/vrpg/ — mass effect

Yes the species that survive the extinction cycles develop mind control telepathy its like you only paid attention enough to be a cinema sins rip off

Get away with what...? A good story?

>>3938636 (OP)
Been replaying ME1 the last few days and yeah, I was thinking about that on Feros. It kind of felt like they came up with several iterations of this "ancient mind controlling species" plot device and then just said, fuck it, add them all in. Still really enjoy the trilogy despite its flaws. ME3 is still a total shitshow thoughbeit

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>>3939407
>ME3 is still a total shitshow thoughbeit
The seeds of ME3's narrative failures were sown way back in ME2. Of course, the fault lies squarely on Mac Walters and Casey Hudson, but so does most of the good that came out of those two games. Gameplay of ME3 was also by far the best in the series, even though it admittedly buried the corpse of ME1's less-then-enjoyable but lore-backed combat system which ME2 had killed previously (thermal clips anyone).

>>3939545
>The seeds of ME3's narrative failures were sown way back in ME2
I see people say this a lot but I'm curious in what way. I personally love ME2, and find the story to be interesting and the missions to be some of the most fun in the series. It's only real flaw is that it fails to provide enough narrative support as the second part of an overarching narrative trilogy, and I think it only feels like it fails to provide that level of support because of how rushed and poorly written ME3 was. I think if the series had been designed as a tetralogy instead, ME2 as is would be a lot less divisive. Even still, I can think of plenty of ways they could have written ME3 to better handle Cerberus and the looming return of the Reapers.

>>3939545
Their original black matter plot woupd have clapped. I think ea just wanted them to make wodern warfare
>>3941338
There wqs nothing they could have done. Thry wasted the entire second game and they wanted it to be popupar with enwcomers. Where was no way to turn this set of limiations into a good story. Robots bad mmkay

Given the number of retards that still like it i think they succeeded. Only the diehard fans complained

The worst part of the snow planet is the section with the edgy IA agent. Always skip her dialogue she has nothing worth hearing

>>3941338
it wasted too much time on non-important shit, it set the story back by having everyone not believe shepherd about the reapers again, and left me3 with even more plot beats, like cerberus, to resolve, instead of fewer. the catalyst could have been what you discovered in me2. or the dark matter shit. or the organics are making machines which are killing the organics so we kill the organics first shit. or the galactic preparedness stuff could be in me2 it also made the whole thing seem pointless and retarded by having the reapers show up in a few months anyway, so why do you even need the collectors to collect humans if they're going to have access to billions of humans in a few months.
me2 did a GREAT job of making the world feel more lived-in and had decent stories for the characters which involved the genophage and the geth and quarians but it completely shat the bed on the reaper plot.
yes i agree if you had another mass effect game to do what me2 should have done, it would have probably been better, but that never happened.

>>3938636 (OP)
Thinking of replaying it again...

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>>3942013
I'd say go for it. Personally, I think it's worth waiting just a bit longer for certain ME3 overhaul mods to be finalized, but if you plan on doing a vanilla playthrough, nothing's stopping you (except remembering how shitty the ending of ME3 is).

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>>3942013
I'm in the middle of a playthrough. Just finished ME1 last night and onto ME2 now. I always forget how brutal the adjustment to Insanity is between ME1 and 2, especially for a Vanguard
>>3942030
Based spreadsheet autist. I've always wanted to do stuff like this for my characters.

>>3942030
>worth waiting just a bit longer for certain ME3 overhaul mods to be finalized
What mods?

>>3942458
>I've always wanted to do stuff like this for my characters
It's not to late to do so, provided you're still on your first trilogy playthrough. I decided on making the spreadsheet prior to replaying the series so I could avoid doing the missions in the same order or making same sets of choices across playthroughs. It's also a nice visual reminder for me in case I want to discuss the game with someone on 4chins, like yourself.

>>3942464
>What mods?
The Take Earth Back which was announced on 2025 N7 day, for one:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5UPpfFy6Xw
The likes of LE3 Diversification Project, LE3 Expanded Galaxy Mod, LE3 Community Patches might get some updates as well in the meanwhile. Various mods that restore cut content are being made, as well as some that add ME evades, melee attacks or powers to SP. There's really no way of knowing if some awesome mod for any of the ME games will be released just as you are going through your playthrough.

>>3942030
wtf was jian's problem?

>>3942030
>all characters picked Destroy (Survive)
based
>>3943218
Commander Chud Shepard

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>>3943218
>wtf was jian's problem?
Being an opportunistic dick with good PR. I wanted to subvert expectations on the expected Paragon Spacer War Hero playthrough, where the formative event in Jian's life which earned him the Star of Terra was mostly him saving his own skin (in my headcanon, he was way in the back, using his sniper rifle, drones and teammates to keep the breaching party at bay), which coincided with him saving the colony. As a capable, calculated and slightly egotistical Navy brat with an impeccable service record and a streak of anthropocentrism, he's using his status as a war hero and a Spectre to his fullest, making sure humanity will come out at the top when the dust settles. Of course, sometimes he makes a bad call due to his overconfidence, but not a lot of people get to survive after seeing him stumble.

>>3943244
It felt redundant to write it down six times since I was using a MEHEM mod which defaults to that outcome (if the War assets are high enough at least), but I would've picked it in the vanilla game anyways. We either destroy them, or they destroy us, as Anderson put it.

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>played through Kasumi's loyalty mission three times in a row and repaired my install + reinstalled my texture overhauls because it kept getting stuck after finishing the mission
>turns out it's a known issue with a fix
I used to really like this mission but I think I'm scarred for life at this point.

>>3942030
Which character was your favorite to play through the series as?

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>>3945795
Gameplay-wise, it's gotta be the Vanguard, followed closely by Sentinel and Infiltrator. Playing Vanguard in ME2 is a bit dicey ngl, but still quite enjoyable. ME3's Vanguard is fantastic by itself, but paired with Reegar carbine + Incendiary ammo with Explosive evolution you're essentially playing an "omae wa mou shindeiru" type of character that can teleport to and melt through all but the toughest enemies in less than 2 seconds.

For purposes of roleplay, it's kinda hard to choose because I love them all for various reasons: Solider is my "canon" playthrough, Infiltrator is playing a bad bitch that always made the pragmatic choice, Vanguard is playing a bad mf that did some fucked up stuff but still came through straight, Engineer is a proper dick playthrough which I'd already described and Sentinel is the "goody-two-shoes / everyone-lived-happily-ever-after" kind of playthrough.

Finally, the Adept is the sufferkino playthrough, and the more I think about it, the more I feel it is my favorite one. Juhi (Sanskrit for jasmine flower, a symbol of purity) is a biotically-gifted colony kid who lived through a slaver raid and Thresher Maw attack, whereas her family and her squadmates did not. Even though she always tries to make the best choice, she doesn't have the "talk-no-jutsu" reserved for the more idealistic playthroughs, so things don't go according to plan and people sometimes die. She couldn't stop Toombs from killing himself, she allowed Cerberus to interrogate Veetor which likely messed him up permanently, she told Sanders that the Grissom students are ready for frontline, condemning them all to early deaths, and she helplessly watched as TIM gunned down her mentor and father figure in front of her. She lost Kaidan on Virmire and eventually found comfort in Garrus' embrace (despite being slightly xenophobic) because he's someone who understands what loss feels like. But she survived it all in the end because that's what she is - a survivor.

>>3942030
Sentinel me 2 seems easy mode

>>3942030
Planet order influences what

>>3945981
Not as easy mode as Sentinel in ME3 is with proper upgrades
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZof1SOK8yk

>>3945982
>Planet order influences what
If you're talking about ME1, nothing really, though there are some outcomes that you will not be able to achieve if your paragon/renegade skills are too low (e.g. saving Jeong on Zhu's Hope). I mostly did it to avoid repeating the same planet order every time. I continued doing so in ME2 and ME3 for the same reason.

>>3945986
Wtf, completely immune, lol
My next playthrough 1-3 is soldier fem paragon. Kiss my geth sniper. How do I load up fast in me1? Thought of doing all side quests directly after citadel first and then clean up story. Want cool gear. In me2 I'm looking forward to geth sniper.

>>3945986
Alright, got it. How come squad in me2 is stuck at 240 health, while shep nears 400? Krogan is an exception.

>>3945988
>soldier fem paragon. Kiss my geth sniper
I mean, if you're planning on using the Widow, why not just play Infiltrator?
>Thought of doing all side quests directly after citadel first and then clean up story
Some side quests rely on you completing a main quest, e.g. you don't get a distress call to save Exogeni scientists unless you finish Feros. My personal mission order was like this:
Do Citadel side quests > Fully explore the clusters directly on the path to the main quest > Fully explore the cluster where the main quest is > Do the main quest > Return to Citadel > Repeat the loop until you finish everything but Virmire > Clean up the rest of the clusters > Do Virmire > Return to and then escape the Citadel > Go straight to Ilos.

>>3945990
>How come squad in me2 is stuck at 240 health, while shep nears 400?
I dunno. Maybe because most enemies target you so the squadmates don't need to have that much HP, or they are intentionally weakened on higher difficulties.

>>3946002
Infiltrator is like tech + fighter, right? Just a physically weak version of it. Like thane.
>my personal...
Yeah, idc, it's perfect. Will do that. Logically sound and easy to remember.
>squad
Nta but I thought it's that shepard shines more maybe? Or Bioware sucks at coding and let's all enemies focus on shepard simultaneously. Telepathic enemies suck.

>>3946013
>Infiltrator is like tech + fighter, right? Just a physically weak version of it. Like thane.
In ME1 you can think of them as that. ME2 introduced the Tactical Cloak, which is a very good and versatile power. You can use it to escape trouble and reposition yourself, or to get really close to an enemy. Also, shooting a gun under the effects of the Cloak boosts the damage of the shot, so you can use it on a high-damage weapon (sniper rifle or a shotgun) to one-shot most things, at least in ME2 (ME3 introduces shield gating, which doesn't allow you to one-shot enemies with armor, shields or barriers on higher difficulties):
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzfvhyIOZVg
You can also exploit the broken Tactical Cloak + Marksman combo in ME3 with a rapid-firing weapon with armor penetration like Blood Pack Punisher to melt through most enemies:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJnpO_uNCqk

>>3946019
Only beat it on hardcore, how much worse s insanity? Ng+ should be fine? I needed like 15 minutes against saren and only won because he stopped moving for 2 minutes straight and the team emptied their clips multiple times over, despite being like level 27 or so. Pretty near maxed out everything. His rockets always one shot. Honestly, while I made it in hardcore, enemies are a bit too strong and spingey
I don't feel like a hero and much less does leveling up feel useful in a level scaling system.

>>3938636 (OP)
and after all that indctrination theory still wasnt real

>>3946055
This game's idiotic. I'm at the mission where you fight three mecha to save some random crates. Why do your team mates take cover, when all three mecha target shepard? They could unload non stop, but they choose to spend 98% of their time in cover, thinking, pondering.

>>3946055
>Only beat it on hardcore, how much worse s insanity?
I wouldn't know cause I played ME1-3 only on Insanity and I've never played NG+, but Saren is likely a bullet sponge on pretty much every difficulty AFAIK. ME2's Insanity is also pretty tricky for biotics cause trash mobs (like Husks) get Barriers (this might also be true for Hardcore), and there are the two Collector missions that will annoy you for sure, so archive the links to these vids just in case:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfC6S_JgMug
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RGWMGVjPSI
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0TohKt_yZs
Finally, ME3's Insanity is barely noticeable cause you can get so overpowered with the right weapon and power setup.

>>3946084
>This game's idiotic
Eh, you stop stressing about the mission when you figure out that saving every crate will net you barely a couple of thousand credits more then if you had saved half of them.

>>3946095
Just looked it up. The only game where the difference isn't negligible is me2. The main difference is that insanity pigeonholes you further in team and equipment settings. I realized this unfortunately not as soon as possible. Fighting geth is easy if you bring tali and let's say garrus.
For some reason the phoenix handgun is stronger than the viper sniper against armor of mechs.
Thx for the links, will replay the ng+ on insanity. Ng+ in me2 is more difficult than import me1 saves, as you loose the boni from import.

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>>3945976
The Gods and I noticed you are based, N7 material even. Ever want to become the apprentice to the fastest S.O.B. on this half of your fucking Universe? If you can conquer the challenge of of tracking any of my current addresses down without me doxing my own wanted butt on 4chan, you'll have the best job you can imagine kid

>>3945795
The biotic Commander Pikachu Shepard was a pretty fun run, not sure if favorite run. Or the biotic Commander Fucking Shepard? Perhaps both top 5 most favored? Remember it doesn't even matter whether you win or lose man, the important thing is we have fun

>>3946712
Riddle me this. Anderson was a failed spectre candidate and shepard was the first one. Suddenly, there are plenty of n7 armor available for shepard in various editions. Even the guns are ergonomically sound for humans. Huh!
Finished me2 yesterday, nearly 100%. Was me3 done by a different team? Also what have they done to much boy S. Shepard? Doesn't look like a black pit pull anymore. He looks civil. Miss his scars so much.

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>>3947010
>Suddenly, there are plenty of n7 armor available for shepard in various editions
I reckon that the N7 is subsequently engraved or printed on the armor. The actual reason is almost certainly that the devs saw that audience liked the N7-branded Onyx armor in ME1 and related it to Shepard, so they continued using that design where it realistically wouldn't make much sense, like with armor and weapons.
>Miss his scars so much
You can reacquire the ME2-type scars if you do a mostly renegade playthrough.

>>3947110
>You can reacquire the ME2-type scars if you do a mostly renegade playthrough.
I kniw
>picrel
Awesome
Playing a black sentinel. Almost pure renegade. His face looks better in 2.
>scars
Shame no dev else ever utilised it. Being basically semi terminator looks intimating. Even bigger shame no one mentions how bad you look as renegade. Your enemies should react to it.
>exodus trailer just out
100% me clone, lol

All in all me trilogy is good, but dlcs were a mistake, they shouldn't have hide important stuff behind pay walls and lure buys with op weapons. Beware, it's Bioware.
Aside form the dlcs and the ending, the trilogy is solid. Even 10 years later it holds up and few games that came after me can realistically survive a comparison.

>>3947152
>>exodus trailer just out
i was very impressed with the first couple of trailers and excited for the game because i really like peter f hamilton's books (guy who they got to create the world), but the second to last trailer they dropped was a huge disappointment, it looked extremely trashy and low quality. this is the one i mean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqQEMxcLU1k

gameplay being an ME clone could be good or bad, i'm fine with it, but right now my excitement is non-existent. might just end up reading the accompanying novels and then read the game's plot on wikipedia if they end at a cliffhanger

>>3947449
Yup, it's bad. I'll tell you how it is. If this goes on sale for like a fiver, I'll buy. Other than that, I doubt I'll even read the plot. Why do devs be gay? Make a space game with criminals, politics and spacefaring. Grounded story not you are the clone of the friend of the guy who was cuckolded by his daughter wife, you now have to save spacetime, this evening!!!

>>3939407
Me trilogy is full of repetition. It's not only in lore and writing, but also designs. Geth, krogan and turian all have a tube around their head or eye
Not a bad thing, so the game world feels complete.

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Good, you opened this spoiler. There isn't anything important here actually. I was just looking for a ME thread and since I believe there is no ME general anymore I'll ask here. I want to replay the trilogy but with LE. I know the lighting is fucked and there are mods for it. Are there any other mods I should consider downloading or will that be enough if I want to replay it mostly vanilla?

Has anyone done a looser shepard run? Like half the squad dies in me2 and basically activate all fail safes possible? How do I kill the squad in me2? Can you die in me3 in the ending, like in a bad way, like in me2? I remember when they promised a fail safe shepard, that would've been awesome, even if it's Ashley or kaidan or guy x that somehow is strong.

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>>3947449
>might just end up reading the accompanying novels
The first part was an enjoyable read, at least for me. I mostly read nonfiction books nowadays and I haven't read anything from Hamilton before, so I'm certainly no authority on its quality. From what other, more literary-inclined people wrote online, it's standard Hamilton fare with solid worldbuilding, interesting concepts, unexpected twists but somewhat bland characters (with some notable standouts). The last few chapters were too much "all according to keikaku" for my tastes but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm looking forward to seeing how the story concludes.

>>3947660
>Are there any other mods I should consider downloading or will that be enough if I want to replay it mostly vanilla?
If you're looking for mostly vanilla experience, I'd go with these:
>ME1
LE1 Community Patch - bug fixes ect
Saren stages - cosmetic mod that introduces early forms of Saren before his heavy Geth implants
>ME2
LE2 Patch - also fixes minor bugs
Cerberus Ladies Wear Cerberus - returns Cerberus uniforms to female Normandy crewmembers + includes the option to give Kelly her hair from the original game
Oriana looks like Miranda's Twin - mod does what it's called
EGM Fix Weapons in Cutscenes - ditto
Femshep Helmet Clipping Fix and Death Mask Fix - ditto
>ME3
LE3 Community Framework and Patch - bug fixes and such
Restore 3-stage melee - Bioware being mega retards somehow managed to mess this up in LE so the mod returns the heavy melee animation
Dreams Remade - Really nice mod that just makes the dreams sequences more enjoyable and impactful
Ashley Consistency Project (MELE3) - Makes Ash look more like her ME1 self
Oriana looks like Miranda's Twin (ME3LE) - mod does what it's called
Samara's Daughters - makes Rila and Falere look like Samara

There are graphical overhaul mods for all three games, so slap them on as well.

>>3947695
I'm planning on one, but other people on YT got you covered:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPtnwHQGGcQ

>>3947722
Game's based on picrel?

>>3947727
Right, my idea was few side content and we'll, just shep survives. Clearly he will wear this atrocious vest like in the vid. Ugly, but fitting. Unsure if clumsy girl (hottie) or idiot man shep without identity not charisma. Basically white Jacob.

>>3947740
I'd be more precise to say that the book is based on the game, eve though both were being made at the same time by the same people.
That being said, the game is the primary media, the rest is supplemental material.

>>3947744
Got it. Confused it with neuromancer.

>>3947741
>Basically white Jacob
A fate worse than death

>>3947761
>gravity is a mean mother
Like... Is crack common among Bioware personnel?

Listening to the codex entries rn. Me has good lore. Never realized when I played it the first time. Why didn't Bioware made more of it? The botched me3 sales can't be the only reason? Cdpr just released physical arcade for cyberpunk, that's intelligent. Bioware should've done more, too. Board games, books, lost opportunity.

>>3939545
I'm convinced that anyone shitting on thermal clips for messing with previously established setting material never even played the first game.

>>3947951
Oh fuck off. Midway through the game you can have efficient enough heat sinks heat is a non issue. It's not really an issue from the start to begin with. It was changed to thermal clips because retarded xbawks cattle couldn't wrap their tiny brains around the concept of heat and overheating so they changed it to something normalfags are familiar with because the played nuCoD. Anyone who unironically prefers thermal clips over heat is a codnigger normalfag.

Wait a minute. Me3: where does cerburus got a fleet and an army from? Sanctuary explanation is bs, fleets isn't explained at all and horizon doesn't have 300000 inhabitants that can fight or are grown up men.

>>3948086
it doesn't matter. the writers for me2 and me3 didn't give a shit and just made retarded decisions that they thought would make for cool scenes or set piece battles
remember how in me2 the collectors had so many pods because they were going to "target earth", even though they had just one conventional non-reaper ship, and it would have definitely been blown the fuck out if it tried to attack earth. or maybe they were never going to target earth and your squaddies jump to the most retarded nonsensical conclusion based on nothing at all? it's all fucking retarded
80% of shit that happens after me1 is retarded. at least in me1 only 20% of shit was retarded.
https://youtu.be/c-nbJMyody4?si=SrbXOhAKqOn2amLq&t=581

>>3948088
>cool scenes or set piece battles
Clearly. This is generally true in vidya, but very much so for me2/3. The games barely feel like sequels.
>collectors vs earth
Ye, one ship isn't that much. Likely weaker than sovereign.
>jump to conclusions
Come on, every time. It's ridiculous. If you know their answer for both outcomes, its true as well. Jack basically swears her way though me2.
>80% after me1 is retarded
Yeah, no way around it. Me1 is the best, at least story and atmosphere. Me2 feels like a spinoff and 3 like the multiplayer version of it with a campaign slapped onto it.

>>3948117
>and 3 like the multiplayer version of it with a campaign slapped onto it
Ironically the horde shooter multiplayer was the best part of that gay game by far

>>3947995
Criticizing it from a mechanics point of view is fine. You must have missed the part where I specifically said "for messing with previously established setting material."

>>3948162
I didn't. Critcizing that retarded decision for breaking established lore is just as valid because there was no lore reason for them to switch to essentially magazines other than appealing to the xbawks codniggers to increase sales.

>>3947951
>>3948162
well let's hear it then. what's the problem with criticizing it for messing with previous lore and what makes you think people who do it haven't played me1