Mass Effect 2 vs Mass Effect 3?
So I am new to the Mass Effect series, I just started getting into it last month. I bought ME3 for PS3 pretty cheap from ASDA (Walmart store here in England). I liked the game and liked the idea of being able to play as the good guy or the bad guy, but the bad guy didn't really make me feel like I was bad and as far as the ending goes I thought it was okay. I know a lot of people hate it but look at the reason behind the ending, it is trying to say mankind has brought chaos, war and is destroying and ruining the world, and the catalyst is saying the created will always rebel against the creator, as in today we are all created by god, but there are people who don't even believe in god anymore and have lost faith.
Anyways, after completing ME3 twice, I decided to buy ME2 and I thought this game was much better than ME3, it had more story to it, more character development, dealing with other characters personal problems, more choices, more conversation options, and what I like the most is that when you're a renegade you actually feel like an evil bada**.
The only downside for me was the pointless planet scan/probing which was a complete waste of time and I had to put up with it to get better upgrades throughout the game. I was so glad when they took that off of ME3. I don't know why people say gameplay is better in ME3, I played as a Vanguard in both games and thought it was much more fun playing as a Vanguard in ME2..
The only upsides in ME3 for me was the graphics (the textures and details are better), the romance scenes were better, in ME2 Miranda's romance scene was great the rest were crap imo. The music/soundtrack was better.
After playing ME2 and continuing with my character progress to ME3, I didn't enjoy ME3 anymore, I enjoyed up until the Krogan's mission in curing the genophage then after that I got bored. I completed ME3 twice, completed ME2 three times. Played a Paragon, Renegade, then had my 3rd playthrough based on my own personality (what I would do).
I am not going to bother buying ME1, because I checked it on YouTube and the graphics look terrible, its just not that appealing to me, plus I got the interactive backstory with my ME2 copy so I already know the story of ME1.
Comments
I agree with a lot of what you said, but not all of it.
ME3 was a downgrade for me. I'll say battle-wise it runs smoother, but I think ME2 is better all around. I agree I felt being bad or good didn't make that much of a difference in it. What I hate most is that some of what I said was decided for me unlike in the others where I picked it all. That was just upsetting to me. I would give my screen a double-take when Shepard spoke without me choosing anything. Definitely not what I was used to.
As for the love scenes, to each their own. I guess Mass effect 2 focused less on the sex appeal and more on the characters falling in love. I suppose they should have tried to mix in both, but what can you do? Mass effect 3 had such lame romances that I just didn't care. I hate to this day they spent more time on these new boring romances than the ones they built up in ME2, although I forgave them with the Citadel DLC.
As much as I love the Miranda romance story, I'm always disappointed by the love scene. Yes, I know it must be enjoyable for many to watch lol but I felt they could have had something more romantic or emotional between them. My favorites from that game are Thane's and Jack's. For Thane, it is nothing but a kiss. I just enjoyed seeing him go from so calm to completely undone. As for Jack, to see her be so vulnerable and insecure was really memorable, and I loved the whole thing. The scene is what convinced me to give her romance path a try in game.
The only love scene other than Miranda's I'm not that pleased with was Garrus'. Jacob's just felt fitting lol For Garrus, just a head butt? I mean, it was sweet... but he has like the least romantic scenes of them all, and then he gets the shortest final scene of everyone else? At least he has a ton of it in the next game. I still feel like a character like Liara got way more attention in the third title though.
I think Mass effect 2 is the best of the 3, but I agree you may want to give ME1 a chance. The gameplay is frustrating but gets better and the graphics are old, but they are not as bad as they look. I actually think ME1 was still a very gorgeous game. The Citadel is so vast in that game and beautiful. I love all 3 of them, and in order of quality, my opinion: ME2, ME1, ME3.
Mass effect 1 probably did have the best RPG-type story path... but I'm just more interested in being Shepard on Cerberus working for the villain. I love the Illusive man as an antagonist and prefer him over Saren. I think he's a more cryptic and interesting antagonist, but defeating Saren was a moment to remember.
Oh how I wish I could have fought some awesome form of the Illusive man in ME3:/
Out of the three games I'd say I like Mass Effect 2 the most, for the squadmate recruitment/loyalty missions, and getting to see a bit more of the Mass Effect universe before the Reaper invasion, plus DLC packs like Lair of the Shadow Broker. Mass Effect 3 had some great DLC as well.
It's better to play the games in order though. Each game's story continues right from where the story in the last game left off, and if you played ME3 then ME2 you'll have missed out on the save import option. You should give ME1 a chance as well, the graphics and combat system might not be that great, but the story is still up there with ME2 and ME3.
The Genesis comic misses out a lot of the story from ME1 as well, for example, it doesn't mention the Geth at all even though they're the main enemy of ME1 (in the same way that you mostly fought Husks, Marauders and other Reaper enemy types in ME3) that you spend at least half of the game fighting. Hearing about it in a comic doesn't really compare to defeating Saren yourself in-game either.
Mass Effect Vs Mass Effect 2
Methinks the original ME has the best story and the weakest gameplay, while ME3 has the best gameplay and the weakest story. ME2 is the middle child. It's story is better than ME3's but not as good as ME's, while it's gameplay is a big step up from ME but not as good as ME3. Though ME2 focuses largely on recruiting team members for the final mission and takes Shepard on a series of missions which are only slightly related to the main plot. ME2 feels more episodic. It still has better writing, and the stories are still interesting.
ME3 has a little more depth in the gameplay. There's more variety in the types of enemies you fight, superior level design, new mechanics are more depth to weapons and powers available. However, the story is the weakest. It's rather blatantly meant to wrap-up all the fanchise's plot points while the whole Crucible thing feels very deus ex machinima. It takes a big risk with the ending, which I can appreciate, but it backfires and comes dangerously close to turning the entire trilogy into a joke.
I would recommend you buy ME2, which is fairly cheap now. If you like it, you should buy ME3 later and continue your character's story.
What about Mass Effect 1? If you buy the Mass Effect Trilogy edition then you can get all three games for the price of one. You should wait and see if you like the games before you start buying the DLC for them. I'd buy the DLC for each game in order, but if it's the PS3 version then all of the story DLC except one comes with ME1 and ME2. The Extended Cut DLC is free to download, and I'd recommend downloading it when you get around to playing Mass Effect 3.
Well, I have PS3 too, and you ARE doing it wrong!
Mass Effect 1 had to be retooled for PS3. Ironically, Playstation 3's version of Mass Effect 1 is the newest version in the Mass Effect series. The cut scenes are the same quality, and the fighting is just as hard. I know the Xbox 360 and PC versions are primitive, but not our version.
Here is the trouble with the interactive comic for Mass Effect 2:
1. You are assumed to have never completed even ONE of the side missions, and there are 79 at my best count. One of them is Dr. Michel. If you play ME1, then Dr. Michel will quickly join you in ME3 as your ship's doctor, making Chakwas a war asset. She will remember you and Garrus saving her.
2. You lost the colony on Feros.
3. If you finish ME1 with $1,000,000, then you start ME2 with $330,000.
4. If you did the mineral side missions, then you start ME2 with 55,000 of each, and it is more fun doing it the ME1 way instead of playing ME2 twice to get that.
I started out with ME3, realized something was missing, then quit when I realized you can't save Ashley and the Salarian counselor with the ME3 default. I quit and got ME2, and thought it was perfect because ME1 didn't exist on PS3 yet, and I thought the Genesis interactive comic covered everything.
THEN....
I bought the Trilogy.
I have played the whole sage as a male infiltrator, and a female vanguard. Unless you play all three games with the same character, you are missing out on a lot of it.
My top 10 missions in order, for what it's worth:
1. Suicide Mission (ME2), Kasumi in the vents (hint,hint).
2. Virmire (ME1), You should start off with Kaiden and Ashley.
3. Tali Treason (ME2). Legion MUST be the other squad member.
4. Illos (ME1), I prefer Garrus and Tali.
5. Priority: Thessia (ME3), but you MUST bring Javik along with you and Liara!
6. Priority: Eden Prime (ME3), with Liara and Garrus.
7. Omega (ME3). I like a long mission that takes hours.
8. Stolen Memory (ME2). The James Bond type mission was a nice change.
9. Lair of the Shadow Broker (ME2). Glad it came with PS3's version already.
10. Citadel DLC Party (ME3). It should be how Mass Effect 3 should end, with all surviving squad members from all three games.
A lot of those people you see in Omega, Citadel, and Illium from ME2 will actually speak to you if you met them in ME1. I had the blue paragon meter filled before I was even halfway through the game, and hadn't done any loyalty missions.
When I went to add Grunt in ME2, I ran into the Asari scientist on Virmire for a couple of rep points. She wasn't there on my original ME2 playthrough.
No Conrad Verner in either ME2 or 3 unless you play ME1.
Helena Blake is just an old woman in ME2 Omega Afterlife who doesn't speak to you unless you did her side mission in ME1.
Gianna Parasini doesn't invite you for a beer on Illium on ME2. Because the default means she died on Noveria.
There are more, but you now get the picture.
If I were to ever play the Mass Effect series again, I would absolutely REFUSE to play it unless I was able to start off with Mass Effect 1, and with EVERY downloadable misson, from Mass Effect 1's "Bring Down The Sky" to "Citadel DLC" for Mass Effect 3.
You can play Mass Effect 3 ten times, but you will never get the whole story without importing a ME2 save. Mass Effect 2 also misses a lot without a save from ME1.
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If you're not playing ME1, you're doing it wrong, terribly wrong. It is an excellent game and you're a fool for dismissing it.