Topic: Mass Effect 1 or Mass Effect 2

[scottws]

I finished the original Mass Effect in early December and loved it.  I thought it was a little clumsy and ho-hum in the beginning, but it ramped up in excitement and depth pretty quickly and by the end I couldn't wait to get my hands on the sequel.

Due to the timing, I had to wait for Christmas or risk getting grief from Jennie, but I did end up getting the second and have put significant time into it.  I have to say, I was really disappointed with some of the changes.  After playing for awhile, I have really gotten into it as I did with the first and have come to accept some of the changes such as the lack of weapon and modification choice, but I can't help but wonder at some of the decisions they made with the game design.  Even the UI is completely different and what is up with the galaxy map?  Why do they make you manually fly around now?  It's stupid.  The story is also taking a really long time to develop but I think that is because you have so many characters to track down plus their loyalty quests to take care of and while you are doing that the story is basically on pause.

Anyway, I would have to say that at this point I liked the original Mass Effect far more than I am liking the second.  I am wondering what everyone's thoughts on the matter are because I feel like I am in the minority on this.  Everyone seems to favor ME2.

[iPPi]

I like them both and really cannot say which one is the better experience.  I say experience because the gameplay for both games vary quite a bit.  ME1 has clunky shooting mechanics and is more RPG and ability focused and its vehicle sections kind of suck.  ME2 has great shooting mechanics but the RPG elements have been simplified quite a bit and the planet scanning is kind of boring.  Both games have hit and miss gameplay elements.

That said, I think ME1 has the better story.  Since ME2 is the bridge between the beginning and the end, the overarching story hasn't really progressed much.  In ME2, it's all about the teammates and their stories.  Again though, contrasted to ME1, ME2 has the richer world and more interesting characters.

So both games have their strengths and weaknesses and I feel that they are pretty even out.  In the grand scheme though, ME2 feels a lot more epic than ME1 though and I would feel that I could play ME2 again from the start, but not ME1.

[MysterD]

Intro
ME2 is just the better game - by far, if you ask me. It's for plenty of reasons. I'm gonna make this long-winded. Yes - explanation incoming.

Combat
ME1's weakness was that its combat was quite clunky - like most RPG/Shooter games. ME2 basically removed all of the clunky-ness by...reversing things and making it go the Shooter/RPG route. It basically went the other way around. ME is a series that always felt like a shooter series b/c of its controls - so, it made sense to me w/ the removal of the Inventory system and being way less stat-driven. Plus, this immediacy makes the player also be more invested into the actual game and combat than in spending time in the game's Inventory system.

Inventory, Loot, and Planet Scanning
Let's face it - ME1's Inventory system and loot system was not good at all. While I did like that I could add in extra mods and stuff to weapons - the weapon naming was silly for most of the weapons. Most guns were like version 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. And going through that Inventory was almost silly - b/c most weapons weren't much different than its previous numbered incarnation - maybe it got a few more damage points and a one more mod spot to tweak-out w/ each gun, but that's really it.

The upgrading system in ME2 simplified the above. Basically, now you got a handful of weapons and guns - and that's it. And well - you want to upgrade them to some kind of extent, then you're gonna have to find resources and/or especially do the planet scanning. Advice on planet scanning - don't do too much of it in a row b/c that can get boring and tedious. Do it here and there and you'll be fine.

Manual Flying
About manual flying in ME2 - I think they were trying to be different from ME1 and Dragon Age: Origins - where in those games, you just click somewhere and it just basically goes there. ME2 goes another route and it makes you feel like you are flying around in this huge-as-sin universe in outer-space. It also makes you feel that shouldn't waste your money and resources when always flying around and that you should wisely go around the world. As far as I'm concerned - different is always a good thing. I don't need each game to be just like each other.

Questing & Story
While the main quest was really good in ME1, the side quests stuff....was kinda "meh," for the most part. This is especially true, when ME1 is compared to ME2's side quests and Loyalty Quests. Now, most of ME2 is based around building your squad. And you will want to do Loyalty missions, as well - b/c of the extra skill perk and b/c these missions are great. All of these missions about your characters actually will make you care about them. And you'll care even more about your characters, especially when the final mission in ME2 rolls around - b/c every squad member's life in this "suicide mission" actually hangs in the balance. There's more of an emphasis on saving your squad than actually saving the world here (even though both storylines are here) - b/c of the huge emphasis really put forth on the squad.

A lot of ME2 feels more linear in design, as many of these planets are not "Hubs" - "Hubs" would be like the planet in ME2 where Club Afterlife is at or ME1's The Citadel. Most of these "planets" in ME2 are just there as linear-style Call of Duty missions. Unlike a COD game, though - these linear-style missions often have decisions to make that will matters and have ramifications. If I had one complaint w/ ME2 and its questing - I just wish there were more "Hub" style locations/planets in the game.

EDIT:
MysterD's Complaints w/ ME2
So, what are my complaints w/ ME2? Well, I wish there more "Hub" locations; the planet-scanning had more depth and variety to it; and upgrading my few weapons on the Normandy was deeper than it actually was.

That's basically it. All VERY minor stuff.

[Pugnate]

Mass Effect 1 was crap and a broken game. Dice role for a twitch shooter doesn't work, and I think Bioware realized that. They made similar mistakes with Jade Empire. Mass Effect 1's side quests and planetary exploration was also extremely irritating. It did have a better atmosphere though. I liked the whole 70's serious scifi vibe.

Mass Effect 2 is better thought of as a third person action game.

[W7RE]

ME1 was linear and followed a story path. ME2 is like a bunch of linear sections that you play in whatever order. I think the storytelling of ME2 feels weaker because of this. I still loved both though.

Also, this is gonna seem really weird, but I didn't like the crosshair in ME2. In ME1 I played a soldier with shotuns and assault rifles. The shotgun croshair was a circle, and the AR was a smaller circle with 3 lines coming out from it. In ME2 the AR had 4 lines making a plus. For whatever reason that bothered me a little. It made it feel different somehow.

[scottws]

I know what you are saying, W7RE.  It is the little changes they made that are really pointless and sort of break a little cohesion between the games.  It's not just the crosshairs either.  It's things like using the space bar instead of E to activate things or the way items of interest appear on the screen.  Why were these changes made?  I understand the different game design philosophy.  They wanted to give people more of what people wanted and less of what people didnt.  But the little UI and interface changes, while minor, just don't make any sense.

I'm not complaining, really.  These little changes dont affect my enjoyment of the game.  They are just observations.

[W7RE]

I was listening to the Giant Bomb GOTY deliberations podcasts and them talking about ME2 made me REALLY want to play through it a second time with something other than soldier. Of course whenever I start thinking like that, I want to start with the first and play through both in order.

[scottws]

Alright, so I just finished ME2.  Pretty awesome finale, if not a little obvious.

I still think I liked ME1 better, if only for the story and its pacing.

Edit: Oh yeah and I completed the Tali romance.  Ew.  I had one going with Miranda but it fizzled out somehow.  I also had one going with Jack but she was too scary so I broke that one off.  She wasn't happy.