Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

[Parsefone]

@Scagden

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.

Oh sweet summer child. Wait until you get to ME2.

[Scagden]

So today I started me2!

In my memory this is clearly the pinnacle of the franchise but I found the transition from 1 to 2 quite jarring and for the initial few hours anyway wish I was back playing me1.

For starters I bloody hate Cerebus. My Shepherd is a goody two shoes paragon who fills her crew (and her bed) with extra terrestrials, she’s never going to work for bloody Space Brexit. The whole thing feels like an attempt to make ME darker and edgier but I don’t want that, I like the colourful fantasy of the council and the citadel. It also feels so incoherent… why destroy the Normandy and then rebuild it? What’s the point of it all except to give you this dark task master.

It also feels ironically more dated than me1… especially the ui. Having a flashing panel come up every 5 seconds to tell you how many more headshots you need for an achievementand flashing ammo to run over and pick up makes it feel very arcadey and like they were desperately trying to emulate the dominant cover shooter aesthetic. It’s immersion breaking.

Still it certainly is prettier to look at and I’m sure once I’ve got liarra back I’ll be happy again.

[SunnyB]

Should note that I destroyed the Qu’rians by mistake. Was deeply upset but wouldn’t allow myself to re-try. Years later looking back it’s probably the most memorable part of the whole series for me l.

[Parsefone]

Cerberus are awful and Bioware crowbarring them in was the beginning of the end of Mass Effect having a coherent and satisfying narrative. They have a million bajillion trajillion credits despite every project they run winding up on fire and everyone dead. Everyone wants to work for them despite them being Space Isis. They make every other race and faction appear inert and stupid just by existing. Every time Tim is on screen the universe distorts so that he’s the coolest, smartest man in the galaxy and Shepard is a pouting, sulking teenager who never says what you want them to say. Suffice to say I really don’t like them.

100% agree with it appearing more dated than ME1, for all the frustrating elements in that game just not jumping into whatever the mechanical bandwagon was in '07 has left it standing the test of time better.

[Scagden]

On the subject of me2 being more dated than me1… I’ve just spotted A4 LEVER ARCH FILES both on the Normandy (med bay) and now in the citadel. I’m utterly boggled that someone was capable of imagining a future in which we tool around in faster than light ships talking to alien races but couldn’t conceive of electronic filing.

[Scagden]

[yeahetc]

Starting Mass Effect 2 this afternoon. Finished the first one a few weeks ago. Thought it was pretty good overall, started to feel quite invested towards the end. Looking forward to seeing how my choices carry through to the next game. From what I remember I…

Romanced Liara, let the bug queen thing live, sacrificed Ashley and let the council die.

[Scagden]

Finished mass effect 2 this morning. What a game, just superb.

For all that I moaned about the arcadey combat, it does give the thing a speed and poise that 1 lacked.

Hates the firewalker dlc with its stupid hovercraft thing. Let’s take the mako our of me2 but then replace it with that in the dlc? Makes no sense.

Do wonder about the structure of the game as well. It does from “assemble the team you want” to " the end of the game" with barely anything in-between. Mad to think you could probably complete the campaign in a handful of hours if you weren’t fussed about the loyalty missions etc.

Oh and I totally forgot about the last team member that gets added to your crew! If you thought I was talking about Legion then that’s a Good Geth

[Scagden]

Mass effect 3 started. THERE ARE STILL A4 LEVER ARCH FILES IN SPACE.

also for some reason I have to save a Turian Primark? Presumably there will be an Asari Topshop to rescue next.

[Parsefone]

@Scagden

THERE ARE STILL A4 LEVER ARCH FILES IN SPACE.

Going through Andromeda right now and you’ll be pleased to learn that not only do these still exist, your character can actually notice and call them out.

[Parsefone]

Might be the only good thing about Andromeda honestly

[Scagden]

Need to remember to put that game in the things that don’t exist thread