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Why mass effect is important and underrated
Posted on 12/31/12 at 10:10 am
Posted on 12/31/12 at 10:10 am
LINK
This is a pretty long read but it brings up a lot of good points. Some mild spoilers.
When I played the mass effect series I tended to explore all the conversation options to learn as much as I could about the characters and races, but I never really took to heart the grander implications. I tended to regard ME as a great series because the gameplay mechanics were fun, the moral/ethical decisions, player customizability, etc. I never really appreciated how deep the series as a whole. Retrospectively I feel that myself and most others have underrated the series as a whole. Do y'all feel like the series gets glossed over by gamers as a "good game" without really being critically evaluated? Do you feel differently about the series after reading that article?
This is a pretty long read but it brings up a lot of good points. Some mild spoilers.
When I played the mass effect series I tended to explore all the conversation options to learn as much as I could about the characters and races, but I never really took to heart the grander implications. I tended to regard ME as a great series because the gameplay mechanics were fun, the moral/ethical decisions, player customizability, etc. I never really appreciated how deep the series as a whole. Retrospectively I feel that myself and most others have underrated the series as a whole. Do y'all feel like the series gets glossed over by gamers as a "good game" without really being critically evaluated? Do you feel differently about the series after reading that article?
4
Posted on 12/31/12 at 10:18 am to puffulufogous
I was going to come into here and comment on how this series is one of the most overrated IPs ever living off Bioware's good name, but the article is trying to angle a series that's won GOTY awards with every entry as underrated.
I also think that so many flaws get passed over because of things and ideas like this. Because it has a universe, we'll go ahead and ignore these issues.
I also think that so many flaws get passed over because of things and ideas like this. Because it has a universe, we'll go ahead and ignore these issues.
This post was edited on 12/31/12 at 10:21 am
Posted on 12/31/12 at 10:27 am to puffulufogous
Mass Effect underrated? You crazy?
ME1 and ME2 deserve all the praise they get. They are in no way underrated. Everyone recognizes how great those 2 games are and how groundbreaking the ideas were. ME3 is one of the most overrated (by the industry) pieces of crap I've ever played.
Just because the third entry ruined what was a great trilogy doesn't mean the series is underrated.
This post was edited on 12/31/12 at 10:38 am
Posted on 12/31/12 at 10:35 am to oauron
To be fair I don't think the article really says that the series is underrated. That was more my thoughts in consideration of the article saying "this is why ME is important."
I won't say that the series didn't have flaws. Hell the biotics were awful in the first one, the story develops a little slowly, and the gameplay doesn't really do anything revolutionary. That being said the fact that it has its own universe doesn't make mass effect important. To me the underrated aspect of the series is the multitude of sociopolitical aspects of each race and the interplay between races. Not to mention all the variables that accumulate over the entire series. My point was that most gamers including myself judged the series on conventional gaming grounds without really considering the complexity of the universe and the story as a whole.
quote:
I also think that so many flaws get passed over because of things and ideas like this. Because it has a universe, we'll go ahead and ignore these issues.
I won't say that the series didn't have flaws. Hell the biotics were awful in the first one, the story develops a little slowly, and the gameplay doesn't really do anything revolutionary. That being said the fact that it has its own universe doesn't make mass effect important. To me the underrated aspect of the series is the multitude of sociopolitical aspects of each race and the interplay between races. Not to mention all the variables that accumulate over the entire series. My point was that most gamers including myself judged the series on conventional gaming grounds without really considering the complexity of the universe and the story as a whole.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 10:37 am to Scruffy
Why is ME 3 a "piece of crap"? Just wondering why so many people have so much hate for the final installment
Posted on 12/31/12 at 10:48 am to puffulufogous
Because they took the core idea of the game, choices having consequences, and shite all over it. They removed the impact of some of the harder choices from the first two games. A perfect example is the rachni. If you made the hard choice to destroy the rachni, it's alright, we had another "last one in the universe" hidden behind that curtain.
They shortened the gameplay significantly for one of the most useless MP games in the history of video games. They went the money route, rather than making a truly great game. And before you say, "they are a business and need to make their money back," this was the final installment of what many considered to be one of the greatest series of all time. People were going to buy it. Also, their "resources" system was as dumb as a left handed tennis racket.
The main enemy throughout the entire series, the Reapers, play second fiddle to the freaking Illusive Man. Seriously? That was just retarded. We build up to the climax and then we don't even focus on the main enemy.
Two words: Star Child. Needs no explanation.
Oh, and despite all the choices that you make, you get the same 3 endings which are exactly the same except for the color of the light.
Overall, they dumbed down the game, removed its core elements, and added an abortion of a MP.
*EXHALE*
Whew. I haven't ranted about shite Effect 3 in a while. That felt good.
frick EA. They'll probably do the same thing to Dead Space 3. They've added a MP to that game too. Not every game needs to be MP.
They shortened the gameplay significantly for one of the most useless MP games in the history of video games. They went the money route, rather than making a truly great game. And before you say, "they are a business and need to make their money back," this was the final installment of what many considered to be one of the greatest series of all time. People were going to buy it. Also, their "resources" system was as dumb as a left handed tennis racket.
The main enemy throughout the entire series, the Reapers, play second fiddle to the freaking Illusive Man. Seriously? That was just retarded. We build up to the climax and then we don't even focus on the main enemy.
Two words: Star Child. Needs no explanation.
Oh, and despite all the choices that you make, you get the same 3 endings which are exactly the same except for the color of the light.
Overall, they dumbed down the game, removed its core elements, and added an abortion of a MP.
*EXHALE*
Whew. I haven't ranted about shite Effect 3 in a while. That felt good.
frick EA. They'll probably do the same thing to Dead Space 3. They've added a MP to that game too. Not every game needs to be MP.
This post was edited on 12/31/12 at 10:56 am
Posted on 12/31/12 at 11:32 am to puffulufogous
quote:
Hell the biotics were awful in the first one
Correct. The actual combat in this series is incredibly bad. It's a terrible 3rd person shooter with some skills.
quote:
To me the underrated aspect of the series is the multitude of sociopolitical aspects of each race and the interplay between races. Not to mention all the variables that accumulate over the entire series
See, my thoughts are that none of the backstory matters if it isn't accessible (don't have to go side quest #9845 or read log #436 to get that backstory) or at least interesting. I found all of the sociopolitical aspects incredibly dull and waste of time at points. Especially with dealing with the council. Now, there are some neat aspects about each race and the cultural norms they have, but that's not uncommon in science fiction. To go along with that, nothing is out of the ordinary with Mass Effect. It's almost a cookie-cutter science fiction universe and I think it's funny that anyone would call the universe or story complex.
Now, I don't want to rag on the game too much. I did enjoy both ME1 and ME2, but I didn't think either was any better than 7.5 or 8/10. Due to this, I tend to take a harsher stance as I don't understand why it gets so much disproportionate praise.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 11:33 am to Scruffy
quote:
frick EA. They'll probably do the same thing to Dead Space 3. They've added a MP to that game too. Not every game needs to be MP.
Dead Space 2 has multiplayer and that turned out ok...
Posted on 12/31/12 at 11:52 am to oauron
quote:Hmmm...I actually did not know that, and I've played the campaign twice.
Dead Space 2 has multiplayer and that turned out ok...
DS2 was good. I felt the original had more of a suspenseful feel to it though.
I've read a good bit about DS3 and I really don't have that much hope for it. The addition of a co-op campaign that isn't the normal campaign takes away some resources which should have been spent on the single player.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 11:54 am to Scruffy
I thought mass effect 3 had the perfect ending to a great series.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 11:56 am to Blitzed
quote:I swear....you....grrr....angry....
I thought mass effect 3 had the perfect ending to a great series.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 12:16 pm to puffulufogous
I think all three games were great right up to the ending of 3 and then they dropped the ball HARD!
Posted on 12/31/12 at 12:45 pm to DoUrden
Mass Effect 3 was nowhere near the abortion that Dragon Age 2 was but yeah, EA screwed the pooch on two great series.
I liked how Mass Effect 3 handled the war between the Geth and the Quarians. I also liked some of the boss fights. I liked how your choices affected what species worked on the crucible... But as scruffy said, they took a series about choices made through multiple games and bottlenecked all the choices into one fricking ending
As one chart put it
I liked how Mass Effect 3 handled the war between the Geth and the Quarians. I also liked some of the boss fights. I liked how your choices affected what species worked on the crucible... But as scruffy said, they took a series about choices made through multiple games and bottlenecked all the choices into one fricking ending
As one chart put it
Posted on 12/31/12 at 1:49 pm to puffulufogous
quote:
Retrospectively I feel that myself and most others have underrated the series as a whole.
I personally view it as one of the best RPG trilogies ever made. No other game has made me feel the way mass effect has when *SPOILERS* Mordin died, when Legion died, when Anderson died, etc. The game play was fun, but the story depth and the character attachment in the series are second to none.
The fact that the developers released an extended ending due to fan outrage tells you how important the series is. What other game can you think of that has such a following and love in people's hearts that they could create enough of an outcry for the devs to listen?
Posted on 12/31/12 at 3:23 pm to GeauxWarTigers
I'll always be grateful to BioWare for furthering the concept of choices evolving in a game universe. I'm not as unreasonable as some people, who expected every choice to create a divergent ending so I used to be slightly disgruntled with the ending but now I appreciate it. With the resources available to them, the games increased in quality with every subsequent release.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 6:15 pm to sbr2
quote:
I'm not as unreasonable as some people, who expected every choice to create a divergent ending so I used to be slightly disgruntled with the ending but now I appreciate it
The extended endings were acceptable. They fleshed out what happens more and gave closure that the original endings lacked.
I would have liked more differences in the endings, but you have to realize that with all the choices in the game, they basically had to develop multiple different games and sell it as a single game. I think expecting completely different endings is asking for too much.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 6:28 pm to GeauxWarTigers
Exactly, I think BioWare didn't help themselves by overselling the "choice aspect" but I remember one of the developers saying they had this 3 dimensional story plot tracker and there was no way to make content for every single choice cause/effect.
Posted on 12/31/12 at 7:31 pm to sbr2
Agreed. It doesn't help that there's less than a dozen meaningful choices in the first two games combined.
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