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Should I even bother playing the Mass Effect games?

Deft Beck

Deft Beck

Gold Member
I could get all three games from Gamefly's DD service for $20. However:

1) FPS games are not my favorite genre at all.

2) I have a massive backlog already.

3) I don't like how human-centric the storyline seems to be at times, from what I've heard. A reason that I'm interested in this series is the lore. I already know the ending is awful and closed-ended, which is working against this. I could just play a less dude-bro sci-fi game, but I'm willing to be open-minded.

4) I tried to play the first one years ago but I couldn't pass some sections, despite playing on Normal.

Should I even bother? I figure that I might just play LA Noire, Deus Ex: HR, Sleeping Dogs, etc. first. Or, finish a game I've started, for once.
 
I went through this same dilemma and played ME1. I liked it but didn't love it. Once ME3 came out and I heard the huge backlash against the ending, I decided not to invest the time into 2 and 3. Main reason for me was because I put a lot of weight into storyline in my games. If the story ends up not being worthwhile, then it's not worth the time for me.

The way I think about it is like the show LOST. I followed it and loved the show as it was going, but the ending completely ruined the rest of the show and I felt like I wasted all that time.

btw, it's not an FPS.
 
Based on your list there I would say no.

1) The first game is more of a RPG with kind of bad shooting mechanics but the other 2 are pure third person shooters.

2) Self explanatory. Adding 3 ~30 hour games isn't going to help you there.

3) The first game is not too bad with the human stuff. If anything it shows us as the newcomer that no one likes. The other games are way more "humans fuck yeah".

The lore of the games was the biggest appeal and the first game does an amazing job establishing it to the point where you're dying for more. But then the last two games shit all over their own lore and bring out so many plot holes.
 
Good thing these games aren't FPSs then.

But yeah, play through them. The gameplay in all three is garbage, and Mass Effect 2 is so incredibly boring, but Mass Effect 1 is really ambitious, while Mass Effect 3 has shit that actually happens with the story.
 
1) I hate FPS games too, these are fun.

2) They are great games, add them to your backlog at least.

3) Just enjoy the game yourself, the whole ending thing was blown out of proportion in my opinion, I was fine with it.

4) Should be fine to beat those sections, maybe use more powers?
 
They're great games, but it doesn't look like you would enjoy it. Although Mass Effect 3 has a super easy difficulty setting where you can literally run around in the open blindfiring your gun and still come out victorious.
 
I think you have a few misconceptions about the series. For one they're third person shooters, not first. And the story isn't as human-centric as you might think; at least after the first game it's much more open to looking at other alien species in depth. I love the Mass Effect series, so I think it'd be worth a shot if you don't mind ignoring the other part of your backlog, that is.
 
Save your time and go play something else sounds like you were talking your way out of it anyway.

I would suggest Sleeping Dogs.
 
It's not a FPS

And I would never describe it as a "Dude-Bro" type game. Like at all. Vega can be completely ignored, is only in 3, and isn't actually the worst when I think about it.

Honestly, its a great trilogy for the characters and worth playing just for that.
 
The ending wasn't even the biggest problem with ME3. It's really annoying that people focus on it so much. The overall structure of the story is abysmal. Storywise ME2 has a very weak ending but it's still a great game because it's basically a heist movie and the characters they give you are all pretty great.


So my answer is play ME2 and be done with it.
 
Or, I could just do what I was going to do already and just buy Harmoknight, which I'll probably like more by default because it's a rhythm game.
 
1) It's a third person shooter with tons of non-shooty parts too, not an FPS.

2) Everyone has a backlog. Play what you want, not what you feel obliged to.

3) If you're looking for sci-fi lore, play this series. There is no better series for that kind of stuff in gaming anywhere.

4) Play it on Easy then.
 
If you buy games primarily for the story, than sure, get Mass Effect. In regards to the gameplay itself, though, it's pretty mediocre.
 
The Mass Effect trilogy is 60-90 hours of pure awesome, with about 10 minutes of poop at the end. It's not an FPS and it's not dudebro at all.
 
Wheeliedude said:
I could get all three games from Gamefly's DD service for $20. However:

1) FPS games are not my favorite genre at all.

2) I have a massive backlog already.

3) I don't like how human-centric the storyline seems to be at times, from what I've heard. A reason that I'm interested in this series is the lore. I already know the ending is awful and closed-ended, which is working against this. I could just play a less dude-bro sci-fi game, but I'm willing to be open-minded.

4) I tried to play the first one years ago but I couldn't pass some sections, despite playing on Normal.

Should I even bother? I figure that I might just play LA Noire, Deus Ex: HR, Sleeping Dogs, etc. first. Or, finish a game I've started, for once.
Click to expand...

1) these are TPS games really, the first one is bad combat wise though.

2)Buy the first and see if you like the story and charcters etc. if you don't there's no need to buy the other two.

3) Most points in this are about humans but I don't think you'll have a huge problem since a lot of the games is learning about other races.

4) If you already have ME 1 maybe bump it down to casual and finish it, but don't get the other two until you know you liked ME1, because the combat is improved but you'll never enjoy it if you don't like the world.

And the ending isn't that bad, people just like to complain IMO.
 
Agree with others that if you're interested in the Alien lore, you might want to just run through 1. Whilst humanity's role in the galaxy is a major theme, it's not all "humans fuck yeah humans are such unique snowflakes humans are so tenacious humans are our only chance" etc. I think the writing, atmosphere and music of 1 does the best job of communicating a sense of transcendent wonder inherent in the alien civilizations and natural order of the galaxy.
 
Mass Effect is one of the best and most atmospheric games ever made.

A technicolor sci-fi space opera techno-optimist dream come true.

So, yes.
 
The first is a hands down masterpiece of video gaming. The sequels not so much although pretty good in my opinion.
 
Wheeliedude said:
I could get all three games from Gamefly's DD service for $20. However:

1) FPS games are not my favorite genre at all.

2) I have a massive backlog already.

3) I don't like how human-centric the storyline seems to be at times, from what I've heard. A reason that I'm interested in this series is the lore. I already know the ending is awful and closed-ended, which is working against this. I could just play a less dude-bro sci-fi game, but I'm willing to be open-minded.

4) I tried to play the first one years ago but I couldn't pass some sections, despite playing on Normal.

Should I even bother? I figure that I might just play LA Noire, Deus Ex: HR, Sleeping Dogs, etc. first. Or, finish a game I've started, for once.
Click to expand...

No, this doesnt sound like the game for you. I think i have over 450 hours in ME3 and its the best game to come out in years, but this may not be the game for you.

Also, if you are going to listen to the majority of people on THIS forum, then it may not be the game for you.

All three games are incredible - each one has the combat fine tuned per iteration, the multiplayer is also incredible.
 
ME2 is one of my favorite games ever.

I really loved aspects of 1.

I thought the first 90% of 3 was solid but clearly rushed.



The last 10% of 3 makes me regret ever touching the series. It's honestly insulting.
 
Mass Effect 1 is AMAZING ! Mass Effect 2 is meh and 3 is terrible for a AAA game.

So yeah I wouldn't recommend playing 2 and 3 as much as I love ME1.
 
Mass Effect 1 is pretty complete on its own and not aggressively human-centric. I suggest giving it a try, and if you like it you can try out ME2 afterwards.
 
LuchaShaq said:
ME2 is one of my favorite games ever.

I really loved aspects of 1.

I thought the first 90% of 3 was solid but clearly rushed.



The last 10% of 3 makes me regret ever touching the series. It's honestly insulting.
Click to expand...

I hated ME2 and 3 overall, but I liked the final couple of hours of ME3. It was the closest the the series had come to feeling like ME1 again.
 
Derrick01 said:
Based on your list there I would say no.

1) The first game is more of a RPG with kind of bad shooting mechanics but the other 2 are pure third person shooters.
Click to expand...

That's absolute bullshit and you know it.

There arent many third person shooters with the RPG mechanics of Mass Effect 3 -

- Leveling up
- conversations/dialogue
- stories/choices which carry over from game to game
- merchants/shops
- EXP gained
- customisable parties
- weapons/mods/biotics/- choices to apply all these.

I know its your "cool thing" to troll everything, but if you are not 100% biased you will see that it is NOT just a "third person shooter".
 
First one has terrible shooting mechanics, but if you can get over that, it's basically the only one in the series worth playing. If you didn't like that one then, then you probably won't like the series now.
 
partyphone said:
The ending wasn't even the biggest problem with ME3. It's really annoying that people focus on it so much. The overall structure of the story is abysmal. Storywise ME2 has a very weak ending but it's still a great game because it's basically a heist movie and the characters they give you are all pretty great.


So my answer is play ME2 and be done with it.
Click to expand...
"haters" like me don't even bring up the ending. it's the people who try to defend the game and say "the ending wasnt even bad"

most people are done trying to explain why they're wrong and we focus on the other two hundred reasons why this game should be wiped from existence, although people still dismiss the facts because the internet has taught me that a soundtrack, set pieces and AAA presentation covers up every flaw
 
It's a very good series with some great characters and settings.

You'll have plenty of time to wander about with smaller side-quests or you can dive straight into the action and firefights in the main quest-line. Take your time and enjoy it, it's a very important piece of sci-fi video game pie.

Some people still blow the whole ending out of proportion, it cracks me up. They won't get over it, so move on.
 
Phat Michael said:
That's absolute bullshit and you know it.

There arent many third person shooters with the RPG mechanics of Mass Effect 3 -

- Leveling up that does not matter
- conversations/dialogue that do not matter
- stories/choices which carry over from game to game that do not matter
- merchants/shops that do not matter
- EXP gained that do not matter
- customisable parties that do not matter
- weapons/mods/biotics/- choices to apply all these. that do not matter

I know its your "cool thing" to troll everything, but if you are not 100% biased you will see that it is NOT just a "third person shooter".
Click to expand...

It pretty much is more of a third person shooter than an RPG, since almost none of the shit that you mentioned matters. You can go through the entire game all "shoot shoot, bang bang" and ignore all of the stuff you mentioned, and it would be the same game.

Hell, my friend, who never plays games, went through the entire game without allocating his skill points once (no Auto Level either), and just selected the "top option" for every dialog choice and he basically had the exact same experience I did.
 
The Mana Legend said:
Hell, my friend, who never plays games, went through the entire game without allocating his skill points once (no Auto Level either), and just selected the "top option" for every dialog choice and he basically had the exact same experience I did.
Click to expand...

That's great and all but you CAN do all those things and enjoy a game more. I don't really care that some shoot-bang dudebro blasted his way through skipping all dialogue.

In fact that's probably the exact opposite of "exact same experience".
 
The Mana Legend said:
It pretty much is more of a third person shooter than an RPG, since almost none of the shit that you mentioned matters. You can go through the entire game all "shoot shoot, bang bang" and ignore all of the stuff you mentioned, and it would be the same game.

Hell, my friend, who never plays games, went through the entire game without allocating his skill points once (no Auto Level either), and just selected the "top option" for every dialog choice and he basically had the exact same experience I did.
Click to expand...
merchants don't matter?

WHAT ABOUT THE REPLICA SHIPS AND FISH!?
 
Impeccable said:
That's great and all but you CAN do all those things and enjoy a game more. I don't really care that some shoot-bang dudebro blasted his way through skipping all dialogue.

In fact that's probably the exact opposite of "exact same experience".
Click to expand...

There's so few dialogue choices in Mass Effect (especially the sequels), and even fewer choices with consequences... so I'd say it's pretty close to being the same experience.
 
jtb said:
There's so few dialogue choices in Mass Effect (especially the sequels), and even fewer choices with consequences... so I'd say it's pretty close to being the same experience.
Click to expand...

Yep.

ME2, and especially 3, are pretty much "Walk into next room, kill badguys, watch cutscene and choose dialogue choices that do not matter."

It's REALLY not as diverse as people say it is.
 
Phat Michael said:
That's absolute bullshit and you know it.

There arent many third person shooters with the RPG mechanics of Mass Effect 3 -

- Leveling up
- conversations/dialogue
- stories/choices which carry over from game to game
- merchants/shops
- EXP gained
- customisable parties
- weapons/mods/biotics/- choices to apply all these.

I know its your "cool thing" to troll everything, but if you are not 100% biased you will see that it is NOT just a "third person shooter".
Click to expand...

Most shooters nowadays have the "RPG" mechanics that ME3 has, minus the heavy focus on talking (ME3 has less dialogue options than the previous games anyway). It's really no different from any of them and Bioware has very few to blame other than themselves for participating in the diluting of the genre.
 
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