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Mass Effect isn't perfect and that angers me.
So I like Bioware. I like KOTOR. I like Jade Empire. I like Dragon Age. Yes, I even like Mass Effect. That said, of those four I find Mass Effect to be the weakest of their 'primary' entries. (Time will tell if The Old Republic makes me care about MMORPGs) Of all the games out there it seems to be the most confused about what it is, trying to capture both the new military sci-fi market and maintain its hardcore RPG crowd which leads me to my first point:
1) The stupid shit Bioware says about the games: Between the contradictory statements of whether it would be more action-y or more RPG-y and their absolutely boneheaded assertations that RPGs are just 'games with good stories' a big part of me feels the series is fortunate to be running on so much momentum because such nonsense would probably signal bad things for a less known game, though they might not have been given so much publicity and as such so many chances to dine on delicious foot.
2)That dumbass Paragon-Renegade dichotimy: Yes, yes, I know it's not a strict good-or-evil morality path technically speaking but the net result is the same. You choose goody goody points or dickhead points to get different options or endings. What's worse is that Mass Effect shoehorns you by penalizing any attempts at a mixed route so you have to go either all Paragon or all Renegade which isn't so much roleplaying as it is 'press a to get the ending you want' especially in 2 where even saying the wrong thing at any point could get you points in the direction you don't want, and then later in the game it just goes 'oh fuck it' and gives you the choice to put full points in one of the other which you need because otherwise you get a crap ending.
This was one thing I felt Dragon Age got right with its approval system. Morality is a subjective thing after all, and you'll be more affected by how your comrades judge your actions than you will be how some vague authority does and it makes the reasons and while it still has an 'all the way' aspect to it, chances are you won't lose out on everyone from actually roleplaying.
3)The writing. It's certainly not bad, especially not in comparison to the majority of other games. 2 in particular has some really great character work. However it can be inconsistent, such as the point with Cerberus. In the first game they're an unambiguously evil group dedicated to throwing people into the mouth of a Thresher Maw to find out just what exactly happens when you throw people into the mouth of a Thresher Maw. Come the second game they're practically the Illuminati having the ability to bring Shepherd back from the dead and operating as a vast conspiracy to the point of their true reasons being purely unknown to anyone outside the group. This is just one of the numerous hiccups and writing flaws the game runs into, possibly because of the balancing act between macho gun-blazing and a genuine story with a complex world.
4) They're adding multiplayer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't have to play it, yadda yadda, but like I've said when discussing Skyrim's lack of appeal to me I like my games to have some measure of focus and adding something as ancillary as multiplayer is sure to lose focus. I can't say for certain it won't outdo the heavy multiplayer hitters but I certainly doubt it will and that's time, money, people, and other resources that are taken away from the game proper on a portion a good deal of its hardcore fanbase won't be interested in. The only real appealing thing I can see in it is the option to play other races but there's no way any alien in multiplayer is going to be as fulfilling or interesting as Shepherd's adventure.
teal deer: Bioware is stupid because they don't do things exactly like I want them to at all times.
Comments
sorry, sorry, I'll shut up, damn, sorry
I really enjoyed both ME and ME2. For all their flaws, they were excellent at drawing me in. Perhaps it was just the consistent experience of being a space captain with decent tactical control over my crew. Between those elements and the execution, it felt like I was partaking of Star Wars, Star Trek and Warhammer 40k all at once. Especially in 2, where the whole game was based around readying for a semi-known objective and combat encounter.
I loved pretty much every other thing about the games, though. I even tolerated the Paragon/Renegade system, because it's not like it's markedly worse than most games with a Karma system.
Gimme planet scanning any day.
Agreed, as boring as scanning was. It was infinitely better than the Mako.
EDIT: Ninja'd
While none of that is strictly bad it was jarring when compared to the first game where the plot felt more tightly knit.
Though I have to admit, the gameplay WAS improved from the first to the second game. Yeah it played like Gears of War, but it was still really fun. I just wish they didn't gut the RPG elements.
A lot of people are expecting this and refusing to buy ME3 because of this, just so you know.
Semi-related, even though I liked the first 2 Me games, I'm not all that excited for ME3.