Mass Effect 1 (LE) - Review After 100%
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- Опубликовано: 26 июл 2024
- Talking about my time with Mass Effect 1, Legendary Edition, after a thorough run of the title for the very first time!
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:18 Story
03:40 Character Creation
06:06 Character Progression
07:05 Gameplay/Worldbuilding/Exploration
10:39 Paragon Vs Renegade
12:14 Combat
15:43 Companions
21:01 Positives
21:38 Negatives
22:37 Conclusions
23:17 Wrap Up
Intro Music By Juan Andrés Matos, www.juanmatosmusic.com/
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Fun fact, at the time of the original development of ME1, all of the major alien races were made to be humanoid because BW couldn't figure out how to properly animate something that was substantially different to what a human body would look like (remember, it was the wild west of UE3 games) and even those that technicaly have different skeletons (Salarians and Quarians above all) still mostly walk around like humans would.
In fact, the few non-strictly humanoid races such as the Elcors (the gentle elephants) very rarely move around other than simple idle animations for that very reason. Either that, or they put full face masks/helmets on them so that they wouldn't have a face to animate at all like they did for the Volus.
There are some new races that get introduced over the subsequent 2 games that don't suffer from this problem, but at the time it was more of a necessity rather than a choice. You can see the (de)evolution when looking at the original concept arts. The Turians for instance looked even more bird-like than they do in the games, there was supposed to be a Centaur-looking race and a dozen more that all got cut for this and other reasons.
Crazy thing is when we first played the game we did not care about the alien races standing still. They did a good enough job of making them all feel unique that no one even noticed really. They should’ve added those other races you mentioned instead of being overly worried but I understand at the time they didn’t know.
@@marcgranger4786Even weirder I never would have noticed that they don't move had I not read this 😂
Think it gets even lighter on the rpg mechanics in 2 and 3. Focus is definitely more on story, combat and the companions which imo works for this series.
Yeah and with that story being almost entirely binary choices, the RPG tag only does a disservice to the game.
@@lipayy9852 Feel like that depends on your version of what an rpg is. Like even mass effect 2 is more complex than most JRPGs out there.
@@ibysdagon4659 yeah it’s an rpg in terms of you have room to roleplay your Shepard. But it’s not so much in terms of what you generally expect from a D&D-like experience.
@@lipayy9852 That's like saying only improv is acting.
@@ibysdagon4659 Some people think just having a leveling system means it's an RPG. It's why games like Diablo and Diablo 2 were considered RPG's. Something I don't agree with. There is no roleplay in those games. Perhaps I have a different definition of rpg than Mort, I felt this game was an rpg. You can roleplay, albeit in really only 2 ways (you can go the neutral route, but you are gimping yourself by doing that). Some people consider only games that allow multiple ways to complete quests to be roleplay. And that is something I appreciate, but this isn't necessary for roleplay imho. Older games usually lacked this mechanic, aside from Fallout games.
Mass Effect (1,2 and 3) is one of my favorite series. It's the kind of game where you create a bond with each character, for example, I cried a lot in part of 2. For me, ME, even with its ups and downs, has a special place kept in memory, there were so many good times , happy, funny, sad and angry, which gave me one of the best experiences when it comes to a game.
For me, me is the best me of me
@MortismalGaming1966 Combat was significantly reworked (simplified) in Legendary Edition version of ME1. Originally e.g. sniper rifles were nearly useless without training in relevant weapon skill. That’s why now all classes are seems closer to each other from combat point of view.
tbf assault riffle too couldn't hit the broadside of a barn without training.
@@ShadowWalker-ng1it Maybe that's what's wrong with Storm Troopers.
Mass effect is the series that taught me a black hat playthrough can actually be really fun. The space paladin style of the paragon is fine i suppose. But honestly the cowboy shoot from the hip style of renegade is just so damn fun. And so famn funny to boot
Agreed. Especially things like constantly losing the connection to the Council when reporting in :)
Yahtzee of Zero Puncuation described it as a choice between Captain Picard and Dirty Harry.
That conversation with Harbinger still gives chills
I loved Mass Effect 1. It felt closer to the Knights of the Old Republic experience, and I found it very absorbing. Mass Effect 2 and forward sadly marketed to the XBox 360 bro crowd and leaned too heavily into duck and cover mechanics, along with evils that come with that decision, such as rotating health kits on the ground and triggered uninteractive-yet-overdone cutscenes like you'd see in your typical game movie adaptation, or the animatronics you see off to the side during a ride at a theme park. Part 2+ felt more like a typical third-person shooter than an RPG. Part 1 felt the most like an RPG to me and IMO is the best in the entire series.
I agree that ME1 is a better RPG and it does a great job of setting the story but the squad AI is atrocious, never using cover or listening to commands and the side quests all feel empty and repetitive (not to mention the planets). For me my favourites in order are 2 3 and 1
Nice review. However if u think this one was light on RPG elements I don't know what your gonna think of the next two.
1 was my favorite for this very reason.
Yeah I was kind of disappointed when I started the second one. I actually stopped playing. Just started a fresh run of 1 again. I'll give 2 a chance again
@@Father518 the whole trilogy is great, and youre missing an amazing story. I just prwfered the more traditional rpg mechanics of 1, over kore action shooter of 2 and 3.
But the atory alone is worth it. 2 and 3 are great games still
While Kaiden’s personality is initially rather formal and ‘wooden’, he has (IMO) a fantastic - and tragic - backstory which I really sympathized with. Furthermore, if keep him alive in ME1, his future story arc and personal relationship with Shepard in the greater trilogy arc is excellent. Kaiden is subtle, but really great if you give him a chance.
When I first played this game I thought it was such a cool concept that you could land on planet surfaces and explore them even if they were pretty much the same. It makes sense why they all look the same, they're mostly barren and lifeless planets after all. But over the years I liked it less and less, it's my most dreaded part when replaying the game because it is indeed boring and repetitive, I just thought it was a unique concept when I first played.
Thank god for the cheat maps, makes life way easier :P
Space Racist gets the nukey every time. Wrex and Garrus / Tali are my best pals.
Lol
I remember playing the trilogy for 3 (or 4?) straight weeks during a summer break. One of my favorite series of all time.
I agree with most of your negatives (except for Kaidan, love the guy, but I get why others find him boring), but it was surprisingly hard to hear - I guess I'm even more of a diehard fan with nostalgia goggles on than I thought :D
I just finished this game last night! Never played it before until now, great timing for a review.
I know I’m in the minority on this, but Ashley ended up being one of my favorite characters. I think she gets pegged as a “space racist”, and I understand why that is, but if you look at what she says, they all end up happening throughout the game. The Council constantly distrusts Sheperd and co., and only look out for themselves. Also, she only distrusts Liara, because she’s Benezia’s daughter, and Ashley is so close with her family- it’s hard for her to imagine not being close to your family. She also tells you to check on Liara when Benezia dies. She also comes to view Tali as a sister. As the game goes along her jagged views towards aliens begins to be smoothed out.
I’m glad you enjoyed the game overall. I love all of three of them for different reasons. They’re certainly not perfect, but they are really great in spite of their faults.
@@Fankas2000 You're talking about stereotypes, not racism. Knowing/saying/admitting all turians or krogans are this or that isn't racist, it's simply stating the fact. However, if you were to hate or discriminate against them based on what they are, that'd count as racism. An example would be something like say.. in warhammer fantasy lore, elves are high-horse, think they're better than everyone and so on. That's a stereotype, and it's mostly true. Acknowledging it isn't racist, it's just how it is. However dwarves hate all the elves, and although there's reasons for it, they behave and talk very racist towards elves.
@@Fankas2000 In the comment I replied to, you were talking about racism, while not even describing racism. You actually described stereotyping. And so I answered the comment you made. On the point you're making here.. You're talking about specific situations, as in, safety/business. If you're dealing with a predominantly hostile race/faction, ofcourse, as a concern for safety, you're going to search them before allowing them in, unless you're sure of certain individuals from said race being safe to let pass without being searched. Not hiring a krogan based on the fact that they're unhinged, is a safety decision, as well as a business decision, since they can do the same to people you simply want to talk to. But my response stands - what you mentioned are stereotypes.
@@Fankas2000 You're dancing around too much. First, you say that ALL of them are violent and can kill you at any point. Then you say that they're just prone to it, now it's just violent tendencies. Get it straight and don't go back on what you said bit by bit as if you didn't generalize a stereotype. And on the minority comment - it's a statistical fact, not racism.
@@Fankas2000 I'm sorry to inform you, but the sane and rational people of the planet do not care about your brainwashed lefty ideologies.
I think you are going to enjoy the growth and development of the characters as you progress through the series (both the ones you have met, and the ones you will meet). I recommend you keep your paragon and renegade playthrough saves and continue them as you review the rest of the series.
You used to get greatly reduced XP for anything you kill while in the Mako, so that tonne of easy XP wasn't a thing originally. I think it's a good change that you get full XP while in the Mako now, though, as I recall it being annoying having to get out of the Mako to finish off any Thresher Maws or other big XP targets like the Geth Destroyers and such just so you don't lose out on a metric tonne of XP. You didn't *have* to do that, of course, but once you knew about the reduced Mako XP... it just felt bad losing out on so much XP if you didn't.
It was probably my favorite change in the series.
@@Blasted2OblivionFor me it was removing sway when aiming the sniper. I can actually play as infiltrator properly now
Overall a fantastic series of games. ME 2 was my favourite, especially some of the DLC. Bioware were peerless creating great characters around this time
Yes, that's exactly right, in respect of game characters, Bioware *were* unparalleled at it.
@@Avenus112 I’m sorry, I would cry but my eyes are too tired.
@@TheStonewall117 same, I would type a witty retort but my feet are too tired.
ME 2,is all about the characters and how you actually care about what happens to them.No doubt a classic and will remain in my top 10 games of all time, probably till the end of days !
I personally think it's one of the best video game stories ever told. It's cliche, and a Star Wars ish type of story. Predictable, generic but it's so well done. The immersion into this galaxy, you get a sense of what's going on pretty early on and slowly learn more and more. The sequels stumble on expanding the lore and universe, and tons of missed opportunities story wise. Though they are better games gameplay wise. But ME1 will always hold a special place in my nostalgic heart haha. I remember playing it on 360 in like 2010. The LE version is very well done. Though... not perfect and missing a lot of stuff I feel like it should have had for old fans.
I'd say it has a lot in common with Lord of the rings and very little to do with star wars. Sheppard is basically Frodo Baggins, tasked with uniting the realm to fight evil. The 3 games pretty much follow the 3 movies perfectly. Except it's in space haha and it works well. The third game even ends with you running into the eye of alien Sauron.
I, like you, had Mass Effect pass me right by over the years for some reason. Since PSPlus dropped the Legendary Edition last month, I've been hooked.
So much looking forward to watching your take on 2&3
Garrus is a fan favorite for most people. amazing VA and char in general. but honestly most of the companions are amazing with interesting story.
my boi garrus is a certified G
man I love the series, that said a lot of the love for me1 is nostalgia; me2 and 3 are flatout amazing games.
However just putting on any of the music from any of the games will practically move me to tears which is a testament to how good the games are.
about the classes; they become more impactful in me 2 and 3
I am in the opposite opinion. 1 was my favorite, by far. I liked how 2 jmproved on the animations, but I preferred the mechanics of the 1st
16:26 Nailed it. The breakdown is around 60/40 in favor of Ashley vs Kaidan :). On a side note, a player discovered that you can actually make her less racist if your Commander Shephard acts *really* racist and evil.
I got into the trilogy knowing I could romance Kaidan as a male Sheppard on the third game, so it was a no brainer. I saved Kaidan. Also many people save Kaidan because they can't stand Ashley.
@@anconor1 I'm actually kind of disappointed they didn't add in the cut content from ME1 in the Legendary Edition that allows a Romance with Kaidan for male shep. I've played the mod and the majority of the dialog is already in the game files and both voice actors still work with bioware so it's not like they couldn't add anything missing.
heh the cut relationship has my favorite line from Kaidan, just before the paramour scene Sheppard says "It's been an honor having you serve under me, Lieutenant" and Kaidan replies "Oh, I don't think I've had the pleasure of serving under you yet, commander".
@@anconor1 That's because most players don't even give Ashley a chance to explain herself.
@@willfanofmanyii3751 I did not dislike her that much TBH. She simply felt kind of gray to me.
@@anconor1 That's because you gave her a chance.
Most who complain about her never do.
Glad to hear your thoughts; definitely 95% the same as mine although I was able to play this game when it came out and the janky combat was fine back then. Now that I’ve played me2 and 3 (like I said on your last video) I can’t play me1 with its combat anymore. I know you don’t know yet but you were right when you said the choices will have more of an impact in the next games and the paragon/renegade choices will completely change everything during the game (not the ending) of the third game. Wish you lots of fun with my favorite and most played game of the series, mass effect 2
20:00 I thought the same after playing ME1. Liara gets so much interesting in ME2 and ME3, she ended up being one of my favorites.
Like a wise man said, "You are entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong." You find Liara T'Soni boring? You have exposed yourself as a heartless bot that escaped from a Google Laboratory.
Seriously, I see how someone with your depth and breadth of RPG experience (crpg, arpg, and whatever other flavor of RPGs are out there) would find this pretty basic. Was pleased to hear you loved the story and most of the companions though. This is one of my all-time favorite series but I have limited exposure to hardcore RPGs. Thanks for sharing your opinion and can't wait to hear what you think of the second entry. Also, it's wonderful to see your channel's kicking ass!
I played this when it first came out. As I mentioned before driving the mako is quite possibly the worst single experience I've had in an rpg. The fact that I still finished it is a tribute to the game being better than it appears on the surface. The second will be a step up for you, though. Good vid
I think there were some equally frustrating parts in Dead Space.
I was able to play ME1 for... A lot less than purchase price (young and dumb 😉😉😉), and every time I had to get in the vehicle, the screen would be completely black. Probably some anti-piracy deal. Let me tell you, it is way worse brute forcing through those levels when you can't see anything lol.
There are few games that have gotten me into the story and characters as much as Mass Effect. ME series still holds well in my opinion. Even after playing the series again in LE, despite side quests being quite lacking, but as I mentioned in my comment on previous video, Bioware supposedly didn't have time to finish most of them, hence the reused assets and endings that are only descriptions. And yeah, this series is quite light on RPG elements, but I've seen many other games being even lighter on those aspects and still being called RPGs. But what matters to me the most is that story is still mostly good, while gameplay is ok. Combat is better in later parts, but RPG mechanics aren't getting any deeper. If you find them shallow now, your opinion is unlikely to change. I felt like classes mattered since ME1, biotics are especially powerful in the first game, but this changes in next games, classes become more varied as well. And Kaidan is a good guy, even if he isn't particularly interesting. I am one of those people who saved him instead of Ashley. Compared to certain character introduced at the beginning of ME2, he is way better! Anyway, Garrus and Tali are still the best. Can't argue with facts!
As one of the folks who actually enjoyed Mass Effect: Andromeda, I hope you'll add that to your Mass Effect journey. As a 'first game' it works almost as well as the original Mass Effect, but as a continuation of the franchise it stumbles by trying to circumvent dealing with the effects of the choices made in the original trilogy. That said, the combat and mobility in Andromeda are *so much fun*, I keep replaying it just so I can zoom around the battlefield and smash into enemies, or prime and detonate them with combo effects.
In any case, I look forward to seeing how you compare the first game with the second and third! Welcome to the club. :)
Agree with you. I liked Andromeda and I think it has better actual gameplay than any of the first 3 ME games, but yeah the writing and overall story isn't as interesting to me. Really fun to move around in that game though, the jetpack works great and shooting feels good too.
@@MichaelCordeiro considering the challenges they faced building that game out of a new game engine, I feel like it accomplished a lot of the same goals that Mass Effect 1 had to. ME 1 was their first time building a game out of Unreal Engine, if I remember correctly, so it had a lot of the same challenges as well. Sometimes you have to consider a game's starting point when measuring the team's accomplishments. ME2 and ME3 had a better foundation to build off of beause of ME1. I can only imagine what Andromeda sequels could have accomplished.
I saw abysmal reviews of it and thought to never buy it. But stumbled into it on gamepass and decided to give it a shot. I gotta say that it got way too much hate. I didn't run into virtually any bugs during my play through. Sure the plot isn't as nearly compelling as original trilogy, but now having completed it. It could've spawned into something quite awesome as sort of an "spinoff". Setting would've been great for new series. I just couldn't see original series being continued anymore, which to my surprising many seemed to want from Andromeda. Imo it's good to stop in time.
@@jothain yeah so true. Andromeda made some really interesting implications about Cora and who she might be, I remember reading that they had planned to explore more of that along with the missing ark in dlc but it never got made because the game launched so poorly. Bummer!
@@MichaelCordeiro Yes. I think there was just enough mysteries open at the game ending that it could've been really easy continue. Possibly even easier and better in original me1. Well anyway quite unfortunate. When Andromeda ended I really hoped that it would've gotten sequel.
That's a very fair and balanced summary. Kinda makes it sound awful but in the context of when it came out it no doubt felt like a leap forward in some respects. Some very Trekkie vibes without actually being Star Trek.
Mass Effect trilogy is all about Shepard. It may as well be a character adventure game with branching storylines and more specifically a morality system. its great
Haha if you find ME1 light on RPG mechanics already I can't imagine how you will suffer through ME2 :p
GL HF !
Thought I was alone. I agree completely.
Spoiler Alert! It is the best in the series as far as RPG mechanics. It's all downhill after this except for action combat and maybe some other things that can't be talked about on a Rated for everyone vid, if you know what I mean.
To be fair and elaborate a bit :
Sure there's a tad bit more "choice and consequence" but it stays limited in scope and veeery binary.
On the other hand, they decided that to be a halfway decent cover-shooter they had to scrap every RPG system instead of expanding/improving on it. And make the level design even more of a series of corridors. In fact, they also scrapped the whole planet exploration instead of just making less planets with more content on it and tweaking the Mako controls.
To summarise, every thing that had potential but was perfectible was just entirely taken off the game design.
It goes along with retcons and inconsistencies to shoehorn design choices and the Cerberus narrative that makes little sense with what was established in ME1.
The crew gets a bit more fleshed out thought but it's hit or miss. The greatest addition is Mordin, but we lose Wrex. Miranda is a walking cliché laughing stock, Jacob is ok but still bland. The new krogan is the meh-est of all, literally has no personality. The rest is serviceable and thankfully Tali and Garrus are still around being awesome.
Overall while it was a good time, the nonsense plot and scrapping of everything remotely resembling a C-RPG, with the renegade/paragon system - a relic of the bad and outdated light/dark side system from KotOR - being the only thing expanded on, made me lose all interest I had in this IP and what little faith I had left in BioWare. They dropped all pretense of making RPGs and embraced their calling to put out mass appeal cover-shooter dating sims.
Oh boy if you think ME1 is light on the rpg elements, by the time you get to ME3 you are going to be like "yeah this is straight up a third person shooter with dialogue options " lol. Each game gets more "streamlined" as it goes.
Femshep is such a better acted character than the standard Male Shepard. It’s such a shame that so few people (relatively speaking) experienced it, including me as a kid. I replayed paragon as male shep recently and I’m gonna redo the series as female.
I would, above All, stress the art style: the atmosphere, the design, the music.
Everything has been molded into a very specific experience for the player.
That's why it hooked me in the first place.
About the background stuff in the character creation you not only get a mission and dialogue but you also get different starting paragon/renegate values:
Spacer/War Hero 20---0
Colonist/War Hero 15---0
Earthborn/War Hero 10---5
Spacer/Sole Survivor 15---10
Earthborn/Sole Survivor 10---15
Spacer/Ruthless 5---10
Colonist/Ruthless 0---15
Earthborn/Ruthless 0---20
[Edit] About the complaint about the "empty" planets, I do have to disagree bc I feel the emtieness makes it more believeable, just think about it most planets anywhere are empty (IRL) and even on earth there is more empty space than space that is filled with stuff. So in my eyes those planets in ME1 reflect the point that exploring is generally traveling though emptieness very well.
Kaiden? Who is that? xD
the sovereign reveal is an iconic moment in videogame story telling.
I'm so glad you're giving us your honest opinions and not trying to hype this up to its massive fanbase. When I revisited the entire trilogy with the Legendary Edition my opinion of the series changed for the worse. It's still really excellent and super fun and I hope you have a blast finishing it.
"Kaiden has all the personality of a wet blanket". Yup, sounds pretty accurate 😄
Insanity was a bullet sponge nightmare with the original so insanity was toned down to be a little more tolerable (especially early). It is actually super easy now.
They kinda made the classes more similar in the remaster. Tech was useless on high difficulties due to massive enemy HP pools. They also made every weapon type usable on every class. Your Vanguard would never be able to fire an assault rifle to save his life. In the remaster he can use it but he cannot specialize in it.
The combat was actually worse in the original. This is one of my favorite games but I've been playing it since 2007. It's refreshing to hear a new perspective on it. Looking forward to your take on the sequels!
In the original ME1 I tried to start a fresh level 1 guy on insanity. I did okay until I went after Fist. I couldn't get through the bar and, after an hour of trying, went back to my typical run of maxing out a casual difficulty run and importing to max difficulty.
@@Blasted2Oblivion I don't think I even got that far on the original ME.
@@gregtuff4020 Don't get me wrong, I almost quit a few times before that but I always made SOME progress after each death. Until I hit the galaxy's deadliest bouncers.
Im digging that purple hair lol. Im glad you enjoyed the story, this is one of my favorite series.
Great video as always. My only suggestion is don't wait too long before starting the 2nd game. While I love the 3rd a lot, there's a reason the 2nd game was widely considered the best and it sets that expectation within minutes of starting it.
I haven't played these but my brother loves it. I've always been curious but I just am not much for space adventures. I hope you continue to enjoy the series.
The most ridiculous part is that the repetitive side quests are actually really important to set the tone for ME:2. Glad I suffered through them.
They're insanely bad in me1. Just been playing me2 for half way through and man the side missions are so much more better. Sure it has some boring generic ones too, but nothing like me1. I remembered me2 especially was good, but apparently I've forgotten a lot what happened in it. Glad I got into this collection as I almost skipped the replay.
According to the ME wiki, they do track the data of the major choices in the game for PC and Its Ashley 60% of the time saved.
Yeah, I can fully subscribe to your judgment of this. Positives and negatives. I don't get when people call this one of the best RPGs ever, but I still think that the universe they crafted is spectacular with all the politics and alien races therein. It was a fun, engaging one-time adventure for me to play through, but I never really felt an urge to revisit it, unlike most other roleplaying games where I am contemplating other builds and possible different choices for a new playthrough as I am doing my first almost constantly.
The world building and secondary characters alongside a original context and history that extends in the sequels make this game incredible .
This one sets the stage. 2 or possibly 3 could be in the running, but this is more groundwork.
@@raptorzeroking4871 I still think Dragon Age does this better. The games are worse but the overall lore and world building is much better in Dragon Age.
This isn't one of the greatest RPGs but it is the greatest trilogy
Thanks for this! I've never played them (so zero nostalgia and no frame of reference to say if the remasters are better or not) but have had my eye on them. Basically waiting for a 75% off sale, LMAO.
I really like your critiques and look forward to your take on the other 2.
About the combat, my main problem with the game's combat is that the weapons felt a bit clunky to use and the overheating mechanic was a little strange to me at first. I am glad that ME 2 and 3 overhauled it. Regarding the companions, while I didn't save Kaidan on Virmire, I did hear that he actually gets better characterization later on, particularly in the third game. Both Liara and Ashley develop into better characters as the series progresses.
What I love is a conversation Shepard has with Conrad in 3. He tries to figure out why we would take weapons with unlimited ammunition and beatable overheating and strip all that away to go back to a finite ammo system equivalent with thermal clips.
Love mass effect trilogy, so much fun
Fantastic review. I especially like your honest, courageous, and unbiased reviews of both the highlights and the lowlights of games. I played the ME1 2007 version a couple of times and that version has no Steam achievements. The HD remaster looks way better and has Steam achievements. I appreciate you pointing out how some parts need more perseverance and patience to slog through, but there are some great offsetting rewards and fun parts. I am definitely more excited to buy it and play it after your review even though I already own ME1, ME2, and Andromeda. I am very much looking forward to your next review of ME2!
"This first game is a bit light on the RPG elements, but it's a series and I'm sure these things will improve in the future." *-Foreshadowing intensifies*
I'm not an Xbox guy.
This game REALLY benefits from playing on Xbox.
It was absolutely awesome.
I couldn't play it on PC after that.
Totally agree on the companions.
If you think the mechanics are light in the first title, you are probably not going to be fond of 2 or 3 because there is even less RPG.
Can't think of a series that had SO MUCH promise and immediately - and so precipitously - spiralled steadily downhill into irrelevance (along with its developer).
I would argue that roleplaying games shouldn't be defined as a framework of mechanical systems of numbers and dice rolls though, and the first ME game succeeded in giving you an interesting world and some sense of player agency in exploring the story, which when compared with the incredibly juvenile writing of the highly lauded Bioware RPGs of its era, is surprisingly good.
I did get a chuckle out of the (not unreasonable) assumption that the RPG elements must surely improve in subsequent entries...
Love love love ME - have played it all maybe 8 times since it came out. Before the LE version came out, that was on a PC and I really didn't mind (even quite recently) the fight mechanics there (in fact was sorry to see the space bar pause go in ME2) although yes, the cover grabbiness was a bit of nightmare. But I came to the game because I was into characters and story, so the fact it wasn't a great fight mechanic didn't bother me (and it wasn't, even 15 years ago). But for the LE version, I played on a PS4 and I really found it hard on a console.
Hang in there - I think ME1 has a great story and sets up a great universe and ME2 is definitely an improvement. I play as a Vanguard and I love zooming in with a shotgun in the later games. High risk, high reward, baby :)
Really enjoyed your review - love seeing the game through new eyes and almost wish I could go back in time and play it all for the first time. Looking forward to hearing your next review for ME2...
p.s. Finding Kaidan painful is one of the pleasures of the game!! And I love Garrus too - I don't buy gaming Tshirts but I would make an exception for the "My other boyfriend's a turian" one. I think you'll even come to like Liara - she is great too.
Also I loved the shitty Mako. It had a special place in my heart
Why all the Kaidan hate? I liked him, and being a Utilitarian... he was my choice, with only a small pause to be sure but it wasn't a challenge. He also becomes far more interesting if you find him in the following games.
He played a male Shep. The way both Kaidan and Ashley are written, they’re at their best when you romance them. If you play a male Shep, you’re not going to get the full extent of his dialog and character. Plus, Sentinels in ME were kinda crap!
As you know already, those of us who saved him were rewarded for it in ME3!
@@JosieJOK I've always played a male Shepherd... but I still liked Kaidan. Not every companion needs to be badass or assertive.
Kaidan is a thoughtful, conflicted guy who is dealing with his own internal struggles and pain. He is a bit of a "Debbie downer", but, sometimes is an important voice of doubt and reason and I think had the most compelling moral arguments of any of the companions in the game, outside of Thane and Mordin.
Additionally, playing as a paragon... I made Kaidan into a badass every time. Helped him get over his doubts, fears and deal with his pain and become a great leader and soldier.
I also have no problem with Ashley, to be honest. But, my calculus was, "A biotic engineer with a tactical, smart mind, or a gung-ho, hard-charger who tends to prefer action over planning?" One of those is rare, the other is replaceable.
I like Kaiden as well. I always viewed him as a professional. Someone dedicated to the mission without letting things get too personal. Utilitarian, as you described, definitely fits him well.
@@MichaelGalt I like him, too! But then, I played FemShep first! Honestly, good as he is with MaleShep, he’s even better with FemShep. I do dislike Ashley, not because of her (temporary) xenophobia, but I just don’t like her manner, or the voice acting-which is weird because the VA was in Dragon Age: Origins and I didn’t mind her at all there.🤷🏾♀️
Your Shepard actually looks a lot like the one I usually run! I agree about the side quests, and Bioware did too I guess because the later games don't have near as much planet exploration stuff. Some people loved the Mako but I didn't really, Hammerhead is probably worse though (ME2)
I personally like to joke that after Virmire, I can refer to both Ashley & Kaidan as Ash.
Most of the criticism can be explained by the simple fact that this was a console first release. With all the corresponding simplifications in controls, combat, overall game mechanics, side quests, the barren planets, etc. Still, a good game.
I feel like I'm the only one who really love bouncing around in the Mako. Poor thing, hated by everyone.
Very good as usual. I know you want to skip Andromeda but I would be very interested to see your review in this one.
This review left me in shock. You did not mention whether you enjoyed the story and you were more critical than usual! An oddity of a review
It's quite good title, but damn completing those side missions. Same short level templates revolved with ridiculously little change. It's been some months I completed it, but still remember kind of an layout "corridor, killbox room turn left at end, corridor, another killbox and go straight and right to continue, corridor and after that t-section that had kill boxes and objectives at the ends". About that kinda layout happened all the time and got incredibly boring. I remembered that sidemissions weren't good, but didn't remember they were _that_ boring 🙂
"Light RPG mechanics with little to none choices". Wait until you play the Suicide Mission in ME2 :)
Having been recently playing through the series, I must say if you are efficient you can 100% this game in a short time. I blitzkrieged this game in about 28 hours doing literally ALL the content. Racking up credits early and buying the spectre gear prematurely ends the game essentially. As an engineer I laid waste to every enemy just using the pistol.
Jesus, Mort, it took me almost a month to get through this game (for the first time) last year.
My favorite video game series. It's so good
I killed Wrex in this game when it came to the argument between him and Shepherd, and ported my save file over to the other 2 games, he's the only companion that stayed dead throughout all 3 games for me. Always thought about going back and doing another play through with him alive since I missed all his dialogue after the first game.
As someone who played all 3 games with the default Commander Shepard face, it's so weird seeing a customized character.
I absolutely loved this game when it came out and still do. I find it much more engaging than the 2nd one, though I know I am in the minority on that. Though if you think this game is light on RPG mechanics 2 and 3 are down right anorexic.
I find it odd how when modern gamers go back and play this they all seem comment about how there are very few choices. Yet the game is chock full of choices at nearly ever turn. Practically every conversation contains a choice. I'm curious if people just don't realize they are making choices because they aren't aware of how what changes if they picked a different option, or if they just only consider things to be "real" choices if they have game altering, narrative shattering impact. Like during the Mission with the big "who to sacrifice choice" mentioned in the review, you can also choose whether or not to kill Wrex, to let the base researcher run from a nuke or not, and make several choices leading to the Salarian spec ops team living or dying. That's 4 in a single mission and just off the top of my head. There might actually be more. Hell you don't even have to recruit Wrex or Garrus in the game if you don't want to. There are so many choices.
I also appreciate the planet exploration where almost all of them are vast and barren. Makes it feel more real to me. I guess some people don't like them, but it's like complaining about having to manually brew potions in Kingdom Come or something. The tedium is kinda the point. At least in my opinion.
I think this game was amazing, especially the world building agreed. While the Mako did have issues the driving was improved alot. In the original the driving was well, just terrible. Now it's at least fine. Some planets terrain being more annoying than others.
If you find ME1 "light on the RPG mechanics", then I guess you'll feel that ME2 won't even have RPG mechanics at all x)
I'm exagerating, of course, but here you have, mechanically wise, the three games :
- ME1 is the more mechanically RPGesque of the three
- ME2 is the more action focused of the three
- ME3 take the middle road
Overall, I loved ME1, as a game and as a story. While you have choices to make in this game, it is true that they aren't that relevent in the first game. Your choices, howover, do have consequences in the second and third game, some of which can lead to major changes in the story. Every major events plays mostly the same way, however, so you don't really create alternate stories... Like, if you kill an important character that would become a leader of a faction in the next game, he won't be there, but there will still be a leader that gives you the same quest he would give. While Mass Effect Trilogy is still ranked in my top 10 favorite games of all time, the end of the trilogy is extremely disappointing... at least to me. My best advice would be, don't get your hopes up about the end of the road. I'm sure you heard all about the uproar this ending created within the fanbase and as I often find fan outrage ridiculous, I was on board with the indignation.
Companion wise :
- Garrus is a fan favorite, everyone loves him. He's okay... and he becomes more and more badass, to the point of being as much as a memetic badass as Shepard/him/herself.
- Tali is another fan favorite and overall considered the "cute nerdy waifu" by the fanbase. Besides that, her character developpement over the three games is one of the best, in my opinion
- Liara is my personal favorite as a romance and as a companion. She becomes darker and much more "adult" by the end of the trilogy and ends up as one of the wisest companions
- Wrex is just... Wrex... best bud, smartest of the brutes, coolest of the tough guys...
- Ashley... is hot. And that's pretty much her only readeeming feature in my opinion.
- Kaidan, while he can be boring compared to other companions, I find him much more interesting than the alternative and I end up keeping him over Ashley. And he is rather popular as "the nice guy" among the fans.
That's all for me, I hope you'll enjoy the trilogy as much as I did and I hope that you will stomach the ending much better than I did.
At least, there are patches and changes since the time I finished the third games and hopefully it is better.
What do you mean? There is so much RPG stuff. You can do...you can take your...you can build up...disregard. they really are light on RPG stuff.
Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 4 are two my all time favourites. Currently replaying ME trilogy, for like 8 th time. I give it a go like once a year. Incredible game, it never gets boring
Im gonna try to do this series. I heard for years that this game is amazing but never played it. Turns out I like sci fi shit so I might love this game
Gods I love how polarising these kinds of games are.
I found it to be very RP heavy, especially when played as a trilogy. The side content (while admittedly groanworthy with the reused scenery and empty worlds) has a decent bearing on this game's outcome and remaining games.
Garrus is always my ride or die. I find Ashley to be the completely vapid waste of pixels, have very little time for Tali. I don't *mind* Liara but she's kinda bland... but I LOVE Kaidan. He's got his own moral code (which I dislike but he stays true to himself which gains points for me - a lovely understated personality, he is a great example of a disabled character still being a powerful character despite that, and totally kicks ass if you gear him out right. That said, I play mainly as a sniper, so him and Garrus/Wrex make an unstoppable combination with my playstyle.
I also loved the combat in 1 and wish they had gone back to that style in 2&3.
The Mako however, that can die screaming off the edge of an asteroid 🤣🤣
16:29 I didn't sacrifice Kaiden so there's that. Even on my second walkthrough, Ashley bit the dust.
I feel I need to speak up for my boy Kaidan lol
First off, I played KotOR before I played Mass Effect for the first time, so having Carth Onasi on my ME crew made me happy :-)
Secondly, ME1 and ME2 are some of the only games that I've ever played that I can say I've done literally everything in, so having played through the entirety of that game on every difficult, with every class and completing every companion arc, Kaidan is actually stupidly overpowered!
He puts Wrex and Ashley to shame :-D
As a Biotic/Engineer he gains access to a skill that forget the name of, but he's the only character that gets it, and fully leveled it kills pretty much everything in the game in 1 hit!
Also, not a Kaidan defense thing, but in ME1 if you have a character use lift in an outdoor arena and then have a character use push while aiming at the sky, then that enemy will literally rocket into the stratosphere lol
It's completely unrelated to the topic, but it is that greatest thing that has ever been in video games, and everyone should experience Team Rocket blasting off an enemy at least once :-)
You taught me two things. I didn't know that it was the same voice actor and I never tried to push the lifted target UP. I always pushed away.
This is the only mass effect i played. I absolutely loved this game (original) when it came out. Still remains in my top 3 video game stories ever told.
Me2 is great, hope you enjoy it.
It was fumy watching this after playing so many years ago and remembering all the stuff about the side quests, the mako and the combat, and almost nothing about the main quest line. This seems to be one where my playstyle of 'explore everything first' really hurt me. I did enjoy the exploration of the universe they created.
Hey Mortismal as always love the review. I was wondering how do you deal with burnout. I tried to play through the mass effect games a couple of months ago and enjoyed it a lot but half way through the second game I was totally burnt out. I can’t even imagine 100%ing these games all in a row. How do you do it
I have a video about it but generally I switch up genres and play different types of games
I love driving Mako, it's super funny for me but i understand people who hate it. No matter which planet you're on, gravity feels very low while driving it.
Weirdly ME is one of my favorite series and universes but I’ve only played through it once. I’m almost scared to go back for a second playthrough (like 10 years later maybe?) because it might shatter my memories of how great the game was
The second game was even more of an third person action game than the first one.
Great review! Do you plan to review Andromeda as well?
Potentially havent made a decision yet
Kaden just needs an upgrade to be compatible with those new 1-X robots. (Futurama)
LOL about Kaidan being boring x) Mind you, I completely agree. He's just-- so bland. The other companions are *so* much more interesting and compelling in comparison. I knew you would love Garrus, Wrex and Tali :-P They're also my favourites from the OG Mass Effect, with Ash being a close 2nd spot. Now, before I start gushing about them and accidentally spoil any of their arcs / character development, I'm gonna stop myself right here :D I enjoyed watching this vid and hearing your thoughts about MELE1
I wish i could relive the entie playthrough for the first time, especially as Legendary Edition.
I agree about the exploration. It doesn't add a lot to the experience, and all it amounts to is just looking at pretty skyboxes, which is kind of a shame, because it could have been so much more, but Bioware has no idea how to make exploration actually interesting in their games. Dragon Age Inquisition had the exact same problem. The entire thing can easily be removed without much changing in how the story progresses or even how the game plays. Which is what Mass Effect 2 does pretty much. Granted, what replaces it is annoying, but it'd take it over the Mako any day.
Good review. The only thing I kinda have issues with is it not feeling like an rpg due to some lack of true choice that changes your story. I understand what you’re saying but there’s a lot of rpgs that do that. I don’t think anyone would say oblivion or fallout 3 aren’t rpgs at least I’d hope not yet both of these games have essentially no choice in them aside from very small things which ME1 also does. The paragon renegade system combined with some small story choices you get to decide and the lvling up with skills definitely make this feel like an rpg to me. Other than that I agree with basically everything else I played this game on launch as a kid and loved it. I went back to it when LE came out and man I forgot how bad the combat is. Still one of my favorite story’s in a video game tho.
My cursor was hovering over the unsub button as I thought you were about to diss Tali'.
Love how your descriptions of almost all of the companions is exactly how the community has viewed them for fifteen years now!
Did they change ME1? That was my favorite one, as it felt the most like an rpg of the trilogy. I enjoyed the stats required to be good with the weapons.
I didn't mind the mako like many others. I did hate that thing in ME2 though. So fragile.
Edit: If you think ME1 is light on rpg, you won't like 2 or 3. They're great action games, but are lighter on rpg than the 1st.
liking Garrus, Wrex and Tali, a man of culture I see
I feel the story is even better than Star Wars outside of the original trilogy. The fact that it takes place in the Milky Way and it's a story of which Sol and specifically Earth plays a key part is something somehow makes it more relatable or a higher sense of relevance. The characters are great too, about as good as it gets. It's a great example of why I'm into games more than movies.
I think I'm one of the few that liked ME 1 more than the others. It felt more rpg-ish to me still loved all of them other than the end of the last one. As soon as I hit sent you say this ones light on the RPG lol
Good show sir
My main problem with the way Kaiden was treated in the development is that unless you are romancing him he has the personality of a dead mouse. They hid a lot of his more "interesting" dialogue and background behind his romance which means you need to be a woman to see it. He was originally meant to be romanceable by men and women but they pulled out of that idea pretty far into development. Even though Ashley has more character in the first game I really prefer Kaiden later on and he is my canonical gay love so that's fun :-p