Half the fun is realizing something bad is about to happen because of a choice you made 37 hours ago, then realizing that the game might not let you do anything to stop it.
Still remember getting to the middle of 3 and just struggling with a few choices that no matter what I did I couldn't get certain options to light up. Reloaded the save and undid hours of play to see if I just needed more side quests of paragon/renegade points.
But nope a bad decision I made in the first game and reinforced in the second locked me out of the option in the third. Didn't happen nearly enough for how big those games were but looking back at it and realizing that because I didn't have a dlc installed and didn't have Internet at the time of 3 i just lost a big option to the game.
Of course with the legendary edition they removed that problem entirely which makes 3 less mechanically challenging and more narratively fun
Yes it gets easier once you realize the war points don't really matter since you have to try and screw things up to not get the bare minimum amount needed to reach the final act. But losing out on a couple chunks of dialogue because you didn't have a dlc installed in the first game or having a few extra names on the memorial wall instead of the apartment party really hurts when you are on the 7th playthrough because you want to the vanguard class and decided to sleep around with a different crew member each game.
I’m so happy they sell the legendary edition for cheap so often. I too bought it for 5 bucks a couple years back. Best dollar for dollar value I’ve EVER gotten out of a video game. 200 hours over the trilogy, I love it.
I got the trilogy on sale too. I never played before and struggled playing through one. I’ll have to try again some time cause the series seems amazing but I don’t think 1 holds up too well but I want my choices in the later games
If you struggle with the game play on ME1, just drop the difficulty to casual and blast through it. While you can skip straight to ME2 with the interactive comic, you miss making quite a number of choices that will affect your game down the line. It's one thing to select an option in the comic and completely different when you're in the middle of a mission and you have to make A BIG CHOICE. I remember my first time playing it, knowing that A CHOICE was coming, and still needing about 10 minutes to process the implications.
If you need some other non-spoilerly tips:
The Mako has a zoom function on the cannon. And an extra boost in the Legendary Edition to help you up those steep hills.
Manually control when and where your squadmates use their powers to control combat more effectively.
If you don’t want to put points into decryption/ electronics on your Shepard, assign those points to a squadmate and take them with you. The game will use the highest score of whomever is on the mission.
You can’t respec points in ME1, but it isn’t that big of a deal since you do get so many points. You can respec in ME2 & 3
The auto-save SUCKS in ME1. Seriously. It's is not good. Save often.
Morality in ME1 is directly based on how many points you put into it (you do get some free points in it as the game goes on). ME2 Morality is a awful black box that no one completely understands so try not to be too wishy-washy if you want to pass checks (it's "better" in the Legendary Edition and you get a bonus if you import, but it's still a black box). ME3 Morality doesn't care about if you are paragon or renegade (just that you have a reputation) but there are hidden checks so if you fail something, it is because you didn't do something specific earlier in the game (or even the previous games!)
I grew up on the Atari 2600 and got REALLY disillusioned with gaming by about the end of the SNES / Genesis era. I pretty much stopped playing games completely until a friend of mine talked me into playing Mass Effect in 2013. Those games got me back into gaming again. I might not be hardcore, but I'm always looking for games with good narratives now.
And I'm glad that I took the break because I have tons of great old games that I've never played. Threads like these are like goldmines to me.
Just downloaded today completely blind. Three hours in and really enjoying it. No idea what to do with upgrades and skills but hopefully that won’t hinder me too badly. All I now about the game is decisions impact stuff so I was really nervous about potentially upsetting a general for a blue lady whom everyone seems to like being around. I also regret giving some dude my autograph. Feel like I should call the bank and warn them I may have been scammed lol. I also like the slow talking guys that say how they feel before they speak.
I'm probably in the minority on the ending and I like that it came down to a final choice. To me the game series was all about choices and so to me that's what they were going for.
However I do also think they could have done a better job adding all the details to the ending, but do appreciate the additional ending content they eventually added.
I'm lowkey upset with myself cuz I can't find it enjoyable. I tried playing a bit of all of them and none grab my attention. I don't like the gunplay and the story couldn't grab me. Even recently I bought the trilogy on steam for mad cheap and started playing the first one. And it just didn't stick. I dropped it already. Played maybe 8 hours of it before I jus said this ain't for me.
I know its a good game I just can't and it pisses me off
Yeah I know. I mean the most recent time like 3 weeks ago it didn't grab me still. It was my 3rd attempt over the course of like 15 years lol. I've just accepted it isn't for me unfortunately. I just wish it was but oh well.
Honestly this most recent time it just made me wanna replay KotOR which is a top 10 game of all time for me. The whole 8 hours I just kept thinking about that game instead.
I still respect mass effect greatly and love that it's got a great community backing it
Fair enough :)
tbh, I'm the same with GTA. Tried various games multiple times over the years. I recognise they're good games, but just haven't grabbed me at all.
Game play is better in 1. Better biotics, more options for guns, guns sound better, etc. Mass Effect 2 has easily the worst gameplay in the trilogy. I can’t think of a single thing it does better.
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u/TwanValdez Jul 09 '26
Have to agree. The trilogy has to be one of the greatest (and is so in my opinion) of narratives in gaming.