Mass Effect, do I have to do 'everything'?

Despite some clunkiness and things which could have been done better mechanics wise 1 and 2 really nail an immersive experience and in different ways, I don't get that feeling with 3 or Andromeda, though 3 has its moments overall it feels like it is trying too hard while missing a certain magic the first 2 games had.

Andromeda for me is kind of ruined by certain things like Frostbite engine issues and a certain amount of agenda.
 
keef247 said:
Sounds like all 4 are a mind field of dog **** then. might not bother at all. 1 felt pathetically prehistoric when I played it, in terms of engine/combat. Sounds like they only get that right in the weakest games 3/4?
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Yeah, combat wise, ME3 has the best of it from the OT. It's smooth enough where it flows smoothly and doesn't have cheap mechanics that isn't given to everything and you wouldn't be able to sus' out on your own (that huge creating moving towards you is probably going to one shot you in melee since it doesn't shoot and looks like a Hulk/Doomsday, etc) and avoid like ME2's stagger stun lock from your basic trash unless if you really mess up on your own.

If you are concerned about the combat but you want to play through especially through the dated combat of ME1 and ME2, what I'd suggest is to play them on Story/Narrator Mode, so it's a quick gun through the game and build the story decisions you want that way. Then in ME3 play as you want. Or as said before, if you've played before, search for a save file from ME2 that someone has uploaded with the decisions you want from ME1 and ME2 and then play from ME3. ME3 you might want to play on higher difficulties because it feels more of an epic struggle as the culmination of the entire story.

MEA has the best combat physics of them all, surprassing even ME3, but short changes you on some powers (especially Biotics, God, never start as a Biotic in MEA, especially on Insanity difficulty and you just played ME3 not long ago as the change of some of the mechanics will throw you a bit until you get used to it) and you'll need a hot minute to get used to the changes in combat there (soft cover instead of hard cover system, physics where you can block stuff by moving stuff around with Biotics, etc). But once you get used to it, you can never go back to ME1 or ME2 combat, and you will feel a little clunky switching between ME3 and MEA but overall your level of skill in combat wouldn't change that much and will quickly adapt as you go between each game (ME3 and MEA). Hence why I said I skip ME1 and ME2 now as it's long to play and I've played them to death before, and I completely dislike their combat system after becoming accustomed to ME3 and MEA combat system.
 
OK guys I'm going to give it a try for the third time, thanks for all the info, if this turns out to be a waste of time I expect to be paid more on OnlyFans this month I expect compensation via PPGT/Steam keys ;) :D
 
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keef247 said:
OK guys I'm going to give it a try for the third time, thanks for all the info, if this turns out to be a waste of time I expect to be paid more on OnlyFans this month I expect compensation via PPGT/Steam keys ;) :D
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Try insanity mode, it'll force you to use the games tools. It can be infuriating but it brings the games to life in my opinion.

As for doing everything, as others have said, it's pretty much expected. You're playing a story, very few side missions are fetch quests or useless in that sense. They all (or most) provide lore and/or progress to relationships.

The first game can feel like a real chore as it's very basic with most locations being copy and paste. Push past it, get halfway through the second game and then, then you'll start to fall in love with the characters.

And the world building, absolutely brilliant. Political rivalries, alien races at war with each other, tough topics, love, hate. It's brilliant. Give it a chance to breathe and you'll really enjoy these games.
 
This thread reminded me of how awesome ME3 multiplayer was. That was the best thing about that game!
 
The ME games are the only ones I've ever felt compelled to play through again after a remaster. The second is a significant quality of life improvement over the first, which is very clunky. The third is a big improvement over the second in terms of combat although on balance the second is the best game, taking engagement, storyline, etc into account
 
Just play it how you wanna play it, in RPG games like this I set off with the intention of doing all the filler along the way but when I have had enough I just power through the main story - I don't get the good ending / bad ending thing - All of the endings are viable and work fine.
 
Matty8787 said:
Just play it how you wanna play it, in RPG games like this I set off with the intention of doing all the filler along the way but when I have had enough I just power through the main story - I don't get the good ending / bad ending thing - All of the endings are viable and work fine.
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Yeah, you sound like me, I think that's the best way to approach an rpg, just do what you want to do, how you wanna do it, if it stops being fun then what's the point, at worst I can always be a scumbag and watch the better endings on YT :D
 
Played Remaster about a year ago, easily one of my fav trilogies to this date and playing on an OLED wow did it look good. Its does have its clumsiness, 1 had some charms but serious quirks and it did feel much more aged compared to the others. Admittedly unlike others this is my least fav in the series, 2 resolved them somewhat but lost a tiny bit of what made 1 special, number 3 had amazing combat but not quiet as up there as other two.

ME Andromeda was not bad per say. I think they did not move the formula far enough, entire new galaxy yet only one new race, it did other things right but also some annoyances. I know it was also cut short and missed some big DLC which would have added some additional content. It felt very much like a game setting the scene for future games but that never panned out so it fell flat.

Suffice to say, one of those series I wish I could forget entirely and replay from start again. Some real amazing moments when you play the entire trilogy IMO and seeing story unfold.
 
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Radox-0 said:
Suffice to say, one of those series I wish I could forget entirely and replay from start again. Some real amazing moments when you play the entire trilogy IMO and seeing story unfold.
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Agree 100%.

I remember the first time I opened ME1 and from the opening theme, you could tell you were in for something really special. I know it was a bit clunky looking back, but the first time touching down on that desolate snowy planet gave me the shivers. So many great experiences in that series - I wish they'd kept all the RPG-style customisation of ME1 into ME2 although ME2 is still my favourite.
 
I first played them years ago and then just finished ME:LE a couple of weeks back.... 123 hours and completed probably around 98/99% of it (couple glitched out). Loved the whole series and had a great time playing it. Now going through Andromeda.

I would just take your time with it (took me about a month to do it all although time off work over Christmas helped with that) as trying to do it all makes you just want to blast through it and you do miss a lot of the good stuff. The character story/interactions is Bioware at its best. Bioware really knew how to do a narrative around the KOTOR/Mass Effect period. Shame they appear to have lost a lot of talent in that aspect.


EDIT: Regarding the original ending of 3 - I think people were upset because they wanted to "win" on every angle and it wouldnt let you.... That's just life though - the game presented you with 2 endings and you had the difficult decision on what to save and what to sacrifice. I dont see that as a problem, I see that as very well done. Later, after all the outrage, Bioware added a 3rd middle option but, TBH, the original was the best (I chose the originally available Destroy ending as it made far more sense)
 
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