User blog comment:Battlemaster Grunt/What is the best Mass Effect? 1,2, or 3?/@comment-908068-20121003065237

When I first started playing the original Mass Effect, I'll admit that the gameplay was a bit of a turn-off. I felt myself feeling so sluggish while running around (elevators being a different story altogether) and the side-missions got a little stale after a while, in particular the repeating "dungeons" locations and the dreaded Mako trips. Still, it didn't stop me from playing the game start-to-finish almost 15 times, on both the 360 and PC. The variety of classes alone was enough for me to want to play the game so many times, but it was the story-telling and the interaction with squad mates that made the game for me. The connections I made with some of the characters in the game, after talking to them long enough and getting to really know their backstory, felt deeper than connections I have with actual people. They all have their own personalities, attitudes, input, opinions. It made the game feel real, to me. It really brought the game to life.

In Mass Effect 2, the tone of the series' story took a dramatic turn, but not necessarily for the worst. The threat of the Reapers could have been presented a little better; I feel like even though the Collectors were working for the Reapers and they're by some technical definition or association the "real threat" to the galaxy, constantly fighting them made me forget that it was the Reapers themselves we were supposed to be focusing on. That being said, the introduction of Cerberus as a major plot element and The Illusive Man himself made the story much more interesting than it might have been had I been fighting for Hackett and the Alliance again. Gameplay was also completely revamped, and I'm not really complaining. While it does seem that Bioware tried catering to more shooter-based audience rather than the hardcore RPGers, I prefer the newer combat system. Everything seemed more fluid and "right," from my biotic powers to the weapon choice. And while the change from cooldowns to thermal clips was an... interesting choice, I do understand why Bioware thought it would be more suitable for their audience.

As for Mass Effect 3, the reality of the situation in-universe is really driven home right from the start. The story wasted no time letting you know what the stakes were, and the child's fate at the beginning of the game was enough for me to want to finish the fight and get my revenge on the Reapers. When provided with the three main solutions to the Reaper threat, however (the "hidden" ending aside; I'll get to that in a minute), I don't think I faced a decision so arduous throughout the entire series. All three endings had their pros and cons, and I'm still struggling to determine which is the best choice for the galaxy. In Destroy, the Reaper threat is terminated for good, and the now-united galaxy can focus on the peace that would hopefully follow. That being said, the destruction of the geth and Edi, despite Destroy being what I thought was the "morally righteous" choice at the time, made me realize that the endings weren't as good-or-evil, black-or-white, paragon-or-renegade as the rest of the series has been. Control and, especially so, Synthesis made me feel so much more satisfied with the future of the galaxy's inhabitants. Shepard doesn't survive the endings of Control or Synthesis, but knowing that the latter brings together (in more ways than one) literally every organic and synthetic creature in the galaxy helps the little grieving process that I may or may not have experienced at the end of the series. We don't talk about the man-tears. Combat became a little more fast-paced since weapons can be added or removed to alter power recharge rates, but it was a step in the right direction, in my opinion. Finally, there were a few little easter egg-type things Bioware included that I found interesting. On Horizon, for example, Shepard tells Cortez that he's ready for extraction and that he's "had enough of this place," which I thought was a nice nod to his final line from his previous trip to Horizon in Mass Effect 2. Then there's the fourth "hidden" ending, which I never would have thought of trying myself but I found surprisingly amusing to watch on YouTube.

Now, I realize that I may have been a little... long-winded. To recap my main points here, all three games were awesome games in their own ways, and I recommend all three of them highly. If I absolutely had to pick just one as my favourite, I'd have to go with Mass Effect 3. After putting over 250 or 300 hours into this series, though, that decision doesn't come easy.