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The Mass Effect trilogy is one of the greatest achievements in gaming history

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Some will laugh, others will disagree, some will call me hyperbolic, and others still will agree.

In spite of EA's best efforts to ruin the trilogy, it rose to the occasion and delivered what is one of the most epic, engrossing, and awesome gaming experiences ever.

The fact that Bioware managed to write a series of three games in which the impact of the decisions you made in the first game carry weight throughout the entire trilogy is nothing short of astonishing. Does it stumble at various points? You bet. Who could forget the original ending debacle? The countless DLCs locked behind EA points or whatever the fuck they were called?

Still, even considering everything, Bioware managed to take us to the end of that sprawling journey and what a wild ride it was. I don't think we're ever seeing something like this again considering how insanely long game development cycles have gotten. A trilogy of that scale and scope today would take something like 12 years from the release of the first game to the release of the final game. It's unlikely anyone attempts this in the current climate. Even Barlog thought a GOW trilogy would be too long and condensed everything in the second game to make sure they would be done with a duology.

An engaging story that doesn't suck? Yep. Well-written, tridimensional and interesting characters? We got you covered. A good combat system (except for the first game) that even requires skill and knowledge on higher difficulties? Mass Effect has that on top of solid overall gameplay that ties very well to the lore. Let's also not forget the fantastic musical score.

For anyone who hasn't tried the games, I highly encourage you to give them a go. They still hold up well to this day both narratively and from a gameplay standpoint. My brother just completed the third game after a 10-year hiatus from the series (he beat the first one but never tried the others) and he needs some time off from gaming to let the experience sink in.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
I havent played it, I started playing ME 1 but found it boring right away, I've tried like 2-3 times already. It's weird because I enjoy dragon age but ME1 is not clicking yet.
 
Disagree. It is the most disappointing trilogy in gaming, expecting an epic RPG I was shocked and mortified after finishing the first game in under 9hours. The second game was great, and the third game was OK but people hated the ending. It was a good attempt at a space RPG.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Couldn't you carry over your save from Baldurs gate 1 to 2? Considering the size and scope of those games i find that much more impressive

Also by Bioware.
 
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TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Totally agree with OP. Are they the PERFECT Trilogy? Nah. They each have their objective and subjective flaws.

Mass Effect didn't age well. Absurd loading sequences, jank gameplay, stiff animation, bizarre combat mechanic choices littered about, and quite possibly the most mundane completely disorienting opening 5 hours.

Mass Effect 2 felt like the biggest production value ever given to a filler episode, where by the time you assemble all the players and are ready for the story to take off it's the end of the game.

And Mass Effect 3 was a heavily streamlined experience gameplay wise that FFXV'd the RPG elements out of Mass Effect, compounded with a color Coded multiple choice ending for a franchise built on subtle branching differences based on player agency.

All three did things well, and did other things poorly. Where It stands the test of time is in writing, World building, presentation, score, and performances, all in basically perfect concert between the three titles. And barring ME1, I maintain that this Trilogy has some of the best DLC in gaming. Period.

The level of immersion and the set ups and pay offs with characters, some of which happen hundreds of hours apart, are just fucking Immaculate. The synergy between the titles and the general believability of all of these fantastic and philosophical ideas hasn't really been matched, even by most of it's contemporary peers with a similar body of work attached. The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or the main Metroid titles or what have you all have the serialized story and number of entries to rival Mass Effect, and I generally love anything with a deep lore set, but titles never blend as seamlessly together as Mass Effect titles did.

My one Trilogy nitpick is one that I have for a lot of trilogies I enjoy, in that while the world and story is seamless between 1, 2 and 3, the first entry still feels a little bit off from the second and third. I call it The Matrix Effect. Clearly because of Star Wars.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
I havent played it, I started playing ME 1 but found it boring right away, I've tried like 2-3 times already. It's weird because I enjoy dragon age but ME1 is not clicking yet.
How far did you get and what are your gripes with the game? Combat?
Disagree. It is the most disappointing trilogy in gaming, expecting an epic RPG I was shocked and mortified after finishing the first game in under 9hours. The second game was great, and the third game was OK but people hated the ending. It was a good attempt at a space RPG.
9 hours? I don't even think it's possible to finish it that fast. It should take you a good 15 hours if you speed through it. If you do all the side-missions and assignments, you're looking at 40+ hours.
 
9 hours? I don't even think it's possible to finish it that fast. It should take you a good 15 hours if you speed through it. If you do all the side-missions and assignments, you're looking at 40+ hours.
nah im telling you it was 9 hours, wish i could prove it somehow but game time kept isn't saved from xbox 360. and yea the game rushes you as well cause you need to reach that place before Sarduk or whatever his name is.

edit: Speed run record is at 1h 22min so totally possible.
 
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Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
nah im telling you it was 9 hours, wish i could prove it somehow but game time kept isn't saved from xbox 360. and yea the game rushes you as well cause you need to reach that place before Sarduk or whatever his name is.

edit: Speed run record is at 1h 22min so totally possible.
A speedrun isn't representative of how normal people play.

Main story is 17 hours. So unless you were playing on the easiest difficulty and skipping every piece of dialogue, 9 hours is not possible.
 
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YuLY

Gold Member
I have no doubt that Mass Effect 1 will forever be my favorite game of all time until I depart this world. Theres no chance something like it will ever be made again. Casey Hudson changed my life.

I get shivers just thinking about the trilogy. I forced myself to only replay it once per 2 years so it doesnt lose it's effect from too much replay. Gaming has never been the same after I finished the 3rd game. Nothing ever came close to this trilogy.
 
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Mass Effect 1 is my top 10 favorite games of all time. 2 was a good game and 3 had a terrible ending. Neither would make my top 50
 
I'm one of those edgelords that hated the ending so much it ruined the entire trilogy for me.

The Citadel DLC was too little too late in my case. I had over 200 hours combined for Mass Effect 1 & 2, so when that original ending played out I took it personal. I had no desire to play through any of it again - my passion for that story was instantly extinguished. I YouTube'd the Citadel DLC endings years later; I wish that had been my experience.

I enjoyed Andromeda once the technical issues got sorted out. I would've been on board if they continued that story, but I understand why they've binned it.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
and mine was 9hours i did it...your point?
My point is you played it on the easiest difficulty, skipped everything, including dialogues, and then say you were mortified by how short it was. Well, yes, if you play it that way, it's going to suck.

If you played it normally, 9 hours isn't possible.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
Yup and then remember they also did the dragon age trilogy during the same gen. Biowares run during that period of time was insane. Modern games take like a fuckin decade to make.
 
i can't wait to replay this. and i still have never touched #3 - i know it's on steam sale right now but i'm just not ready 4 this journey. can't wait.
 
My point is you played it on the easiest difficulty, skipped everything, including dialogues, and then say you were mortified by how short it was. Well, yes, if you play it that way, it's going to suck.

If you played it normally, 9 hours isn't possible.
played it on normal. the game is not difficult. the game is really short no jk.
 
I played 2 and 3 when they were released on ps3 and "recently" when the collection was made
Playing all three in sequence and with all DLC was great
Yeah, the ending kinda sucks but almost every choice paid off
You see the consequences of little choices made on the first game having some effect on the final game
It really is an achievement
 
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I was really enamored but the first Mass Effect. I had played games like Knights of the Old Republic and so forth previously. But one day I was watching a friend of mine play this game on 360 and I just kept watching and watching. Before long I really had to get into it and try it and I really liked this game a lot.

The original Mass Effect is probably one of my favorite games of all time. I can't say as much for the rest of the games in the trilogy as slowly but surely they moved away from what I really liked about the games and I find that a lot of people's complaints regarding the first game are things that I find endearing about it.

It's still pretty cool overall what if they were able to manage as far as some aspects of continuation over the three games with importing the previous save file. But I'm just not nearly as fond of the second two games as I am the first.
 

Jigsaah

Member
I would literally suck six dicks to get another trilogy like this one.
So....the 7th one is a bridge too far?

I mean, it's just one more dick. By that time your mouth has to be numb or something....ya know...with all them dicks in there.

Can somebody please explain to me what the fuck is going on in threads these days?
 

xBlueStonex

Member
The original trilogy is still miles ahead of Andromeda and anything that's come after it. Would love for a new sequel that doesn't suck.
 

Disco Dave

Member
I remember going into my local GAME to pre order the PS4 and I picked up the Mass Effect trilogy for the PS Triple while I was there.

I struggled to get into the first game and had to really grind through it. The second game was a lot better and by the third game I was hooked. The story was very good and build up to the finale was superbly done. The ending however...

I have the remaster that I picked up from a cheap sale a few months back. I played it for a while but the first game put me off again. I know it gets better but damn it's a slog.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
How far did you get and what are your gripes with the game? Combat?

9 hours? I don't even think it's possible to finish it that fast. It should take you a good 15 hours if you speed through it. If you do all the side-missions and assignments, you're looking at 40+ hours.

Not really much, couple missions maybe? The combat hasn't aged that well, not really into it.
 
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