Mass Affections
I'm sitting here awaiting the install of ME2's disc 2 and I figured while I wait I'd reflect a bit on the franchise that has enthralled me so. Despite shortcomings (every game has them) Bioware has the talent to craft masterpieces. Between Mass Effect and Dragon Age, I'm fully and completely in love.
Upon finishing Mass Effect 3, the final chapter in the original trilogy, I felt compelled to revisit everything that made me fall in love with the series in the first place. I admit that I didn't really want to play through an entire go of Mass Effect 1, but I wanted the decisions made in it that would be reflected in the later games to be unique to this save profile. Particularly, I wanted to romance Liara and go along my usual Paragon route. I downloaded the "Genesis" DLC which allows you to bypass playing the original game in favor of quickly deciding upon the 6 or so important choices made in the first game to tailor your experience in ME2. It serves this purpose well, but I found that minor assignments would not be touched upon. Which would mean no Conrad Verner, no Rana Thanoptis, no punching the annoying reporter in the face, no Consort, no Feros, so on and so forth. I'm not a completionist per se, but I like my games fleshed out and doing all the little things on the side is what makes that happened. I'd have played through the later games knowing things were missing and it would drive me nuts.
So I started Mass Effect 1. I'd be lying if I didn't say it weren't a bit of a shock to the system. The combat mechanics of the original 2007 title have not aged well and it's incredibly easy to see how much the later games improved on this. ME2 was lambasted by fans of being "stripped" of the more hardcore RPG aspects of the original, but I found plaything through that each squad member, and myself, having distinct talent trees made the experience much more limiting. I played as a pure Soldier class, and found that if I wanted to open locked containers and such, well, I pretty much had to have Tali. If I wanted great biotic support, Liara. And so on. I love those characters, don't get me wrong, but if I brought anyone else other than Tali I knew I would be missing out on gear. And excluding Liara in favor of more gun-toting squad members would not be as effective.
Still, memories came flooding back to me of what made me fall in love with this universe. I was surprised to find with the knowledge of how things played out in ME3 just how much of everything mentioned in ME1 was mentioned and remained accurate. It's not uncommon for minor things to be retconned here and there. But honestly watching the beginnings of everything play out with the end results from the final chapter still so fresh in my mind made my whole experience through ME1... refreshing. I felt as if I'd found a new appreciation for the game I'd already adored so much.
I find myself about 1/3rd through Mass Effect 2 right now and I must say, in my opinion, despite the improvements in various areas in ME3, ME2 is the most well-executed and entertaining chapter in the series. Clunky mechanics from the first game were streamlined, incredible emphasis was put in to building your interest in characters and the parts of the universe already established. Everything about Mass Effect 2 "feels right."
Not to sell Mass Effect 3 short. The combat was tweaked and upgraded to be even more fun than ME2, and the inclusion of a multiplayer element turned out even better than expected. But honestly, any game can copy the general mechanics of Gears' "Horde" mode and be successful. But it's very exciting to have Horde in a universe I genuinely love.
Then one sore spot that mar's this amazing story is the ending to Mass Effect 3. In a series where your personal choices tailor each players' stories their own way (to a degree) only to have virtually none of those choices matter in the end is dissatisfying. Bioware intends to release DLC this summer that will "clarify" the ending (which made little sense) but not change it. I guess I'm alright with that. While the lack of my personal choices tying in to the end is jilting, having a sense of closure to everything I care about is what I most desire and from everything I've read that's what they intend to deliver. I want to know what happened to my squad mates. I want to know who in the galaxy survived. If the Reapers were truly defeated. If there's any validity to the "indoctrination theory" making its way around Youtube.
I guess we'll see.
Dinner and Mass Effect 2 await me. Signing off.
Upon finishing Mass Effect 3, the final chapter in the original trilogy, I felt compelled to revisit everything that made me fall in love with the series in the first place. I admit that I didn't really want to play through an entire go of Mass Effect 1, but I wanted the decisions made in it that would be reflected in the later games to be unique to this save profile. Particularly, I wanted to romance Liara and go along my usual Paragon route. I downloaded the "Genesis" DLC which allows you to bypass playing the original game in favor of quickly deciding upon the 6 or so important choices made in the first game to tailor your experience in ME2. It serves this purpose well, but I found that minor assignments would not be touched upon. Which would mean no Conrad Verner, no Rana Thanoptis, no punching the annoying reporter in the face, no Consort, no Feros, so on and so forth. I'm not a completionist per se, but I like my games fleshed out and doing all the little things on the side is what makes that happened. I'd have played through the later games knowing things were missing and it would drive me nuts.
So I started Mass Effect 1. I'd be lying if I didn't say it weren't a bit of a shock to the system. The combat mechanics of the original 2007 title have not aged well and it's incredibly easy to see how much the later games improved on this. ME2 was lambasted by fans of being "stripped" of the more hardcore RPG aspects of the original, but I found plaything through that each squad member, and myself, having distinct talent trees made the experience much more limiting. I played as a pure Soldier class, and found that if I wanted to open locked containers and such, well, I pretty much had to have Tali. If I wanted great biotic support, Liara. And so on. I love those characters, don't get me wrong, but if I brought anyone else other than Tali I knew I would be missing out on gear. And excluding Liara in favor of more gun-toting squad members would not be as effective.
Still, memories came flooding back to me of what made me fall in love with this universe. I was surprised to find with the knowledge of how things played out in ME3 just how much of everything mentioned in ME1 was mentioned and remained accurate. It's not uncommon for minor things to be retconned here and there. But honestly watching the beginnings of everything play out with the end results from the final chapter still so fresh in my mind made my whole experience through ME1... refreshing. I felt as if I'd found a new appreciation for the game I'd already adored so much.
I find myself about 1/3rd through Mass Effect 2 right now and I must say, in my opinion, despite the improvements in various areas in ME3, ME2 is the most well-executed and entertaining chapter in the series. Clunky mechanics from the first game were streamlined, incredible emphasis was put in to building your interest in characters and the parts of the universe already established. Everything about Mass Effect 2 "feels right."
Not to sell Mass Effect 3 short. The combat was tweaked and upgraded to be even more fun than ME2, and the inclusion of a multiplayer element turned out even better than expected. But honestly, any game can copy the general mechanics of Gears' "Horde" mode and be successful. But it's very exciting to have Horde in a universe I genuinely love.
Then one sore spot that mar's this amazing story is the ending to Mass Effect 3. In a series where your personal choices tailor each players' stories their own way (to a degree) only to have virtually none of those choices matter in the end is dissatisfying. Bioware intends to release DLC this summer that will "clarify" the ending (which made little sense) but not change it. I guess I'm alright with that. While the lack of my personal choices tying in to the end is jilting, having a sense of closure to everything I care about is what I most desire and from everything I've read that's what they intend to deliver. I want to know what happened to my squad mates. I want to know who in the galaxy survived. If the Reapers were truly defeated. If there's any validity to the "indoctrination theory" making its way around Youtube.
I guess we'll see.
Dinner and Mass Effect 2 await me. Signing off.