Best Mass Effect Game? Best Character?

[wayfare]

Ok, playgrounders. In Your Opinion, which was the best Mass Effect game? Who was the best character?

In My Opinion

Best Game: Mass Effect (Original)

Why: I felt this game had the best story out of the three. More of a role playing game, with tons of dialogue and great character development. Sure the AI wasn't great and the Combat was a bit slower, but it still told an amazing story and created some incredible characters.
Bonus points for being a game that turned the Heroic Speech into a Mini-game.

Best Character: The Illusive Man

Why: Because he is so bad, but is somehow also an idealist. Really hard choice between the Illusive Man and Thane Krios, who has many of the same qualities, but is doubtless a hero.

[Tebryn]

Mordin. The games were all sub-par gamewise but Mordin was easily the best character.

[Blisstake]

Mass Effect 2... just barely beating over 3.

ME1 just had too many problems going for it, in my opinion. Craptastic inventory system with weapons that really didn't vary by enough. It also featured the incredibly annoying Mako, and loads of pain-in-the-butt side missions that seemed to all be the same thing. I also thought it had the worst of the paragon/renegade systems (3 having the best), where you lost out on combat abilities by putting points into charm/intimidate. The powers (or skills, I think) had too many points to them (10 compared to 4 in ME2 and 6 in ME3), for little benefit each time, which made level ups feel lacking. Combat felt rather stale, especially if I was a class like adept where I would just spam all of my abilities, then slowly wait for them to go off CD. And then there's the AI... Dammit Ashley, I said we're saving the colonists, stop shooting them!

ME2 was such a breath of fresh air to me. The combat was more fast-paced, the worlds felt more interesting and varied, and the characters and story kept the same level of quality as encountered in the first game. The interrupt system felt nice, and I enjoyed how many party members I was allowed to pick between. It was a bit of a shame how none of the new ME2 squadmates carried over to ME3, but only appeared in, like, a single mission

Favorite character is EDI. Can't entirely explain why, but she always put a smile on my face. I actually didn't like her romance with Joker, though.

Least favorite character is Kai Leng. I don't feel like I need to explain why

[Zevox]

This should really just have been asked in the main ME3 thread. Bit redundant as a separate thread.

Still can't make up my mind on ME2 or ME3 as the best. Gameplay-wise 3 clearly improved on 2, but story-wise I prefer 2's focus on smaller stories and character development. Though I must admit that Tuchanka and Rannoch were quite satisfying in 3 too. Both easily beat 1 though - that one had way too many problems (like the Mako in its entirety, or the reuse of the same three maps for every side-quest, or skills leveling up by a mere percentage point or two at most each level), and frankly even without them it would still only be a good game, not great like its sequels.

Character-wise the best is Mordin, no contest. A complex character whose personal story is centered on difficult ethical and moral dilemmas, who raises some interesting and unusual points when confronted with those, a doctor who is also a complete badass, and just a guy with a great sense of humor. And he sings to boot. He's always the character I most look forward to talking to in 2, and just having around on the Normandy for a little while in 3 made the game so much better for me.

Zevox

[Cespenar]

Second game, Mordin, thank you very much.

[Tengu_temp]

I'll tell you when I finish ME2&3. The thread should still be up by then.

[TheLaughingMan]

Best Game: Mass Effect I

Best Character: Marauder Shields

[Derthric]

Favorite game. For me the feel and atmosphere of 1 overcomes its many shortcomings, yes even the Mako. There is no doubt that 2 improved the gameplay and then 3 took it to another level. However there was a sense of scale and grandness to 1 that I reveled in.

Best character or favorite?

Best I am going with TIM. He is menacing at one moment and seemingly benevolent the next with it all fitting his character. An excellent villian, unfortunately wasted as a B Antagonist in the 3rd game.

Favorite.....All of them? Actually I am gonna go with my Broski Garrus. His character was always there for Shepard even before joining up. And then at the darkest moments in ME3 he was the one picking Shepard up. On my canon Shepard he was there for the final fight against Saren, the baby reaper and the "finale" in ME3.

Spoiler

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The moment I realized he probably got facemelted with Ash, that Shep's LI, was the worst moment for me. Followed by their inexplicable survival.

Runner up: Mess Sargent Gardner "He he, through the cracks"

[Thanatos 51-50]

@^: That reminds me that I never ran into Mess Sargent Gardner in ME3. Is he in it?

Favourite game: Three. It has the advantage of all the tension building up from one and two behind it, a fast-paced combat system which doesn't quickly devolve into Bullet Hell, the ability to modify your load-out in a reasonable way. And I don't mean "Mantis, or Viper?", I mean a veritable smörgåsbord of different rifles, suited for different roles, across all the weapon types. (Personally, I found a good generalist kit to be Valiant + Disciple) And the tight, arc-based story, with a couple smatterings of episodic arcs far exceeded what One and Two pulled off.
The only downside is the endings. And I liked those.

Favourite Character: ... Mordin is Mordin, Garrus is Garrus, and Tali is Tali. They're all varied and awesome, and while the battle-buddy relationship between Vakarian and Shepard tugs at me a little bit, and the Very Model of a Scientist Salarian deals with complex issues, I have to put my "Faourite" pin on Tali, for her "coming of age" character arc quickly dropping her into a cycle of things that are Just Too Big for her to deal with, and yet she still perseveres and forces her way through.
She's not an Admiral, she's not a squad leader, she's an Engineer - and yet, she constantly has to hoist those leadership roles on her shoulder, and it's killing her. Additionally, her refusal to enter the "He made things difficult for me, I'll return the favour." mindset that she exhibits throughout her Citadel conversations in three made me smile.
Cruelty to you is not a blank check to subject others to the same. I'm glad one other person understands that. Even if it's just some writer at Bioware.

[Anarion]

Favorite Game: I'm going to go with 3. I think the game-play was the best, as evidenced by the fact that I'm still enjoying the multiplayer. I felt like ME2 got a little bit stale with fewer variations in the abilities, but ME3 really hit the sweet spot with the different branches and 6 overall levels. In terms of story, ME3 ignoring the ending also was the most satisfying for me, although I'm still unsure whether I should have gone for Liara or Tali as a romance option. I picked Liara, but then felt really bad when Tali joined me. But that's a good place for a game to be in, so the fact I cared makes me like the game more.

Favorite Character: ME1 Liara, which is why I romanced her. She was so nerdy yet awesome. I liked her less as the shadow broker though, and Mordin really grew on me (and I'll never hear Gilbert and Sullivan now without remembering him). I also really liked Legion. He was just a good guy, and what he did on Rannoch was amazing.

[Avilan the Grey]

Best Game: I have not even started the third game yet. Of the two I have played... Story wise ME1 is best, but gameplay makes ME2 come out on top. ME1 is just not polished enough to be fun to play; the limitations posed by the constant need for a tech / hack expert, and the horror of driving the Mako...

Best Character: Jack, hands down.

[Psyren]

Story: Even with the endings controversy I still say ME3 wins - at least the first 95% of it. The sheer mind-crushing depth of Tuchanka and Rannoch dwarf anything in either of the two previous games, downtime on the Normandy between missions was better (the squad moving around the Normandy like they did made it feel like a space dorm instead of just a static mission hub) and the romances felt much stronger than simply "okay, I love you now, let's not talk again until right before the final mission."

Gameplay: ME3, hands down. I love TPS games, and for the first time in the series' history ME is ahead of Gears. The multiplayer is icing on the very delicious cake, and gives the game massive replay value.

Squad: Mass Effect 2 wins handily in the squad department; the devs just plain outdid themselves with all the hilarious combinations you can have. And there were a lot of teammates to choose from too.


Favorite Character: Garrus of course! Turian Batman ftw.

[Illieas]

Best Game: mass effect 2
mostly because it played to bioware's strength which is always been characters focus. I would say the suicide mission will stay a moment i will remember.

mass effect 1 had problems with repetative stages messed up inventory and world building done in not an intuitive way and the characters were rather bland because most time they are a walking encyclopedia on their species

mass effect 3 rode heavily on Me2 characters and their stories which was good for it. the rannoch and tuchanka are great. sadly the end was the only problem but still solid and great game.


favorite character:
mordin
pragmatic quirky charcter that had the strongest story arc. you have to respect the scientist salarian

[wayfare]

Did anyone like Miranda?

You know, I was talking with a friend a while ago, comparing the "Bro" realtionships in Mass Effect with those in the Dragon Age series. I found that I loved Garrus and took him with me on pretty much every mission because he was my friend. ME3 it shows how far he has come as a person and a leader -- Liara might have taken the XOs quarters, but it Feels to me like Garrus is really the second in command on the ship.

[thegurullamen]

Did anyone like Miranda?

Sure, I loved Miranda. (No, not in the engineering room.) She was an overbearing bitch a lot of the time, but it's not hard to see why. Most powerful guy in the universe makes you his second in command, it sort of validates your huge ego. I thought she was an interesting character. Really helped bring up the average for team Cerberus. (Jacob didn't really get interesting for me until I subscribed to the 'Stoic-who'll-bone-the-boss-to-advance' alternate character interpretation.)

Best game is 1, then 3, then 2. Three would = One if they fixed the ending.

Best Character? Mordin. For all three games. Yes, he's that good.

[Psyren]

Did anyone like Miranda?

Absolutely, she's very capable. When my Shepard told her that "the best thing {TIM} did is put you on my squad" he meant it.

If my Shep was straight she would be a good match.

[Luzahn]

Mass Effect 3 Spoiler

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My new playthrough Shepard will probably treat Miranda in a far harsher light, now that I know she attempted to put in a mind control chip during project Lazarus.

Besides that the character was probably the most interesting for one of the "default human" squadmates

[Zevox]

Mass Effect 3 Spoiler

Spoiler

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My new playthrough Shepard will probably treat Miranda in a far harsher light, now that I know she attempted to put in a mind control chip during project Lazarus.

Besides that the character was probably the most interesting for one of the "default human" squadmates

Uh, she told you that she wanted to do that at the start of ME2. Talk to her right after you first discussion with the Illusive Man, she mentions that quite openly.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Odd, I don't think she ever mentioned that to my first playthrough. Maybe it's from a particular dialogue branch.

[Zevox]

Odd, I don't think she ever mentioned that to my first playthrough. Maybe it's from a particular dialogue branch.

Just talk to her about the Lazarus Project. After an exchange or two on it you can ask her what she wanted to do differently. That's the first thing she'll tell you in response to that question. You even remark in 3 that she had told you this before - perhaps only if you actually heard that dialogue in 2, though I'd be very surprised to hear they can track something that minor for the purpose of adding one line of dialogue to ME3.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Just talk to her about the Lazarus Project. After an exchange or two on it you can ask her what she wanted to do differently. That's the first thing she'll tell you in response to that question. You even remark in 3 that she had told you this before - perhaps only if you actually heard that dialogue in 2, though I'd be very surprised to hear they can track something that minor for the purpose of adding one line of dialogue to ME3.

Zevox

I don't believe my Shepard mentions it explicitly. In 3 he was surprised at Miranda's guilt-ridden confession of trying to use the chip.

[Zevox]

I don't believe my Shepard mentions it explicitly. In 3 he was surprised at Miranda's guilt-ridden confession of trying to use the chip.

Minor correction: not trying to, wanting to. The Illusive Man wouldn't let her try, for fear that it would affect Shepard's personality, and thus performance.

Zevox

[Xondoure]

Minor correction: not trying to, wanting to. The Illusive Man wouldn't let her try, for fear that it would affect Shepard's personality, and thus performance.

Zevox

Which is hilarious from an out of universe perspective, where Shepard's personality is meaningless.

[Pronounceable]

Garrus is closest contender far as Bioware goes, but Mordin is the best NPC ever put in any game. Maybe Steven Heck is equal.

I don't believe my Shepard mentions it explicitly. In 3 he was surprised at Miranda's guilt-ridden confession of trying to use the chip.

ME3 actually has a lot of problems. That is one of them. But as everyone on internet knows, ending sucked so hard we didn't even notice how many other small faults were there.

ME had best story and atmosphere but game itself was mind numbingly terrible. ME2 was almost as awful as PoP Warrior Within (especially compared to their respective first games) for exactly the same reasons, despite being great in gaming department (again like WW). That'd leave ME3 as the best game if we could imagine it ends abruptly just before the magical elevator ride to epic fail. Which we actually can.

[Zevox]

Which is hilarious from an out of universe perspective, where Shepard's personality is meaningless.

I was thinking about remarking on that while typing that actually, but held back for fear of getting into another discussion of blank-slate main characters. But yeah, hilariously ironic.

ME3 actually has a lot of problems. That is one of them.

Er, how on earth is Bioware somehow managing to track whether you had a minor discussion with Miranda at the start of 2 and alter dialogue with her accordingly in 3 a problem? It seems almost unbelievably detail-oriented of them to me.

Zevox

[James the Dark]

Best game: 3. Except the last five minutes. Obviously. I have never felt so powerful as when I stood upon Rannoch and went toe to toe with a Reaper. Also, the fact that I accidentally chanced upon the only solution which allowed the geth and the quarians to coexist was edifying.

Character: Much more complicated. Mordin being Mordin puts him as a frontrunner, but I've got a soft-spot for Jack. Can't help but feel sympathy for a girl who's been through hell. Brings out the protective instinct. Call it a three way tie with Garrus, who I found myself frequently saying in three: "Oh, Garrus. Don't ever change."

Runner up: Conrad Verner. That guy just can't help but be hilariously wrong.

[Androgeus]

though I'd be very surprised to hear they can track something that minor for the purpose of adding one line of dialogue to ME3.

you mean track a single Boolean value? Yhea that isn't hard.

[Psyren]

Odd, I don't think she ever mentioned that to my first playthrough. Maybe it's from a particular dialogue branch.

Here's an example of it. (Note that you don't need to romance her, mine didn't.)

you mean track a single Boolean value? Yhea that isn't hard.

It's not tracking that single value that's difficult; it's the staggering implication that, if they're tracking one throwaway line from the beginning of a 2-year old game, that they must have flags scattered everywhere.

[Acanous]

ME2 and Tali. I really don't think it needs explaining in either case.

[Avilan the Grey]

ME2 and Tali. I really don't think it needs explaining in either case.

I never understood the Tali hype. She is my absolutely least favorite character from ME1, and in ME2 I basically only have her with me on her loyalty mission. I mean when you have characters like Wrex, Jack, Garrus...