Mass Effect Thread

[volvocrusher]

I'm replaying the trilogy, Kay's replaying them, and even though it will be a while until there's another Mass Effect, this series begs for replays so much that I figured we could use a thread for it. Right now I'm on 2 fighting off the Collectors on Horizon. Yay Harbinger's hilarious dialog, boo Scions.

[Miraculous Kaydybug]

I'm at the boss fight at the end of the Recruit The Quarian mission. Took a bit of a break since all the recent internet drama has irritated me so fucking much and since i started the game on Insanity and refuse to change it. Trying to 100% since i got the online pass stuff finally

Need 2 achievements from Arrival for the full 62 too so i might as well get those while im playing it. As long as we are having an ME thread i thought i'd post a pic of my current Shepard too




Playing as a Vanguard this time, and as always Renegade. Really like Vanguard but not quite as much as Engineer or Adept. Love those classes so much.

[volvocrusher]

Vanguard's my favorite class and I'm normally not much of a shotgun guy. But the way it combines with charge is just so much damn fun it makes me forgive how the other powers are a little lackluster. Could really use Warp in its arsenal. At least it has ammo powers though. I also love the sci-fi behind it as it's basically Shepard creating her own mini Mass Effect relay to assault the enemy. There's a strong chance Lair of the Shadow Broker will make you like the power a lot more too. So much damn fun there.

I'm doing an Adept playthrough right now. Singularity has a lot of potential if I can get it leveled up and really get a wide radius, but right now I prefer Pull to it for the quicker recharge time. Warp is my preferred move of choice. Does so much more damage than the Sentinel's Warp. Getting that maxed out is my top priority now that I have Biotic Mastery all filled up.

[volvocrusher]

One thing I like to do in ME2 is bring along party members according to the context of the mission. If it involves Geth for instance, I'd bring Tali along, for Thane's recruitment I'd bring Garrus since a sniper would work well against all that security and Kasumi since as a thief she would use tactics similar to Thane so maybe would be able to spot him. And of course bring Jack on any hot planets. Just little things like that are a good way to rotate everyone and make it feel more like I'm a commander.

[Krubixcube]

Been thinking of doing an ME replay and buying the ME3 DLC when I get to it...

[volvocrusher]

Have you played any of ME2's DLC T-Wolf or did you just not play 3's?

[Krubixcube]

http://www.rpgamer.com/editor/2013/081313sw.html

Greenman, editorial, please respond.

I don't agree with, well, a lot of what he says but he does make some interesting points. You being the biggest Mass Effect fan on the forum (that I know of) figured I'd see your reaction to it.

I do agree with some of his points on the plot though. The characters in ME2 are great, probably the best in the series, and their arcs/side missions are the best in the series, but the overall plot does have that second movie problem in that it doesn't really GO anywhere. Now, I'm saying this as someone who loves the hell out of that game, but you know me well enough that I can criticize the things I love and still love them. Just so you know where I'm coming from.

[volvocrusher]

Alright, I'll do a point by point thing
Leveling- The thing about Mass Effect is that it's story and universe first, gameplay second. If there's a real need for the gameplay that it would change either, they usually offer a credible explanation of it. But anyways, in ME1 Shepard simply isn't as well trained as she is in ME2. She went through some shit before, yeah, but nothing quite where she was commanding a squad against odds like this

So the games handle their leveling based on Shepard's skills. In 1, it's about making all kinds of improvements because anything is that significant. 2, not so much. Most won't be noticeable until there's really a big change. 3 is having them mastered so tweaking them to get a little extra. Stuff like Biotic charge possibly not recharging, sending a second pull, and Cloak letting you still fire off a power.

And the improvements actually do matter a lot, it's just you're usually facing stronger enemies in response to this. In the first mission, you're against the simplest mechs. Then for Mordin it's a rag tag mercenary group, Garrus a handful of mercenary groups and mostly untrained people they hired, Grunt's a small collection of Blue Suns on hand until she can get control of the Krogan, and Jack is prison security which while strong isn't their best stuff. Fast forward to loyalty missions and you're facing Geth, very highly paid mercenaries, Collectors, and the Shadow Broker's agents. Better weapons, better armor, and tougher soldiers means you're putting the upgrades to full use. I'm willing to bet they never tried going through without any upgrades beyond 2 or researching anything. I tried- it's next to impossible.

There are still a few areas where the leveling makes a really noticeable difference too. Shorter recharge time is invaluable, warp for me as an Adept is basically killing every grunt in one hit on Hardcore. Really only Pull, Shockwave, and Throw are the ones I don't feel any need to level up.

Physics- This is just about preference really. You could do that yeah, but only a handful of powers were really that useful in ME1. Using them as a way to take out shields, armor, and barriers was a more fun way for combat IMO. I do wish breakable crates could be lifted though. Still biotics and tech powers were creative and interesting enough to make ME2 and 3 stand out, there's nothing really like Biotic Charge, Singularity, or the drone in most shooters.

Taylor's crew vs Thorian victims- Here's the thing: Shepard was ready to attack in ME1. But she was given another way. In 2 there was no idea what was down there and once they were it was either they die or the other people die. Shepard didn't even know that they were like that at first either, they just attacked her at first. They probably should have had you replace your ammo with concussive shots, but there were still mechs out there also.

And it's not like ME2 didn't mix up the shooting either, it did it a lot better than ME1. More enemy types and making them matter more than just Krogan/Rachni/Geth Juggernaut/Other. Then there were all kinds of gimmicks in it. The sun on Tali's recruitment, the drug on Samara's, the do not touch areas on Legion's loyalty, the Thresher Maw on Grunt's loyalty, etc.

Not to mention the different types of missions. Samara and Thane's loyalty didn't even have you fire a gun and Kasumi's was basically planning and pulling off a heist.

Paragon/Renegade shift- Okay, I don't like this either, but it's not even close to as bad as everyone says it is. Right now I'm at full Paragon/Half Renegade and I can count the number of things that you need full Paragon for on one hand, two of them can be fixed later and Samara gives the same outcome unless you're Renegade and want Monrinth. I still play Mass Effect 2 how I like to because a good chunk of choices operate on the same logic. If you tell Miranda not to shoot Niket, why the hell would you let Mordin shoot Maleon for instance?

Cerberus bringing Shepard back- This seems to gloss over that ME2 only takes place over the course of a couple weeks. Shepard gets her hands dirty so covert until the Collectors are destroyed makes sense. Think back to ME3 though, when they go over hiring people Shepard would trust. The Illusive Man was gaining Shepard's trust through that mission and then was planning to use that trust to get people to trust Cerberus with Shepard working, which is easier to imagine if they have proof of what the Collectors did.

There's also that Cerberus has a bad public image. Few competent soldiers trust Cerberus, even fewer believe in the Reapers. The idea of getting someone on par with Shepard who would want to beat the Reapers bad enough to work with Cerberus could potentially have been more of a gamble than bring Shepard back.

Cerberus change- This is more Alliance space vs Termanus space. Cerberus would be more limited on Alliance planets thus just relatively small stuff like husks and rachni. Terminus lets them get away with kidnapping children, trying to control all of the Geth, and resurrecting Shepard.

The story not going anywhere- Yeah, it's not even as close to 1 and 2 in terms of going anywhere, but that doesn't change that some very serious stuff happens and not just in Collector missions. ME isn't just about the Reaper fight, it's about the Genophage which Wrex and Okeer were trying to minimize its impact while Mordin had that cure. It was about the Quarians trying to regain Rannoch which Tali's loyalty demonstrated. The Geth not being the monsters we thought they were. Liara becoming the Shadow Broker and Shepard destroying an entire planet with a Mass Relay. Cerberus' ends justify means experiments. All which make ME3's story what it is.

But then there's the human Reaper. Why do you think the Collectors were building that after Sovereign was destroyed and only when that was destroyed that the Reapers flew from dark space? To get another assault on the Citadel with a weaker force to defend it. Considering the Collectors were in contact with the Shadow Broker as well, the Reaper could have very easily indoctrinated him to help in this assault like they with the Illusive Man and Saren.

What Shepard gained from dying- I see it more as what Shepard lost. As in the trust of the galaxy from people thinking she defected and joined Cerberus. For every Anderson and Hackett who trusted her unconditionally, there were dozens who thought she went rogue.

But she also did gain something: Hope. How many times did people say the Reapers/Collectors already killed Shepard once and that just pissed her off? Fighting the Reapers is basically impossible odds so just knowing that dying wasn't enough for Shepard to lose against them is something that will make people follow her and see a way to win the war.

I know a lot of this is filling in blanks or speculating, but ME does a good job at letting you do those yourself and letting it make sense.

[volvocrusher]

Beat ME2 today. One thing I always love to do with the suicide mission is use everyone. If they're not selected for one of the tasks, they're along on my squad at some point. Like the feeling that everyone contributes to the mission.

[volvocrusher]

Thought I should post this for those of you who haven't bought Citadel DLC yet

[volvocrusher]

God damn Engineer Donnelly's so depressed if you don't save Gabby from the Collectors in ME3. Makes me so sad every time I see him.

[Miraculous Kaydybug]

OMG OMG OMG

Spoiler:

[volvocrusher]

You can have the conversation if you're not but I'm sure there's some extra bits to it if you romance her.

[Krubixcube]

Started my 2nd ever Mass Effect series play through. His name is Kurisu Shepherd and he's modeled on Stringer Bell and he's a Vanguard...so WE SHALL SEE. I can't bring myself to play full Renegade though...because you get no benefit to it other than seeing what happens. Will buy the good ME3 DLC when I get to it...but I LAMENT that it's not on Steam since I'll never see it on sale. And reinstalling ME2 DLC will be a pain in the ass as I have to find where I put it...

[volvocrusher]

Happy N7 Day everyone!

[Krubixcube]

Hey, I beat Mass Effect 2 yesterday too. Ha! Waiting until I can buy the ME3 DLC to play it...so could be a month or so. ME2 is a very addictive game though.

The only problem I have with it is it REALLY loses its pacing after the Collector ship. That and I always feel like every character he finds doesn't...ask him anything about the suicide mission they've been asked to do. I mean, supposedly it happens on camera but you don't have to do any sort of convincing.

"Hey, come with me on a suicide mission."
"Hold on, gotta do this one thing."
"Ok, we did it for you."
"Great! Suicide mission sounds wonderful! Who are you again?"

[volvocrusher]

Another reason Garrus is the best character. Your conversation with him after is all about how he feels on the suicide mission.

[Krubixcube]

Yeah, Garrus and Tali are great because you know exactly why they tag along. Even Mordin kind of makes sense...just because his scientific mind kind of works for it.

[volvocrusher]

So saw a rumor that Andromeda may take an interesting direction with how it bypasses making a canon ending.

Spoiler:

[Krubixcube]

That's probably the best method of taking care of lose ends. Honestly I'm not too bothered how it ties in to the original and am happy they're seemingly avoiding complex solutions to making it work.

[volvocrusher]

Yeah, I agree and if they ever want to return to the Milky Way, the option is always there. Hell, Bioware seems to love

Spoiler:

(for some still unknown reason), I could see some good conflicts coming out of that if the two people ever meet together again.

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