Gameplay-wise they got better with each game. Mass Effect 1 had the best story by a long shot. Up until the ending, Mass Effect 3's story was excellent. The problem I had with 2 was the whole game felt like side-missions, you really only fought the Collectors twice in the game! 2 or 3 main missions don't cut it!
1 and 2 are both good in different ways. the first game has a well paced, self contained plotty story and a good sense of exploring the galaxy but is a bit uneven, the second game is less diverse but more polished mechanically and has a good episodic, character based story. i think you can play either really.
the third is just dull, despite the aspirations to make everything seem epic. i don't even care that much about the ending, though it's nonsense, only wanting to see what everyone was complaining about made me drag my way to it. zzzz.
I'd suggest the first one. 2 is cool character wise but the main story thread is terrible plus biotics sucked ass. Soldier is way too good and why would you wanna be a regular old shooty man in an RPG? 3 is better than 2 and the multiplayer was surprisingly enjoyable. I couldn't finish the story because the melodrama was boring me to death and the idea of being a galactic missionary during the god damn apocalypse didn't sit well with me
Nope. The ending is merely an overstated topping on a shit sundae.
If only they didn't wrap up the character arcs in the most artificially saccharine, fanservice-heavy way. Gaider started the trend in Dragon Age and it somehow infected ME.
Mass Effect 2 is the best. To go into some detail:
Mass Effect 1 has some great world-building (particularly through its Codex entries outside of the game itself). It also has some high-impact story moments. That said, it's an average game over all, and easily skippable. It has a number of very serious problems:
* the RPG elements are bad. They're unbalanced and mostly bland. I've heard people slamming ME2/3 because they cut away some of the "RPG-ness" of the series. Normally I'd be sympathetic to this argument, but ME1 didn't do anything remotely interesting with its RPG elements.
* the game is packed with filler. Exploration is fun for like an hour before you realize the emptiness and repetitiveness of the planets. Side missions recycle everything and get boring fast.
* 90% of the characters are completely uninteresting. They follow the old Bioware character template but without any personality or panache. Wrex the gruff alien is a welcome exception, and there's a space racist called Ashley who's kind of interesting. The main villain is a notable cut above the rest of the cast as well.
* the actual combat mechanics are janky and unpolished. ME1 tried to straddle the line between third-person shooter and RPG, and failed at both.
Mass Effect 2 is my favourite game in the series by a wide margin, and the only one I'd call great. It has the best writing by far (mostly exhibited through the awesome characters--Mordin and the Illusive Man are particular highlights), and upgrades the gameplay to a second-rate shooter instead of ME1`s third-rate RPG/shooter combination. I know people complain about the plot being inferior to ME1`s, but it's not, really. It's just more like episodic TV rather than a movie. As for the lore, it contains everything interesting from ME1 (in the Codex, even if not in the game proper) and adds lots more.
It's a must-play. If it wasn't for the lack of story resolution, I'd say it's the only game in the series that you really need to play.
That's because Mass Effect 3 is not very good. It's not just the infamously bad ending. The whole game relies heavily on the great characterization and setup in Mass Effect 2. It does nothing interesting with any of the characters on its own, and formerly-brilliant characters like Mordin become rather dull. It resolves plotlines in very predictable ways, although some of these are still admittedly satisfying because they were initiated so well in ME2. The gameplay is also worse than ME2's, in my opinion. The encounter and level design is just plain inferior, although because it's been a while, I can't tell you exactly why.
Finally, the intelligence that permeated ME2 is mostly gone. Big swathes of the main conflict are written in a Damon Lindelof sort of style. Things are done in a way that are supposed to heighten short-term drama, but are super-vague, don't really make logical sense, and cheapen the entire story and setting. A big game mechanic that could've tied in brilliantly to the story ultimately falls flat because of this
I'm talking about the galactic preparedness thing here
.
ME3 is a severe disappointment. The change of writers is plain as day. That said, you probably won't want to stop after ME2, understandably. Just be aware of what you're getting into.
Mass Effect 1
+best sense of traversal
+best RPG elements
+best sense of wonder and intrigue
+soundtrack
+conversations
-a horrendous technical mess
-rpg elements come at the cost of smooth gameplay
Mass Effect 2
+much more polished
+much smoother shooting some cool new powers like charge
+mordin, Illusive Man, Thane introduced
-killed a lot of the series intrigue, at least for me (Protheans for one)
-doesn't really add much to the overarching story
-removes real time XP and severely streamlines RPG elements
-removes inventory, weapon mods, different outfits
-planet scanning ugh... makes multiple playthroughs a chore (they did patch it to make it a little more bearable though)
Mass Effect 3
+a lot like 2 with a tiny bit improved RPG elements (and brings back real time XP)
+improved gunplay and encounter design (no more chest high plates popping up out of nowhere for no reason)
+really fun multiplayer
+some really awesome wrap-ups to the series plot lines
-doesn't introduce much new
-very focused
-ending to the reaper saga was unsatisfying to many
Overall 1 was definitely special for me. It was the reason I got into next gen and bought a 360. Was definitely flawed but I played through it probably 10 times. 2 and 3 were great too but just didn't go in the direction I had dreamed after playing the first game.
Gameplay-wise they got better with each game. Mass Effect 1 had the best story by a long shot. Up until the ending, Mass Effect 3's story was excellent. The problem I had with 2 was the whole game felt like side-missions, you really only fought the Collectors twice in the game! 2 or 3 main missions don't cut it!
Mass Effect 1
+best sense of traversal
+best RPG elements
+best sense of wonder and intrigue
+soundtrack
+conversations
-a horrendous technical mess
-rpg elements come at the cost of smooth gameplay
Mass Effect 2
+much more polished
+much smoother shooting some cool new powers like charge
+mordin, Illusive Man, Thane introduced
-killed a lot of the series intrigue, at least for me (Protheans for one)
-doesn't really add much to the overarching story
-removes real time XP and severely streamlines RPG elements
-removes inventory, weapon mods, different outfits
-planet scanning ugh... makes multiple playthroughs a chore (they did patch it to make it a little more bearable though)
Mass Effect 3
+a lot like 2 with a tiny bit improved RPG elements (and brings back real time XP)
+improved gunplay and encounter design (no more chest high plates popping up out of nowhere for no reason)
+really fun multiplayer
+some really awesome wrap-ups to the series plot lines
-doesn't introduce much new
-very focused
-ending to the reaper saga was unsatisfying to many
Overall 1 was definitely special for me. It was the reason I got into next gen and bought a 360. Was definitely flawed but I played through it probably 10 times. 2 and 3 were great too but just didn't go in the direction I had dreamed after playing the first game.
