User blog comment:Battlemaster Grunt/What is the best Mass Effect? 1,2, or 3?/@comment-1639193-20131115040453

In order of preference and why in a bullet point form

Mass effect 2:

1, More character development and a much larger wider variety and choice of squad. 2, More suspense at the end, one of the best climaxes to a video game i've ever played, anyone can die even you! 3, More Freedom of movement/choice than 3 but less than 1. - A fair balance between sandbox and themepark, the pacing of it was a balance. 4, Amazing renegade interrupts :D (They all had some). 5, More interaction with the crew, fighting, having their own opinions, diversity etc. 6, More varied locations than 1 (much like 3) 7, Improved Combat over 1 but not as good as 3. 8, Less customisations options than 1 or 3. 9, Love Interests from ME 1 are largely ignored until the DLC, then we get 1 of three. 10, Shepherds personality seems to shift from 1, playing for the other side he gets even darker which is great but then it bounces back again in 3, flip flopping. This is more a minor complaint for the whole series however. 11, More conversation freedom and choice than 3 on a par with 1. 12, Plot has less suspense than 1's but you still have the not knowing what is going on till the end feeling. Only because the ending is so separated, it lacks the slowly uncovering the truth feel of 1's. However it's still an improvement over 3's obvious all out in the open approach.

Mass effect 1:

1, More choice about where you go and when than any other game in the series. 2, Less Character development for anyone, but still more than 3. 3, MUCH more customisation than 2 and more than 3. 4, Repetition in the use of layouts, even a couple more would have probably been enough, because you don't feel forced into the repetition as the mission is always a choice. As for immersion, a colony drop pod looking the same or a freighter looking the same wasn't terrible but still wasn't ideal by any means. 5, Mako Missions, if you didn't feel forced to do them, they brought fun variety when you did do them. 6, Ending is great, for a moment it looks like you didn't make it then at the last minute you craw from the rubble, and you get the great speech from whoever you pick. Doesn't match 2's climax by any means but it's satisfying. 7, Pacing of 1's story felt a bit slow but that was the sacrifice for the ability to go where you wanted, when you wanted. 8, Story/Plot was excellent, lots of new concepts introduced! It's one of the most memorably plots i've ever played. I really wanted to keep doing the missions to find out what was going to happen next, this was sorely lacking in 3 as you knew what was going to happen and to a lesser extent in 2, though 2 at least had the feeling you were behind the scenes and a bit more mystery to it. 9, Characters were excellent, and I felt I got to know the squad well. 10, The extras were not as well fleshed out as 2 or 3 however. 11, More conversation freedom and choice than 3 on a par with 2. DLC For all games 12, Promised DLC was lacking, badly. - Yes this really deserves a mention. We got one great one and one terrible one, however were promised many.

Mass effect 3:

1, Auto Dialogue and 2 dialogue choices limited rpg elements, Shepherd often said something my shepherd would have never have said. Neutral characters get shafted. On a personal note things like shaking hands with the Turians i've been despising for the last 2 games? 2, I felt on rails nearly all the way, limited choice in where to go and what to do, limiting replayability. 3, Combat was the best, huge step over 1 a step over 2 4, More customisation elements than 2 but less than 1 5, Less Crew Choice than 2 about the same as 1 6, Love Interests From 1 make a return which is great but then they take half the game to actually be used properly, and complain a lot when they do get here, making me want to shoot them. 7, The Endings try to add a starwars-like philosopy, which doesn't fit at all in ME's more gritty/realistic style and ends up feeling tacked on, after ME2's amazing climax this just feels like a slow plodding addon that doesn't have any tension in it. As I decide through conversation (yawn) the fate of the galaxy/series. 8, Shepherds personality yet again seems to shift from 2

9, The tension is there, in turning this into a war game but it does limit the plot's suspense you're not really guessing what is going to happen next, and completely dies out at the end. What happened to a great last stand opportunity, or saving or sacrificing for the lives of your squad, or friends, the build up all for a completely halt and a casual conversation... 10, Replayability is lower as you don't have the freedom of where to go when, and still less customisation than 1 but more than 2. Auto dialogue again contributes to this, as does having 2 conversation choices/paths instead of 3. 11, Multiplayer is fun, but certainly not worth the sacrifices in singleplayer development to get it, if there were any, and from the above list it seems there were. 12, The crew comments about each other on the ship, which is a nice immersive touch.

In Closing:

All in all i've replayed 1 about 10 times, 2 about 5 and 3 once, though I do eventually plan to play it once more. DLC For all games, as per usual for bioware expansions/games (and in past game's sequels long before EA), insanely failed to take into account the well developed and loved squad members at all, until shadowbroker and eventually citadel. Which of course made 2 of the most popular DLC's out there....

Still this series rates 3rd in my all time favorite lists, and Mass Effect 2 definitely in my top 10 all time favorite games.