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Debate, Gameplay vs. Story

  • May 15, 2017

    I was half joking about that Ebonslayer, I don't have the patience to search through wikis to figure out how to make every romance possible (plus I hate half of Andromeda's characters so...makes it real easy to be 'faithful') that and I probably wouldn't play that way...I didn't even play The Witcher that way..

    I actually do own the original trilogy it's just I'm one of those people who have to start from game one and Mass Effect One just felt really tedious to me. Actually to be fair that was on my old TV (which was rather small and not really suited for playing games) so I'll have to give it a shot sometime soon. Maybe playing ME: A will have, pushed me more into the idea of playing Mass Effect, we'll just have to see.  

  • Member
    May 15, 2017

    +Dragonborn1721 Yeah, I'm the same about the OT. If I don't play the first game and import that into ME2 (even though I already know how to gibb up an ME1 save) I can't play right. Then I have to go through the tedious bullshit that is ME1, yaddi yadda. To make it worse my OCD makes it so I absolutely MUST get to 60 and I MUST start a new character. No NG+ for a level 60 of that class.

  • Member
    May 15, 2017

    Ebonslayer said:

    +Legion You mentioned the flaws of Mass Effect and I, being the diehard fan that I am, must defend it.

    1. Morally grey Shepards are possible and are probably the most common way to play. They are called 'paragade' and 'renegon'. You can roleplay your Shep in countless different ways. You can read my previous Shepard playthrough on the following reddit page. I'm the OP. https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/comments/6b1dnc/favorite_shepard_me_13_ot_spoilers/

    2. I'll admit the quests are kind of repetetive, especially in ME3 but in ME2 there's ot many of them and all are unique. In ME1 they are all very similar but they are backed up by semi-interesting characters (kinda similar to Skyrim's except these characters are better designed).

    3. I find that the story in this game isn't really about Shepard (they already did that with DA) but about the interaction with squadmates (which DA comparatively lacks in). My favorite times in the games is talking to every squadmate periodically and seeing what they had to say. I can happily say Garrus is the best bro in the galaxy and if I had a waifu it would be Tali. The interaction between the PC and NPCs is the best I've ever seen in any game.

    4. I actually believe the backstory choices aren't really detrimental to playing Shepard. I find they are merely and outline and offer a lot of interpretation. Especially Sole Survivor who you can headcanon as being afraid of thresher maws or wanting vengeance for his/her squad, and more, you can add a lot of ideas with an event that offers so much emotional stress as that. Ruthless also doesn't necessarilly mean evil. One of my favorite playthroughs was a Colonist/Ruthless as a kind and fair person but when he even hears the word 'batarian' he flips the fuck out. You can also treat the events of ME as some kind of 'redemption' story for all those deaths on Torfan.

    1. I think my actual point was lost in my ravings, so allow me to clarify. I dislike the part of Mass Effect's game design that explicitly rewards paragon and renegade actions, yet provides no benefit for more neautral options. This effectively becomes a punishment by preventing players from avoiding significant plot disasters, for example, the crew member fights in ME2. Now, maybe it's because for about 90% of the time I spent playing ME2, I didn't play ME1 before it. I missed out on all those rollover morality points. I always felt this hindered roleplay potential by forcing the player into a min/max playstyle that was necessary to experience the most choices in any given run. But again, that's speaking from starting the game from scratch, even with the choice DLCs. Cool post, though! I like seeing all the character evolutions throughout the games. I've only ever played through all 3 in order with one character and that was...ages ago. 

    2 & 3. My issue with the quests isn't the quests themselves, but that, contrary to Skyrim, I can't experience them in whatever order I choose. Which makes sense, seeing as how most quests are story quests. This goes back to my point about wanting to define my own character. What I should have said is that I not only want to tell the story of my character, but also define their role in the world. But I do agree that the squadmates were the focus of of ME, intentionally or not. What I remember most about the games are the characters that weren't me. Mordin, Legion, Garrus, Jack...wonderful characters, regardless of ME's genre. 

    4. I don't honestly remember most of the backstory choices, which would certainly suggest they're unintrusive to the overall Sheperd character one chooses to roleplay. 

    My hangup with Mass Effect is that no matter what kind of person I am, I am inescapably Sheperd. Which isn't a bad thing! It's a great thing when I'm in the mood. But I generally prefer to have a great deal of control over characters and the world, which I suppose is why I write about Skyrim more now than I actually play it. Now if you want to talk DA, well, we'll probably need another thread and a stiff drink for that. 

  • Member
    May 15, 2017

    +Legion

    1. Yes, I'll admit that ME2 fucked up Paragon and Renegade. Nowadays I just max them both in gibbed. In ME1 you can just buy charm/intimdate with points and 8 points really isn't that much. In ME3 paragon and renegade stack on each other. I've never once had a problem with having a choice block from me because I didn't go one side or the other (except the Illusive Man at the end, fuck him). So long as you even bother to talk to people you should be fine with the dialogue.

    4. Yes, the backstories are very forgettable, they are rarely mention in the games. I think I can count on one hand how many times I've ever heard Akuze mentioned through the entire trilogy. I actually use them to decide how my character would think. For instance, as I said in my post, my Shepard was scarred in a way that stripped him of emotions. The colonist/ruthless is another example of how you can imagine your character. You can also build a psuedo-batman with colonist/war hero. A kid who has everything he loves taken from him by pirates then kicks their asses in the most badass way possible later on.

  • Member
    May 15, 2017
    I believe that gameplay is what makes a game beeing a game and not an interactive movie. You cannot, however, drive the car without your story-telling steering wheel.