Mass Effect Trilogy - Thoughts After Reviewing The Series
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
- Talking about some of my thoughts on the series as a whole after reviewing each title in the original trilogy
Reviews
ME1: • Mass Effect 1 (LE) - R...
ME2: • Mass Effect 2 (LE) - R...
ME3: • Mass Effect 3 (LE) - R...
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:54 Overview
03:08 Plot
10:32 The World
11:44 Choices
13:37 Paragon/Renegade
15:40 Character Development
18:10 Conclusion
19:18 Wrap Up
Intro Music By Juan Andrés Matos, www.juanmatosmusic.com/
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God I love this series, what an amazing Space Opera. Thank you my man for this video
My favorite space opera 🙌
I'm more of a story/lore guy first before gameplay that's why Mass Effect and Elder Scrolls are my favorite video game series. Both worlds feel alive and rich in lore.
8:40 I recall an image from an artbook, this human-shaped Reaper was intended to be covered in the squid-looking body. Basically the squid-shape is a carapace, the real Reaper inside, theoretically, resembles its originator species.
That's kinda dumb though? I think they just changed their minds between 2 and 3, where originally all the Reapers were going to resemble the race that they're made from, mostly cuttlefish since they were first, and then they just went with all cuttlefish. ME3 did that kind of a lot actually. Dark Energy plotline, abandoned. Reapers resembling their races, abandoned. Councilor Anderson, abandoned. ME1 trapping the Reapers in dark space, nvm that only bought you like 2 years, basically nothing next to the 50000 year cycle.
They decided it's a trilogy so it needs the big Reaper invasion to happen right away, and just kind of dropped a bunch of stuff. Could've been an ongoing series where each game's main enemy is an individual Reaper (Sovereign, then Harbinger, then whoever).
Yeah, it was supposed to be in an "infant" stage or something of the like. Always thought that the finished product would be like a central AI brain for the whole ship/vessel. The central "command hub" controlling the rest of the Reaper ship and any warped inhabitants.
@@ladnil Dark Energy plotline was way dumber than that tricolor traffic light. "Dark Energy kills universe, so, in order to find a solution, we will make sure you use Mass Effect technology so we destroy you so you wouldn't use Mass Effect technology to destroy the universe."
@@mgeldarion58 We don't know how they would've fleshed it out.
IIRC the early versions of it looked more like some kind of monstrous, biomechanical fetus monster rather than a giant robo-skeleton.
Even with it's problems I love this series for the things you called out, Worldbuilding, and Characters. Those two things make these games feel so ALIVE. I loved spending time just hanging out on the Normandy to talk with all my companions and crewmates. I loved feeling like this was a world that existed. Those two things really elevated this series from "a pretty fun if flawed action rpg" to being something special.
Mass Effect 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. You get the feeling of impossibilty and the fate of the planet lies on your hands. My first playthrough, I didn't do all of the loyalty missions and one by one my crew were dying right before my eyes. When the ending came I felt the sense of relief and how badass Shepard was. I didn't like 3 as much but Mordin's sacrifice made me tear up a little bit. Also I love the art direction of the game. It looks so cool.
I'm a bit disappointed you didn't mention meeting Vigil. For me, that's the greatest moment in this series. Vigil's music, Vigil's story, and Vigil's plot twist....He tells you the citadel is a trap. This 15 minutes is bioware at their absolute best. It's beautiful.
100% on that one.
Vigil and Sovereign hologram in Virmire.
Talking to Sovereign on Virmire was the best moment for me
"Oh shit theyre right under our noses"
*queue blind panic rushing to the portal*
THIS! 💯
they explained the human shape of the reaper in a dlc. when they make a new reaper they make it in the image of the most capable species wich is usualy squid like, but because shepard defeated soverein in ME1 the reapers assumed humans were most capable this time.
In other words, it's the infamous "correlation" of fantasy. Even if humanity can't really share the same habitat with dragons, if they are not advanced enough to conquer the galaxy... regardless, humanity will be highlighted by default, usually dominating every fantastical creature simply because most authors assumes the readers NEEDS to be correlated with the protagonists. You will not feel "connected" with aliens, that's why humanity is superior to everything and everyone. I personally think this is idiotic, it's an example of laziness and creative limitation. Mass Effect 2 has a human reaper, Mass Effect 3 has planet Earth as the final line of defense... humanity needs to be the special snowflakes no matter what
In what universe did Shepard defeat Sovereign? Obviously the battle against Sovereign is remembered very differently among the fans.
One year late, but whatever:
The shape of the core has nothing to do with being the most capable species. Didn't EDI during the suicide mission speculate the core of the reaper resembles human, because it was built by using human bodies? Wasn't it in Palaven mission, when someone points out, that the reapers attacking Palaven look helluva like Turians? The outside squid-like shape covers the core, and the core is in the image of the species the reaper is supposed to harvest or was harvested already. I'm pretty sure the core / vanilla games explain this quite well.
The fact that these games were developed in like 18 months (even with all their flaws )and today we have to wait 6 years for something like anthem or fallout 76 is beyond reason
Kind of the issue with some of the writing in the series but really the worst of it being the final parts of me3 both plot and gameplay
@@justindemont6062 I think part of that is the second game merely established plot points for three instead of establishing the narrative for three. Two was a side quest to the reaper invasion instead of a main quest.
It hits me hard we probably won't have anything this gen close to what Mass Effect brought in the 7th gen. Even 8th gen had no epic series like that and we are now our 3rd year of the ninth one and 0 sign of an epic RPG trilogy or series coming out. The hype was real for Mass Effect, I was there since the first and omg each release was equivalent to what Breaking Bad brought to TV. Just epic and that alone brings great memories this series even though I have good love/hate relationship with the games.
@heathbaker1138 then why is 2 always seen as the best? I'm doing my first playthru of the series and I'm still on 1
I've been working through ME2 recently and one thing I found amusing was the way there are always a load of crates strewn about wherever there will be combat. You can be walking through a totally barren planet and suddenly come across a random collection of shipping containers so you know it's guns out time. It's a minor point but completely destroys any possibility of suspense.
It's the problem a lot of cover-based shooters have, you always know a fight is coming because of all the conspicuous chest-high walls strewn about.
Lol, not to mention the auto save!
@@kiptheott5932 Maybe it was just me but I felt that cover was more natural in the first game than in 2 or 3. It was just clunky. ME2 and ME3 are basically shooters with rpg mechanics used to upgrade the effectiveness of your weapons, powers and much less so the armor. The levels are designed to highlight that.
That was EA screwing it up. The heat balance in ME1 was much cooled, thenmA2 they were like "But how do we make them need clips?"
@@heathbaker1138 ME1 had terrible combat in my opinion but it is still my favorite of the trilogy for the simple reason that everything was designed to feel as 'real' and 'organic' as possible. Sometimes you never knew when a gunfight would start because they didn't build pre-determined arenas to fight in, they just built a world and then wrote a story in it. I loved the trilogy as a whole and I wasn't even as sour about the ending of 3 as a lot of people were, but ME1 is and always will be the best for what I seek in an RPG.
Here's my theory for the plot hole in ME3: Someone really wanted the final fight to be on Earth, no matter what, and that warped the entire plot of ME3 and it was worse for it. It would have made more sense if the Reapers assaulted the Citadel right off the bat and we were trying to retake it in order for the ending(s) to happen. This has its own problems of course, maybe the Protheans also made a way for the citadel not to control the mass relays, maybe there could be a way for us to go around the galaxy by using a maguffin that supersedes the citadel's control over the relays, and the intro on Earth would have to be changed, probably anyway. There were a lot of challenges writing wise for this last game in the trilogy, but not insurmountable ones, and they definitely tied their hands behind their back in some ways.
The big plot hole is why kill all of the advance civilization? why not just stop them from being advance using their agents.
" Someone really wanted the final fight to be on Earth, no matter what, and that warped the entire plot of ME3 and it was worse for it"
I agree. "someone" meaning an EA exec most likely.
I always was disappointed the focus of ME3 was earth. I understand the reason, it's just we're in space, it's bigger than Earth. I live there, I want to see new planets and shits :(
I heard they run out of time on Mass Effect 3 maybe that's why
Here's what Mass Effect 3 should've been: It should've had 2 campaigns. A Cerberus Campaign and an Aliance Campaign. The Cerberus Campaign would be trying to build the Crucible to take control of the Reapers doing shady things and betraying old allies in the process. The Alliance campaign would be fighting a conventional war of attrition with staggering losses and just barely pulling out a victory.
As a FemShep, I love Kaidan. He opens up to FemShep WAY more and has stories and I really enjoyed his backstory. It also felt cohesive, in a world where other alien races exist, that a FemShep would feel comfortable getting close to a Kaidan. His romance is also actually very sweet, despite knowing everyone LOVES Garrus for FemShep. I just REALLY ship Garrus/Tali so I couldn't let anything get in the way of that.
I’ve been replaying the series for about the 6th time on console this go around, so it’s been fun seeing you release these Mass Effect videos around the same time. Love these games so much and your reviews have been great. Really looking forward to your companion ranking.
Been enjoying your vids lately, thanks for the good content!
Thank you!
Really love your reviews ❤️
It might not be a strict RPG series… But it’s still one of my favourite RPG series’s in Gaming and is in “My Favourite Games of all Time” list.
I love that your Shepard is wearing the Dragon Age armor.
How do you get it?
My favorite gaming series and my favorite sci-fi universe. Period. It´s been really hard not to install the Legendary edition while waiting for your next review but I promised myself to wait a bit more before next playthrough.
Good vid, but I'm disappointed that you haven't mentioned arguably the best instances of real choices & consequences: the Krogan plotline (which ties well with individiaul character dramas too, especially that of Mordin), as well as those regarding Wrex and the Rachni queen. There are other choices in ME1, too, but these are the ones that are truly impactful throughout ALL THREE GAMES and have great emotional underpinnings.
Could also mention the line of choices that lead to geth extinction, quarian extinction or (best of all) peace between geth and quarian.
Nah man, the rachni queen is sadly the perfect example of your choices not mattering, in that there are enemy rachni in ME3 no matter what you did with the queen in 1. If the rachni enemies were replaced with something totally different if there were no rachni to corrupt because you killed the queen, THAT would be respecting choice - but of course that would add so much to the development time they cut the choice and forced there to be rachni.
Mordin is a LEGEND if you play him correctly. What an awesome character. Him , Wrex , Garrus are all legends..
He mentioned it in ME3 video and companion rankings
It's explained in the game that the reaper is human because that is the base race used to construct the reaper, it's an infant, as an adult it would have taken the form of other reapers. Don't remember when it's explained. The story is very dynamic, such that party members and order of progression can greatly affect the story presented
Mass effect has been an addiction for me, easily my favorite series of all time. This recent release, I finally played through insanity on a class that I'd never tried (adept) and was blown away by how different the game felt (only played easy and normal) I usually do full paragon and tried full renegade, and the experience is so unpleasant that I had to stop. I've got about 10hrs left of andromeda on insanity but had a bit of a burn-out, and d2r has consumed me as of late
Very interesting series! I really enjoyed it.
Mass effect effectively changed my genre lol. Back in the day I play only fantasy rpgs, you know the sword and shield, elf with bows stuff...Then finally years after its release I played the trilogy, blew my mind and changed my gaming world!
Just found your channel dude and the content is fucking superb 🔥.
As I understood from the explanations and data found in ME3, the Reapers, after harvesting an intelligent race, place its essence in a Reaper, anatomically similar to this race. Those two-kilometer space cuttlefish that we see are something like a battle mech-suit with the function of space travel, inside which they sit.
That is, if the human Reaper were finished, it would be a 400m T-800 terminator sitting inside a 2km cuttlefish battle mech-suit.
The reapers are the ships. That is made pretty clear.
@@MarkusJackDijkgraafin some sense. they are partially ships . re-read Codex ME3.
@@user-oj4ll2bf6k that's one of the things that they changed for ME3, which didn't need changing.
Since most of them used to be Leviathans, most of them look the way they are. They are ships.
@@MarkusJackDijkgraaf 1. Оnly they have been assimilating beings for many cycles, in everything different from leviathans. In ME3, before and after the release of the LE, it is said that each Reaper is unique, made in the similar of the destroyed species, and enclosed within the "ideal shape" of cuttlefish. Yes, reapers are ships, but not only. Partially.
2. 400m tall human Reaper (not 2 km) in the form of a T-800 in ME2 is also a change to please ME3?
@@user-oj4ll2bf6k the writer switch happened between 1 and 2.
That's why the writing took a nosedive too.
It was only the human reaper that was that way. The reaper you entered and all research on it made it again pretty clear - the reapers are the ships.
I don't recall secondary reaper bodies inside the reaper ships being dropped in ME2.
I could remember wrongly, but I'm pretty sure it's only mentioned in ME3
Excellent review. Mostly agree with a couple addenum's. 1) most of the real choices in this game affect gameplay rather then conclusion. Still there but a bit different approach. It's in line with Biowares style of writing overall I think, kind of like what they did in Dragon Age. And 2) While I agree about most human characters I still find Jack to be one of favorites in the game. Good vid
I just wrapped up the first one of the trilogy. Can't wait to start the second.
Where does the teleporting the Citadel come from? I was under the impression the reapers entered the Widow system and just moved it manually
oh dang, I forgot about that dragon age armor!
You finished ME just as I was starting. I finished the trilogy last night and now I don't know what to do with myself. Good video. Subbed.
Hell yeah, can't wait for your companion video! Really glad you enjoyed the trilogy - I think it has been one of the best franchises out there. Excellent world with huge potential for more games. Let's hope Mass Effect 4 will be better than Andromeda in terms of story, as imo combat was actually really good.
Yeah, I agree with@@faillord7020; we'll see what happens after Dragon Age 4. I'm not holding my breath given what news we *have* heard about DA4.
In ME2 the human reaper is just a core for a reaper ship that we normally see. The rest of the ship was going to be built around it once it was done, it's more or less just the "pilot" of a reaper made from a species. I forget what part in ME2 that clarifies this but its only like a little notepad, and it might even be in ME3 rather.
8mins: The Collectors were working for the Reapers by analyzing Genetic Anomalies and trends of mutation in the current cycle. Thus sending data back to the Reapers on where in the Cycle the races actually were, and what, if any irregularities the Reapers could expect in their next harvest. (Also one would presume, they were monitoring Dark Energy progression, since that was the original trigger for Reaper Invasions. But that plotline was scrapped when Drew Karpayshan left.) Why did the Reapers need this? Because it was another way to "preserve" Organic life in lines with their programming.
Now, why the human baby Reaper? Supposedly, as others have noted, the DNA of the actual Reaper would be encased inside the standard carapace. Flimsy, but plausible.
And I agree about Cerberus. Not to mention the "explanation" for how they managed this is threadbare at best. 6 months before, EDI specifically tells you the Lazarus Project to rebuild you and the Normandy took "most" of Cerberus' resources. Somehow, that most becomes "not that much," in that short a time. And EDI, who doesn't make mistakes and had perfect knowledge of Cerberus data, was wrong. OK....
Good show sir
Gonna leave a recommendation for you! I don't know if you are into jrpgs as a whole (I sure am not), but the Trails series is really good! I've played the Trails in the Sky trilogy recently, and am progressing into beating the whole series, as it captivaded me so much, even though I didn't give it much credit when I started. The story, characters and world building is so nice in general, that I can't stop praising it. On the plus side (for me, at least), it's not grindy at all, so you can enjoy its narrative on a steady pace while completing most, if not all, side content available!
I'm holding out hope that Bioware will eventually make an isometric CRPG spinoff game set in the Mass Effect universe. Getting to RP the different species would be awesome.
That would be incredible. And for dragon age too.
I think this is very unlikely, since they've been pushing towards doing more action-oriented games. DA4 and ME5 will likely be very similar to Inquisition and Andromeda in terms of gameplay.
@@Arcling I'm 100% sure there won't be a mainline ME title that's an isometric CRPG. What I'm talking about is a spinoff game set in the ME universe, not a true ME game. Kind of like how Obsidian is making Avowed, a 1st person open world RPG, that is set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. Or how Bungie made a couple Halo Wars RTS games as companions to the main titles.
I wish, as of now i love the idea of ME but as computer games(RPG) i think they are the worst.
@@jessemccord1878 Well, in Obsidian's case it's more like they are abandoning their existing formula (because PoE2 didn't sell good enough), rather than making a spin-off. Avowed might be a replacement for PoE series, so this is a bit different situation. As for ME, I doubt they would do any CRPG, even as a spin-off. Doubt EA would allow it, and even less likely that Bioware would make it. Most of those people who made these games are gone anyway, and current Bioware is certainly pushing more towards action genre.
So glad you played through this series and didn't totally hate it. So many good story's in here even if the story telling kind of dropped off and it stopped being an RPG I still love this series.
I played all 3 at release and replayed them once. I agree the alien companions are amazing. It is the reason to play the game
Stoked to see the companion video! If - insert character - isn't number one, we're bringing the comment HEAT lmao
With the reapers looking the way they are was it’s explained in the leviathan dlc for me3. Might just be making things up it’s been a while.
Cool vidéo, love your séries,
And i must Say Mass effect trilogy has one of the best score of video games
With regards to Kaidan, the thing that I realised in ME3 was that Shepard and Kaidan were friends before we "met" Shepard. Indeed, Kaidan is the one companion that Shepard already knew before the series began. And through ME2&3, you notice the consequence of that in the difference in how Kaidan and Ashley behave towards you with regards to your joining Cerberus. If you don't romance him in 3, you get some brotherly vibes from him, which I thought was pretty cool. Like Garrus is Shepard's bro, but Kaidan is their brother.
Shepard and Kaidan didn't meet until they were both stationed on the Normandy in Mass Effect 1. How were they friends before that?
12:20 on TVTropes this is known as "Cutting Off the Branches"
I like to see your opinion on Fall Seal, a tactical RPG styled similar to Final Fantasy Tactics.
Great vid! Here's the thing. The Reapers can't leave a tracer signal on the station. It's just too revealing. Everyone would figure that out. It's a space opera. We're talking a phone signal. They get bolder,but only because actual gunships are coming.
0ne interesting thing playing ME 1 - 3 and Desd Space 1-3 is you can see by game design how the gaming industry changed from the the 00s to early teens. Playing that way is like a time capsule of gaming society and company focus
You'll be surprised how much variety there is regarding some choices. You can either experience it for yourself or check out videos on yt. One such channel is Big Dan Gaming. He has a ton of ME videos showcasing rare choices and outcomes among other interesting stuff.
will be fine with the character ranking cause of course obviously definitely Garrus will be S tier and all will be right in the world
It's one of the rare series in which the developers and distributors were mostly on the same page and everyone stayed on task
Each decision and outcome passing onto the next game makes this trilogy timeless and a very unique experience.
Mass Effect has the best story and world building
Mass Effect 2 has the best characters and final mission
Mass Effect 3 has the best gameplay and character interactions
And after all these years I can say that my favorite is the 1st one
As for the shape of the Reapers, my theory is that each Reaper has an inner and outer shape. The outer shape is one of the squid-Leviathan and the inner shape is that of the harvested species. The smaller - crab shaped - Reapers could be less important species made into them, but also still having their unique inner shape
ME1 is definitely my favourite one as well... but with legendary edition I tend to think of it as one cohesive game now.
It's been awhile, but I'm pretty certain the shape of the reaper is explained somewhat.
I agree on Cerberus. It was kinda jarring between 2-3 bc I played the Legendary edition
Did you read any the books? I think they wanted to explain some things that way.
My theory about the purpose of the Collectors is to create a human reaper that could complete the task sovereign failed - taking the citadel and jump starting the invasion. Ofc they were already very close by this time, but we know that taking the citadel first and crippling the galactic government has always been key to their success. That might even be why they failed this time.
Judging from your party in ME2 montage I reckon you were going for "No one left behind" achievement.
Btw who is your top 3 companion?
I'm not sure if you're aware but this series was based on a book series by the same name. Just to address some of your plot issues.
World Building: It was already written, again with books and also a ton of comics.
In Mass Effect 2, I did all the loyalty quests and yet Garrus and Tali and Jack and one other died! I was not expecting that ending.
I tried 100%-ing a few games. A lot of these achievements hinge on playing it with a specific build or a player-choice made at the beginning.
It's annoying playing something like WoTR or Stygian and seeing the same gameplay for the 10th time..
Is it good to:
- gate some content behind a specific build
- or allow on person to savour a 'long-play' and explore the whole world without min-max a build and speed-running it to a point where you can enjoy it?
This was my favorite series of all time. I cannot wait until the sequel to this series comes about.
I had never played mass effect before LE. But man. What an amazing series. And not because its great individually. It's because it ALL comes together in the end. And that story is YOURS.
Great review! I believe you'll like Andromeda while hating to 100% it.
Considering the huge stepforward of the second game after the first one I would except third one to be so much better instead of being just slightly improved of the second game. And the story wise Illusive Man and his organization should not have been wasted like that. Illusive man had brought such a different vibe the second game. Third game should have benefited the Illusive man character and the Cerberus way better. And finally I am surprised you didn't mention but sounds of the game, the voices of the characters are too good for a game that old. Especially soundtrack. To this day I still listen to Mass Effect 2 soundtrack. It's simply epic. Overall Mass Effect games are like a space opera movies than a game. Third one should have been in fact could have been so so much better but it still one of the best series in the gaming history.
I'm happy you enjoyed them. You've made me want to go through the legendary edition but will likely skip 1
Nooooo don’t skip 1 🤣.
Yes gameplay isn’t as good, but it really isn’t all that bad. But as someone who replayed the trilogy in the LE, I really appreciated 1 my second time through
I agree about the world building. Only a few franchises, to me, feel so well done. Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Warcraft, Warhammer & WH40k, Cyberpunk.
Not necessarily the all games from these universes, but the lore behind them.
Thank you for bringing up how ME3 treats cerberus, it bothered me too. You can still have them as a enemy faction by framing them as a black Ops sabotage faction rather than a massive army.
Honestly, the best way to do it would've been to have renegade factions of multiple races. Why not Krogan chafing under Wrex as the enemy on Tuchanka? Or Salarians secretly working for the Dalotrass attacking the STG base to try to kill Eve? Why are those Cerberus? Cerberus causing problems in Alliance space? Sure. But it would help the believability, and enemy diversity, if enemies were drawn from actual divisions in the local population. Divisions caused by your choices from the prior games.
Being mainly a single player type of gamer, I tend to treat my games like my movies. Plot is almost as important as gameplay... almost (Xcom is the exception). Anyway its also the reason why I find ME1 being a more compelling experience than the latter sequels, even though they are technically much better games. Fun fact: ME1 was closely adapted from a series of books much like Dragon Age Orgins was to the series of the same name. Its one of the reasons why the lore was so cohesive and well done. The sequels veer off into their own directions with the writing being done inhouse by the devs and the shift in focus (quality) can be noticed. I remember ME2 originally being quite underwhelming on its own untill the DLCs were released. With the geth mostly being a backdrop and the focus was mostly on the companion "shipping", no one really talks about the final battle itself... this eventually became a trend in their future games.
Have you noticed how most EA owned single player titles tend to end up being an action shooter of some category? I remember deadspace suffering a similar fate... Personally I prefer a definitive end to a series then to keep dredging its corpse up over and over like Ubisoft.
About the significance of choices:
I never understood why people expect every choice they made as Commander Shepard to "stick". That's not how life works.
Yes, Shepard chose, for example, Anderson to be councillor. There is no guarantee in life - real or video game - that this will be the case in the future. In fact, I personally think a game which will occasionally show you that other factors can change the outcome NO MATTER YOUR CHOICES is a far more realistic RPG.
Just my personal opinion
Some consider Dragon Age the Bioware spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, but to me, it's Mass Effect. They are the only two trilogies (I consider Throne of Bhaal basically BG3) I can think of, where through three entire titles your companions stay by your side, develop, grow, have romances, etc. Dragon Age tried it with a few familiar faces, but ultimately your always a new protagonist so it's just different each time. As you said, it's the companions that really make this game the amazing title it is. That's why for those who bought original ME 3, without Citadel it was just such a different game. The ending was it's own thing, but it's the fact Citadel does so much with those relationships, that makes it an amazing DLC.
I do think Bioware's drive toward action predates Mass Effect- Neverwinter Nights stripped away companion tactics and went in an MMO-lite direction, while KotOR and Jade Empire were both pretty fast-paced and simplified.
An interesting thing with the EA merger and dev acquisitions in general is the delayed effect. Really great games journo named George Weidman (Super Bunnyhop on RUclips) pointed out that it's usually a span of a couple years before you see the deleterious effects of a studio acquisition. Senior staff stays on to finish the projects they have in the hopper, then leave, after which you get the changes in workplace culture and output. Bioware had DA Origins and ME2, arguably two of its biggest triumphs, already in progress when the merger went through. After that, we got DA2 and ME3, two flawed games I personally really love, then a steady stream of high level departures and three games really marred by truncated, poorly managed dev cycles (Inquisition, Andromeda, Anthem.)
I'm always hoping they'll make a comeback, Bioware made the first RPGs I really loved, but I'm always wondering how much damage has been done, and I'm also curious how much "blame" one should assign to EA ownership vs. studio management. I'm always down to blame EA, sports game publisher that accidentally bought one of my favorite RPG devs, but this stuff has to be pretty complex.
I thought Mass Effect 2 was a misfire. By bringing the Reaper threat back as early as ME2, the universe was given a ticking clock, which inevitably exploded with ME3's evolution endings.
The looming Reaper threat established by the ending to the first game would have provided a great sense of dread for the universe. In the meantime, we could have experienced a diverse array of games and stories taking place across the galaxy as it existed between ME1 and 2.
Time to try and play throu me2 and 3 again
they did say somewhere maybe in the lore that every reaper is made i nthe image of the species that it was made from and put at hte heart of the shell of it made to look like harbinger the first reaper (looks like the reaper cuttlefish). the 2 things i never could understand though are 1 why the reapers didnt just go for the citadel first in ME3 but also they imply that one reaper( dreadnaughty soverin class) is made every cycle(the lesser races are made into destroyers) but we know that mupltiple have been destroyed in this cycle and the last so thats unsustainable if you only make 1 capitale ship class every 50K years but alot get destroyed every cycle how would that work?
There are several plot points that have been clearly changed over the course of trilogy. Even the lead writer was changed from Drew Karpyshyn to Mac Walters, which resulted in some of these plot changes. Regarding Udina, it was both streamlining and also influence of external material, there was short comic where Udina was already a councilor, so game reflected that. Having to included external medial was one of the main problems imo, it rarely ends up well when games are trying to integrate other written or animated sources into their story, because it often can feel forced or disjointed. Similar with Kai Leng, who was first introduced in a book and then they decided to bring him into last game. He really felt out of place there. I think one of biggest disappointments was how insignificant destroying or sparing Collector Base in ME2 turned out to be. Before ME3, many people have speculated how it's going to severely affect Cerberus and who you will be fighting in next game, but this supposedly big choice was just a couple lines of dialogue and different war asset (also it defaulted to either destroy or control ending in case of low galactic readiness). Main strengths of Mass Effect story have always been its companions and world building, certainly better than Reaper plot.
So, I remember that the Citadel was moved to Earth, but don't recall any reference to it being teleported? When I played, I always assumed it was moved through the Mass Relay, just as we move throughout the series.
I didn't play these games on the release of each title. I was bored, looking for something new, and every positive review of ME 3 I found on Amazon was marked as spam. I got curious, and bought ME 1, then 2, and then 3. Ultimately, I came to the same conclusion, the ending wasn't as bad as I was led to believe, but, and there's always a but, I didn't get to 3 until after all of the DLC and the Extended Cut were released. They may have been released before I ever played the first one, in fact. My overall impression of the series can be summed up in one sentence though: For someone that doesn't review games for a living, I have an impressive amount of hours spent in the games.
free comment, after watching previous three 100% reviews.
Dude.....i am really sorry to have to say this...... but..... you kinda nailed it. I fully agree with you on the review. One is indeed the one with the best story and overall lore/world building. Two is indeed the best game overall. And the characters are by far the best part of every game.
My man played this trilogy so that I didnt have to. Thanks, Mortym.
All jokes aside, I never got into Mass Effect: tactical rpg style + shooting are the two things that will push me away for sure (see: XCom and Resonance of Fate).
I would really love an x-com like game in the Mass effect world if Gears of war did it I hope Mass effect can do it to.
There is no need for byoware to do it, they can outsource it. But man i would love it.
And bring back the ME1 wrighting team. Those there the true heros of the franchise
Tali'Zorah best girl
Garrus best boy
EDI and Legion tied for best bot
Regarding the development time - I have seen over a decade many games, that REALLY needed like a year or two or more of development time and they wound just freaking level up. Like, if ME trilogy was made not in 5 years time, but, like, 8 or even 10 years (which is a kind a lot, but still), the trilogy would be fantastic. Fallout New Vegas should've got not 18 months but 2 years at least (imagine what we would get), Dying light 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Anthem and some others. But we all know how management always fucks developers' plans and ambitions.
Best and I mean best trilogy pack of any games that you could buy.
The thing is that in the trilogy you don't play as a silent protagonist, you play Shepard, a established person within the universe with their own identity and motivations. The ownership of the protagonist is shared between the player and the character itself. You never get to pick exactly what Shepard say, just the general gist and tone of the respond. There are a lot of things you can't do because Shepard can't or don't want to do. This is a design decision to enhance the player's immersion in the universe especially considering that the game prioritize interpersonal conflicts and relationships.
Definitely late to the party on your Mass Effect reviews, but I agree that ME2 is the most enjoyable narrative. As you and many others have noted, however, its actual plot is largely inconsequential to the overall narrative. But, that was very much intentional by the developers. As even prior to release they kept comparing the title to Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back. A sequel film that famously has a largely inconsequential main plot, but is instead more focused on exploring its central characters than advancing any plot with regards to the Galactic War and the Empire. ME2 similarly eschews any focus on advancing the Reaper plot to further flesh out the world of Mass Effect and the characters before going into the actual war that is ME3.
I think ME2 was essential to getting players to explore and get invested in all the issues and characters involved in this world before everything goes to crap when the Reapers arrive. And you can't have the main plot be the most time pressing thing ever and still allow players the freedom to just explore the galaxy and get into trouble. So, the Collectors offer a way to allow the player to face a threat that isn't absolutely immediate in terms of danger, provide little tidbits concerning the overall series plot, but really allow the player to go off and explore the galaxy prior to the Reaper invasion. And this allows them to get further entangled in the Genophage issue, the Quarian-Geth conflict, and just generally see how the Terminus Systems operates.
You are right that the world-building is the real star of the series. Which is why it was a huge mistake to burn it all down at the end. And that decision led directly to MEA having to go to another Galaxy (OK they didn't _have_ to, but they felt it was that way). I hope the new ME keeps to the outstanding world-building.
Ok speak8ng of plot holes, I have one that's bugging me. In the first game (I think) there's a conversation you can overhear where a group of different species are discussing the Asari and saying how they look similar to the species viewing them. So to Humans they look similar to humans and to Krogan they look like Krogan. How does that work through video feeds? Holograms and cameras, really any remote viewing, they still look the same. So if they were playing some trick with pheromones or using their natural ability with psionics(? It's been a whilen details are a little fuzzy) that should only work in person. Yet the trick seems to work no matter what.
I think the human reaper was essentially a fetus, the traditional reapers form would go around it. That's was they mean when the star child told shep that they preserve the races in reaper form. I guess he's being a little more literal than it appears
For the Mass Effect trylogy, I think one of the lead writers left the game during the making of the second game.
This could explain why the writing went down over the course of the trylogy. On that note, said writer had another plot in mind for the trylogy ending. Originally, Reapers existed to save the galaxy from the "Dark Matter" phenomenon. This "dark matter" was something that grew over the time, and far, far quicker when there were species capable of galactic exploration and colonisation... and could, in the end, destroy the galaxy. An ancient race realised that of the reapers sacrificed themeslves to create the first Reaper : the sum of their knowledges and skills, to deal with the problem of the Dark Matter. The Reaper could not handle the problem and devised a plan : each 50k years, they would reap the galaxy, achieving two purposes. First, the destruction of the advanced species would slow down the growth of Dark Matter and then the creation of another Reaper would add knowledge and skill necessary to deal with the Dark Matter.
This plot is hinted at by Tali's mission during the second game.
However, the ending was basically an A , B or C choice, since in the end Shepard would learn the purpose of the Reapers and have to choose between A : letting the Reaper win, B : letting the Reapers consume only Humanity and C : destroy the Reapers. The thing here is, the sacrifice of at least humanity would allow the Reaper to effectly end the dark matter problem, thus, saving the galaxy, while destroying the Reapers pose the risk of never be able to deal with the Dark Matter.
The leak of this ending was what initially spawned the famous lie "Your ending will be meaningful, it will not be a A, B, C choice" from Hudson AND the change to the ending we have now.
what an amazing series. i think though, around 3, powerwash simulator starts outpacing mass effect in terms of rpg mechanics and choice and consequence.
They couldnt mess with the relay in ME2 cause Sauron woulda have seen them flying on the eagles lmao.
I've really enjoyed your Mass Effect review series! It's been so long since I've thought about the series and you're making all my ME memories flood back.
I'm with you that I like ME1 the most. I agree that its story was the best, and for me, I really liked the RPG elements and was sad they removed a lot of those elements in the sequels. Oh and the no ammo thing from ME1, which always felt like a step backwards in the sequels.
Totally spot on about Cerberus disappointingly becoming less complex!
The world building is great and I'm with you that it feels fully fleshed out from the beginning. I did feel it was a little cheapened in ME3, with a lot of the races becoming a little too "humanized" whereas before (esp in ME1) they felt like these really cool, completely different races.
About the choices, you're right, it mostly boiled down to a Paragon/Renegade thing where it just changed how Shepard behaved. I really wish there was more grey, so instead of spending the whole series taking the attitude of 'I'm a Paragon so I'll keep on Paragon'ing' (or vice versa), there would actually be dilemmas of, 'I could make a Paragon choice right now but there's a compelling reason to not do so'. Since that didn't really exist, it felt like all my choices were just on autopilot.
That's probably why I liked the suicide mission so much in ME2. I was actually using my brain for once. I was hoping they they would have more of that style of mission and its decision making in ME3 (considering they wouldn't need to worry about downstream effects because it was the last game in the trilogy). And with all the returning companions it would've been great! Oh that also reminds me, it was really disappointing that the returning companions couldn't temporarily join the party as playable characters in ME3.
Anyway, the characters were definitely the centerpiece of the game and I'm very much looking forward to your companion video. Who was your favourite companion (and why is it Garrus)? What was your favourite romance? Ha, so excited for it!
Most of the reapers we see are physically modeled after the leviathans, their original creators
Leviathans didn't create the Reapers. They created the AI or Catalyst. The Catalyst then turned on The Leviathans and harvested them first making the first Reaper, Harbinger, in their image. While they are modeled after Leviathans, they were not their creators.
There's a side mission about something weird happening to the stars, or something to that effect. I heard that was going to be key to the original ending, but they dropped Drew Karpyshyn, the main writer, after ME2, and the new writers made the new ending. I'm sure there were a lot of threads lost in the transition.
The companions are the best part of ME. Which is why Andromeda feels like it's made by a completely different company. The character are unpleasant.
"There's a side mission about something weird happening to the stars, or something to that effect."
That would be the Tali recruitment mission. She talks about Haestrom's sun is aging prematurely and giving off intense radiation due to dark matter buildup in its core.
Can't wait to see your video on how BioWare changed over time because I have thoughts, mostly on gameplay changes but also how stories seem to not get better but I can't see blaming that on EA but we'll see when you get there. Anyway this video was great and very fair on the series, thanks.
You can Blame EA for Dragon Age 2 and Mass effect 3.
But they had what, 5 years to make andromeda and 7 years to make anthem? At that point it's more Bioware's fault for not knowing what they wanted to do with the titles, EA cleary didn't rush them on those.
But still f*ck EA
For me ME2 is the best game in the serieries but not my favourite one. I like ME1 the most despite its problems. In ME I didn't like that the invenotry was cluttered and was a bit hard to manage. I was keeping all types of ammo and wapons cause I didn't know what I will need. In ME2 they fixed the issue by removing the inventory as a whole which streamlined things a lot but it was a very drastic solution and dumbed down the RPG system. Also I was very fond of the companions in ME so I was hoping in ME2 I would continue adventuring with them but instead they removed them all except for Garus and introduced new ones. I liked the new ones as well but I really wish I had my ME fellowship.
IF ME3 had a better ending, it would probably be in my top 3 games, of all time.
One thing I don't understand about Mass Effect 2 is why were they building a Reaper that looks Human
The idea, as far as i remember is that each cycal Reapers evaluate all of the developed races if they should be immortalized or just wiped out, if the race is seen worthy by the reapers then they build a new reaper which captures the essence of that race, if they believe that no races in the cycle are worthy, then they just kill everybody. For example the protheans were not seen as worthy by the reapers so no new reapers were build during that cycle. So bacially every single reaper is the "worthy" races of previous cycles.
When it comes to the human companions, I always found Kaidan Alenko very dull. As you stated in the video, the only thing I can remember is his complaining about his implants. And this gets more obvious if you compare him with Ashley Williams. She really changes in her perspective on alien species when comparing her attitude in the first and in the third game.
I do honestly consider the first to be an RPG, but 2 and 3 are more narrative based shooters. There are still some light RPG elements in there (if the combat was melee only I would say they were action RPGs) so its more than your usual shooter gives you but still not an RPG, especially not in comparison to the sorts of games you usually do on here, which are what most people in the CRPG fanbase think of when they think CRPG.
Yeah, ME2 was probably the best game, but it felt very disconnected. The Collectors were also very shoehorned in to have an enemy to fight where there really wasn't one. I also feel the things you do in ME2 didn't really affect ME3 nearly enough.
You should 100% any of the arcane studios games they arent rpgs but are really great games with different endings
I've done a couple of them already
My question about the Human Reaper is this.... why humans? It's stated in the games that the Reapers come and convert the apex species into a reaper. So why humans? We were the last ones to reach citidel space. All the other council species are way more advanced. Why aren't the reapers also making an asari reaper , or a turian , or ..... And why bring the Citidel to earth to begin with?