![]() ![]() However, the throughline of Mass Effect 2‘s plot landed with me even more than the first, and the first was excellent. I enjoyed the story of Mass Effect but wasn’t sure which direction the series was going to go next, and I sure didn’t expect Shepard being a part of a shady space organization for the middle arc of the tale. They added so much to the experience and cemented why so many people love these characters. I did every “loyalty” storyline and they all felt different and important whether i was pulling a heist with Kasumi, tracking down Thane’s long-lost son or helping Grunt through his homeworld’s rite of passage. Where Mass Effect‘s companion quests were on the humdrum side, Mass Effect 2‘s were amazing. Guns never seemed to hold enough ammo, even after upgrading. unfortunately, ammo became A Thing here, which was a weird choice when the first game didn’t have it. ![]() Combat was better, smoother, and all-around cooler. In a technical sense, Mass Effect 2 felt better to play right out of the gate. I loved learning about Wrex and the Krogan clan wars, and it’s easy to see why Garrus and his renegade attitude earned him a spot as a fan favorite. Even Kaiden and Ashley, probably the two most polarizing companions in the series overall, were excellent in their own right. That said, the companions here were all-stars. Many of them were fairly boring and didn’t feel like I was doing anything significant to build a bond with these people, other than the quest with Wrex, which was huge. On the other hand, I thought the companion quests here in the first Mass Effect were a bit lackluster. Coming across old ruins from past civilizations and discovering more lore was a great way to give the world and the universe more feeling. Getting to explore planets in the Mako (an off-road vehicle notorious for squirrelly handling in the original version) was interesting. It’s not the most complex tale, but the writing was great and it set up interesting twists for the sequels while still delivering a pretty satisfying conclusion on its own. Fighting a renegade space cop and a long-forgotten enemy who suddenly makes a return to the galaxy was exciting. The story in this first Mass Effect is probably my favorite. Putting points into specific attributes like weapon types, skills and abilities gave me a chance to specialize my Shepard and how I wanted to play. Shooting energy weapons here didn’t require ammo (they just have a cool-down.) It made so much sense for this far-flung sci-fi setting. The first game in the franchise had a ton of stuff I liked that got stripped from the sequels. Shepard’s actions in one game will affect situations in the following sequels, so the sense of building a specific Shepard and their legacy across a hundred hours is really something special. These bonds aren’t the only things that carry over, however. However, the real meat of the game is in the story - lead character Commander Shepard (male or female, as the player chooses) will meet well-written teammates and develop relationships with them over the course of all three games. To encapsulate the series overall, it’s a third-person action/RPG that features real-time combat featuring guns and special powers that might as well be magic. ![]() In this all-in-one review from a newcomer’s perspective, I’ll break down the specific areas of each entry that I enjoyed, as well as the areas that did not sit well. ![]() After putting close to 100 hours into this franchise, I can safely say that it is an excellent series that lives up to the hype, and each game is great individually. As someone who never played the original Mass Effect when it released in 2007, nor either of the sequels, the remastered trilogy was the perfect opportunity for me to give the franchise a shot and see why it has such a huge following. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |