How do you beat Mass Effect twice (or more times)?

[Stammer]

3) Setting up Shepards for the sequels. Like you, I pretty much know how I'm going to make each decision (this playthrough I'm on currently is a Renegade) and I like seeing how the story will turn out this time and how these choices will ripple into the next games.

Yeah that's exactly what I'm doing this for. I'm keeping my original and branching that off twice, and this playthrough is just going to continue straight through. In total, I'm planning one more Mass Effect, and three more Mass Effect 2 play-throughs.

I recommend taking a break from the game for awhile. It could be it's just too much too soon for this game. Go play something else and then come back to it later. I've found I'm not able to play through the same game soon after I just finished a playthrough of it.

Believe it or not no other game even appeals to me aside from Mass Effect right now. Any time I start playing another game I find myself just getting bored and stopping after a while, even another BioWare game. I'm completely enthralled with this universe. So much so I bought all the DLC (a first for me) for it and even just got back from Chapters with two of the novels.

btw, love the Trogdor avatar.

 

[TheKruzdawg]

3) Setting up Shepards for the sequels. Like you, I pretty much know how I'm going to make each decision (this playthrough I'm on currently is a Renegade) and I like seeing how the story will turn out this time and how these choices will ripple into the next games.

Yeah that's exactly what I'm doing this for. I'm keeping my original and branching that off twice, and this playthrough is just going to continue straight through. In total, I'm planning one more Mass Effect, and three more Mass Effect 2 play-throughs.

I recommend taking a break from the game for awhile. It could be it's just too much too soon for this game. Go play something else and then come back to it later. I've found I'm not able to play through the same game soon after I just finished a playthrough of it.

Believe it or not no other game even appeals to me aside from Mass Effect right now. Any time I start playing another game I find myself just getting bored and stopping after a while, even another BioWare game. I'm completely enthralled with this universe. So much so I bought all the DLC (a first for me) for it and even just got back from Chapters with two of the novels.

btw, love the Trogdor avatar.

I understand about being in love with the series. I've been on a binge this summer with it and have beaten Mass Effect 2 twice and currently working on Mass Effect 1 with a new Shepard, all within the span of less than a month. I bought all of the DLC (except the appearance packs, meh) and love them. I plan on buying the Collectors edition of Mass Effect 3 when I have the funds.

I've had that feeling where no other game can satisfy the itch. I had that feeling when I was playing through Dragon Age 2 about a month ago. I couldn't bring myself to play anything else until I finished and ended up playing nothing else for three days straight (didn't do much else either).

Edit: Oh and thanks I had to choose him so he wouldn't burninate my house.

 

[octafish]

I played ME1 about nine times. ME2 once. I never went for a 100% completion in ME1 except my most recent play through which I am hoping will carry the momentum to get me through ME2. Taris The Citadel is a chore though, I recommend not trying to do all the side quests there in one visit, that is just too much Citadel. Come back after some side quests and the merchants will have new stuff and you can break the tedium up a bit.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

I only played through Mass Effect 1 twice-- one Ashley Romance, one Liara Romance, both full-on Paragon with all side quests done.

Mass Effect 2 I do everything a little differently. In my mind I'm watching a Mass Effect movie of sorts, and it entertains me to try and craft a cinematic sort of story, with all sorts of bits of drama and appropriately epic action sequences. I do the missions in a different order each time, to mix up the pacing of the plot, and I always take a different set of squad members on every mission so each character has their moment in the spotlight. While I'm certain this won't work for everyone it makes me enjoy the game even more immensely than before.

For example, one Shepard becomes best buds with Mordin from the start, and on his loyalty mission is patiently waiting out the Clan Weyrloc fanatic as he is ranting about how his clan will dominate the galaxy. But the moment he even mentions harming the Salarians, Shepard sees the look on Mordin's face and snaps, immediately setting those bastards on fire.

Good to know I'm not the only one who does this. I try to do things the "right" way, making each moment mean more to the characters involved, and making each scene as completely over-the-top badass as possible. Like, since Garrus is my Shepard's "BFF", he almost always goes with him on missions. That gives each turn the adventure takes another level of depth, since it's not just a team of soldiers, but a couple of friends, surviving some crazy stuff.

Also, I like taking Tali on Legion's loyalty mission. It just makes the geth-killing spree all the more fun. And when you get the chance to do the opposite (take Legion to the Flotilla), the whole debate about the quarian-geth war gets a lot more interesting.

 

[Alade]

I played through both games at least 10 times each, I'm still having fun because I start thinking of my character as a psychic prophet and mastermind. He knows what will happen and in according to his predictions he tries to perfect his actions each different playthrough.

Also, I love it when I'm playing a game that I know inside out, gives me a feeling of mastery over the game.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

ive played both games through 10 times each since the first game came out on pc, and infact i started playing again just yesterday.. and prety much every time i make the same decisions and i still find it fun

there isnt really a "way" to make it fun again, you just have to genuinly enjoying going through something again, you cant force yourself to find it fun again if you dont

 

[Colonel Whiskers]

I played mass effect 2 first and had a blast with it then bought and played ME1 when i found out saves carried over. I've played them both over again with the same male, paragon vanguard and i'm still amazed/surprised/confused that playing the same games don't get tedious while i'm trying to get the "perfect" playthroughs.
But anyway to fix the tedium just try different playstyles, classes and i think role-playing gives the game a new feel if you try a different mindset.

 

[Maeshone]

I really can't play through ME1 any more... Compared to ME2 it's just so... Slow. It becomes a tedious grind really quickly, but ME2 for some reason manages to avoid that in my eyes. Could just be that the production values feel like they're so much larger in ME2. It's a really cinematic experience (no, that isn't the same as being a so called "interactive movie", and no, being cinematic is not a bad thing).

Plus, all the weapons in ME2 are just awesome and the action is just much more fluid, while the conversations seem to be more natural. I think those are the biggest reasons.

 

[evilneko]

I played ME1... about one and a half times. I started as a soldier, decided it was boring (battle consisted pretty much only of charging in guns blazing) and restarted as a biotic and never looked back. I'm not sure I could do a full playthrough again because like you said, I've been there, done that before and I don't think the differences will be big enough.

ME2 I barely dragged myself through the first time around and can't fathom a second attempt. No fuckin' way would I put myself through it again.

 

[pearcinator]

Go as different class, different background, different morality path (renegade or paragon), different gender and you will be surprised at how different some missions play out. Sure the main missions are a bit boring since you know what the good/bad results of them are but play through it again as a completely opposite character and class and then follow that person into ME2 and you will see many differences.

 

[Lenin211]

Liked mass effect 2 better on multiple playthroughs. On my ME1 2nd playthrough, I got bored after Noveria.

 

[chinangel]

i just try different character classes, and I WAS trying to get certain achevements. However I have called it quits. I got a new xbox, transferred the files and guess what? NINETY PERCENT OF MY DLC IS MISSING I erven went and used the stupid re-download program on the XBOX forums. but that only restored a little. I'm still missing a LOT

 

[Stammer]

I bought all of the DLC (except the appearance packs, meh) and love them.

Yeah that's what I meant too. I only went for DLC that had real content in them-- new characters, new areas, new missions... I didn't buy any appearance or equipment packs.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I think some people are just more suited to replaying than others. i can reread a book a dozen times and still find it interesting, most people can't.

yeah this,

if it's something i like, you bet your silly ass i can replay it to death (same thing goes for books, a couple of the halo books and a few random others i have read a solid 8-9 times, and still enjoy them just as much each time)

 

[tunderball]

I arrived a little late to the Mass Effect party (I know!) My problem with Bioware games is that I love them too much, the story is always so well crafted and I just love seeing how the different choices play out.
However I was studying for a degree recently so whilst I knew there was this epic series of games begging me to play them I didn't for fear of being sucked in and wasting a lot of time. Anyway degree has now been passed and a job has been found, as a reward I bought myself a massive new television and ME1 & 2 and am currently blasting my way around the galaxy after work. I'm hoping to have every inch of those games completed before 3 comes out with atlest 3 characters to continue on with. So in answer to the OPs question no I do not have any problem playing those games over and over again, I've waited long enough and am now revelling in the awesomeness that is the Mass Effect Universe.......Good things come to those who wait!

 

[Fappy]

Because I sometimes I feel like playing it again and I do. There really isn't much more to it than that.

 

[TheKruzdawg]

I bought all of the DLC (except the appearance packs, meh) and love them.

Yeah that's what I meant too. I only went for DLC that had real content in them-- new characters, new areas, new missions... I didn't buy any appearance or equipment packs.

I bought the equipment packs and the armor that you get from it is pretty decent. Not sure in hindsight if it was totally worth the $ but I think it helped. Not a definite buy, but it was nice. Obviously you got by without it, so take it for what it is.

 

[dimensional]

I have played Mass Effect 10 times
I have played Mass Effect 2 18 times

It is a fun game, and a unique experience. I just love being in the world of Mass Effect, Bioware did a fantastic job making it feel like it really was Sci-fi space

I think you are bordering on obsession mass effect 1 and 2 are great the first time when everythings new but to play rolling playthroughs can get tedious as the conversations/events which form such a vast part of the experience are still fresh in your mind it helped me both times to crank the difficulty up to insanity as it helps change up the combat sections and keep that part of the game interesting (especially second one on the first one insanity still holds no challenge at all to a soldier).

After this I would recommend a break so play a few other games then go back and play it as a different class/gender hopefully getting a better experience and not getting burned out on them. Oh and finished mass effect 4 times and mass effect 2 3 times so far.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

Fun fact, the game isn't that different no matter what you do, and even when you try to do everything the exact opposite of what you did before, things still play out more or less the same way. It's because the Mass Effect universe does not shape to your choices as you'd been led to believe. It's what Bioware's good at, providing the illusion of choice. You don't really have much of a choice over how the story plays out though.

That, and the second time your through the great story doesn't mask the mediocre gameplay. Almost all of Bioware's games have crappy-mediocre combat. Their best game gameplay wise was MDK 2.

I was able to re-play the first many times because I really liked it. And I knew what I was getting into with it being a Bioware game. It met my expectations, and exceeded them, so I enjoy it over and over.

Because it's party based, even picking a different character doesn't help. In practice, you're going to play the same way every time no matter what you choose or how many microscopic story tweaks you make along the way. It's why I pretty much lost interest in Bioware games after Dragon Age. In retrospect, that was a good time to jump ship. Most of the choices you get only affect one character, and would have more impact if they simply happened as part of a story. Picking character developments from a list just kills whatever emotional jolt you might have gotten out of them. They should drop the illusion of meaningful choice and boring, disjointed dialog dumps and focus on making good action/RPGs with great linear stories. That would be making the best of what they're good at, in my opinion. They need to do that and get rid of party gameplay or structure it in a way that doesn't undermine whatever choices you make for your character.

 

[pspman45]

I think you are bordering on obsession mass effect 1 and 2 are great the first time when everythings new but to play rolling playthroughs can get tedious as the conversations/events which form such a vast part of the experience are still fresh in your mind it helped me both times to crank the difficulty up to insanity as it helps change up the combat sections and keep that part of the game interesting (especially second one on the first one insanity still holds no challenge at all to a soldier).

After this I would recommend a break so play a few other games then go back and play it as a different class/gender hopefully getting a better experience and not getting burned out on them. Oh and finished mass effect 4 times and mass effect 2 3 times so far.

Are you assuming that I have no other games?
I finished Mass Effect 2 last year. I have found plenty of games to play, but I like to take a break and play the series again. The easy to use command system allows for good coordination between me and my AI allies (although the path finding AI often gets stuck). I like the Mass Effect series, and I intend to treat the third one the same way