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[HStallion]

I never liked the original games after the first. I felt they went for the lamest possible story routes, characters and even the gameplay felt like a stale take on the cover shooter with some "powers". I think they could have done a whole lot more after the first game but it felt like they squandered any real potential the series had as hard as possible.

 

[TC McQueen]

The franchise definitely didn't peak with the OG trilogy but indeed set the bar high for any predecessor to come. MEA made mistakes by trying to be the game which Mass Effect 1 wanted to be, just without the technical limitations and supposedly much greater in scale.

The problem is that the Montreal team never understood what made the explorer premise and RPG roots of ME1 and the purely character driven story in the sequels so fascinating in he first place. Though heavily criticized for many random planets in ME1, it was the sheer scale, choice and premise in that game which sparked the imagination of players. The sense of a to be unexplored Milky Way was crafted carefully and in my opinion that was the most important factor.

See, this highlighted bit is something that totally doesn't make sense to me, because in the OG ME games, you're not really in unexplored space. Someone or something has already been there before you, that's why every planet has a fairly detailed entry about it.

If you want real exploration, you get something closer to MEA's planet entries.

What I guess people really want is new, fleshed out locales, with tons of backstory and lore, and that kind of storytelling generally doesn't mesh well with "go fly around looking for stuff," because you're not going to find interesting stuff most of the time. That's why the MEA team realized the No Man's Sky route sucked super early on, because the pure exploration and crafted story stuff doesn't mesh at all.

 

[JCHandsom]

And I would buy it. I'll take my Citadel detective noir game, thanks.



But it's not what Mass Effect was best at, besides the ethical dilemmas. Mass Effect was best at building drama within already established hubs and between known characters of catalogued races. It was at its best when you were an elite agent or sheriff, not an explorer.

In any case, the point was also largely about scope within the game world, which correlates with the focus on the game. I'd be fine with different planets so long as the game space within those worlds was small and dense, getting to the fucking point quickly with hand-crafted missions and quests, and moving on. "Exploration" in the Mass Effect games is a waste of time.

At this point you're talking about the cancelled Prey 2, not Mass Effect. I would love a game like the one you are describing, but a game can't be everything to everyone. Sometimes core, fundamental changes are necessary for a game to achieve its true potential, but the exploration in ME1 was something to fix and build upon, not something to sand off. The game you're talking about would work as a spin-off from the main series, but changing the fundamental focus of something already pre-established can lead to...problems.

*eyes main story of ME2 and most of ME3*

The rest? Uh, did you see how "humanity galactic saviors" and "Shep is literally jesus" centric the ME series was? Which was particularly absurd given how the universe was built around humans being newcomers to the galactic stage in ME1.

That only really became a problem in ME2/3 (as you said, in ME1 humanity was a newcomer and had to prove itself on the galactic stage, and were certainly not the saviors of the galaxy) but yeah, even if it is still there saying it's as bad as a Michael Bay film is pushing it.

See, this highlighted bit is something that totally doesn't make sense to me, because in the OG ME games, you're not really in unexplored space. Someone or something has already been there before you, that's why every planet has a fairly detailed entry about it.

You may be exploring charted worlds, but you are typically uncovering new information:

Eden Prime: Prothean Beacon
Noveria: Rachni Queen
Feros: The Thorian
Virmire: Sovereign
Ilos: Prothean VI

As you get farther away from ME1, this emphasis on uncovering hidden secrets and lost knowledge gets less and less emphasis until it is almost non-existent, which I think is a shame. Even if the worlds weren't new, each location came with a "newness" that made exploring it feel worthwhile.

 

[hydruxo]

I don't think it has reached its potential. I think Bioware just needs to make sure they don't half ass it next time they decide to do another Mass Effect game, but who knows when that'll be now. They need to go back to the more linear quests / locales of the original trilogy. The open world aspect of MEA was awful.

 

[rhandino]

I actually think the series would have been better off to just let the reapers lie for a while. You can have other scources of conflicts, like between citadel Aliens.

Adventuring the Asari space solving conflicts and participating in their politics?

Learn more about how the Salarians uplift other races and explore what repercussions this cause to them?

Investigate other corporate planets like Noveria and investigate their borderline illegal dealings?

Do something about the sub-plot of the sun that was dying too fast during Tali mission?

The Mass Effect universe was so full of potential before 3... and I love 3.

Like, i would have not got mad if Mass Effect 3 only dealed with the Geth/Quarian conflict and the Genophage thing while 4 was a more fleshed out version of the 3rd act of Mass Effect 3

Oh well.

 

[mavericktopgun]

Mass Effect 2 was the best one.

 

[Freeman76]

Not much more they could have done with it, they did amazing with that trilogy imo.

 

[inky]

It's not as misogynistic, nationalistic, racist, or pandering as a Michael Bay film.

I mean, it's not the same kind of pandering as those films, but to say Bioware games aren't pandering is a stretch.

I do agree that Mass Effect is a space opera closer to Star Trek than the rest of the examples given (certainly not Blade Runner), and the end of the galaxy space jesus focus bogged it down more often than not.

 

[TC McQueen]

It still blows my mind that they would allow Andromeda to come out. How little do you have to care about a beloved franchise? How little do you have to care about your company? People keep posting that picture of EA killing Bioware. If this is Bioware now then who even cares.

You get MEA from EA wanting to avoid having the next FF XV, the Montreal team having a vision that probably wasn't practical to produce, Edmonton HQ saying "Make something that can actually be produced", a management change because Montreal probably was too damn stubborn to let go of their vision, and probably the new management being too lenient in giving ideas a shot until they only had 18 months to whip something up.

Ironically, they probably got in this mess because they cared too much about the IP and had conflicting views of what to do.

 

[Bisnic]

The only thing that could make a Mass Effect game the greatest game ever in my mind would be to take Mass Effect 2 "template" and improve everything from there.

Let me have the Milky Way with dozens of hubs and interesting planets/spaceships to go to. Let me learn more about the culture of its races in details in them. There's a lot to expand on.
The Angaras & Ketts weren't very interesting(not to mention, ugly), so I'd rather go back to the galaxy that worked. It could happen slightly before ME1, so we don't have to deal with the Reapers or Shepard... I don't care.

We don't need gigantic open world planets filled with annoying fetch quests like Andromeda. I know these quests can be safely ignored, but it would have been best to simply not create them at all. Nicely designed planets/spaceships that takes 30 mins/one hour to do is plenty enough.

 

[JCHandsom]

I mean, it's not the same kind of pandering as those films, but to say Bioware games aren't pandering is a stretch.

I just said it wasn't as pandering

 

[inky]

I just said it wasn't as pandering

Fair enough.

Spoiler

Ass shots and camel toes included ;P

 

[Staf]

I feel ME biggest misstep was that from 2 on every conflict was solved by shooting your gun. I would love a ME with more diplomacy, and less of an overarching "only one person can save the universe" narrative.

Would love this as well. But with a conversation system that basically boils down to "Hate newspapers" and "Love newspapers" that would be difficult to make engaging as the main gameplay mechanic.

 

[The Artisan]

Mass Effect reached its full potential with Mass Effect 2. Only went downhill from there

Mass Effect 2 was the best one

1 was rough and 3 lost a lot of what made the first two games special

I agree with both of these statements but at the same time even though ME peaked in terms of acclaim with Me2, Me3 had it beat in sales records I think.

Uncharted peaked in acclaim with Uc2 but Uc4 outsold it already

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

ME2 was pretty great precisely because it sidelined the Reapers and focused on Milky Way threats for the majority of the missions. Sure, the Reaper plot was the excuse for the whole suicide mission, but aside from some missions directly connected to that, it was pretty minimal.

Exactly. I was never behind the idea of prequels/interquels for Mass Effect, but after Andromeda's execution, maybe some side story games set in the original trilogy timeline, but not related to the Reaper threat, would hit the spot.

 

[Stiler]

It didn't reach it at all imo.

The games were great but there's SO Much more they could do.

Allowing you to actually control the ship in space flight, where your crew actually moves around the ship (not merely changing static positions between missions, etc).

Being able to take your entire crew with you while you get off the ship, walking around space stations and having them react to things , etc.

Giving you the ability to leave your ship in space (space walking) and exploring in real time things in space, etc.

Letting you play as Aliens.

etc.

 

[Ralemont]

At this point you're talking about the cancelled Prey 2, not Mass Effect. I would love a game like the one you are describing, but a game can't be everything to everyone.

I agree and can only speak to my own preferences. Starting the series with 2 also definitely influenced how I perceive "the series at its best" (I've since gone back to 1 multiple times).

Part of the reason the discussion surrounding the ME trilogy is so amusing is because of how divided the playerbase is. Despite several faults, for example, I think Mass Effect 3 is the best game in the trilogy and believe BioWare captured the atmosphere of hopeless galactic war perfectly. Overall, I think each game in the trilogy nailed the tone it was going for, but I think that the best path forward is trying to perfect what ME2 did well, as I think ME1's exploration is a dead end and I don't think another galactic war at this point sounds particularly interesting.

 

[Sillverrr]

The original Mass Effect trilogy, for all its flaws and weakness, was still a spellbinding space opera. Gameplay was nothing special, but the real meat of the game was your squad-mates and their backstories. I think Bioware peaked with Baldur's Gate and KotOR in terms of characters and writing, but Mass Effect is still impressive for a "modern" RPG, wherein story usually takes a back seat to technical prowess and accessibility.

And let's not forget the musical score. "The Presidium" by Jack Wall evokes memories of 70's sci-fi movies perfectly, whilst ofc "Suicide Mission" from ME2 captures the high-stakes drama after an entire game's worth of build-up.

It's a shame that the overall consensus on Andromeda is to avoid. There were so many more stories they could have told in this universe. Even if they patch it up to an acceptable degree now, what's the point, knowing that the series is essentially on hold? I prefer living, breathing worlds; it seems Bioware has killed this franchise, and there are far better uses for my time.

 

[metareferential]

It wasted all potential with the second chapter, sadly. 2 is still highly enjoyable, though. 3 is a bore.

I know I'm being extremely harsh, I loved the first one to death.

 

[RedSwirl]

Mass Effect never fulfilled the potential suggested by the first game. The greatest crime of that series is that ME1 never really got a sequel. It was rough, but it could have been improved upon. ME2 and 3 chose to be something else entirely.

Even aside from the mechanics like planet exploration and inventory management, the feel of the story and universe changed from 1 to the other two. ME1 felt Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica, 2 and 3 felt more like generic military stuff but in space. I think people still agree ME1 had the best main quest in the series and is still the best introduction to the universe.

And as for Andromeda's original ambitions for doing an Elite/Star Citizen-level game, I think that would have required them to go in knowing it would be a GTAV-level undertaking in terms of budget and time, at least. The issue with making that kind of game with a real storyline and everything, is that it pretty much takes a AAA publisher wiling to go all-out. Even worse, the idea hasn't definitively been proven to be workable. On a tech end Star Citizen is still in development and Elite is trudging along with updates. No Man's Sky also did some damage to the idea in the public eye. Despite that, developers are still trying. Ubisoft is trying to make Beyond Good & Evil 2 and StarLink games with cosmic proportions.

At that point you could set the game all on one planet and get rid of the Normandy, the ship's crew, the Relays, the galaxy map, etc.

Mass Effect isn't Blade Runner or Interstellar, it's Star Trek. Going to strange new worlds, meeting alien races, solving ethical dilemmas, and uncovering the secrets of the universe are what Mass Effect was built on.

It's like me saying I would like Destiny if it was more like KOTOR and less like Halo; sure I might like it more, but at a certain point it ceases to be Destiny and becomes something new.

The real issue here is that more developers need to be making space RPGs. There are different directions a space RPG could go for and Mass Effect has chosen one -- the Star Trek angle.

I think when people say they want the "detective game" or "bounty hunter game" from Mass Effect what they really want is a space western. They want a Han Solo game, a Boba Fett game, or a Cowboy Bebop game. A game where they get to make a buck by chasing jobs all over different planets while dealing with various colorful and unsavory characters and possibly dodging/dealing with the law. That's pretty much the basis behind the Elite games, but I think people want to see something like that with a pre-written storyline and characters.

Yeah, Mass Effect could do that, but so could another game.

 

[m_dorian]

This was i usually say concerning the ME trilogy
ME has the story and the setting, 2 has the characters and 3 has the game play.

When i first finished ME i was telling myself and others about the huge potential this universe had, so many great stories to be told as long as the writers had the flair to envision them and the artists and coders had the talent to bring these stories to life.
2 was a good game, i had several playthroughs and enjoyed it but after every run i found its main story lacking while the characters's loyalty missions were always -and almost all of them- great.
I will never regret the time i spent playing 2 but it could have a far better main story.

 

[prag16]

Mass Effect never fulfilled the potential suggested by the first game. The greatest crime of that series is that ME1 never really got a sequel. It was rough, but it could have been improved upon. ME2 and 3 chose to be something else entirely.

Agreed. ME:A is actually the closest thing to a sequel ME1 ever got in many respects. Unfortunately they bungled some aspects of it in well documented ways.

The real issue here is that more developers need to be making space RPGs. There are different directions a space RPG could go for and Mass Effect has chosen one -- the Star Trek angle.

This too. There aren't many space RPGs. Comparatively there are a ton of high fantasy RPGs. Which makes me angry that Dragon Age lives on and Mass Effect is dead.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Im of the opinion Mass Effect had the most potential in the first game, but sadly they dropped a ton of gameplay systems and focused far more on the action elements. So to me, the games got worse each release in the ways I think are good. Mass Effect 1 was really rough around the edges, but damn what could have been if they made 2 like 1, but better.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

ME1 had the best core story and antagonist (Saren) with emphasis on exploring new worlds. ME2 had the best characters and gameplay for me since it really felt like an immersive sim of yesteryear with so much content packed into it, all of it I wanted to unfold and see. It also had great detective/mystery elements to the side stories and the cast was suitably mysterious that you wanted to find out about and had fun dialogue to listen to. It was like this perfect melding of adventure and excitement. I was so fully immersed in those first two games, shame 3 was such a letdown. So much so that I don't even want to touch Andromeda especially now due to the bad word of mouth.

To me the series faltered since it went too much towards action and lost a lot of the adventure aspects of the first two. I wasn't playing Mass Effect for the linear experience, I was playing Mass Effect since I enjoyed the adventure elements so damn much.

 

[The Artisan]

Im of the opinion Mass Effect had the most potential in the first game, but sadly they dropped a ton of gameplay systems and focused far more on the action elements. So to me, the games got worse each release in the ways I think are good. Mass Effect 1 was really rough around the edges, but damn what could have been if they made 2 like 1, but better.

I have heard this opinion countless times particularly on GAF, so if this many people believe this then it must hold water. But I have to ask as someone who played Me2 multiple times and Me1 once, and only after Me3 & 2, if Me1 set up the series properly, what would be the most appropriate direction for the series to have taken with the sequel?

How much would you have changed in Me2?

 

[Colbert]

There is plenty what can done with the IP if Bioware reminds itself about the winning formula the game had. In my personal opinion the first game was still the best besides of some DLCs from the later games.

Winning formula:
* Exploration (not like Andromeda, I want to be able to visit more planets)
* Really hard decisions like in ME1 that mattered and had consequences directly in the game
* Much much more variety in weapons and armor
* NO MULTIPLAYER component, development resources should be focussed on the SP campaign.
* Ability to order powers to your squad members, I loved that in ME1. Now you can't influence your squad members other than attack that enemy.

 

[LKSmash]

I still believe they should've just picked a canon ending for everyone and that would've saved ME3 from all the flak it received. Mass Effect has been my favorite series and the choose your own adventure way of life was great but I still think it would've so much simpler if regardless of your choices, everyone ended up in the same situation/result.

 

[Cornbread78]

Yes, there is still a huge opportunity with the franchise, even in Andromeda. The ending of 3 was an abysmal disaster, but still leaves things wide open. Andromeda still leaves the door wide open with lots of potential in a new galaxy. The setting and gameplay is there, now they just have to craft the story, characters, and world dynamics much better...

 

[rhandino]

* NO MULTIPLAYER component, development resources should be focussed on the SP campaign.

Wasn't Mass Effect 3 multiplayer extremely well received too?

iirc they also said that the multiplayer aspect payed for itself thanks to the in-game purchases and that's the reason ME3 got that massive amount of updates.

 

[thepenguin55]

I didn't beat ME3 until after all of the game's dlc was out so I feel like that played a big part in me being far more positive on the game than most. My two main complaints with ME3 is that the sense of urgency always seemed way lower to me than I felt it should and everything with the fucking star child. Get rid of those dumbass nightmares and when you get to the top of the Crucible I would make it so that all that's up there is three control panels. You're given zero explanation for what they do, just make a choice. I would love it.

 

[Colbert]

Wasn't Mass Effect 3 multiplayer extremely well received too?

iirc they also said that the multiplayer aspect payed for itself thanks to the in-game purchases and that's the reason ME3 got that massive amount of updates.

Not with me

 

[Amory]

no way

I mean I actually liked Andromeda more than 1 and 3...but that's me.

There's so much more they could do with that series on more powerful consoles.

 

[spleenpoker]

I bought Andromeda at launch but dropped of it after awhile. I suppose I got caught up in a little too much busy work. The exploration was a bit boring, can't even remember most of the planets, let alone any landmarks. Driving around and mining, isn't exactly fun either.

I've only played ME1 once at launch and still remember way more about that.

I will probably go back to MEA after I've forgotten all about it and start from scratch ignoring all the tasks etc and just go through all the main story and squad stuff.

This thread has definitely gotten me thinking about replaying ME Trilogy again, soon. I must have played ME2 at least 10 times, sadly 3 was only played and finished once. I really want to check out the Citadel DLC. Sounds like fanservice done right.