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Recommend Mass Effect to a non-RPG player?


Rafdog89

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As the title says, would you recommend Mass Effect to a non-RPG player like myself? I've seen some gameplay videos of it, and it looks fun, and I don't see it being a huge RPG like Skyrim, so I think it should peak my interest. I hear it's more of an action adventure 3rd person shooter with RPG elements, so it sounds appealing to me. Though, if it's like a RPG like Skyrim or KOTOR, then I may pass. RPG's are cool, but they don't capture my interest for very long. I don't want to start a series like ME and half-ass it.

 

I would post this in one of the ME sections, but since this is a general question rather asking which one should I play, I figured this was the spot to post this thread. I'm planning on buying the ME trilogy for PS3 and want to see what the big deal this series is that my friend always brings up. I have the first one on the 360 and I figured I'd play that first to get a feeling for it, but the PS3 trilogy is going for cheap (possibly because the PS4 remastered trilogy is coming? Rumor?), so I figured now is my time to check out this series.

 

Would do you guys recommend? Try it out? Don't waste my money? Let me know.

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I recommend Mass Effect to everyone. The first game does have more "traditional" RPG elements to it than the 2nd & 3rd, but it's also probably the best story of the 3. Great series that I think everyone should play. And with the current price, you don't have much to lose. ;)

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Short-version: Yes, I can recommend the trilogy.

 

Long version: I was writing something for a while but I really can't put it into words. I disliked 1, then played 2 which is my favorite PS3 game now, and went back to 1 after finishing 2 and 3. The trilogy is absolutely amazing and can be recommended to any gamer.

 

RPG-wise, the games are probably grander than Skyrim.

As the poster above me said, considering the price you can't go wrong. Getting the platinum in all 3 games will easily take 100s of hours, so it's certainly worth it. If you dislike the first game, just play the 2nd one.

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I was pleasantly surprised with Mass Effect. It has a few elements from RPG games in it, but it's better to think of Mass Effect as third-person shooters with a solid cover and command system. As far as individual levels go things are fairly linear, but the gameplay itself is solid and the story is interesting.

 

I started with ME2 and absolutely loved it. Made me wish I had started with the first one. If you already have the first game for the 360 then I'd say just play it enough to see whether or not you like it. If you like it, then buy the trilogy for the PS3. If not, then you saved yourself some money.

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On 360 Mass Effect was an amazing trilogy to play. The port to PS3 however was truly horrible.

 

Even ME3 suffers from horrible lag during DLC and certain missions.

 

I'd recommend it, but play it knowing that its going to crash and bug out on you on quite a few occasions.

 

And the crapper about the trilogy is that it was all single player only until the third game featured one online trophy. I truly hated the online as it only has one mode and that gets boring fast.

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I recommend it to you, and even if you're not a big RPG player you won't feel lost. The RPG part of franchise (especially in the first one) is easy to get into. It's really an action / RPG franchise and apart the quests giving you objectives you shouldn't have problems to change your armor, weapons and stuff like this. It's easy to understand and not to demanding compared to some RPG like the ones your named.

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I just got done Platting all three games recently, and I'm someone who isn't a huge RPG gamer, and I will tell you right now it's one of the best series of games I have ever played.

 

ME1 completely blew my mind, everything about it was engaging, all the characters are interesting, and when it comes to all three games this is the most RPG game of the series.

 

Now if you end up loving ME1, then ME2 might end up being a tad disappointing...at least it was for me. Unlike most people ME2 was my LEAST favorite of the series. For starters, you end up getting used to ME1, so once you move onto ME2 THATS when the series transforms into a Third Person cover shooter with RPG elements, rather than the other way around. The combat system is pretty annoying at times with the way most enemies can knock you out of cover, then you end up getting lit up because Shepard does this annoying staggered animation and you really never have enough health and armor, no matter which class you use. Plus ME2 is leaps and bounds harder than ME1, so the game ended up being frustrating 99% of the time for me. However the story is still great, which is what kept me playing. And really...it ended up being one of my proudest Plats considering how much trouble I had.

 

ME3 is my favorite of the series. It takes everything that was great from ME1 and improves on all the mechanics from ME2 and mashes them together, and puts everything on this massive, epic scale the entire game, everything feels so big and alive, and important. There's no down time in ME3 which made for such an amazing experience. A lot of people hate on the ending but I really didn't think it was that bad....not ideal, but not bad either.

 

Overall, though it's one of the best stories ever told in gaming, and I highly recommend it to everyone, whether you're an RPG guy or not. You can't go wrong with Mass Effect.

 

I'd be really surprised if you didn't like it.

Edited by TheViper4Life
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Like you, I don't like RPG's, but I loved playing through the Mass Effect trilogy. The series is up there with my personal favourite games of the last-generation.

 

Though, if it's like a RPG like Skyrim or KOTOR, then I may pass. RPG's are cool, but they don't capture my interest for very long. I don't want to start a series like ME and half-ass it.

 

Skyrim, I presume is similar to Fallout 3? Which is the only other RPG type game that I have ever played and enjoyed (I didn't like New Vegas). In that case, the first Mass Effect is probably going to be your biggest hurdle. It has the shortest completion time, but RPG elements play a bigger part in that game than the other two, and some of the environments are very bland and somewhat of a chore to play through.

 

Before playing through the series, I was in a very similar position as you, I don't like RPG's, tried the original Mass Effect on Xbox and stopped playing around 8 hours in. However, I gave the series a second chance when Mass Effect 2 was released on PS3, and absolutely loved it, and when the trilogy was made available, I played the series from beginning to end and loved it even more.

 

Definitely give it a try, but don't half-ass it either, playing through the trilogy does require time and effort, but the pay off is worth it, 100%.

Edited by Byrney
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Skyrim is as much like Fallout as Borderlands is to Diablo, they're both RPGs but that's where the similarities end. As for the OP's question, I loved Mass Effect 2 but hated ME1 on the 360 and to me ME3 just feels bland to the point I can't be bothered to play it any more. It's shame really because I love a good RPG but ME1+3 just don't do anything for me :(.

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Skyrim is as much like Fallout as Borderlands is to Diablo, they're both RPGs but that's where the similarities end. As for the OP's question, I loved Mass Effect 2 but hated ME1 on the 360 and to me ME3 just feels bland to the point I can't be bothered to play it any more. It's shame really because I love a good RPG but ME1+3 just don't do anything for me :(.

 

Terminator is spot on with the similarities.

 

ME1 was alright. It was new and different.

ME2 took everythinng that was good in ME1 and expanded on it. Made it better in so many ways.

ME3 is just junk. Its more of a cover shooter then a RPG. Story is really bland.

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Skyrim is as much like Fallout as Borderlands is to Diablo, they're both RPGs but that's where the similarities end. As for the OP's question, I loved Mass Effect 2 but hated ME1 on the 360 and to me ME3 just feels bland to the point I can't be bothered to play it any more. It's shame really because I love a good RPG but ME1+3 just don't do anything for me :(.

 

That confuses me a little, because you like a good RPG, but didn't like Mass Effect 1 and 3, does that mean the OP will? :p

 

 

I think it's important to stress that despite everybody, myself included, have stated the game to be an RPG of sorts. I would look at it like this. At it's core, the gameplay is a third-person shooter, with The Walking Dead conversation prompts used to branch the gameplay sections together and develop the story. The RPG elements are an integral aspect of the game in order to be successful, but they are an additional part to it rather than a primary focus.

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I'd recommend ME to anyone. I think as long as you're not the sort of person who doesn't like RPGs because you find plot/cutscenes boring, there's a reasonable chance you'll enjoy it as a 3rd person shooter with RPG elements.

 

There's no harm in giving it a go either way, and if you don't like 1 try 2 as the first is the most RPG-ish of the bunch.

 

On 360 Mass Effect was an amazing trilogy to play. The port to PS3 however was truly horrible.

 

Even ME3 suffers from horrible lag during DLC and certain missions.

 

I'd recommend it, but play it knowing that its going to crash and bug out on you on quite a few occasions.

 

And the crapper about the trilogy is that it was all single player only until the third game featured one online trophy. I truly hated the online as it only has one mode and that gets boring fast.

 

I can't say for ME3, but I found ME1 in particular ran a hell of a lot better on PS3 than 360. On 360 I had to turn off the filter and motion blur just to get it to run without lagging ever few seconds when things got busy. Besides ME1 is riddled with glitches on any platform (nothing overly game-breaking generally), and I experienced worse on ME2 on the 360 than the PS3 version. :confused:

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I recommend Mass Effect to everyone. The first game does have more "traditional" RPG elements to it than the 2nd & 3rd, but it's also probably the best story of the 3. Great series that I think everyone should play. And with the current price, you don't have much to lose. ;)

 

This ^

 

I would recommend the series to anyone also. The first game has great RPG elements with a twist of Sci-Fi in there as well :)

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Short-version: Yes, I can recommend the trilogy.

 

Long version: I was writing something for a while but I really can't put it into words. I disliked 1, then played 2 which is my favorite PS3 game now, and went back to 1 after finishing 2 and 3. The trilogy is absolutely amazing and can be recommended to anyone.

 

I was the exact same way, just did what I had to to finish the game but loved part 2 and 3, planning to replay the first game again soon.

 

To the OP, absolutely! Mass effect is a great series and I never considered it to be a RPG. Definitely worth buying and chances are you will be glad you did.

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The series becomes less of an RPG the further you get into the series. I definitely recommend trying it. At least playing through the first two. I'm not as "in love" with the series as a lot of people are, but I still thoroughly enjoyed playing through them! It has a fantastic universe (pun intended) with great characters.

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Everyone has different opinions about the game. I thought the original was the best one. It had that whole KOTOR feel: more of an RPG, more game lore, slower gameplay.

 

The second and third games are mainstream, kind of like if Michael Bay took over the series. Faster pacing, more action, more explosions.

 

I'll tell you what I tell everyone that asks for my opinion on something: watch some gameplay, then decide.

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I don't get it either, there's just something about ME1+3 that just doesn't sit well with me for some reason :(.

 

ME1 = Great story but due to the age and limitations back then, the game can feel very bland. The combat is quite horrible and the huge maps not worth exploring feel more like a chore than anything exciting. In fact. ME could have been the only game ever made which could have done with collectables to spice up some exploration.

 

ME3 = EA full control. It was doomed to fail and it did. A massive backlash from the fans of ME1 & ME2 didn't hold back in letting both EA and BioWare know that the game was a bit arse. It pretty much got rid of all the RPG elements from the series, and left gamers with a pretty piss poor 3rd person shooter.

 

Some parts of ME3 were very nice in terms of story and looks, but gameplay wise it fell short.

 

 

And why you may have preferred ME2...

 

 

ME2 = An amazing game. From start to finish the game is very tense and offers some great story telling and gameplay moments. The taint of EA was visible, but none the less ME2 turned out to be a charm. A game which I've completed around 21+ times after getting all achievements/trophies.

Edited by BrakoV5
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ME1 = Great story but due to the age and limitations back then, the game can feel very bland. The combat is quite horrible and the huge maps not worth exploring feel more like a chore than anything exciting. In fact. ME could have been the only game ever made which could have done with collectables to spice up some exploration.

 

ME3 = EA full control. It was doomed to fail and it did. A massive backlash from the fans of ME1 & ME2 didn't hold back in letting both EA and BioWare know that the game was a bit arse. It pretty much got rid of all the RPG elements from the series, and left gamers with a pretty piss poor 3rd person shooter.

 

Some parts of ME3 were very nice in terms of story and looks, but gameplay wise it fell short.

 

 

And why you may have preferred ME2...

 

 

ME2 = An amazing game. From start to finish the game is very tense and offers some great story telling and gameplay moments. The taint of EA was visible, but none the less ME2 turned out to be a charm. A game which I've completed around 21+ times after getting all achievements/trophies.

I don't get any of this.

 

ME2 is the game that took away the RPG element and made the series a cover shooter. ME3 BROUGHT BACK the RPG feel to the series, while completely improving on everything ME2 tried to do and failed (the big one being no longer getting knocked out of cover).

 

Frankly I don't understand what people love about ME2 so much. The game was super hard, and frustrating, the story consisted of you just trying to win the loyalty of your squad mates for 80% of the game, with a slight touch of focusing on the collectors every once in a while. It was the biggest filler of the series.

 

ME3 took everything ME2 did and put it on a grander scale. Everything was fast paced, epic and truly felt important. That fight with the Reaper alone on Rannoch topped anything that you did in ME2.

 

ME3 was far and wide the most improved game in the series, and aside from a slight meh ending, it was the most fun I had the whole time. ME2 wasn't a BAD game...but why it gets so much praise when ME1 and 3 were clearly better games, I will never understand.

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I was pleasantly surprised with Mass Effect. It has a few elements from RPG games in it, but it's better to think of Mass Effect as third-person shooters with a solid cover and command system.

 

I suck at shooters in general, third person shooters slightly better, I loved the Borderlands franchise.

 

What does cover and command system mean, and is ME anything like Borderlands?

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