Mass Effect Legendary Edition

[Gringo]

Well that is my first ever play through of Mass Effect completed. It’s pretty much all I’ve played since it was released in May. Spoilered for length and spoilers.

 

ME2

Spoiler

This was a great game and a lot of improvements over the first one. Better combat, menu’s, missions and side missions. Again like the first one I rinsed it completely. Every mission completed. I managed to complete the game without anyone dying. I didn’t realise characters could die until people asked me who survived the suicide mission. I agree with other comments in this thread, the assault on the collectors base was great. Terminator Reaper was rubbish and really easy to beat. Ending not as satisfying as the end of ME1.

ME3

Spoiler

This game was also very good, though not as good as 2 and a number or retrograde steps. Like the previous games I completed pretty much all of this. It’s hard to tell though because for some insane reason they changed how the missions worked in a bad way. Not knowing if you had the item people were after was stupid. It was also annoying picking up missions by walking near people talking. It was also immensely annoying by having missions you couldn’t complete anymore stuck on your mission list.

 

Onto the game itself. I went for the synthesis option at the end. I was relatively happy with the conclusion. I couldn’t understand why people hated it so much until I did a bit of searching. I can see how the game originally ended being deeply unsatisfying. The apartment/party story was really good. Some of the combat on the way to the ending of the mission was really annoying though. I upped the difficulty to hardcore for 3 but a couple of missions it spiked out of the blue and I dropped it down because life is too short.

 

I was relatively satisfied with the conclusion to my fem Shep space opera. However, the game did take it’s wide variety of choices and cram them into 3 endings leaving a number of plot holes. I was kind of annoyed that I saved the Rachni Queen twice and the culmination of that was a couple of drones to help build the crucible. 

 

Some general thoughts: Fuelling the Normandy was always a terrible idea. Scanning planets was tedious but the scanning in 3 was worse.

 

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the play through of all three games. I played infiltrator in them all and it never felt like it got old. It was a great experience and I made some great friends along the way. I’ll never forget you Garrus.

 

Now should I start on the gamepass backlog or install Andromeda?

[aubergine]

Yeah I think the biggest issue people had with ME3’s ending is just that it renders a lot of your choices pointless (in the end all that matters is your EMS iirc) while at the same time adding an unnecessary level of convolutedness to everything. It doesn’t help that the Earth section, gameplay-wise and in terms of spectacle, seems pretty lacking compared to the Tuchanka and Rannoch sections.
 

Imagining what it might have been like if it had involved something like the decision making for the suicide mission of ME2 but on a much grander scale (maybe choosing where some of the forces you have recruited are deployed - and that having an effect on how the final mission plays out etc) and then comparing it to what we actually got…. 😂

 

I don’t hate it, happy enough with the overall choice (destroy here) but it’s just disappointing.

[Gringo]

Yes I kind of feel the same way about the ending. I didnt hate it but it was certainly the worst of the 3 games. I also think, having read up a bit more about the ending, it is very reductive. I can certainly understand how my only knowledge of the games prior to playing them was the furore about the ending. The final gameplay section of the 3 was also worse than the 1 and 2. As has been noted by others, the final is a lot of slow walking and cutscenes. There are some really great missions and moments in 3 but I kinda felt like there was something a bit off about the whole overarching narrative and structure of it. It seemed to lack scale or as wide a variety of choices as the other ones.

 

Still loved playing the series. It is strange not firing it up anymore after having spent the last 4 months playing it at least every other day.

[Unofficial Who]

So I'm playing Mass Effect 3 at the moment and I'm enjoying it a lot more due to a number of factors.

 

-Back when I originally played the trilogy I was really bummed out that I couldn't get the third instalment via Steam. So I bought it in 360 and bought second hand copies of 1 and 2. Which meant playing through the entire series again up to 3 because unlike Dragon Age Mass Effect doesn't have the ability to continue your game cross platform. Until Remastered it felt that the best way to play through the entire campaign uninterrupted was the 360.

 

-It's got all the DLC in one place. Javik should never have been DLC and I ended up playing Omega, Leviathan  and Citadel long after I'd finished playing the main campaign originally which wasn't the best way to play the full thing.

 

-I usually play sneaky characters so originally I played as an infiltrator. Having a short addiction to ME3 multiplayer I discovered the pure joy of playing Vanguard which is like bowling with you as the ball and your enemies as the pins.

 

-The best bit is I don't have to babysit galactic readiness in real time anymore, with the original release you had to mess around with an app or play multiplayer otherwise your readiness would (I think I'm remembering this right) decrease. This was a major pain when I played this during a period of unemployment and being single, I can't imagine how annoying this would be doing it with other responsibilities. It made me feel like I had to rush through the campaign.

 

Really enjoying playing through this again.  The first Mass Effect is brilliant at worldbuilding but it's showing its age. Mass Effect 2 is still a great about face with possibly the best excuse for a power reset ever in an rpg. It's also got an interesting crew to recruit with all of them being terrible people in various ways. It's also got the worst DLC in Project Overlord, DLC which I think they couldn't get rid of due to ties to ME3. I'm finding it odd playing Mass Effect 3 now, a game that feels like a long slow hopeless apocalypse. I can see why people felt like their choices didn't matter at the end point but watching some of my decisions play out and add to the galactic readiness score without being distracted by spamming that score with external apps or modes is incredibly satisfying. Whether large campaigns like liberating Omega or small things like someone offering their dissertation on dark matter it all seems to count more.

 

I do miss multiplayer Mass Effect 3 but as someone who had to uninstall it to get back to job hunting almost ten years ago its absence might be a blessing!

[Flanders]

I bought this last week and have already powered through Mass Effect, which really is janky as fuck in terms of gameplay and has a very slow beginning. Despite this, Vermire onwards is still amazing after all these years, just grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go.

 

I immediately started Mass Effect 2 afterwards and oh god it’s the raddest game. It’s so fucking rad. I love it so much and it looks so gorgeous in 4K. The jump in quality of everything from the first game is the most astonishing improvement from a sequel ever and it happened in three years!

 

The graphics are miles better than ME1 even after it’s being touched up. The dialogue is instantly snappier, the combat is magically no longer shit, the conversation cutscenes are so much more vibrant.

 

The opening Normandy destruction is AMAZING. An hour into the game and you’re doing secret missions for MARTIN FUCKING SHEEN who will be in loads of this game and Mass Effect 3 and doesn’t dog it once. 
 

I’ve got to travel the galaxy and round up a crew of desperadoes so that we can jump through a mass relay full of black holes to kick the shit out of a bunch of abducting arseholes who are in league with evil machine Lovecraft cunts from the dawn of time. Mass Effect 2 is up there, it’s really up there.

[Nosejam]

Finished off ME1 today and although it’s a little rough it’s still a cracking game. Had a few odd visual and audio bugs, funniest of which was when Garrus said one of his lines in a cutscene and they used the wrong voice! Looking forward to ME2 which I loved back in the day. Never played 3 before. 

[p1nseeker]

I played 3 when it came out and have got to 3 again on this and I honestly don't remember a single thing about it! I really don't like the galaxy map on 3 though. 

 

Spoiler

The wee reapers chasing you about is just daft

 

[Dudley]

Yeah that adds nothing, presumably it's supposed to be scary but it ends up being funny.

[Nosejam]

Started ME2, what a glorious start that is. Got as far as meeting the illusive man and went to save the game and it fucking crashed! Despite auto save being on I had to start again and of course all the cutscenes are unskippable!

[Nosejam]

Sometimes it’s great having poor long term memory, I’d forgotten just how damn good the recruit Archangel mission is. So many feels. 

[Sprite Machine]

Playing Mass Effect again for the first time in ten years! This will be my third playthrough and I think I'll aim for a pure Paragon run this time (having previously done a 80/20 Paragon and a 100/0 Renegade). Gonna use the power of love to talk everyone out of violence, because why not.

 

Generally pleased with the Legendary remaster so far. Having never played with a controller before, it's nice having more than eight movement directions! The Citadel suffers performance issues on PS4 Pro, however, which is very disappointing as there's not an option to target 1080p and I don't particularly want to change to 30fps every time I come to the Citadel. I was hoping this would be a perfect version as a swansong for the previous generation, but perhaps not.

 

I am absolutely reading and listening to every single piece of lore and technology in the database, because I love that shit. The world building is incredible! Looking forward to getting onto a mission and making some choices. Also looking forward to the content that was previously DLC, as I never played it for ME1.

 

(Planning to stream my entire run through if my connection behaves itself.)

[Lorfarius]

I just started yesterday but.. I played the first too at least 4 times back in the day so its all a bit old hat storywise. Had no problem remembering most of the stuff as it popped up and with little to explore that's new it might not have much of a draw for me anymore. I've got a good way in thanks to sometime off work today and I'm not too impressed with the graphical remaster, was hoping for a lot more on the Series X and it seems they haven't done enough. I do remember having to constantly save as it would always bug out back then and the habit was still there as I was doing it all over the show today. Turned out to be a good thing as I've had a couple of hard crashes in it using Quick Resume, bit frustrating as I like to use that all the time. Does take a fair bit to load the game select and pick the title then load off the main menu each time. I might give it a bit more time but so many other GP titles to play I might just pass on a final run.

[Sprite Machine]

Mass Effect 1 is still so janky.  No autosaves on planetary side quests? No way to get out of a hole if you fall into one (on foot), without going back to the Normandy? Repetitive indoor level design and copy-paste missions. Clumsy combat/cover system. User interface from hell.

 

I love the vibe and the characters and the soundscapes and the scope of the story... it just could be better to play.

 

Got to Feros after attempting some awful side missions, so hopefully things will pick up again.

[Varsity]

Always found Feros to be the worst of the 3 main planets. The awful, close quarters corridors and the bloody husks at the end.

 

Noveria was much better and Ilos or whatever is fine again. 

[George Clooney]

19 hours ago, Sprite Machine said:

Mass Effect 1 is still so janky.  No autosaves on planetary side quests? No way to get out of a hole if you fall into one (on foot), without going back to the Normandy? Repetitive indoor level design and copy-paste missions. Clumsy combat/cover system. User interface from hell.

 

I love the vibe and the characters and the soundscapes and the scope of the story... it just could be better to play.

 

Got to Feros after attempting some awful side missions, so hopefully things will pick up again.

I love 1, the setting and some of the missions give me a huge nostalgia buzz that no other game does, especially with the music.  I can’t even explain why, but I love going to Noveria, there’s something about that mission that I really enjoy.  And I think the version of the citadel in there is my favourite- it’s the one that feels most like a tangible place that’s linked together, rather than what’s basically a series of floors in 2, and a bunch of disconnected areas in 3.

 

Its janky as hell though at times.  And I’m not sure I’d recommend it others than to buzz through the story for the sequels (which you can do pretty quick).  The amount of times my teammates would run in front, blocking my shots or taking the cover I wanted, or getting themselves killed super quick made me nearly want to kill them myself.  Enemy AI that often either sits in place for ages or zig zags like a bugger makes combat not fun a lot of the time.  The Mako is not fun to drive.

 

Im on 3 now, and it’s obviously more polished but at the same time isn’t quite as good as 2.  Some of the polish doesn’t work quite as well, and while they’ve tried to make combat more varied with more distinct enemy types, some of it just isn’t as good and feels a bit like a slog.  It’s still mostly really good though.  But I think 2 works because the vast majority of the missions are collecting or getting to know your team, then they put it all in jeopardy in the finale, by which point you really give a shit about getting them all through.  In 3, they cut the team drastically and add in some that I’m not that bothered about.  It’s not quite the same, but it nails the feeling of the world ending and fighting insurmountable odds.  And it does tie up a lot of characters stories in satisfying ways.

 

I played it before they updated the ending so I’m not sure what’s changed.  I wasn’t as angry as some, but it wasn’t great, so will be interesting see what I think this time.

 

 

[Varsity]

I gave up on 3 this time through, still need to go back and finish it to round off the completion. 

 

Like mentioned above, wasn't a fan of the new squad, didn't remember it being changed quite so drastically. The omega 4 relay run at the end of 2 is one of my best gaming moments and 3 doesn't really stand up to it. 

 

There's some great visual in 3 near the start with Earth/Mars/Palaven but thought it started to waver a bit after that. 

[SeanR]

Three seems like a series of side missions, and callbacks/cameos, and a really thin narrative thread.

 

and what’s the war room all about?

 

i say this as someone who’s put in another 26hrs this week or two, and that’s since my oldest save game 2016/11/17

[Varsity]

4 hours ago, SeanR said:

Three seems like a series of side missions, and callbacks/cameos, and a really thin narrative thread.

 

and what’s the war room all about?

 

i say this as someone who’s put in another 26hrs this week or two, and that’s since my oldest save game 2016/11/17

 

A lot of it was tied into the MP side if I remember rightly. So with no MP component to get rewards from etc it's a bit moot. 

 

Ultimately, it tried to do the same thing as ME2 with the whole get everyone ready for the end game component but it just doesn't stand up to the suicide run even though thematically it's on a much larger scale. 

[Sprite Machine]

On 19/02/2022 at 12:21, Sprite Machine said:

No autosaves on planetary side quests?

This is driving me nuts! That's three times now I've died in some facility on a planet's surface and then just appeared back at the landing zone. I wouldn't mind so much but it forgets any the codex entries you've looked at, all the equipment you've equiped or modified, squad stats you've boosted, unless you do all that and then save. I really need to remember to fucking save in every single building!! Argh!

 

More bugs!

Opened an elevator door in Feros but didn't get in. Came back to it later and the door's open but the elevator won't move. (EDIT: this one's not an elevator bug, but it is a quest bug - you can't get back to the skyway after finishing the Feros mission.).
Shepard takes an extra step in elevators if you're holding the stick when you press the button, so they're facing the wrong way. You can also make Shepard spin around on the spot during auto-save moments.

Got into the Mako in the Noveria garage (why is it there? ) and instead of driving away in it, it got stuck to the ground. The wheels turned but I couldn't move. Got out the Mako and I'm in the same place but the Mako has disappeared down the corridor.

Went into the building at Peak 15 and my squadmates wouldn't follow me, just got stuck outside like they forgot how doors work. Other times, they get stuck on the wrong side of doors when they close.

Had a few moments where Shepard wasn't facing the same way as the camera, so I was walking sideways. Went into combat mode and all the directions were offset 90 degrees.
Skipped through some dialogue while talking to a volus and he spent the rest of the conversation talking to me while facing the wrong way.

 

It's still good, but so much jank!

Edited February 22, 2022 by Sprite Machine

[Sprite Machine]

I quite enjoyed Bring Down The Sky. I never played it in the original version (PC) because I didn't actually know you could get it!

It's basically a deluxe side-quest but it's got some good visuals and some nice choices. Plus, batarians!

 

I'm missing loads of Keepers to scan in the Citadel but I feel like I've been everywhere.

 

Gonna do a couple of the characters' missions (Garrus and Wrex) and then move onto Virmire.

Kaiden's getting personal. A shame he's so goddamned dull, but maybe us Biotics have to stick together.

[Thor]

8 minutes ago, Sprite Machine said:

I'm missing loads of Keepers to scan in the Citadel but I feel like I've been everywhere.

You haven't.

[Sprite Machine]

Just now, Thor said:

You haven't.

I mean, yeah.

There's some secret areas during the 'end game', right? It's been so long, I can't remember!

[Thor]

48 minutes ago, Sprite Machine said:

I mean, yeah.

There's some secret areas during the 'end game', right? It's been so long, I can't remember!

Nope. You can get all 20 before leaving the citadel for the first time.

[Sprite Machine]

And that's Mass Effect 1 done.  

I don't recall

Spoiler

saving the Council on my previous two playthroughs, so the scene where Shepard recommends a human candidate was totally new to me. Chose Anderson, obvs.

Also made

Spoiler

Saren shoot himself. See, it pays to be nice!

 

[therearerules]

This was my post-Elden Ring game, the whole trilogy Legendary edition, as I downloaded it on Gamepass Ultimate when it came out but never got around to it (still on Gamepass Ultimate for anybody interested).

Just completed ME1, and went straight into ME2. Really have to echo how big an improvement it is, but what really struck me is how short ME1 is. I remember playing it originally getting to know all the characters, and spending hours just mulling around in the citadel. This time I hotfooted it out the Citadel and only did 2 Mako sidequest missions before calling an end to them. Was going to do the DLC before the final mission, but then the final mission happens almost straight away- just 4 main missions before the point of no return!? Even accepting I remembered all the codex stuff from my first playthrough it's crazily short. Going to make sure I rinse ME2.

[Floshenbarnical]

I accidentally bought this the other night while so stoned I could barely see, and for some reason I elected to make my Femshep a Soldier of all fucking things. I have however found a semi-auto rifle which never overheats and kills more or less everything in 2 headshots. I've barely taken a scratch since I found it. So that's cool. Gamebreaking geth murder. I can't imagine what Garrus and Wrex think when I sprint through a room of Geth blasting away and am out the other side before their sparking corpses hit the floor.

 

ME1 is very much showing its age. The environments are very big and empty compared to the much busier and lived-in environments in 2 onwards. But I still love it. It's got this lonely paranoia going on which 2 & 3 don't have as much. Especially on Feros, my personal favorite planet - that moment where you exit the garage door onto the skybridge and just gaze around taking in the scenery above the clouds is as mind-blowing and inspiring to me now as it was then. Also, and I may be imagining it, the over-the-shoulder camera seems a lot closer to Shepard and more claustrophobic, it took me an hour before my eyes adjusted and I could see what was going on.

 

The random planetside side quests are fucking shit though. "Go to this location, kill a thing, interact with this crashed drone and read a text box. Also, the objective is up a spiky vertical mountain and it will take you 5 mins to climb it."

 

Looking forwards to ME2, even if it is a bit twee and cringe and fanservicey.

[therearerules]

Really enjoying ME3. ME2 is great, but feels very videogame structured. Hire someone, do their quest. Repeat. Three really does feel like the end to a massive trilogy, superb.

[Vimster]

I never played 3 at the time because of all the bellyaching. Playing through 2 now simply to get up to speed for 3. I put 42 hours into 2 on 360 and enjoyed every minute of it. Superb game.

[Floshenbarnical]

Actually having played ME2 again for 5 hours I can state confidently that ME1 is better. Yes, the inventory system is crap, the dialogue is wooden, the environments are barren, but it's actually much better. ME2's combat is "better", in that it's a bit slicker and more tightly balanced, but its reliance on cover mechanics and the squishiness of your shield/ lack of medkits turns every firefight into a shooting gallery. You also can't use biotics on your opponents until you have cracked their shields/ armor, at which point they're basically dead anyway. So you have to play each encounter quite conservatively as opposed in ME1 where you can have Liara throw a Singularity into a group of enemies and storm in guns blazing which is much more rewarding if you like fast-paced high-risk gameplay - if you're anything like me you get bored sitting behind waist-high walls waiting for someone to reload. ME2 is a great game, but it's more of a traditional TPS where you can improve some of your abilities.

[Alask]

Have you tried playing as a Vanguard in ME2 and 3? I prefer it in 2,  in 3 it's a bit too strong and Nova is very effective but a bit dull. ME2 as a vanguard zooming all over the map and unleashing a shotgun into people's face is the pinnacle of Mass Effect for me. No cover, only CHARGE.