2 Biotics with a hostage... holy shit, my party got it's ass kicked quick. I don't think there's any way I can clear that ship at my level and with my equipment, but I thought the game matched itself to your level?
Uh I think you choose the level of difficulty at the beginning of the game. You can go to Options to switch it at any time though. At level 60 I was able to be the game on the second hardest difficulty but at lower levels stick with Normal.
So I was exploring some planets and I got a call from an Admiral (who sounds a lot like Lance Henriksen) about this ship full of L2 Biotics with a hostage...
The character creation process is one of the things that first annoyed me. I don't feel it has anywhere near the depth that people were saying it had. You just pick parts from templates and change their positions slightly. "Hair" choices especially were disappointing; you get to pick from bald and then other different levels of bald, basically, since the choices with actual hair are ugly as shit.
I thought the decisions were pretty big. This is a trilogy and you can't have some truly outlandish and widely diverse decisions in the first game without making the next games impossible to make.
The character creation process is one of the things that first annoyed me. I don't feel it has anywhere near the depth that people were saying it had. You just pick parts from templates and change their positions slightly. "Hair" choices especially were disappointing; you get to pick from bald and then other different levels of bald, basically, since the choices with actual hair are ugly as shit.
I agree, honestly. It bothered me to the point that I used the default Shepard model. Every time I tried to make my own guy he came out the other side looking really weird.
I agree, honestly. It bothered me to the point that I used the default Shepard model. Every time I tried to make my own guy he came out the other side looking really weird.
IIRC, it basically reduces the amount of medi-gel packs needed to heal an amount of your health meter. To be honest, its a waste to have multiple characters support it, since only the highest First Aid rated character counts.
I think I may be getting close to end but i'm not sure.
I decided to spare Wrex and let Kaiden join the other team for the assault on Saren's base since I never use him.
Even though i've been trying to be as much of a Renegade as possible, i'm finding that it's not that easy on a first run (i'm more Paragon). I'll probably go all-out Renegade on my next playthrough.
Anyways, onto my main gripe with the game....
The inventory system SUCKS. Only 150 slots for weapons, armor, items, and upgrades combined is shit. Buying and selling is a pain because you don't have any sorting options and it's hard to tell what's better than what at a glance. I swear, Final Fantasy games from 15 years ago had better inventory management than Mass Effect. When browsing the inventory it comes as one huge list that's painfully slow to scroll through, and instead of seeing something like this...
Anti-Personnel Ammo II x5 Toxic Rounds IV x2
...you'll get something like this:
Anti-Personnel Ammo II
Anti-Personnel Ammo II
Anti-Personnel Ammo II
Toxic Rounds IV
Anti-Personnel Ammo II
Shredder Rounds III
Toxic Rounds IV
Anti-Personnel Ammo II
It's ass. Then, if your inventory is full while on a mission, your only choice is to convert everything to worthless omni-gel. It would have been nice if you could store it all in an unusable state and then sell it off at the next rest stop to make room for the 150 cap instead of just tossing everything.
Anyways, i'm still enjoying the game overall. How much farther do I have?
anyway, excellent game...felt complete...although its funny, they were trumpeting the as if you had a galaxy at your finger tips...its not the most epic of rpgs...especially compared to stuff like ff or xenogears
The amount that one medi-gel heals is determined by the combined first-aid skills of all squad members. This is different from the decryption and electronics skill, where the highest amount of the squad members is taken. This makes it worthwhile multiple characters to have points in first aid, because a single point in first aid can already add a significant amount of health.
_leech_ said:
So I was exploring some planets and I got a call from an Admiral (who sounds a lot like Lance Henriksen) about this ship full of L2 Biotics with a hostage... holy shit, my party got it's ass kicked quick. I don't think there's any way I can clear that ship at my level and with my equipment, but I thought the game matched itself to your level?
This may be one of the tougher missions at the start, if you're not completely used yet to Mass Effects combat system, but it is certainly doable at quite a low level. Some tips:
- Use Overload to take down the shields of enemies
- Use Sabotage to keep enemies from firing
- Use Damping to keep the biotic warriors in this mission in check
- Use Stasis to disable one enemy in a pack completely
The game gets more interesting at the higher difficulty levels, because then you really have to think about all these tactical options.
...its not like the characters were anything interesting either. They were all pretty much familiar personalities.
Another thing I was disappointed in is the idea of choice in this game. There really isnt any. Yeah you can chose to let a teammate die, but guess what? It doesn't change the story at all really. The story still comes down to the same conclusion. The two times that you have to chose to let a teammate live or die are really superficial as that choice will only effect that character and its not like those characters have any impact on the main story. Which is another major problem with this game's story. If you wana play through the linear story, you will barley know anything about your party members.
Pretty much the last thing that disappointed me was the truly awful level design. Its almost pathetic. The levels are sparse and really forgettable. They almost remind me of Quake 3 multiplayer levels. They lack interesting details and are really plain. Lets not forget that most of the side quest take place in bunkers that all look the same.
This is all true and really does effect one's enjoyment of the game.
But I still love it. If I reviewed it it would be a 9 and I wouldn't even be able to defend it from the damaging criticisms.
It's a bit weird really. I can't say that anything about this game is great aside from the lore/setting (which kind of matters, but not nearly as much as the story), the graphics (which doesn't matter) and combat (which is gameplay and therefore matters). The story is alright. Voice acting is usually good to great. But throwing people around and shooting them is the only thing I really loved about it.
Yet I keep coming back to it. Strange.
P.S. What would a ME post be without criticizing the ludicrously shallow sidequests and embarrassing menu system? So there you go.
This may be one of the tougher missions at the start, if you're not completely used yet to Mass Effects combat system, but it is certainly doable at quite a low level. Some tips:
- Use Overload to take down the shields of enemies
- Use Sabotage to keep enemies from firing
- Use Damping to keep the biotic warriors in this mission in check
- Use Stasis to disable one enemy in a pack completely
The game gets more interesting at the higher difficulty levels, because then you really have to think about all these tactical options.
Yeah, I think i'll try again when I get the chance. My party used to a random mix, but for the last couple of hours i've been sticking with Liara (biotic) and Garrus (sniper, tech) for most every mission and it's working out well.
Random question; how does the New Game+ feature work?
My end time was just over 20 hours, including a handful of side missions. I thought it was an alright length, and it's not like it has a Halo 2 ending.
This thread inspired me to buy the game a few weeks back, and I just finished it last night.
Mass Effect is now easily one of my favorite games ever. The art, the story, the voice acting, the game play... BioWare even got the battle action right in this game.
This was one fantastic gaming experience. And the ending? Epic, epic, epic. The scope and scale of what was happening looked more akin to a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster than a video game.
Shame about the lackluster side missions, though. I completed as many as I could because I wanted the Completionist achievement (and because I hoped they'd improve as time went on), but wow - talk about taking you right out of the game.
My total play time was around 35 hours, and I'd say that the first 12 hours were awesome and the last four hours pretty much regained that level of great, but the middle... kind of a waste. (I'll skip those missions in subsequent playthroughs and I'm sure it will be a MUCH improved game.)
I'm so glad I didn't miss out on this great game. I think I fell in love with my female Shepard a little bit (she's a hard but beautiful redhead with gleaming green eyes), and I can't wait to recreate her again for Mass Effect 2.
and I knew I shouldn't have been a soldier :'(
