|
Like, it's difficult to overstate Mass Effect's influence on modern video games. Even non-RPG hits like The Walking Dead, for instance, wouldn't exist without Mass Effect pioneering this immersive voice actor-driven dialogue system. We take it for granted in games of all kinds now, but it was such a bold move at the time.
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 12:54 |
|
|
Android Blues posted:The main antagonist, Saren, barely interacts with the player character and in retrospect is not really memorably written. Matriarch Benezia is an evil booby witch. "Argh! Rawr! Argh!" - Saren
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:05
|
|
|
Novaria was my favorite. But it's been ages since I played it, probably forgetting some stuff.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:06
|
|
|
What the hell was Benezia's role in the game even. I think she gives you the coordinates to the Mu relay then immediately dies or something
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:06
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:It's incredible how little sense ME1's plot makes if you do the plot missions in the "wrong" order. Always get Liara last.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:08
|
|
|
RBA Starblade posted:"Argh! Rawr! Argh!" - Saren This was the most nonsensical scene in the entire series and it sticks out because it's not even from Shepard's perspective, unlike every single other plot beat in the game. I think they realized they had to add it when they realized nobody would know who da gently caress Benezia was or what she looked like until they were 20 hours in.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:08
|
|
|
Actually imho the most interesting part of the ME1 lore is how much time and care they spent on how organics gained the ability to use biotic powers and the effects these had on the environment and given that the name of the series was Mass Effect it's sad that they backed off on a lot of their ideas for what was going on in the universe for the dumb AI plot. Android Blues posted:Mass Effect 1 was incredible in all ways for its time. Like, we should remember that the western RPG was just about as dead as a doornail in 2007 when Mass Effect came out, and ME1 not only revitalised the genre, it pretty much single-handedly reinvented it. It raised the bar for what people expected from RPGs in general, and took them from a niche speciality product, the contemporary pinnacle of which was the highly questionable Neverwinter Nights 2, into the AAA mainstream. These are all good points. The thing to remember is that it's all still video game writing so it's not even that good at its peak, and even with the failings of ME1 from a writing perspective were matched or exceeded by the failures of ME3.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:09
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:What the hell was Benezia's role in the game even. I think she gives you the coordinates to the Mu relay then immediately dies or something Yes, and also ties in to Liara's backstory, but it's dumb that "they made your mother evil! Now she's an evil mom!" is basically the extent of the plot point in total. She's effectively just Saren's henchman to serve as a midboss.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:09
|
|
|
Cheap narrative device: a vagrant girl with critical evidence against a rogue government agent is conscripted into an elite spec-ops task force instead of being put into protective custody Cheap narrative device: all physical evidence corroborating the hero's theory about killer robot gods is coincidentally destroyed, nuked or rendered unusable shortly after the hero finds it Cheap narrative device: the villain has the hero at their mercy and chooses to dangle them over a ledge for several seconds instead of throwing them off or using his superior strength to snap their neck Cheap narrative device: in the climactic battle, the hero is apparently killed by collapsing debris. the hero waits until it seems their friends have given up all hope of their survival before clambering over the rubble with little difficulty and posing for dramatic effect Cheap narrative device: the hero decides who will become humanity's representative to the galactic government and one of the most powerful people in history. this representative can potentially be a mid-ranking military officer with no diplomatic or political experience
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:09
|
|
|
exquisite tea posted:This was the most nonsensical scene in the entire series and it sticks out because it's not even from Shepard's perspective, unlike every single other plot beat in the game. I think they realized they had to add it when they realized nobody would know who da gently caress Benezia was or what she looked like until they were 20 hours in. It's awesome that Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 both have godawful first chapters, and Mass Effect 2's opening is loving incredible to make up for it
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:11
|
|
|
Yeah it's amazing how you can make a decent game story even using cheap narrative devices if you spend some time crafting a narrative that's internally coherent and consistently respects the lore and setting. [I attempt to convey this point using a ghost child running through the woods]
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:11
|
|
|
Lt. Danger posted:Cheap narrative device: a vagrant girl with critical evidence against a rogue government agent is conscripted into an elite spec-ops task force instead of being put into protective custody During time-critical missions where each second could put more and more lives at risk, Our Heroes stop to get lore information from computers, one of which is actually the Bad Guy doing a monologue.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:12
|
|
|
"You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it" -- something I wish they honored in regards to the Mass Effect series.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:15
|
|
|
remember Saren's cool surfboard thing
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:15
|
|
|
Hey Moola what was your go to class for multiplayer. I usually ran with a N7 Demolisher or N7 Sentinel. The Vorcha with the flamethrower was crazy fun too.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:16
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:During time-critical missions where each second could put more and more lives at risk, Our Heroes stop to get lore information from computers, one of which is actually the Bad Guy doing a monologue. Tragically, they left the lens cap on the camera the whole time.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:15
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:remember Saren's cool surfboard thing They should bring the surfboard back in MEA
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:17
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:It's awesome that Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 both have godawful first chapters, and Mass Effect 2's opening is loving incredible to make up for it Unless you want to replay it because gently caress that unavoidable 10min walk through the ship.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:18
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:remember Saren's cool surfboard thing Saren: I've been... synthetically modified by the Reapers to be of more use to them. You might say I'm now totally tubular!
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:18
|
|
|
I'm still sort of cheesed that ME3 has a whole thing where you can make peace between the Geth and the Quarians with no particular narrative indication that it's a doomed relationship until it turns out that AI's and biologicals hate each other to the point that it's worth creating a a galactic cycle of genocide to prevent it from destroying everything. I really would have preferred the dark energy thing and don't really understand why the didn't go with it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:19
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:It's awesome that Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 both have godawful first chapters, and Mass Effect 2's opening is loving incredible to make up for it What's so great about ME2's opening? The miraculous resurrection is basically ignored for the rest of the game.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:19
|
|
|
Thor-Stryker posted:Unless you want to replay it because gently caress that unavoidable 10min walk through the ship. i liked it. For all the talk about ME1's "atmosphere" walking through the blowing-up Normandy delivered that in spades
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:20
|
|
|
exquisite tea posted:This was the most nonsensical scene in the entire series and it sticks out because it's not even from Shepard's perspective, unlike every single other plot beat in the game. I think they realized they had to add it when they realized nobody would know who da gently caress Benezia was or what she looked like until they were 20 hours in. Gonna have to strongly disagree with this. The scene is deeply stupid the first time you see it. The room is flashing red and saren is being an insane retard. However if you consider it after the sovereign reveal and drip of info about indoctrination it is a lot less dumb. The only scene on board sovereign features a character best described as cunning, cool in the face of his enemies, manipulative, etc, pitching a total lunatic fit because his space ship boss is influencing him. Every other scene with saren is planetside or as a hologram. Away from sovereign in any case. He's well spoken, albeit agitated by the circumstances around him, and attempts to justify himself to the player. The flashing red lights are ham-handed and dumb but indicate how angry sovereign is that a loose thread is dangling. The scene works a lot better if you just treat it as an early hint towards sarens indoctrination.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:20
|
|
|
Rinkles posted:What's so great about ME2's opening? The miraculous resurrection is basically ignored for the rest of the game. It just kind of immediately gets the gently caress going while immediately setting up short-term and long-term conflicts for Shepard while more importantly keeping the pace up. ME2 may be the best paced game ever made.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:21
|
|
|
Pattonesque posted:They should bring the surfboard back in MEA You know what, this is a great point. Why can't we get one of those? The technology clearly exists! Reverse engineer it! Let us surf! exquisite tea posted:This was the most nonsensical scene in the entire series and it sticks out because it's not even from Shepard's perspective, unlike every single other plot beat in the game. I think they realized they had to add it when they realized nobody would know who da gently caress Benezia was or what she looked like until they were 20 hours in. It's actually interesting how RPGs used to do these Saturday morning cartoon-style "scene from the perspective of the villains plotting a scheme" scenes all the time, and Mass Effect is sort of in the awkward transition period where they were changing the whole paradigm of the RPG, but hadn't realised that they wanted to get rid of that element yet. Like, Neverwinter Nights 2, which came out the previous year, has a bunch of scenes like that. Pretty much every classic JRPG I can think of has several of them. But after Mass Effect, the style has almost permanently shifted to keeping the perspective consistently on one of the controllable characters and never changing perspective to a scene without the player character in it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:21
|
|
|
Thor-Stryker posted:Unless you want to replay it because gently caress that unavoidable 10min walk through the ship. I started something like 12 characters on 360 and the worst part is waiting for Miranda and TIM to stfu.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:21
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:It just kind of immediately gets the gently caress going while immediately setting up short-term and long-term conflicts for Shepard while more importantly keeping the pace up. ME2 may be the best paced game ever made. Yeah like basically the opening with the Collector attack is only five minutes, then within an hour of playing the game you've done the two intro missions, met Miranda/Jacob, met Tali, met the Illusive Man, and already know who the big bad guy is. It's like a clinic in the proper way to roll out a sprawling 40+ hour game at just the right timing.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:24
|
|
|
ME2 does break from Shepard's perspective twice - TIM in the beginning and Joker later on (and a third time if Shepard dies). e: plus a bunch of other times where we cut away to other characters but Shepard is generally around and involved in the scene Lt. Danger fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Dec 2, 2016 |
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:25
|
|
|
ME2's opening was atmospheric and exciting and well crafted and utterly retarded because it was a giant waste of time to comport with the Hackneyed RPG trope of starting your character with minimal powers and needing to level him up. Not to mention the whole resurrection angle was kinda left by the wayside in 3.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:26
|
|
|
It's a basic death-rebirth Campbellian trope so I'd've been surprised if Bioware didn't use it. Also there are a bunch of dull conversations about Shepard's resurrection and Cerberus recruitment in ME3 specifically to address all the fans who moaned about it not popping up enough in ME2.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:29
|
|
|
Alain Post posted:It just kind of immediately gets the gently caress going while immediately setting up short-term and long-term conflicts for Shepard while more importantly keeping the pace up. ME2 may be the best paced game ever made. Pacing an open world game seems hard/impossible. Lt. Danger posted:It's a basic death-rebirth Campbellian trope so I'd've been surprised if Bioware didn't use it. Didn't have to pop up as a dull conversation. Could of been more in the vein of what Overlord touched on.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:32
|
|
|
Shepard absolutely didn't need to die and it was just a way to start you without a crew or powers, they might have been using it for some other eventually unused plot point but as it stands it was useless and bad.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:33
|
|
|
A Buff Gay Dude posted:they might have been using it for some other eventually unused plot point That's what I always suspected.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:35
|
|
|
Android Blues posted:Liara has the added drag of being a shy nerd who is hopelessly in wuv with Shepard for no adequately explained reason. Reminder that Liara is basically a teenager as far as her species is concerned, and probably hormonal af.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:34
|
|
|
Reclaimer posted:Reminder that Liara is basically a teenager as far as her species is concerned, and probably hormonal af. Oh well I guess that's OK then
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:35
|
|
|
Shepard's death allows Shepard to be able to work with the geth/Cerberus and skips over the Council forgetting all about Saren and the Reapers.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:36
|
|
|
Dear gamer nerd. please gently caress our blue spacebabe, her entire characterization in the sequels depends on it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:37
|
|
|
e) beaten
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:37
|
|
|
Lt. Danger posted:Shepard's death allows Shepard to be able to work with the geth/Cerberus and skips over the Council forgetting all about Saren and the Reapers. The latter is also helped by the fact that the Council got Reap'd again! in most playthroughs.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 12:54 |
|
|
Lt. Danger posted:Shepard's death allows Shepard to be able to work with the geth/Cerberus and skips over the Council forgetting all about Saren and the Reapers. This could have been accomplished just as easily by Sheppard getting fed the gently caress up with the councils politics and going deep cover, the first game established that Saren could do the same but actually work against everyone and still freaking keep his job. It's pretty obvious it was for some story beat that got thrown in the dustbin when drew left.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:39
|
|