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Ra

Rap Genius
Moderator
Oct 27, 2017
12,207
Dark Space
mine was Archangel -> Mordin

Mass Effect 2 changed my life in gaming. I have never felt so immersed as I did back then.
Yeah those recruitment missions were some shit. Fighting through security and chasing after Jack as she went on her rampage was mind-blowing. Not sure many games have ever had such strong openers.

My brother and I were becoming distant and we pretty much re-bonded over the greatness of Mass Effect 2. I owe this series a lot.
 

SolVanderlyn

I love pineapple on pizza!
Member
Oct 28, 2017
13,507
Earth, 21st Century
Mass-Effect-Really-MRW-Gif.gif
My God, customizable male Shepards were so fucking ugly. They belong on Caveman Geico commericials.

Meanwhile, FemSheps looked pretty good even back then.
 

Cranster

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,788
Don't expect a visual overhaul on the level of Halo 2 Anniversary or something, but there's definitely a good amount of work that's gone in, not just visually but systems wise too.

I really hope they atleast fix import bugs/quests, make romance scenes more than just dry humps and allow us to recruit all characters in any order we want with ME2 with no arbitrary time limit.
 
OP
OP
Garlador

Garlador

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
14,131
...oh.

My statement still stands
I'm so excited. We're getting a whole new batch of these!
1454697-talifaceuglyshep.jpg

uglyshepard610.jpg

ugly-shepard7.jpg

ugly-shepard3.jpg

ByI65.jpg


I am curious if they'll touch the character creator. If the games are more closely tethered together, a more universal and expanded character creator could liven up a new playthrough. Not expecting it, but it would be nice.
 
Oct 25, 2017
3,355
Canada
I'm not expecting it, but it would be cool if they added a more elaborate story choice editor on new saves for ME2 and ME3 fresh saves (no imports).
 
OP
OP
Garlador

Garlador

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
14,131
I'm not expecting it, but it would be cool if they added a more elaborate story choice editor on new saves for ME2 and ME3 fresh saves (no imports).
I certainly don't want to get myself too hyped up just yet until something actually drops, but the signs are certainly looking promising we'll have more concrete news soon. Between the Shinobi and twitter teases and TheGamer's week-long coverage, I'm most optimistic than ever that we may have something exciting to discuss, possibly within 24 hours.

I'm prepared for a lot of logical disappointment as I know that this project can't "fix" every mistake or add in every dream request. My big "why a remaster matters" thread had a whole section dedicated to stuff that I outright admitted was likely never going to happen, but would be nice. I'll be keeping my expectations fully in check...

But at the same time, it's MASS EFFECT, my 2nd favorite franchise of all time behind only Zelda (and Zelda was there for me since 1986, so it had a head start). I've missed this crew, and I've missed Mass Effect being in the spotlight as a premiere video game title that did serve - and still does serve - as a standard bearer for some of the best writing and storycrafting the gaming medium can produce.

Fingers crossed.
 
Oct 28, 2017
799
Customs male Sheps always look hellish - it's Sheploo all the way or no way. Femshep's fared alot better - but one thing I really hope for in the Legendary Edition is the ME3 default femshep being useable in all three games. There were mods that did this for the original ME1 and 2 and it really made a big difference for me.
 

RR30

Member
Oct 22, 2018
2,265
I'm so excited. We're getting a whole new batch of these!
1454697-talifaceuglyshep.jpg

uglyshepard610.jpg

ugly-shepard7.jpg

ugly-shepard3.jpg

ByI65.jpg


I am curious if they'll touch the character creator. If the games are more closely tethered together, a more universal and expanded character creator could liven up a new playthrough. Not expecting it, but it would be nice.

I'm not sure I ever actually touched the character creator in any of my playthroughs lol. I remember not liking it in the original and just said meh and picked the default male version.
 

rafox

Member
Apr 28, 2020
501
Mass Effect 2 is a giant pile of contradictions. It is Bioware in its ideal state, of intimate character writing and small scale conflict, but in a setting already crafted for a completely different tone and style.

I get why people love it but to me it is a massive betrayal of what Mass Effect 1 was going for, and at least half of why Mass Effect 3 was such a mess was due to trying to follow up on a game where nothing important happened.


I agree with you. ME 2 had great character missions and that's about it. The story itself felt like a giant filler where the state of the world didn't actually change all that much. I also felt that Sheppard coming back to life wasn't handled very well other then making Sheppard align with Cerberus.
Curious to see why you think ME 3 is a mess, it's actually my favorite lol.
 

Weiss

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
64,265
I agree with you. ME 2 had great character missions and that's about it. The story itself felt like a giant filler where the state of the world didn't actually change all that much. I also felt that Sheppard coming back to life wasn't handled very well other then making Sheppard align with Cerberus.
Curious to see why you think ME 3 is a mess, it's actually my favorite lol.

It's very tempting just to say "Kai Leng and the Star Child" but I'm better than that.

If Mass Effect 2 didn't feel like the sequel set up by the first game, Mass Effect 3 doesn't even feel like it belongs in the same series. It starts with finding out that Shepard just kind of hung around in jail after Mass Effect 2 before the Reapers arrive (which ME1 defines as something that would immediately lead to the death of all organic life because there is no way to defeat the Reapers in combat), and to solve the problem he has to go on a standard sci-fi shooter campaign with growly macho soundbites and inspiring military bravado. The quest for the truth set up in ME1 eventually gives way to Liara finding out that a special Kill all the Reapers gun exists on Mars.

More specifically to ME2, ME3 has the unfortunate necessity of having to deal with all the disparate choices found in that game and work them into a linear plot despite that game being more structured like a wide open sandbox. So sometimes you've got Mordin's Loyalty Mission having a massive impact on the Tuchanka arc or completely optional characters Thane and Legion playing important roles, and sometimes you go to an optional map and find Jack hanging around.

But actually it was Kai Leng and the Star Child.
 

Hero_Select

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,008
I agree with you. ME 2 had great character missions and that's about it. The story itself felt like a giant filler where the state of the world didn't actually change all that much. I also felt that Sheppard coming back to life wasn't handled very well other then making Sheppard align with Cerberus.
Curious to see why you think ME 3 is a mess, it's actually my favorite lol.
This is very true. The story does feel like a filler. 90% of it is getting a team together and then the last 10% is attacking the collector base.

You do learn some things about the Reapers and Protheans but the scope of ME1 does definitely feel a lot bigger than 2.
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,600
It's very tempting just to say "Kai Leng and the Star Child" but I'm better than that.

If Mass Effect 2 didn't feel like the sequel set up by the first game, Mass Effect 3 doesn't even feel like it belongs in the same series. It starts with finding out that Shepard just kind of hung around in jail after Mass Effect 2 before the Reapers arrive (which ME1 defines as something that would immediately lead to the death of all organic life because there is no way to defeat the Reapers in combat), and to solve the problem he has to go on a standard sci-fi shooter campaign with growly macho soundbites and inspiring military bravado. The quest for the truth set up in ME1 eventually gives way to Liara finding out that a special Kill all the Reapers gun exists on Mars.

More specifically to ME2, ME3 has the unfortunate necessity of having to deal with all the disparate choices found in that game and work them into a linear plot despite that game being more structured like a wide open sandbox. So sometimes you've got Mordin's Loyalty Mission having a massive impact on the Tuchanka arc or completely optional characters Thane and Legion playing important roles, and sometimes you go to an optional map and find Jack hanging around.

But actually it was Kai Leng and the Star Child.

I'm gonna be honest, I don't even understand why people hate Kai Leng so much. He is such a nothing character. I mean, it is possible for him to kill
Thane
but even then the hatred for him seems so intense despite him being so nothing.

I understand people hating the starchild, but Kai Leng is the one that confuses me.
 
OP
OP
Garlador

Garlador

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
14,131
I'm gonna be honest, I don't even understand why people hate Kai Leng so much. He is such a nothing character. I mean, it is possible for him to kill
Thane
but even then the hatred for him seems so intense despite him being so nothing.

I understand people hating the starchild, but Kai Leng is the one that confuses me.
Open confession... I like Kai Leng. I don't "like" him. I actually hate him, but the reason I hate him is because I like him.

I think a lot of people see Kai Leng as this failed attempt to create a "cool" cyber-ninja adversary, and he comes across as, ultimately, not actually very cool. He's actually pretty cringe. And while some (maybe many) chalk that up to Bioware failing the character, I think that's pretty much in-line with everything else written about and supporting him.

Kai Leng is a try-hard edgelord assassin who is not nearly as cool or as good as he thinks he is. If he was, he wouldn't have needed all those augmentations in the first place. But, no, he's a petty, vindictive xenophobe who eats other people's cereal ("take that!"), who never wins a single battle in the game without cheating or relying on reinforcements ("take that!"), who Thane openly mocks as an opponent who should be ashamed he was defeated by a terminally sick near-death Drell, who delights in sending you spam messages rubbing your losses in your face ("take that!"), and who ultimately gets a very satisfying and humiliating defeat when he cowardly tries to stab you in the back.

Kai Leng was never a major player in the game, though he tries to be. He's a tool, an extension of The Illusive Man, and he's nowhere near as good or capable as Shepard is and everyone else (including TIM) knows it. I despised him on sight, I hated him from start to finish, and even as a nearly straight-Paragon, I will never hesitate to plunge my Omni-Blade into his gut and can't hammer that Renegade Interrupt fast enough.
tumblr_om6axeXNzL1uqc09fo1_500.gifv


Sure, he's not compelling or interesting. He never was meant to be. He's just an annoying punk who thought he was big time, who failed upward, and I will never not be happy to send him crashing back down to reality.
 
Oct 29, 2017
7,500
If Mass Effect 2 didn't feel like the sequel set up by the first game, Mass Effect 3 doesn't even feel like it belongs in the same series. It starts with finding out that Shepard just kind of hung around in jail after Mass Effect 2 before the Reapers arrive (which ME1 defines as something that would immediately lead to the death of all organic life because there is no way to defeat the Reapers in combat), and to solve the problem he has to go on a standard sci-fi shooter campaign with growly macho soundbites and inspiring military bravado. The quest for the truth set up in ME1 eventually gives way to Liara finding out that a special Kill all the Reapers gun exists on Mars.

More specifically to ME2, ME3 has the unfortunate necessity of having to deal with all the disparate choices found in that game and work them into a linear plot despite that game being more structured like a wide open sandbox. So sometimes you've got Mordin's Loyalty Mission having a massive impact on the Tuchanka arc or completely optional characters Thane and Legion playing important roles, and sometimes you go to an optional map and find Jack hanging around.

In fairness, a lot of ME3's faults were baked in by the previous games.

The way they originally cast the Reapers as an all-powerful, invincible existential threat in ME1, the only possible answers for the endgame were going to be "Oh, it turns out we can fight them conventionally after all" or "There's a deus ex machina kill switch." (Which, instead of choosing, ME3 kind of did both with an emphasis on the latter.)

And as amazing as the suicide mission is in ME2 and the mindblowing idea that any main character could die, it totally hamstrung the story they could tell in 3. Like, it's completely ridiculous that in a story with the Illusive Man as the primary antagonist, Miranda isn't a prominent main character, and is instead relegated to essentially a sidequest chain. That's just one example.

Honestly, in hindsight I think they should have just retconned it and been like, "We can't tell the story we want to tell if we have to write around the possibility of main characters like Miranda, Mordin, Garrus, Tali, and Wrex being dead." That would have sucked in its own way, but the strain in ME3 of trying to stretch content around so many combinations of major characters is so evident.

I hope they take those lessons to heart with Mass Effect 4 tbh. Better to christen a canon ending and tell a great story with it than keep all possibilities open and tell a less-good story.
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,600
Open confession... I like Kai Leng. I don't "like" him. I actually hate him, but the reason I hate him is because I like him.

I think a lot of people see Kai Leng as this failed attempt to create a "cool" cyber-ninja adversary, and he comes across as, ultimately, not actually very cool. He's actually pretty cringe. And while some (maybe many) chalk that up to Bioware failing the character, I think that's pretty much in-line with everything else written about and supporting him.

Kai Leng is a try-hard edgelord assassin who is not nearly as cool or as good as he thinks he is. If he was, he wouldn't have needed all those augmentations in the first place. But, no, he's a petty, vindictive xenophobe who eats other people's cereal ("take that!"), who never wins a single battle in the game without cheating or relying on reinforcements ("take that!"), who Thane openly mocks as an opponent who should be ashamed he was defeated by a terminally sick near-death Drell, who delights in sending you spam messages rubbing your losses in your face ("take that!"), and who ultimately gets a very satisfying and humiliating defeat when he cowardly tries to stab you in the back.

Kai Leng was never a major player in the game, though he tries to be. He's a tool, an extension of The Illusive Man, and he's nowhere near as good or capable as Shepard is and everyone else (including TIM) knows it. I despised him on sight, I hated him from start to finish, and even as nearly straight-Paragon, I will never hesitate to plunge my Omni-Blade into his gut and can't hammer that Renegade Interrupt fast enough.
tumblr_om6axeXNzL1uqc09fo1_500.gifv


Sure, he's not compelling or interesting. He never was meant to be. He's just an annoying punk who thought he was big time, who failed upward, and I will never not be happy to send him crashing back down to reality.

This is my opinion of him as well. He is basically a wrestling heel. He is such a tryhard that it feels intentional that he is such a loser. In the grand scheme of things he is so nothing, that I genuinely get confused why people hate him so much and attribute him as one of ME3's major faults.
 
OP
OP
Garlador

Garlador

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
14,131
In fairness, a lot of ME3's faults were baked in by the previous games.

The way they originally cast the Reapers as an all-powerful, invincible existential threat in ME1, the only possible answers for the endgame were going to be "Oh, it turns out we can fight them conventionally after all" or "There's a deus ex machina kill switch." (Which, instead of choosing, ME3 kind of did both with an emphasis on the latter.)

And as amazing as the suicide mission is in ME2 and the mindblowing idea that any main character could die, it totally hamstrung the story they could tell in 3. Like, it's completely ridiculous that in a story with the Illusive Man as the primary antagonist, Miranda isn't a prominent main character, and is instead relegated to essentially a sidequest chain. That's just one example.

Honestly, in hindsight I think they should have just retconned it and been like, "We can't tell the story we want to tell if we have to write around the possibility of main characters like Miranda, Mordin, Garrus, Tali, and Wrex being dead." That would have sucked in its own way, but the strain in ME3 of trying to stretch content around so many combinations of major characters is so evident.

I hope they take those lessons to heart with Mass Effect 4 tbh. Better to christen a canon ending and tell a great story with it than keep all possibilities open and tell a less-good story.
Mass Effect 3 certainly isn't without its faults or criticisms, and a lot of ME3 is hamstrung by the need to tell its big story while also acknowledging that EVERY PARTY CHARACTER from ME1 and ME2 sans Liara could be dead when ME3 begins.

And so, yeah, there's some heavy compromising in some of the questlines, but at the same time... holy cow, they still pulled it off. It may not always be ideal, but the entirely of ME3 can in fact be played with none of the Squad from ME1 or ME2 (sans Liara) present. And, honestly, it kind of makes some of the missions significantly more difficult and morally complicated as well.

Take the Genophage Mission. In my "good" playthrough, Wrex was alive. Mordin was alive. I kept Maelon's data. I did everything right. Curing the Genophage was the clear right outcome. It was an easy, noble choice to make. On my 2nd playthrough... Wrex was dead. Mordin was dead. Suddenly, the parameters have changed. WREAV is in charge of Clan Urdnot and he's openly hostile to the galaxy, promising revenge and bloodshed once their numbers climb. Without Mordin or Maelon's data, Eve perished, leaving the Krogan without a moderating voice. Suddenly, sickeningly, sabotaging the Genophage Cure makes a bit more sense, as it becomes clear that Wreav will guide them into another conflict with the galaxy and keeping the status quo so they will endure but struggle seems almost sensible. What a vastly different situation this epic quest becomes if even some of the primary players are off the board.

So while there is almost always a "replacement" character for a party member who died (Tali/Raan, Thane/Kirrahe, Miranda/Oriana, etc.), their roles as "replacements" are almost always handicapped by lacking personal history with Shepard or his crew, lacking power or authority to change key events, and serving merely to keep the wheels spinning even if they can't get us to the best destination.

I do wish I could do more meaningful content with Jack or Miranda or Kasumi or Zaaed, but the fact that ALL of them DO have side quests that are mostly fun and engaging does still feel rewarding, especially with the Citadel DLC being the big, final, awesome get-together we all wanted.

But, again, it's crazy to know how different things can be if you don't play your cards right.
dqj7ia95qsl11.jpg

maxresdefault.jpg
 

Thornquist

Member
Jan 22, 2018
1,500
Norway
One of my most anticipated games ever, and it lived up to it. I think it released on a Thursday? I remember skipping school, buying loads of microwave food and soda, telling all my friends that I was not leaving the room (lived in a boarding school at the time), and playing the game from the moment I woke up to going to bed for 3 days straight.

It was awesome.
 

Moose

Prophet of Truth - Hero of Bowerstone
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,169
Really hope the ME3 model for official femshep is backported to ME1 and 2.
 
OP
OP
Garlador

Garlador

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
14,131
Really hope the ME3 model for official femshep is backported to ME1 and 2.
As do I. Even though I customize my Shepard most of the time, her default ME3 face deserves as much as love as default Sheploo.
AwqG.gif


Jennifer Hale could read me the phone book and I'd be glued to every syllable.
 

SlickVic

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,955
USA
I never quite decided what my game of the decade was for 2010-2019, though Mass Effect 2 was definitely a strong contender for me. For me, it was one of those games where I really enjoyed being immersed in the role of a character, in this case Commander Shepard. I think it was the first series I played (lumping the whole trilogy together) that showed me how powerful attaching a voice to a customized protagonist was for creating a sense of immersion for me personally. There was something personal about having control of how Commander Shepard looked and what they said in conversation, which is perhaps standard fare in RPG's. But also by having voiced dialog along with that, Shepard felt like they were a distinct personality existing in that world (and not just a silent conduit for the player). I think as someone who's always had gender dysphoria, it was just really cool to create my own custom Shepard, hear Shepard's voice as I selected my dialog, and get the sense of immersion that I really am Commander Shepard in the world of Mass Effect, complete with a full voice acted experience.

Really looking forward to getting some more info on the Legendary Edition, as I would love an excuse to revisit those games, and would happily set aside my backlog for a few months to go through the trilogy again.
 

canderous

Prophet of Truth
Member
Jun 12, 2020
8,688
Hopefully this is a case of them showing the "deep dive" to media/influencers ahead of the general public so they have time to make content for when it comes out for the rest of us. Although I'd be fine with just a gameplay trailer and release date...
 

Moose

Prophet of Truth - Hero of Bowerstone
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,169
Hopefully this is a case of them showing the "deep dive" to media/influencers ahead of the general public so they have time to make content for when it comes out for the rest of us. Although I'd be fine with just a gameplay trailer and release date...
I think it's likely we'll get Media/Youtubers impressions with b-rolls provided by BioWare.
 

sacrament

Banned
Dec 16, 2019
2,119
Open confession... I like Kai Leng. I don't "like" him. I actually hate him, but the reason I hate him is because I like him.

I think a lot of people see Kai Leng as this failed attempt to create a "cool" cyber-ninja adversary, and he comes across as, ultimately, not actually very cool. He's actually pretty cringe. And while some (maybe many) chalk that up to Bioware failing the character, I think that's pretty much in-line with everything else written about and supporting him.

Kai Leng is a try-hard edgelord assassin who is not nearly as cool or as good as he thinks he is. If he was, he wouldn't have needed all those augmentations in the first place. But, no, he's a petty, vindictive xenophobe who eats other people's cereal ("take that!"), who never wins a single battle in the game without cheating or relying on reinforcements ("take that!"), who Thane openly mocks as an opponent who should be ashamed he was defeated by a terminally sick near-death Drell, who delights in sending you spam messages rubbing your losses in your face ("take that!"), and who ultimately gets a very satisfying and humiliating defeat when he cowardly tries to stab you in the back.

Kai Leng was never a major player in the game, though he tries to be. He's a tool, an extension of The Illusive Man, and he's nowhere near as good or capable as Shepard is and everyone else (including TIM) knows it. I despised him on sight, I hated him from start to finish, and even as a nearly straight-Paragon, I will never hesitate to plunge my Omni-Blade into his gut and can't hammer that Renegade Interrupt fast enough.
tumblr_om6axeXNzL1uqc09fo1_500.gifv


Sure, he's not compelling or interesting. He never was meant to be. He's just an annoying punk who thought he was big time, who failed upward, and I will never not be happy to send him crashing back down to reality.

That gif is so fucking stunning... I am so ready for this. Damn, hurry.
 

SofNascimento

cursed
Member
Oct 28, 2017
21,314
São Paulo - Brazil
For me Kai Leng is directly connected to Priority: Thessia and how awful that mission is. Kai Leng might have been the tip of that spear, but there was a lot of weight behind it.
 

Grisby

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,532
It was a magical time and one of my favorite experiences of ll time.

One of the best trailers too.

 

SofNascimento

cursed
Member
Oct 28, 2017
21,314
São Paulo - Brazil
It was a magical time and one of my favorite experiences of ll time.

One of the best trailers too.



www.resetera.com

Some 11 years later, Mass Effect 2's Launch Trailer is still the best trailer I've ever seen

It's just perfect. The quiet beginning, the dialogue, the music, the scenes they picked.... everything. The trailer completely encapsulates what ME2 is about. You can feel the game while watching it. You can know what it's about and know the impact it can have. In terms of Launch Trailer, you...
 

Revan Ren

Member
Jan 11, 2018
270
Kai Leng was just a waste of a potentially interesting adversary.

I hope they don't alter ME1 too much, it is rough around the edges but at the same time the most focused take on the initial concept.
 

CRIMSON-XIII

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,173
Chicago, IL
I love seeing the hype and excitement for the this trilogy remastered. I have never played these games and my only experience really was seeing gameplay of one of the games back during the PS3/360 era and thinking it looked nextgen. It may have been a demo for ME2 or 3. I look forward to this as my first time. I hope it is not that hard though.
 

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
Ah, Garrus Effect 2, about the best shot in the galaxy who calibrates starship weaponry to defeat the collectors. Oh and there's some sidekick bloke called Shephard tagging along as a crewmate too.
 

Aprikurt

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 29, 2017
18,781
We eating today?
rsz_dqs173x.png

Kai Leng was just a waste of a potentially interesting adversary.

I hope they don't alter ME1 too much, it is rough around the edges but at the same time the most focused take on the initial concept.
I don't know. Kai Leng did a pretty good job at making me want to rearrange his face with biotics.

THANE :(
 

Grisby

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,532