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Next Mass Effect Game


Zerimar Nyliram
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The graphical improvements between 1 and 2 are pretty solid, I dunno what was done in the remastering however the difference from one game to the other is as noticeable, if not more than I remember between the originals. Funnily I still had to modify My Shep’s eyebrow and iris color to darker shades, I think I had to do that with the original collector’s edition too.

Insert: Just saw that the ME3 causal wear is included in ME2, and FemShep can wear the hoodie! Pretty cool. I recall that being locked to BroShep originally and for no discernible reason.

Insert 2: Super weird that any class can use any weapon in ME1, when that was previously locked, but in ME2 it’s still locked. I dunno how the programming works, but I guess it was more troublesome to do in ME2.

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10 hours ago, Tank said:

I used Jack a lot, her Shockwave power is the best attack in the game to deal with clustered multiple enemies.

Interesting - will give her a go on the next few missions!   Love the flexibility on the games - just pick and choose the order of your missions.   Glad there is less ground searching on the planets - limited to specific missions.   That became a bit of a chore in ME1 if honest.    The scanning works just fine for me in ME2.

13 hours ago, zambingo said:

Mass Effect 1 complete.
Insanity defeated.
Paragon maxed.
Liara romanced.
Wrex saved.
Kaiden died.
Ascension saved.
Udina promoted.

Nice!   I'm doing Hardcore as this is my first time, and will return to each game to get that Insanity achievement after playing through all 3.  Mostly the same as you on ME1 - I saved Kaiden and promoted Anderson though.   

Also let the Rachni go, so that was nice to have a scene in ME2 referencing that being a good call.   Plus so many other little smaller choices to mention!  Very clever set of games to factor in all the variables.

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Oh yeah, I forgot about the Queen. I also let the the Rachni go.

Afterthought:

When you finish all these on Hardcore, you’ll likely fly thru ME1 on Insanity. The scaling isn’t too different from Hardcore to Insanity, if I remember correctly. Plus ME1 let’s you use whatever weapon you want with any class. I hope you have a blast.

I started on Insanity just to see if I could still play it at that difficulty and figured I’d get the achievement out of the way. In ME2 and 3 I now plan to just play on whatever difficulty I maintain fun with, just to re-experience the story. eg. I got tired of the freaking rocket launcher Vorcha on Mordin’s mission, so I dropped the diff to causal and Action Movied that mission.

Afterthought 2:

Went back to playing on Insanity, restarted with a different class as well. In ME1 my Shep was a Sentinel, but that class is very different in ME2 especially without an assault rifle option. Switched to Adept to get more of that Biotic stuff, but still wasn’t feeling it.

I unlocked Warp Ammo thru a loyalty quest with the Adept, and then thought it might round out the Sentinel good enough instead of that dumb Flashbang Grenade. I also had Barrier unlocked, but that felt superfluous with Tech Armor (prolly why Sentinel was tweaked so much). Warp Ammo is working well so far on an Insanity Sentinel run thru, it is slow and steady going however.

July 12, 2021 Insert:

Totally forgot ME2 ends up providing the player the opportunity to pick a new weapon. Sorta feels even weirder this way. lol BioWare should probably not have lifted the weapon restrictions in ME1.

Also Insanity II and Paramour II attained, no deaths. Had to let Garrus test FemShep’s flexibility to get Paramour II tho, the Devs still haven’t made it count with staying true to Liara. Gonna reload a slightly earlier manual save now, so the import will be Liara Romance throughout.

July 13, 2021 Insert:

My set up for ME2 Insanity has been to concentrate on how to tackle a mission rather than using which companions I like.

As such I have often used Mordin and Miranda with my Sentinel that has Reave as a bonus power for missions that are heavy with armor class enemies.

Being able to coordinate area effect armor damaging attacks is very useful especially against those enemies in the Reaper pool. I can reave a group, have Mordin splash incinerate (which also damages any stragglers’ remaining armor), then have Miranda fire off warp for stubborn armor enemies or slam as needed on specific no longer armored targets. All the while I have my Sentinel mix in Field Throw which instantly kills groups of unarmored husks. This squad combination works for barrier enemies as well, both because of their SMGs being rapid fire, but two of the three can use warp to also strip away barriers.

For shielded class enemy missions I usually select Garrus and Miranda. Then follow a similar pattern of crowd control attacks.

During solo missions or when the plot restricts who can fight with the player in a squad mission, Sentinel is a very useful Jack of All Trades. A Sentinel especially with area reave, overload, warp, and throw essentially is an entire squad of attack options. The challenge is only managing cover long enough for the power pool to recharge.

July 14, 2021 Insert:

I had to really tweak my Shep’s look for ME3. I know BioWare worked to have the imports look better, but I dunno… something about the facial animation rigs for ME3 and maybe the lighting engine is different. My Shep looked like she was stroking out in the worst way. I was able to fix it with different eyes, and adjusting the mouth. I also gave her a Bob haircut so even if the stroking out thing happens again at least the camera angle that BioWare likes will point at the side of her face that is mostly covered with her hairstyle. lol

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just happened upon this browsing covers on Spotify. If they ever make a Mass Effect film and need a “unexpected cover of a classic song” for the trailer, this should probably be it. lol

July 29, 2021 Insert: 

And… done. All insanity. The later missions in ME3 are still stupidly annoying in how they suddenly decide to have completely new gameplay mechanics. The ending is still fine as is, destroy anyway. lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice!  Congrats Zambingo!  I started ME3 this week after having a little breather between games.    Early days, but enjoying it so far.   Feel's odd having Earth being battered in the opening minutes and then going off exploring and recruiting - maybe the game should have started with them inbound to Earth as it feels by the time you have done some missions, Earth should be wiped clean! 

But regardless, I'm enjoying the side quests and building up the war assets whilst "putting the band back together" again!  Also ordered Andromeda just so I know I have another ME in reserve!  :yes:

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Just finished. I actually really like the first half of ME 3. There’s some great stuff— but post Citadel invasion it really becomes a slog of fly here-scan-fly back fetch quests that don’t help the story.

The DLCs are great and save things if you play them in this stretch, but I’ll never understand how Priority Earth isn’t anything special. There should have been mission planning and role selection like in ME2. I’m fine with the actual end, but everything leading up to it, and the random crash on a jungle planet post-script just don’t make a lot of sense.

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In regards to leaving Earth as it is attacked and then hopping around the galaxy feeling weird, that feeling is never more apparent for me than with the Citadel DLC (aka Anderson’s Apartment).

That isn’t to say I don’t enjoy the Citadel DLC, I just feel it’s content and tone are so shockingly out of place that I am surprised it was intentionally placed in the game where it is by professional storytellers.

If I ever replay the game I will either ignore it exists or play it as soon as it becomes available… ignoring how it can change slightly based on past companions which only unlock deep into the story. If I had magic wishes I could just waste on absurd things like this, I’d make it so this was the opening to the game that then ends with Shepard turning the Normandy over to Earth which then starts what is the opening presently.

Which would make it sorta like the opening of Star Trek 3 really in function. Also with the companions available at that time being those you had available at then end of ME2. Sort of an epilogue of that story bridging to the new story.

 

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I always play Citadel right before the final two missions. It serves as a good-bye to everyone that the game's original ending doesn't provide (which is what it was intended to fix.

It would work with a few simple line changes that I have firmly in my head canon. One-- the Normandy needs some level of repairs/refitting specifically for making the assault on Earth. And on top of that. Just imagine it as forced shore-leave and people are having a good time under protest.

It is a weird fit tonally, but I love those character bits enough to play it. Though it IS still glitchy with sometimes not letting you trigger meeting up with everyone before being prompted to throw the party. I had to go to a previous save.

Speaking of, lost Mordin as usual, but this time to a random roll in ME2. Wix was new to me this run through, and I liked him. Kept Kaiden for something different even though Ashley is preferable. Lost Samara because my controller died and I couldn't do the interrupt to keep her from killing herself. Otherwise, everyone was there.

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I can't find it now, but there was this hilarious Tweet made meme about Ashley that centered on the Ashley vs Kaiden argument. And an Ashley person said that if you kept her she had a great story arc. The Kaiden person said 'She has an amazing arc in my canon too. You meet her, she's really racist, then she dies in a nuclear explosion. Beginning, middle, end."

They are both terrible, but I find Kaiden to be such an insufferable beta boy, always asking for "clarification" on things and needing coddling. At least Ashley is hot in ME3.

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The “kill Ashley because she is racist” thing always made me laugh considering almost every character in Mass Effect is some shade of racist.

That said, I kill Kaidan. My reasoning is the implied working relationship and familiarity between Kaidan and Shepard. It’s such a super important moment, securing that bomb, that it felt weird to me to send a noob and then not rescuing him just felt more logical given he literally says he’s being overrun and is gonna just blow it.

I am also able to stomach Ashley’s resistance to trusting Shepard in 2 and 3 given Ash’s smaller amount of time around her.

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  • 1 month later...

After taking my time (and also due to a busy old month or so!), finished up ME3 late last night!   A strange one - I was aware of the negative feeling towards the game, but I enjoyed playing it.  There are just a few things that let it down when you look back on the experience.   Totally agree with Tank on the fetch missions which became silly in terms of minimal rewards for jumping all over the galaxy.   

But biggest gripe is what I mentioned earlier with the Earth being battered (along with many other homeworlds) and we are flying around finding a statue or a fossil... And the Crucible is built in super quick time also - that should have been something that was started in secret at the end of an earlier game maybe.   If the Earth was threatened at the start and then maybe under attack somewhen after the half way point-ish, maybe that also sorts that weird feeling out.

The DLC elements were really good - enjoyed Leviathan in particular.  Really interesting back story revealed, and the several missions being set in a few locations - very nicely done.  Can't believe this wasn't released with the original game.   

Citadel DLC  was something totally different to anything else in the trilogy and good fun.   Although that clone fight on the Normandy was a nightmare for me.   Maybe it was my build or something (Infiltrator through all 3 games and using Liara and Garrus).  This was the only roadblock of the 3 games for me!!   Insta-death so many (effing!!) times!

And then the ending.   Yeah, no correct choice I think here.   Matter of opinion based on all the chats you have had with everyone in the game on the subject.   Quite noticeable when chatting away during the course of the game - the hints of what is to come.

I went with Destroy as it felt like the right ending for the game (and had built up over 8k war assets with my "completion-ist" need to finish all side quests, so got the hopeful ending that he survives).  Break the cycle, pass on the teachings to the next generation to (hopefully) avoid Organics v Synthetics in the future.   Control - don't think anyone person/entity should have that power, and Synthesis (while the happy ending with everyone all loving each other) just felt wrong to force on others.   Also what happens when another organic civilisations start to rise (or visits from another galaxy not affected by the relays)?

Trophy-wise, maxed out ME1 and ME2 list, just missing the 3 Insanity ones on the Legendary list (finished all 3 on Hardcore only as it was my first time), and then in ME3 need to do a Game+ to get a weapon to level 10, and also beat the mirror match - haven't touched the arena as yet (again just felt wrong when you are trying to save the galaxy!).   So that was a good haul!  :yes:

Brilliant trilogy - loved every minute of it!  (apart from that damn clone!!  Ha ha!!)   Looking forward to playing Andromeda later in the year after a couple of others I want to try first.

And bring on more info on the next game which started this whole thread off!

 

*Oh and little edit - romances for the Paramour trophies were:

ME1 - Liara

ME2 - Miranda (with a bit of smoochies for Liara on her DLC)

ME3 - Liara

Can't beat a bit of blue!  :yes:

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To be fair… Miranda’s ass.

Did you lose her in ME3? The time I hooked up with her in 2 and didn’t continue in 3 she killed herself.

Ive only played as dude Shep twice, and it was Ashley/Miranda/Ashley one time (shoulda stayed with Miranda) and Ashley/Jack/Jack the second.

The citadel Jack scene if you are romancing her is one of the best scenes in the series. She gives Shep his first tattoo, but then breaks down and says it’s so his body can be identified if he dies on Earth.

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Also, I always go back to infiltrator builds as well. Liara and Garrus also being my go tos for most missions in ME3 for the best combos and variety of attack types. Garrus and Jack for ME2.

As for that clone… I always play Citadel last before the final mission so I’m pretty maxed out. I like Flare as my bonus power as it creates nice satisfying explodes detonations.  I also max out tactical claim to be able to have a free attack in cloak. I also tend to run light with only a single weapon (scoped assault rifle or a sniper rifle with high ROF).

 As infiltrator with Garrus and Liara, I would hit my tactical cloak so the clone loses me, have Garrus hit him with overload to stall his attacks, then have Liara hit him with warp or Singularity and then hit him with Flare while still cloaked. When I drop out I get to cover and take a few shots at him with grenades or my gun from cover. Wait for cool down, and repeat.

If definitely played with other builds where the clone was a nightmare.

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2 hours ago, Tank said:

To be fair… Miranda’s ass.

Did you lose her in ME3? The time I hooked up with her in 2 and didn’t continue in 3 she killed herself.

Ive only played as dude Shep twice, and it was Ashley/Miranda/Ashley one time (shoulda stayed with Miranda) and Ashley/Jack/Jack the second.

The citadel Jack scene if you are romancing her is one of the best scenes in the series. She gives Shep his first tattoo, but then breaks down and says it’s so his body can be identified if he dies on Earth.

Ah man - Miranda has all the curves in all the right places!  She stayed alive for me - I didn't break up properly with her when the subject came up on the Citadel (hedging my bets!) and after that by the time I next saw her I had committed to Liara, so seemed to play out fine and she survived the game.      Sounds like a nice scene with Jack!

6 minutes ago, Tank said:

Also, I always go back to infiltrator builds as well. Liara and Garrus also being my go tos for most missions in ME3 for the best combos and variety of attack types. Garrus and Jack for ME2.

As for that clone… I always play Citadel last before the final mission so I’m pretty maxed out. I like Flare as my bonus power as it creates nice satisfying explodes detonations.  I also max out tactical claim to be able to have a free attack in cloak. I also tend to run light with only a single weapon (scoped assault rifle or a sniper rifle with high ROF).

 As infiltrator with Garrus and Liara, I would hit my tactical cloak so the clone loses me, have Garrus hit him with overload to stall his attacks, then have Liara hit him with warp or Singularity and then hit him with Flare while still cloaked. When I drop out I get to cover and take a few shots at him with grenades or my gun from cover. Wait for cool down, and repeat.

If definitely played with other builds where the clone was a nightmare.

Ah ok - so maybe just doing it a bit early on possibly, and maybe adjustment on skill upgrades.   I had been using Lash as my bonus as kind of like the Jedi (probs Sith actually!) feel to it! Will keep those tips in mind next time.

Enjoyed playing as Infiltrator through the 3 games!  

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On 7/30/2021 at 6:56 PM, Tank said:

I can't find it now, but there was this hilarious Tweet made meme about Ashley that centered on the Ashley vs Kaiden argument. And an Ashley person said that if you kept her she had a great story arc. The Kaiden person said 'She has an amazing arc in my canon too. You meet her, she's really racist, then she dies in a nuclear explosion. Beginning, middle, end."

They are both terrible, but I find Kaiden to be such an insufferable beta boy, always asking for "clarification" on things and needing coddling. At least Ashley is hot in ME3.

They both should have survived Virmire and Ashley should have been blown out of the Normandy with Shepard and set up as an Illusive Man insurance policy had Shepard gone rogue as he did.  Or, that's what they should do in the movies/streaming series instead of the generic Kai Leng nonsense.

Also... it's amazing how right people are about the Indoctrination theory and yet so wrong about the actually nature of it.  The whole game is about Indoctrination and the choices are whether or not the Reapers successfully were able to capture Shepard.  There are numerous signs pointing at the Reapers trying to indoctrinate and the visage of the little boy who died on earth is Shepard's conscious keeping him from succumbing.  That's why the Catalyst took the shape of the boy, so they could manipulate Shepard's emotions and get him to move towards the direction of full control and choosing synthesis or control.  The only reason Bioware has never confirmed the Indoctrination theory is because the equation is correct, the solution and answer aren't.

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  • 5 months later...

I've been out of work for a few weeks with a now Lumbar Stenosis diagnosis; so, after the rumors of an Amazon TV series hit, I got busy writing up a spec treatment for an Amazon series that is both faithful and yet differentiates itself from the original trilogy. Here's a breakdown of the four seasons in episode form, without summary, that gives an idea of how I'd break the three games down...

 

MASS EFFECT: Season 1
1.     Eden Prime                     
2.     Citadel                     
3.     Spectre                     
4.     Terra Nova                     
5.     Feros                     
6.     Noveria                     
7.     Cerberus                     
8.     Virmire
9.     Conduit
10.     Sovereign

MASS EFFECT: Season 2
1.     Lair of the Shadow Broker             
2.     Lazarus Project                 
3.     Omega Heat                     
4.     The Team                     
5.     Clan Urdnot                    
6.     Horizon                     
7.     The Collectors                 
8.     Specters                     
9.     Overlord                     
10.     Subject Zero                 
11.     Sins of the Father                 
12.     Legion                     
13.     Vas Normandy                 
14.     Trojan                     
15.     Omega-4                      

MASS EFFECT: Season 3
1.     The Arrival                 
2.     Ghosts of Mars                 
3.     The Lost Empire                 
4.     Grissom Evac                 
5.     Primarch                     
6.     Eve                     
7.     Honor                     
8.     Shroud                     
9.     Kai Leng                     
10.   Vendetta                     

MASS EFFECT: Season 4
1.     Ashes                     
2.     Rannoch                     
3.     Brighter Days                 
4.     The Ruler of Omega                 
5.     Leviathan                     
6.     Sanctuary                     
7.     Catalyst
8.     Sword Fleet
9.     London
10.     An End, Once and For All

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Casting:

Jacob Elordi as Commander Shepard

Maude Apatow as Liara

Joel Kinnaman as Garrus

Idris Elba as Saren

Anya Taylor-Joy

Algee Smith as Kaidan Alenko

Hailee Steinfeld as Ashley Williams

Colman Domingo as Captain Anderson

Sigourney Weaver as Udina

Jeremy Irons as Vigil

Andy Serkis as Wrex; Sovereign

Kieran Culkin as Joker

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