Thread 715457616

many decisions lie ahead

>>715457616 (OP)
All of which somehow funnel you into the exact same outcomes.

>>715457697
ME1 ends in a completely different world state and character relations depending on how you play

>>715457904
>liara ignored
>ash hips for days
based

MY NAME IS GARRUS VAKARIAN AND THIS IS MY FAVORITE SPOT ON 4CHAN

>>715457904
Which mostly gets chucked out or made meaningless in ME2.

It would be cool if Japan made their own Mass Effect. I was thinking something like PSO(ffline).

This mission seemed uncommonly sadistic, playing renegade but still couldn't bring myself to leave him.

>>715458698
Can nips actually make cool aliens? I don't know many off hand.

>>715458870
>DLC designed just so paragon players can pat themselves on the back again

>>715459023
There's lots of different alien designs they can do. From native beasts, to machines, to dark aliens

Soon

>>715458698
Funny you mention that. I always felt a similar vibe seeing the artistic vision of PSO and a bit of PSU being reminiscent of Mass Effect. I wonder if BioWare took influence from those games. I know in terms of armor design the ME team was inspired by the armor seen in Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within. But looking at PSO I can see plenty similarities to that design philosophy as well.

>>715459680
Soon

>>715459680
>>715460184
Based, we're long overdue for a quality ME clone

>>715460271
I just hope at least one of these games are good. It'd suck if they both came out to be disappointments. Though I can't imagine doing any worse than modern day BioWare.

>>715459983
Pulled from Syd Mead more than anything.

>>715460271
But they doesn't seem to have alien chicks

>>715459680
>>715460184
What's the catch?

>>715457616 (OP)
I used to love the ME games but replaying them I realize the mechanics did not age well.

>>715460682
It'll be quietly cancelled in two years.

>>715460754
How?

>>715459483
>>715459574
>>715459612
>>715459702
>>715459780
I miss this era of Phantasy Star. Seeing what its become in New Genesis. I can't quite put my finger on it but there's something missing. Maybe it's simply blind nostalgia.

>>715460682
>What's the catch?
In case of the Expanse? Owlcat Games, mostly.

>>715460754
Bioware always made it seem like good gameplay and good writing are the opposite sides of the same spectrum for them, and they can't improve one without fucking up the other
until Veilguard, which proved that if they try hard enough, they are absolutely capable of making both aspect retarded
should have stopped twisting that knob in 2010

>>715460682
One's made by Owlcat this seems to be their first foray into an action/shooter game. Before they just made crpgs. And the game itself is taking after the Netflix series, the Expanse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyXGm8JCBrk
The other is made by a new studio. Archetype Entertainment, consisting of former BioWare devs like James Ohlen. Also it was established as a video game division of game publisher Wizards of the Coast. So take that for what you will.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmJxSKn47EE

>>715460754
The conversations and cutscenes still look and feel more interesting than many modern games. Honestly an incredible achievement for 2007, and it's one of the reasons they're so enjoyable to revisit.

>>715461554
>first foray into an action/shooter game
>Before they just made crpgs
>based on jewflix series
It's gonna be FO:NV all over again, isn't it?

>game set in future little to no aliens
why do they do this

>>715461554
>The Expanse
I know it's some kind of space opera but never get too deep into it. What is it about?
>Wizard of the Coast
Bad rep company lately

I wish there is an RPG based on this universe

>>715462084
Same.
And with romance options so I can shag fish mommy.

>>715457904
>completely different world state
it's ash vs kaiden and council ded or alive
the other choices get sidelined almost entirely, and even your council pick gets overturned by the third game for some reason lol

>>715460939
Combat is clunky, exploration is severely limited by the memory constraints of the hardware at the time. Clicking for resources in ME 2 is shallow and kind of boring. Boss fights are laughably easy.

>>715461890
It's sheer laziness. A similar reason why we don't get an option to play as aliens ourselves in these games. They cope by claiming that characters of that nature are unrelatable and are too far from home. Even though that's the whole appeal to aliens to begin with. It just lacks any bit of sense.

>>715461815
True, which is why I say the gsmeplay mechanics haven't aged well.

>>715458576
Not canon

>>715461841
>It's gonna be FO:NV all over again, isn't it?
How so?

>>715461493
Bioware died with Mass Effect 3.

>>715462897
I wouldn't even mind the whole no alien thing if they made it like a near future 2065 type of thing where humanity has explored just beyond our solar system but when you have humanity going through an entire galaxy and there is fuck all for any sort of alien life forms its just awful design, laziness as you said

I wish either 2 & 3 didn't exist or felt like actual sequels to 1.
Playing them anymore its bizarre to me how I didn't feel the jarring shift in 2 when I first played (I was like 15 though). It's just a completely different game set in the same universe.

>>715462996
>awful as an action shooter
>utterly and completely broken at launch
>mediocre writing at best
>very overrated due to fans of previous entries
May not be that broken because it has a good chance of being made using UE, but then you have the problem of optimisation. I suppose that alone makes it better than NV.

>>715462882
Wouldn't consider any of that aging because it was all evident at the time. But all the games have merits for the combat once you get a handle on it, especially the first one which rewards patience and experimentation.

>>715461890
IDK about the other one but the Expanse one set in a period where humans just colonized the solar system so they haven't contact any alien race yet. And there are some alien races

>>715461924
>I know it's some kind of space opera but never get too deep into it. What is it about?
I never watched the series or read the books either but here's a brief synopsis.
>a science fiction series set in a future where humanity has colonized the solar system, but political tensions simmer between Earth, Mars, and the Belt (asteroid colonies)
For the game itself...
>It begins where the tenuous balance of power between Earth, Mars, and the Belt is on the brink of collapse, and trust is a scarce commodity. Now it is time to gather a crew and find your own path through the web of lies to leave your mark on the solar system. By the 24th century, humanity has conquered the cosmos, but that hasn't made life any easier. What begins as a brief sojourn on the asteroid Eros reluctantly entangles you in a solar system-wide conspiracy. You will need to adapt to survive and keep your motley crew united in their mission as everything around you begins to fall apart.

>>715457616 (OP)
biggest challenge is who jane gets fucked by

>>715463217
I agree. It just makes the universe feel so barren as a whole. I mean if writers want to take the route of Humanity being the only sentient species in space. You can only go so far with it in my opinion. Another reason why I didn't like Bethesda's Starfield. That game was so boring for what in theory could've been a fun experience.

>>715463975
she's scissoring liara raw

>>715457697
Name 5 games where choices really matter.

>>715466153
shadow the hedgehog
I can't think of anything else

>>715463257
My experience was exactly the same. I played 1 and 2 on release and I absolutely loved 2, I was insanely immersed in it but I was also only 14. Looking back it feels like we never got a true sequel to 1. I replayed the trilogy years later and when I finished 1 it was a weird feeling. There was a feeling of so much possibility in the ending of 1, even after the whole trilogy had been out and I knew everything that happened. 2 and 3 (yes even 3) are still decent games in their own way but they don't feel like proper sequels to 1

>>715466636
I think it simply came down to a change in direction for the series. From streamlining gameplay mechanics, railroading storybeats, to overall tonal change. Especially from ME1 to ME2. While I didn't personally dislike the tonal change I can see why it would be jarring. Going from the near utopian setting of Citadel space to the seedy underground that is the Terminus systems. In addition to the threat that are the Collectors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxzALFrBX4s

>>715466636
Do you ever replay the games?
I enjoy replaying 1, but once I get to 2 it feels like a slog and not very enjoyable. But I have such nostalgia for the whole trilogy I feel driven to play it all.

>>715459680
I'm just sad there will be no aliens

>>715459680
No aliens, no soul

>>715462513
>even your council pick gets overturned by the third game for some reason
Not that it matters much in the second game, either. Anderson has one scene where he moans that he's not the politician type and otherwise does nothing for the whole game.

>>715467374
I started on ME2, and while I did appreciate and enjoy 1 when I finally got to play that on my PS3, I still came to prefer the "righteous outlaw seeking adventure" approach to exploring the galaxy. I would've easily dropped 3 and just had my Shepard keep on freewheeling.

Despair. They're never going to have a good mass effect again.

>>715467567
yeah I've replayed a couple of times and I always do the whole trilogy too.

>>715467374
I didn't mind the terminus systems either. It made sense that shepard would go there eventually and I like how they contrast council space but I disliked the collectors and the arrival dlc

>>715458576
>>715462513
The sequels are not canon.

>>715467567
Maybe every few years or so, when I can build enough mental energy to endure the whole trip and the pre-game modding marathon.

>>715457616 (OP)
The only decision I implore you to make is not to waste your time with this botched series.

>>715463279
Shut up fag

>>715468430
>but I disliked the collectors and the arrival dlc
Yeah they felt rather like non-sequitors. An antagonistic force that were mostly superfluous. The Arrival dlc was especially egregious in how manufactured the dilemma was.

>>715457616 (OP)
Imagine having a Turian boyfriend to embarass you with PDA in public.

>>715468454
Except for Zaeed. Zaeed is always canon.

>>715469150
Pew pew pew
Watching batarians drop

>>715469150
Zneed

>>715469056
I wish that was me.

>>715469328
>Don't you have any guilt for killing innocent people?
>I wouldn't know, I only killed Batarians.

>>715460754
ME1 on replay feels like wish fulfillment power fantasy slop, almost east-asian tier levels of shamelessness in how every person in the setting kowtows to Shep. Combine that with the weak gameplay and terribly repetitive/unfinished side content and the only thing one is left with is the phenomenal world building and environments (which, are unfortunately quite small within themselves).

>>715469150
The timeline on him forming the Blue Suns is questionable.

>>715469509
Thank fuck we now have a full trilogy gay garrus romance mod.

>>715457616 (OP)
The first game was neat, because depending on how many times you used certain skills, you could unlock those skills on classes that wouldn't normally have them. Like using biotics a bunch lets you play soldier with biotic powers.

>>715469150
I love walking by and zaeed telling me with no hesitation how he beheaded a krogan child or something of that magnitude then it's all "talk more later! :)"

>>715469638
What a bullshit post.

>>715468914
>The three mercenary groups (reskinned for other factions in DLC)
>Robots
>Occasional geth
>Varren and other wild/trained beasts
Sad how the so called biggest threat of ME2 is rarely ever fought.

>>715469684
Indeed, about time.

>>715469837
Not sad at all I hate those fucks Harbinging at 1% health.

I cry evry tiem ;__;

>>715469828
Feel free to argue any of the points listed, or are you just going to cry before going back to consuming more shield hero/xianxia slantslop?

>>715470162
I'll never get over the fact that the original final words of the Mass Effect trilogy were "downloadable content". It's such a perfect encapsulation of EA shittery.

>>715469638
Forgot to mention I drink Paragade if that matters

>>715470162
>Anyone who didn't play ME3 on release, leave.

>>715470337
You wiener!
>This post sponsored by Tupali Sports Drinks. Drink Tupali! NOW!

>tfw play as femshep usually
>playing as maleshep
>all girls want to fuck you
>whereas when femshep everyone respects you except the lesbian blueberry, Harkin, and Beefy McLargeHuge
It's just lame. Even in the first one, Kaiden is a cuck and just sits by while Liara tries to fuck you. He acts like a beta. Like people would more intimidated by the woman space ranger than a guy.

>>715470898
Kaidan is just a gay and retarded character.

>>715470898
>Beefy McLargeHuge
Trunk Slamchest

>>715471121
Slab SwoleHuge

>>715471121
And our brave hero ROASTS the disabled man...

>>715470236
I don't argue with retards.

Andromeda would have been so much better if the bad guy race and bad guy leader were better. they were so boring and forgettable

>>715471464
Yes, the last thing anyone wanted was MORE HARVESTERS. Absolutely retarded decision.

>>715468042
>No aliens, no soul
I wouldn't say differently colored humanoids is particularly soulful. I'll take "no aliens" over that.

>>715471608
That was just the Asari that filled that archetype.

The leviathans were a bit stupid

>>715471995
And they were made to be the mandatory sex appeal aliens like Orion slavegirls and Twi'lek dancers.

>>715472157
Yeah and the devs were pretty egregious about it. Especially when it came to Liara. Pretty much being the "canon" love interest whether we liked it or not.

>>715457616 (OP)
surely the adaptation couldn't possibly be worse than halo, right guys? right?

>>715472402
Marketing pushed Ashley far more heavily for the first game, Asari were barely shown in trailers and promos. I think they had to pivot after players picked Liara more.

>>715472849
They didnt think people wanted to fuck and suck aliens

the old ads for me1 were so soulful

I hate the mako in 1 with it's awful handling accompanied by the awful terrain on the planets but I also hate they they didn't expand and improve upon it instead of just removing it alltogether.

>>715473075
The dev team were extremely naive to put it lightly. What sucked the most in the OT was that there were no same-sex alien male romance options. All we got were Steve Cortez and Kaidan Alenko, what a let down. We almost got Thane but it was cut out due to fear of backlash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhfzyGbnAYA

>>715473440
Sad that this concept of having to choose where you go because multiple places are in peril at once was only barely realized in the game.

>>715473440
the "i fight for the lost" ads for ME2 were pure cringe

>>715473636
that hovercraft in one of the ME2 dlc's was kino. hate that they didn't use it more

>>715474025
Cringe kino.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwQGJ4AZ-e8

>>715473636
ME1 was ambitious and tried new things. I don't think it succeeded that well in anything other than the setting, but they tried.
Then with ME2 they just went "welp, no use in trying, throw everything out and make a 3rd person shooter". And ME2 ended up bland, safe, but ultimately less frustrating to play. But also also a lot less interesting.

>>715474025
Especially since there weren't many who were "lost" in the game.

>>715473636
Mako is legitimately one of my favorite vidya vehicles. It works fine with basic intuition of when to let off the accelerator.

Did any dev or publisher ever comment on this?

>>715474301
They didn't do nearly enough to actually establish the Collectors as a threat.

>>715474407
Dunno. I do know that the Legendary version replaced it with a maskless but otherwise suited Tali photo taken in-engine.

>>715474407
The game was a rushed pile of dogshit, what else is there to say?

>>715473636
It became a lot easier once I realized that going into the main menu and then back again would stop any motion the mako was doing.
So if you went flying over an objective you could just press ESC twice and the mako would stop flying forward and just drop straight down.

>>715474407
I can't find the clip but I remember shortly after ME3's release. There was a panel where one dev said that they wanted to use that actresses likeness. Mostly beating around the bush about why they didn't model the face proper in the game. The usual PR speak. Though in the Legendary Edition they changed the photo to pic related.

>>715474660
it's still the same photo, with just the suit added

>>715474804 (me)
>>715474786
ok wow nvm I'm a retard

>>715474407
>>715474786
I wish the team had gone with this concept of how the Quarians would look like.

>>715459680
>No aliums to plap

Marrying an asari just makes sense

>>715474557
To be fair it's hard to compete with the introduction of the Geth/Husks/Sovereign. It was always going to feel like a step down when you kick things off with robotic eldritch death skyscrapers.

>>715475214
did anyone ever mention when it came out how they look like squids

The best part of 3 is that moment in the intro when the Reapers are landing on Earth War of the Worlds style and lasering the shit out of everything. That little sequence is cool

>>715475214
>Snipe Sovereign before it flies off for fun
>It blows up
>Game instantly ends with Shepard congratulated for saving the galaxy and credits

>>715457616 (OP)
Too bad this game was about how being pro-human leans toward ambiguous evil energy, and being pro-alien leans toward lawful good energy.

>>715474786
I mean, it's better.
But they should never have show her face. The interesting thing about her was that people liked her despite not seeing her face. Devs went completely tone-deaf and thought it'd be cool to show it anyway, for no real reason. Her face wasn't an important thing for the characters in the game.
It's similar to how they treated EDI. Her and Joker's relationship was great. They are both beings that are "tied" to the ship and not able to be much use in the actual world. They ended up respecting each other and then to like each other - with romance just around the corner. And what does the devs do? They give EDI a physical body, one that makes her look like a semi-naked robot super-model. That's missing the point completely. The fact that they liked each other despite only being able to talk and never touch was the interesting bit.

>>715475587
They should have had EDI requisition a VR pleasure suite addition to Joker's chair and left it at that. Turning her into a sexbot was so fucktarded. Of all the people that could fall in love with a shipbound AI, Joker is THE guy.

Bes, most fun and broken class for each game?
ME1 Adept, ME2 ???, ME3 Vanguard

>>715476009
engineer is pretty fun, not sure if broken because i'm not a minmaxtard

>>715474786
LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH

>>715476009
Soldier, because I can mow down anyone who stands in my way if the batari-I mean reapers.

>>715475203
why did ME3 give them basketball skin

>>715476745
To make them look distinct from Humans perhaps?

>>715476009
I only ever played soldier and infiltrator in all 3 games and had a lot of fun with both classes.
Tried adept and guardian seeing as people on /v/ of all places hyped the shit out of biotics+shotgun combo, but that playstyle was really boring, repetitive and far too gay for me.

>>715473669
> there were no same-sex alien male romance options
> almost got Thane but it was cut out due to fear of backlash

That's Good.
What happened to that era of gaming? I miss it.
I am tired of game developers pandering to Avowed and Queerguard baseding jornos. Back when the old core audience's opinion was worth the weight of gold.
Look what we have now? Chaos. Not even good chaos.

>>715477584
>I am tired of game developers pandering to Avowed and Queerguard baseding jornos.
I hate it too what are you talking about? Plus neither of those games have anything worthwhile. There's no romance in Avowed while Veilguard is practically barren in it's romance.

At least Larian and Warhorse have the gumption to include good gay romance in their games. BioWare despite their pandering still miss the mark, again and again.

Mass Effect is literal normiefag core on the same level as TLoU, and seeing /v/ obsessed with this 3/5 game (at best) is embarassing.

>>715460184
>>715460271
>>715460682
>Karpyshyn
no thank you

>>715457616 (OP)
Mass effect 2 is one of the most boring repetitive pieces of shit ever made, every fight is the same exact garbage

>>715477787
> At least Larian and Warhorse have the gumption to include sod
Nope. There's no such thing as a "romance" for that.

Plus, that director for Warhorse was a victim of his own "product."

>>715460184
looks like an even gayer eve online

>>715460754
It's always been shit, along with everything Bioware has ever made, and you're just NOW actually applying any level of criticism to the game since the mass psychosis has stopped long enough for you to actually use your brain for once.

>>715460184
Looks like something that literally used AI for the concept art.

Also, it's the "From the Creators of Left 4 Dead" syndrome again. What's the gameplay? What's the hook? None grasped.

>>715478192
Seethe.

>>715478858
Apparently it's written by Peter F. Hamilton which got some people excited. Personally, after reading a bit of Pandora's Star, I can tell he is an OK writer, but he needs an editor or whatever. If you can improve a book by cutting half of it, there is something going on.

The premise that player decisions would carry over to future sequels was one of the most compelling aspects of ME. Shame they squandered it all

>>715469150
Zaeed should've been a batarian.

>>715474557
Hey one of the characters mentioned how they might be "going after earth" despite having only one ship and they kidnapped the normandy crew after the single dumbest moment of plot stupidity in vidya history so I'd say they were plenty threatening.

>>715469150
what a kino face

>>715481405
>batarian with Stockholm syndrome posts on /v/

NIHLUS WATCH OUT

>>715482647
So, the exposed circuitry and hastily-implanted geth arm doesn't give Nihlus a hint that something's not quite right with Saren? Or the Council, for that matter?

>>715482956
Saren was supposed to be in different clothing throughout the campaign. Slowly but surely getting more mechanized with Geth implants. Though it didn't come to pass in the final game. There is a mod that tries to replicate what could've been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=molaP8SGcjw

>>715482647
If only he had his shields up.

>>715483278
We were robbed of biotic wizard Saren

>>715483278
I do appreciate the mod, but what I wish could have happened was Shepard blowing Saren's arm off on Virmire to explain the geth replacement. Probably would have been harder to alter the scene itself.

>>715457616 (OP)
>many decisions lie ahead
>all of them invalidated in me2 because we wanted the call of duty audience

>>715483480
third row second column speaks to me

>bioware was too lazy to rig a new skeleton for krogan so they're the same height as humans, asarii, turians, etc
>never bothered to fix it in 3 other games
>meanwhile, they rigged different skeletons for the hanar, elcor, volus, yahg, rachni, and keepers

this still confuses and annoys me

>>715485145
How tall are Krogan meant to be?

>>715473440
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKgSiPqi39w
there's a feeling i get from these.
it feels connected to gray comfy snowstorms?
tell me i'm not the only one
will it ever be replicated in this fake and gay age?