Is it worth playing the Mass Effect trilogy for the 1st time in 2024?

[Skinwalker]

Well, is it? I am considering giving it a try, but is it worth the effort? If yes, then just the first one, or all three? Obviously, not even considering Androgyny.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Yes. The first is the best but the other two are worth playing. ME2 steps further away from RPG and more into action, but the production is very polished. If you enjoy BioWare NPCs, this is possibly their peak. ME3 has better combat than ME2, but the story suffers significantly. It finishes on a sour note but is otherwise enjoyable.

 

[sebas]

The first is a good space opera game totally worth playing. The other two are Fast and Furious action games you only really go through because you wanna tie up the story from the first one (spoiler: not worth it!).

But what they all have is an absolutely kickass soundtrack!

 

[ShiningSoldier]

Why not? Mass Effect games are not good RPGs, but they're pretty decent as action games.
(I'm ashamed to admit that, but I absolutely didn't like the first one, but love second and third)

 

[Robber Baron]

and third)

Spoiler

 

[catfood]

Play Ur-Quan Masters instead.

 

[Skinwalker]

ME3 has better combat than ME2, but the story suffers significantly. It finishes on a sour note but is otherwise enjoyable.

Didn't they change the ending after everyone hated it?

 

[Skinwalker]

Play Ur-Quan Masters instead.

 

[Azalin]

First one is the best from an rpg perspective but I remember it having the clunkiest combat.
Second is much more of an action game than an rpg but it improved and streamlined the combat/gameplay and had some good characters and pretty good choices & consequences
Third one had mostly the gameplay of the second one with some tweaks and the middle part is quite enjoyable but infamously shat the bed when it came to the ending of the game and the whole trilogy.

Overall a decent trilogy that you might enjoy if you like space opera

 

[Iucounu]

If you play ME1 before ME2, the plot of ME2 might disappoint you. I played ME2 before ME1, which worked better.

 

[Iucounu]

ME3 has better combat than ME2, but the story suffers significantly. It finishes on a sour note but is otherwise enjoyable.

Didn't they change the ending after everyone hated it?

They just added some more cutscenes, the ending writing is still a trainwreck.

 

[Skinwalker]

If you play ME1 before ME2, the plot of ME2 might disappoint you

But why?

 

[Iucounu]

If you play ME1 before ME2, the plot of ME2 might disappoint you

But why?

ME2's plot is basically an interlude, almost completely independent of ME1 and ME3 (many forum posts have complained about that). Then the plot of ME3 continues where ME1 ended, almost as if ME2 never happened. Maybe one could even play ME1 and ME3 first, then play ME2 as an addon?

But on its own there's nothing too bad about ME2's writing (except for the daddy issues of most main characters), it might even be considered based by today's standards.

 

[Skinwalker]

So biowhore did the same thing with ME2 that they did with DA2?

What's *wrong* with biowhore?

 

[The people of Duckburg]

If you play ME1 before ME2, the plot of ME2 might disappoint you

But why?

Because ME2 is nonsense that doesn't just not go anywhere, but actively dismantles the very clear setup that ME1 had built. You had a mission, a crew, a ship, and you had proven that the threat that no one else previously believed in was real. I'm pretty sure that Shepard explicitly states, right at the end of the first game, that his mission is to figure out how to prevent the Reapers from leaving dark space. ME2 does nothing with it and strips you of everything you accomplished or gathered in the first game. Its own story is a bunch of nonsensical shit with the writer's pet villain that is meant to be emotional, but no one ever has any actual arguments. They just get upset at each other. Just play the first one and skip the sequels. If you want an action shooter, you can find something much better than ME2. ME1 had flaws, no doubt, but its strengths were enough to forgive those flaws. Instead of taking the already good parts and improving the flawed parts, Bioware discarded the good parts.

 

[Fargus]

Yes, these games are fun, just don't treat them as rpgs but rather cinematic third person shooters with dialogues. They all follow the same protagonist and story unlike Dragon Age games. I prefer ME2\3 for the action and linear nature, because shooting in ME1 sucked ass and mako exploration of empty planets was very tedious ad boring.

And check for mods, there are some nice ones out there. Especially if you are using Legendary Edition.

 

[luj1]

ME1 is like watered down KotOR, maybe better to play that instead

 

[Sentinel]

ME1 is a shit game in all aspects. ME2 has better gameplay and characters, story is still whatever but not as retarded.

 

[Butter]

Play Ur-Quan Masters instead.

Or Starflight. Or FTL. Mass Effect is just a BioWare dating simulator with corridor shooting sprinkled in.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

In 2024, you and all other Codexers should know better than to play any game developed by Bioware.

 

[Gargaune]

ME1 was boring, I had enough halfway through some elevator, quit and never came back. Later, EA gave away free apology copies of ME2 to victims of DA2 and I appreciated the gesture, but never bothered installing it.

TL;DR: No.

 

[Skinwalker]

Thanks Godex, very helpful.

 

[Deadyawn]

Yeah, go for it. They are fun games on their own, just not particularly good RPGs, if at all.

Besides, you get to see the natural conclusion to Bioware's cinematic storytelling aspirations and the folly of it all.

 

[Zlaja]

I played through ME2 and ME3 for the first time last year, and I don't really understand why almost everyone seems to prefer ME2. ME3 is more of a proper sequel to ME1 and the combat is better and a bit more challenging. Also, the ancient alien companion you get from one of the ME3's add-ons is better than any companion in ME2.

A lot has been said about the ending of ME3, but the current version of the game I played featured an ok ending. Not great, but then again neither is the story that good overall in any of these damn games to begin with.

 

[DemonKing]

You can get the entire Legendary edition remasters for dirt cheap these days or on Gamepass, so it's not much of a risk to give them a try apart from the time you lose playing them.

They're all ok games. ME 1 has a decent storyline and choices but ME2/3 are ok as cinematic sci-fi action games.