Mass Effect Franchise

[Photon Guy]

So during this Coronavirus outbreak where I like most people have been spending most of my time at home, I've been playing lots of Mass Effect. I started with some Mass Effect Andromeda but for some reason it made me want to play the first Mass Effect game so I switched to that. I beat the game with both the soldier and the adept. Originally I had beaten the game with my favorite character class, the vanguard, but this time I tried it with different classes. Now I am on to Mass Effect 2 playing with my imported character, my adept from Mass Effect 1. Eventually I will probably go on to play Mass Effect 3. 

From what I heard lots of people prefer the original three Mass Effect games over Mass Effect Andromeda. Even though Andromeda is the latest release and is a more advanced game people like the first three better. 

[StaceyPowers]

I am on my first playthrough of Mass Effect (first game) playing as Vanguard, and I agree, it is a super fun class. I had no idea what I was doing when I picked it out, but in hindsight I can say I picked exactly the class I ultimately would have ended up wanting. This is indeed a good series for quarantine. I'm going a lot more slowly than you though since I have other games on rotation. Glad you are enjoying it!

[Photon Guy]

7 minutes ago, StaceyPowers said:

I am on my first playthrough of Mass Effect (first game) playing as Vanguard, and I agree, it is a super fun class. I had no idea what I was doing when I picked it out, but in hindsight I can say I picked exactly the class I ultimately would have ended up wanting. This is indeed a good series for quarantine. I'm going a lot more slowly than you though since I have other games on rotation. Glad you are enjoying it!

The Vanguard is basically a combination of the Soldier and the Adept, you get good use of biotic powers and you can be skilled with most weapons. I've played through the first game multiple times, first as a Vanguard but also as a Soldier and an Adept. I never did get much into the Engineer class though but I do like Talia, she's an Engineer and a good character.

Although I've played through all three games as a Vanguard I am now on game 2 as an Adept. Today I played through this part of the game where you have to recruit a doctor who is developing a cure for a disease and so he is in an area that's under quarantine so that really fits in with the Coronavirus pandemic that we've got right now. 

[StaceyPowers]

1 hour ago, Photon Guy said:

The Vanguard is basically a combination of the Soldier and the Adept, you get good use of biotic powers and you can be skilled with most weapons. I've played through the first game multiple times, first as a Vanguard but also as a Soldier and an Adept. I never did get much into the Engineer class though but I do like Talia, she's an Engineer and a good character.

Although I've played through all three games as a Vanguard I am now on game 2 as an Adept. Today I played through this part of the game where you have to recruit a doctor who is developing a cure for a disease and so he is in an area that's under quarantine so that really fits in with the Coronavirus pandemic that we've got right now. 

I would feel pretty lost playing as Engineer class I think. Heck, I often just skip bringing anyone who isn’t just straight up solid with combat with me on missions (so Ashley is always with me) unless I don’t expect much fighting, and I just ignore all the locked containers I can’t open. I like Tali a lot, but that does mean alas she doesn’t get to go out with me much.

Regarding coronavirus, I think that it is almost inescapable to run into these resonating themes in games—so many of our games focus on pandemics, apocalyptic scenarios, etc., so we encounter it all over the place. I’m also replaying TLOU right now (just started Left Behind again), so I get major quarantine vibes every night when I play.

 

[Photon Guy]

13 hours ago, StaceyPowers said:

I would feel pretty lost playing as Engineer class I think. Heck, I often just skip bringing anyone who isn’t just straight up solid with combat with me on missions (so Ashley is always with me) unless I don’t expect much fighting, and I just ignore all the locked containers I can’t open. I like Tali a lot, but that does mean alas she doesn’t get to go out with me much.

Regarding coronavirus, I think that it is almost inescapable to run into these resonating themes in games—so many of our games focus on pandemics, apocalyptic scenarios, etc., so we encounter it all over the place. I’m also replaying TLOU right now (just started Left Behind again), so I get major quarantine vibes every night when I play.

 

If you want good straight up combat characters I would recommend Garrus and Wrex. I would have to say they're even better at combat than Ashley although Ashley is good too. Wrex also has some boitics to go along with  his combat abilities and Garrus has some technical skills. I like to have a well rounded party and I usually play as a character who is solid on combat so I will sometimes bring another good solid combat character around if I feel I need some extra firepower but I will also often bring along a character with good technical skills such as Talia and a character with good biotics such as Liara. I usually don't use Ashley that much although I do sometimes romance her.

 

In my opinion you shouldn't just focus on combat and overlook other skills such as engineering skills which can be used to open and get into various containers and areas of all different sorts. You especially shouldn't overlook biotics and just focus on weapons if you want to be good in combat since biotics can be devastating in fights. One of the main reasons I like the Vanguard so much,  you can be good at both combat with weapons and biotics. 

So anyway I hope you have Mass Effect 2 and 3, if you don't they will be very hard to get right now during our current crisis. 

[JoyFreak]

I only played the base game, and only once. I found it good enough, I liked ME3's story more compared to the limited progress that ME2's offered, but the horrible ending and some boring sections killed my interes on the series.And the Prothean character was poorly handled IIRC, he didn't offer anything interesting story-wise. If some day EA remasters the trilogy, I''ll surely play them again with all DLC content.

[StaceyPowers]

On 3/29/2020 at 6:24 AM, Photon Guy said:

If you want good straight up combat characters I would recommend Garrus and Wrex. I would have to say they're even better at combat than Ashley although Ashley is good too. Wrex also has some boitics to go along with  his combat abilities and Garrus has some technical skills. I like to have a well rounded party and I usually play as a character who is solid on combat so I will sometimes bring another good solid combat character around if I feel I need some extra firepower but I will also often bring along a character with good technical skills such as Talia and a character with good biotics such as Liara. I usually don't use Ashley that much although I do sometimes romance her.

 

In my opinion you shouldn't just focus on combat and overlook other skills such as engineering skills which can be used to open and get into various containers and areas of all different sorts. You especially shouldn't overlook biotics and just focus on weapons if you want to be good in combat since biotics can be devastating in fights. One of the main reasons I like the Vanguard so much,  you can be good at both combat with weapons and biotics. 

So anyway I hope you have Mass Effect 2 and 3, if you don't they will be very hard to get right now during our current crisis. 

Person-wise, I get along better with both Garrus and Wrex than I do Ashley. I guess I should try taking them both out more to see if I am relying more on Ashley than I need to be (probably). Don’t get me wrong—I like Ashley well enough. But her xenophobic attitudes (even understanding where they come from) can grate on me a bit. Garrus and Wrex both are pretty easygoing, and Garrus and I seem to share a similar outlook when it comes to do what to do with the bad guys.

Is it really so important to open containers though? Whenever I do manage to open one, it always just seems like pretty standard supplies. I’m playing on casual mode, so I have a lot of money at this point and don’t seem really in need of anything. I would assume though on a harder mode, opening containers might be essential.

I love biotics in combat. They remind me of the plasmids/vigors in BioShock games, and are both a lot of fun to use, and as you mentioned, powerful. I’m really glad I picked the Vanguard class.

I was lucky enough to pick up all three Mass Effect games in a bundled set at a local store used for like $10! There are advantages to being so far behind with games. So Mass Effect 2 and 3 are waiting for me :)

On 3/29/2020 at 8:04 AM, JoyFreak said:

I only played the base game, and only once. I found it good enough, I liked ME3's story more compared to the limited progress that ME2's offered, but the horrible ending and some boring sections killed my interes on the series.And the Prothean character was poorly handled IIRC, he didn't offer anything interesting story-wise. If some day EA remasters the trilogy, I''ll surely play them again with all DLC content.

I still haven’t played ME2 or 3 yet, I’m in the middle of the first game. I’ve heard most people say they liked ME2 better than 3 (I think?), so it’s interesting to hear a slightly different opinion. But the ending you mentioned is one of the main complaints I hear about ME3. So I guess it is good to hear that there are some positives to offset that.