Aha, this time I got this table shit figured out by pasting html versions of my Google spreadsheet. Anyway, not too much change from last time aside from my still ongoing re-playthrough of the entire trilogy with Jenna down there. For what it's worth, my favorite games of the series are Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3.

The first for allowing us to actually explore the world, which made me love the series in the first place. It triggered my obsessive need to scavenge the unknown for all its resources in the hopes to raise a number in my journal (when it was useful). And the mood and atmosphere some random excavation site or seemingly abandoned building can emit are still, to this day, unparalleled and it's definitely a feeling I missed having as I went through the next two games.

Mass Effect 2 and 3 excelled in their gameplay upgrades from the first game, which kind of put these two games in their own league. Story, in subsequent playthroughs, take a backseat as far as I'm concerned and while Mass Effect 2 made me love the characters in the universe, seeing through their story arcs once was enough. From a gameplay perspective, Mass Effect 3 made combining different squad mates' powers actually matter adding in biotic explosions and tech bursts that help annihilate those pesky reapers which, as a result, places this game above Mass Effect 2's rather simple power mechanics and random placement of barricades everywhere (still plagues the third but much, much less... noticeable).

And, for the record, I was completely indifferent to the ending before and after the Extended Cut. But, as you can tell, a lot of my Mass Effect 3 playthroughs are incomplete. Like I mentioned, I'm indifferent to the ending, but with the knowledge of how it ends and how there may be more DLC for the game, it's just a matter of waiting until the next Mass Effect game comes out. Whenever that is.

Mass Effect

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 3

Totals

Aha, this time I got this table shit figured out by pasting html versions of my Google spreadsheet. Anyway, not too much change from last time aside from my still ongoing re-playthrough of the entire trilogy with Jenna down there. For what it's worth, my favorite games of the series are Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3.

The first for allowing us to actually explore the world, which made me love the series in the first place. It triggered my obsessive need to scavenge the unknown for all its resources in the hopes to raise a number in my journal (when it was useful). And the mood and atmosphere some random excavation site or seemingly abandoned building can emit are still, to this day, unparalleled and it's definitely a feeling I missed having as I went through the next two games.

Mass Effect 2 and 3 excelled in their gameplay upgrades from the first game, which kind of put these two games in their own league. Story, in subsequent playthroughs, take a backseat as far as I'm concerned and while Mass Effect 2 made me love the characters in the universe, seeing through their story arcs once was enough. From a gameplay perspective, Mass Effect 3 made combining different squad mates' powers actually matter adding in biotic explosions and tech bursts that help annihilate those pesky reapers which, as a result, places this game above Mass Effect 2's rather simple power mechanics and random placement of barricades everywhere (still plagues the third but much, much less... noticeable).

And, for the record, I was completely indifferent to the ending before and after the Extended Cut. But, as you can tell, a lot of my Mass Effect 3 playthroughs are incomplete. Like I mentioned, I'm indifferent to the ending, but with the knowledge of how it ends and how there may be more DLC for the game, it's just a matter of waiting until the next Mass Effect game comes out. Whenever that is.

Mass Effect

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 3

Totals

Jesus, you really like these games, don't you?

I like these games too much to stop!

I started playing ME1 again recently, and that game is fucking good. Yes it's got some bad parts, (combat leaves much to be desired, and barely-there auto save).. And to make the combat worse, the sheer amount of enemies thrown at the group in some early sequences, can be maddening, (the planet with the space monkeys,where you get all the way inside some silly dungeon, scan the proper monkey, get the item, and are then swarmed by Geth). My group was pretty low level when I got to that particular part and had to cheese my way through.. Took me like 6 tries to finally get through, getting charged by Geth Destroyers two at a time was demolishing me and my low level compatriots, and it happened over and over again. They would be on top of me before Ihad a chance to get through their armor.

I know that almost everyone hates the Mako universally, but I actually like driving around in it. What I don't like is the Thresher Maws, or I guess combat in general in the Mako is pretty bad. But exploring planets in the Mako is kinda cool. If they could have just removed the combat, and varied the terrain more, perhaps put in more things to salvage. I would've enjoyed it immensely

So combat is lacking, some framerate issues, and some other minor things aside, the atmosphere, music, conversations and dialogue options are fantastic. Having gone from ME3 which I ran through the ending again before starting ME1, is a profound difference. ME3 is railroading you pretty heavily.

I'm not too far into ME1, just got Liara, haven't been to Noveria yet, But just running around on the Citadel and playing (as Brad calls it) C-Sec detective is awesome, and arguably better than almost any quest in ME3. Plus the film grain effect works well to enhance the sense of place and mood, as well as the score.

Basically, everything that isn't combat in ME1 is awesome. If I remember right, the combat in 2 is quite a bit better, but most everything else suffered to a small degree. Definitely way less open. 3 I feel was a let down compared to the previous two. Still a good game, but became way too railroaded, especially with the dialogue. I could understand constraining some of the other things, but to make it feel like a third person shooter with tackle at your own pace quest line, and some paragon or renegade dialogue options, felt way less satisfying. Like I said, still a good game, but lacking compared to it's predecessors.

Holy wall -O- text, oops

anyway interesting stats

I really hope Bioware take a hard look at their past titles, and figure out what made them beloved to begin with, and get back to making awesome games. I'd love to see a new Jade Empire.

ME1 is the high point of the series for me. It's a true RPG and not a hybrid of a half assed shooter that 2 and 3 turned into.

Also, the story in the first one is light years ahead of 2/3, and it's not even close. Saren/Sovereign are easily the best antagonists and the dialogue with them are some of the highlights of the series for me.

@bluecollaralaskan: Yeah, there was a difficulty spike for me during the mission on Luna where I got my class specialization. Those robots made me feel like I was playing the game wrong or something and, as is typical of me, I saved far too many times to steer myself away from it for whatever time I needed to get my courage back up to face what was apparently EDI's AI. Eventually, I was able to cheese it by keeping them flooding in through this narrow hallway near the entrance.

Yeah, it was a shame that Paragon/Renegade options and interrupts took a huge dive in frequency in the third game. Those moments made Mass Effect 2 so memorable, but we were left with a moody Shepard who had one thing in mind, to defeat the reapers. Which, hey, commendable and all but I can't remember myself pushing anyone out of windows for the hell of it in the third game.

@joshthebear: Look at it my from my perspective. The only third person shooter I've played with any meaningful amount of playtime was the first Gears of War. Sure, I've played Sleeping Dogs and a few other open-world games, but those don't even compare. And, as you can imagine, playing through the first Mass Effect isn't as easily done as with 2 and 3. I could just ignore most of the side quests and whatnot but I can only take so much Mako driving. It was fine when I revisited the game last year, after having not touched it for years, but I cannot imagine playing it one playthrough too soon after the other.