Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

Ah, there’s a thread! Found it!

I am making really slow progress mostly due to too much work at the moment but also as I’m playing The Surge 2 more and bits of RE8.

I’m enjoying Mass Effect, expect a million posts from me when I really get going with it.

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The monkey module mission… Jesus Christ.

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Everything on that planet feels like a deliberate wind up. Down to the game tut-tutting you if you murder any of the monkeys.

The opening few hours of ME3 are so, so bad lol. The only thing that redeems it even slightly is that you get to go on Mars and it’s almost impossible to fuck how cool that is up. They wanted to turn this vaguely Trekkie-themed series into dumb action schlock and they completely lacked the chops to do it, it’s like watching a foreign language dub of a B-movie.

It gets better once you unlock the Citadel, and the DLC I never touched actually looks pretty good, but ah man… that kid. “We fight or we die”. The robo sex doll. Diana Allers. That fucking kid. Very difficult to recover from that start.

that battle with the stupid android ninja in yellow armor was a dire warning about the rest of the game

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Garrus is an absolute bantersaurus in this game. Feel like you’re actually missing out on some of the best dialogue if you aren’t bringing him along on each mission.

Also certain he gets bigger in each game, he’s Shepard-sized in the first one and about eight feet tall in ME3

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Leviathan is great and I really wish they’d expanded the concept out instead of all the bullshit with TIM.

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ME3 DLC reviews are in.

The Last Prothean: Javik is a marvellously nasty character, 8/10 would bully Liara with him again.

Omega: Combines two of Mass Effect’s least enjoyable features in Cerberus and Aria T’boke to predictably wearying effect. At least Omega looks pretty. 3/10

Leviathan: I wish this basic idea and atmosphere was what they had chosen to do in ME2, instead of whatever the fuck they thought they were doing with the Collectors. Utterly wasted potential. 9/10

Citadel: On second thoughts, let’s not go to the Citadel. It is a silly place. 7/10

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I remember loving the Citadel DLC - as someone who just liked chatting to my crew it was perfect - also drunk Tali GOAT

There are some good moments and jokes throughout it but the devs were nudging me a little too hard in the ribs for me to really enjoy it. One of the worst aspects of our age is how culture becomes more self-aware in direct correlation to how popular it is, since every creator is sat soaking in the same social media platforms as the rest of us. Watching Wrex be epic and him telling me how much he fucks felt like watching someone huff their own farts.

That’s the galaxy saved, then.

I’ve had great fun reacquainting myself with all my old Normandy pals over the last six weeks or whatever. The games definitely have their flaws, but the strengths and the entertainment value massively outweigh any of them. Hard to pick a favourite between 1 and 2. The first is far and away the best for story, world building and atmosphere, but a bit let down by the repetitive side missions, whereas the second has some superb character work and some useful quality of life enhancements but a daft ending. Like I said above, I think the third was misconceived from the start, but if you accept that it’s still decent on its own terms.

In retrospect my dream plot for the trilogy would be to leave the first alone, keep the second substantially the same but with Cerberus as the baddies instead of the Collectors, with the final suicide mission being an attack on Cerberus HQ and taking down the indoctrinated Illusive Man. Then the third’d be completely different - as the Reapers are destroying entire solar systems, Shepherd and her crew go searching for the Leviathans of Dis and the Beings Of Light on Klencory in a desperate race against time to find an ancient weapon of cosmic scale that can meet the Reapers head on.

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Finished it. Managed to collect enough resources for the final battle that I got the extra special ‘Is he still alive?? No he isn’t’ ending. Used to be you could only get that if you spent enough time farting about on the multiplayer.

Also accidentally got the Refuse ending and had to reload because the first chance I got I shot the little shit in the face. That apparently triggers it now lol.

ME3 is a very uneven game, a lot of great moments and thought put into stuff shoulder to shoulder with a lot of terrible moments and no thought put into stuff. I’m slightly more forgiving towards it on replay because I can see the strain of keeping track of all these characters and building alternatives for when they aren’t around, that aspect of it is very impressive, particularly when characters like Wrex, Mordin, Tali and Thane are actually involved in the plot. Played back to back the excellent vibes built from the first two games are enough to get it over the line. I don’t think I’d invest myself in anything Bioware do from now on though, it’s very obvious to me that they can’t write anything beyond character interactions anymore.

I did get Andromeda for 6 quid off a Steam sale though and god help me I am now weighing up giving that a spin.

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Polls don’t work with spoilers, so Spoilers only respond to this post once you’re done with the whole trilogy.
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ME1

On Noveria,
  • I saved the Rachni Queen
  • I fetched the Raid can

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On Virmire, I saved
  • The racist one
  • The boring one

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Wrex
  • survived Virmire
  • did not survive Virmire

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At the battle of the Citadel,
  • I saved the Council
  • So long suckers

0 voters

ME2

At Tali’s trial,
  • I blamed her dad
  • I blamed her
  • I neshed out because I had enough blue/red points to have my quarian and eat it

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During Garrus’s mission,
  • I let him take the shot
  • I talked him out of it

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During Mordin’s mission,
  • I let him kill Maelon and destroy the data
  • I saved Maelon but destroyed the data
  • I let him kill Maelon but kept the data
  • I saved Maelon and kept the data

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During Samara’s mission,
  • I saved Samara
  • I’m roleplaying as an idiot

0 voters

Concerning the Geth Heretics,
  • I rewrote them
  • I destroyed them

0 voters

During the suicide mission
  • I kept everyone alive because I’m great
  • I’m a loser (please specify below)

0 voters

As far as the Collector Base goes,
  • I let the dickhead have it
  • Boooooommm

0 voters

ME3

On Tuchanka,
  • I cured the genophage. Eve lived
  • I cured the genophage. Eve bit it
  • I fucked 'em over. Eve lived
  • I fucked 'em over. Eve bit it

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On Rannoch,
  • I saved both the Geth and the Quarians
  • I saved the Geth. Bye Tali!
  • I saved the Quarians. Bye beepaboop :frowning:

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When the little shit took me into the hall of choose your ending, I took
  • the red pill (Destroy)
  • the green pill (Synthesise)
  • the blue pill (Control)
  • the shoot the little shit in the face pill (Refuse)

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My ultimate love interest was:
  • Ashley
  • Kaiden
  • Liara
  • Garrus
  • Tali
  • Thane
  • Miranda
  • Jack
  • One of the weird ones. Apparently you can fuck the shuttle pilot?
  • Volcel Shepards rise up

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Romanced Liara this time, but you’d have to call it a dysfunctional relationship as I found her character so boring I never took her on any missions apart from when I was forced to. You just stay down there in your office thing, love, I’m off out with the lads.

Garrus is the best romance option for a femshep because it’s funny from start to finish. Last time I played a maleshep I romanced Tali because she’s the best character but I kept thinking back to how she was basically just a teenager when we met and it was a bit icky.

What I found funny about the Liara romance is that the devs put plenty of outs to it throughout all three games, which is completely understandable but does mean she spends a lot of time going “I’m so glad we’re friends, Shepard. We share a bond - friendship. It so important to me that we are that thing, friends”

So I am very much enjoying being back onboard the Mass Effect train! What a game series!

The funny thing is I have very vivid memories of reading a preview of ME in a gaming mag maybe in 2005 when it was all rumours and thinking ‘gosh I can’t wait til that comes out, it seems like just my cup of tea’.

Three random thoughts/observations:

People need to stop being mean about the Mako I enjoyed the Mako back in the day and I’m still loving it now. I think it does a good job of giving you a real sense of scale and scope in some of the environments which wouldn’t be possible if you had to schelp over them on foot. Still not sure why it can jump and the bipedal characters can’t though.

Older RPG vs Newer RPG really interesting playing this after playing 2 modern RPGS (AC: Valhalla and Horizon Zero Dawn). Firstly it throws into harsh relief the areas where ME1 has dated: it’s not even so much the graphics is how damn static everyone and everything is. Modern RPGS have got a lot better at moving crowds, bustle and life. I love the Citadel to bits but it feels a bit… sterile these days. Basically characters are rushing to attack you or they are stock still.

The other big difference is the hand holding. No real objective markers! You have to actually read the journal to work out what to do next! I mostly enjoy the fact that I have to engage my brain although I did get hopelessly lost at one point.

Matriach Benezia I knew I recognised that voice! It’s Deanna Troy :slight_smile: I have to say her… cleavage took me by surprise this time round. For a game where you can play as a female character and the women are part of the action not just window dressing her character design (each breast is bigger than her head, she looks like she was designed by a teenage boy) is pretty damn baffling.

interspecies relationships are a bloody minefield aren’t they?

Liaraa was all “I’m 106 years old” which makes me thing 'yeah, 1/2 your age plus seven puts you as way too old for me" and then followed up with “I’m still almost a child by Asarri standards” which was quite the rollercoaster in terms of reactions.

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Almost at the end of 3. Each game is so flawed but so good that I find it really hard to pick them apart.

2 definitely has the weakest gameplay imo. The combat is so samey. It feels like you never do anything different across the whole game. And on the hardest difficulty there are parts which are just a little bit too brutal - like they weren’t fully tested. 3 at least has better cover, faster recharges for your powers, and there’s a little bit more depth to the inventory and powers. But the bits between the combat in 2 are much more competent.

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Both 2 and 3 really suffer from trying to draw in first time players. The level of exposition in 3 can be kind of incredible - characters that introduce themselves by saying what they did in previous games as though you had full on amnesia. The writing feels so rushed.

There’s a bit right at the start of ME3, where you have to survive cannibal waves whilst waiting to get picked up on Earth, which doesn’t feel like it was tested on higher difficulties. It’s not obvious what you’re supposed to do and feels fucking impossible.

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