Mass Effect, Love the game, but...nothing draws me back to play it again.
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Speak for yourself I have probably replayed mass effect 1 10 time( 5 times doing the exact same choices) and mass effect 2 like 15 times. Of course i treat it like a good movie that I want to come back to.
I rarely replay a game in the same year , lack of time , i uave about 30 unplayed games left outta my 200 console games ... So time to replay i don't have . My first playthrough of ME and ME2 was renegade sheperd , and although the diologue and stuff my be different from paragon sheperd , not enough to deserve a second playthrough right away . But a game that i did play twice in a row was alpha protocol . That was a game that deserves two back to back playthroughs because everything you do/say does make a difference it was awsome . A dare even say it was better than ME in the rpg element department ( pistoles and stealth was over powered) . Anyways all this to say that i rarely play a game twice.In the same year anyways .
Understandable. I had that problem too, mainly because despite being renegade, every. Single. Thing. turns out to be the same as in Paragon scenario, except from a few dialogs. I finally gave up after Tuchanka, where I hoped the game will differ noticeably without Wrex. As if...Wanzer said:
ME1 and ME2 are brilliant games... But only for one playthrough in my case. This is also the reason, why I prefer The Witcher 2, Deus Ex, DE: Human Revolution and Alpha Protocol. Sometimes it's the branching story (and I MEAN branching story, not a slight change in dialogs, or that abomination which was Dragon Age II 3rd act), sometimes it's the amount of different ways to complete objective, but there's always something that makes you want to beat the game again. Paragon/Renegade, and different classes to play in ME are simply not enough.
What? No! Wow... I just don't get it when people say things like this.Wanzer said:
I've played through Mass Effect 2 four times. Each time, I played differently.
First - All Paragon Soldier
Second - All Renegade Adept
Third - Mixed Paragon/Renegade (leaning Paragon) Vanguard
Fourth - Mixed Paragon/Renegade (leaning Renegade) Infiltrator
Note (on the two mixed characters, I leaned one way to make sure to unlock the higher level persuasions, but otherwise did my best to keep both sides as equal as possible).
Dragon Age Origins has three play-throughs.
Dragon Age II, and Mass Effect 1 all have two play-throughs each. I'd have played ME1 more, but I only have it on PC (and I hate gaming on my laptop).
I can't imagine not playing through games like that several times. How else are you going to see all the content? How else are you going to try out different classes? Different romance options?
I also find it odd that you mentioned Bioshock. I played that one once and was done. Why? Because the moral choice was the ONLY choice, and it doesn't affect gameplay at all (less Adam, but if you go Big Daddy hunting, then you end up with plenty anyway, so I never really felt myself going without playing 'good'). I got the good ending, then watched the bad one on YouTube. Same for Infamous and Prototype - one play-through and done. But a story-heavy RPG with romance options? I can't imagine playing it just once.
I really find it strange that you compare Mass Effect and Dragon Age to Bioshock. I see almost no resemblance at all. Bioshock had a great story, but it was very tightly linear and allowed for no choice. The Bioware titles, on the other hand, are free-roaming, full of choices that change the story, and you are allowed to do the missions in (almost) any order you want.
I'm not trying to criticize... I simply don't see it, and don't understand where you're coming from.
Edit: People keep saying stuff about the "same dialog" which... well, yes, I suppose that is true. That's what the "skip dialog" button is for. You just have to be careful not to skip over your choice (or to hold the stick in the direction you want ahead of time).
As someone that has played through the Mass Effect games and Dragon Age games several times, I can say the best motivation to play again is to try different classes. Not so much in Mass Effect 1, but in Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and Dragon Age 2 the differences in gameplay between the classes is extraordinary.
The difference between an Adept and a Vanguard is great. One has no weapon other than the pistol and SMG and is usually fighting at mid-range from cover and utilizing their abilities for a variety of situations, while the other has beefed up shields and health and has a shotgun and uses their abilities to either get up close or draw the enemies in closer.
The difference between a Warrior and a Mage in Dragon Age is also great. One runs up into the thick of battle with a melee weapon, absorbs all the damage and slaughters enemies at the front lines. The other stays back and fires off spells from a distance, buffs the party to make them more effective in combat and debuffs the enemies to cripple them.
The difference between an Adept and a Vanguard is great. One has no weapon other than the pistol and SMG and is usually fighting at mid-range from cover and utilizing their abilities for a variety of situations, while the other has beefed up shields and health and has a shotgun and uses their abilities to either get up close or draw the enemies in closer.
The difference between a Warrior and a Mage in Dragon Age is also great. One runs up into the thick of battle with a melee weapon, absorbs all the damage and slaughters enemies at the front lines. The other stays back and fires off spells from a distance, buffs the party to make them more effective in combat and debuffs the enemies to cripple them.
I suppose that is the whole issue with me is what you mentioned at the end; I can't dive in like I did with the first play through, where I devoured every morsel of dialogue that presented itself without a second thought. While I attempt, I can just never get through the game again; as I feel I'm cheating myself of a play through and taking the time to play a game which I enjoyed throughly, but now is predictable. The romance options and such are interesting yet, but it is hard to dive straight into all of them again; especially when Shepard can essentially be with all three women at the same time, till the start of the suicide mission. This made me enjoy the ME1 seen where Ashley and Liara both come up to you and go CHOOSE; which the game does make you, in ME2 the option is simply, no conflict...just pick the one you most want to screw...which for me was Tali with that adorable Russian accent.Princess Rose said:
As for why I included Bioshock, it was to introduce the fact that it wasn't because of the game itself being dialogue heavy. Bioshock was a completely different genre of game than both ME and DA; meaning it was to show contrast that it wasn't because of the gameplay mechanics. I could throw in KOTOR into this ring as well and also include a few other games. Still, I suppose I didn't feel like the actions that occurred in DA or ME really effected that much in the game; sure it will change things for the future games, but they have presets for that which kinda of defeats the point aside from having the already named, designed and equipped character at your disposal. So...that's really my issue I suppose, the games tell great stories and have grand gameplay, but the choices you make really don't make a huge dent till the end of the game. In a way it reminds me of Jade Empire; which was either completely evil or completely good or the 'true neutral' path. Which got you more butt hurt than anyone else....soooooo....yeah. That is about it and yes I know different missions come up later depending on choices, but those missions are RARE.
Woah, woah, no need to get testy here. (Just how I'm reading it, if not then I apologize.) I'm just saying that while I desire to play through the games once again; I can't really muster up the drive to do so. I was asking people who could do so, what the secret to that was and how I could play through the game again and get real enjoyment.spectrenihlus said:
There's nothing free-roaming about Mass Effect 2(from what I've seen); you get a lot of dialogue options, but almost every time there's no difference in the outcome at all or there's nothing significant(random NPC #4 doesn't die). Even the loyalty missions end up largely the same; Garrus doesn't talk to you any differently whether you kill Sidonis or not, and although I only talked to him, I'll bet that the other characters are the same.Princess Rose said:
Even the endings are largely the same. Just because Jacob might die in one ending doesn't make it full of choice; he played a minor role in the story at best despite being worthy of a loyalty mission, and currently nothing in the universe is different other than the fact that a minor character died. It's like calling a game nonlinear because you can have a different silly hat on during the ending sequence.
I have the same problem with Mass Effect. I think the reason I'm still playing Fallout 3 and haven't bothered playing either Mass Effect game again (aside from not really enjoying 2 that much) is it just doesn't seem there'd be enough differences to keep me interested for multiple plays.
Maybe I'm wrong about that. I did play at least part of the first ME twice: I started as a soldier and later decided it was boring that way and restarted as a Biotic. Still, neither game gave me the impression it'd be all that much different playing again.
Actually, this is probably what I'm really trying to say:
Maybe I'm wrong about that. I did play at least part of the first ME twice: I started as a soldier and later decided it was boring that way and restarted as a Biotic. Still, neither game gave me the impression it'd be all that much different playing again.
Actually, this is probably what I'm really trying to say:
Mostly B, in my case I think, though A is definitely part of it.urprobablyright said:
I feel like you're kind of missing the point.Defense said:
There aren't ANY games currently on the market (with the possible exception of Catherine) that have endings like you describe where there are major significant differences in the plot. I never said ME2 (or any of the other ones) did that.
I said that I could do the MISSIONS in any order I wanted.
I can recruit Mordin first, like the game tells me to.
Or I can say "fuck that" and go recruit Garrus first, because he's awesome.
If I wanted to, I could even fly off and get Jack first. Or Grunt.
After Horizon, I can go recruit all three people... or I can just go get Tali, and then start doing loyalty missions while Thrane and Samara (and Liara for LotSB) sit around waiting on me.
Or I can ignore everyone and go play with the Hammerhead. Screw finding the collectors, maybe want to go jump on Geth Colossus for kicks.
Hell, I can choose to go mine planets and look for random Assignments until I run out of money to buy fuel and probes with.
That's the non-linear part. The scripted story of a game is almost never "non-linear" because they have to pay voice actors to say the lines, so they don't want to have to do a million different possible takes. But why would the ending be "non-linear" - it's the ending. That part is supposed to be linear.
Compare to, say, Bioshock, where there is one and only one place to go to advance the plot. Sure, you can go kill Big Daddys for Adam, but the plot will take you past most of them anyway. That's a linear game, as opposed to a more non-linear game where you select which missions you do in what order. ME1 was even more non-linear - you could go to Therum, Feros, or Noveria. After you did two of those, you unlocked Virmire. Apart from that, you could do the missions in any order you chose. Or you could go and wander about the galaxy looking for side quests and running errands for Admiral Hacket.
Also, I'm rather confused - Garrus generally refuses to talk to you if you screw up his loyalty mission, whereas completing it successfully allows Garrus to be romanced. That's a pretty major difference.
idk how to describe it but you either want to play it again or you don't, most shooters i hardly play through more than once unless its gears of war or halo, and when it comes to bioware games like mass effect..idk i just love playing it again, just like i love reading my favorite books 5-6+ times
mass effect i've done roughly 10+ playthroughs while on me2 i think im roughly 12+ playthroughs, not 100% sure on that but pretty close.
the first 2 weeks alone i got mass effect 2 i beat it twice, i can't describe exactly why, i just don't get bored with it, i know whats going to happen and i've basically memorized the dialogue but i still love seeing it play out
mass effect i've done roughly 10+ playthroughs while on me2 i think im roughly 12+ playthroughs, not 100% sure on that but pretty close.
the first 2 weeks alone i got mass effect 2 i beat it twice, i can't describe exactly why, i just don't get bored with it, i know whats going to happen and i've basically memorized the dialogue but i still love seeing it play out
gmaverick019 said:
Princess Rose said:
Alright summing up all these points, I suppose I've come to a pretty logical conclusion about my issue. My whole issue is more that I'm not one to do anything twice really; unless necessary, like going to school or studying. I never read books twice because well....I don't see a need to; unless it just particularly strikes my fancy or I become aggroviated I can't remember details. On a whole, ME2 is probably the best game and closest to making me desire to play through again; only DA2 getting me to do moe, only for me to feel like a prick for playing the evil sad. Beyond that, I haven't found anything to draw me in again. I suppose also lacking x-box live and the downloadable content makes it hard to get back into the game when I'm constantly reminded of the THINGS I CAN'T HAVE!urprobablyright said:
your probably right, i never realized until i got into my teenage years that no one hardly replays their games/rereads their favorite books, which boggled my mind at first, but i've come to realize it and accept it, hell i have a few friends who refuse to play single player games as they don't see the point, doesn't mean we both can't enjoy ourselves.Wanzer said:
so if you get around to it then awesome, if not, it's only affecting you, which you've played through it so you've gotten your money's worth technically, so not much point to really dwell on it.
although i will admit sometimes i hit a stone wall in which i can't decide which game i want to play/replay, but i've gotten better about just picking a game (usually an rpg) and just sticking with it at least for an hour or two until i get sucked back into it's awesomeness, otherwise i'll sit there for hours pondering which game i want to play.
Someone hasn't played Alpha Protocol.Princess Rose said:
Myself I played through ME about nine times in total, I never once tried to complete all the side missions, that helped each playthrough stay fresh. I never played as a soldier. I've only played thorough ME2 twice and I had to drag myself through the second time. I don't think the characters or the story are as good in ME2 and in particular the RPG elements are no-where near as deep. The annoying loading screens really bug me as do the character design for the female characters. I play the whole game thinking why the fuck am I still working for Cerebus I should strike out on my own.
gmaverick019 said:
Well, to the first I agree with you; most of the people I've met don't reread or replay games....aside from the die hard twilight fan girls, who cream themselves every time someone so much as utters the words Edward and Jacob. A rather annoying fact considering my name happens to be the latter of which and their rotten prepubescent minds can't tell the difference between reality and fiction and suddenly a thirteen year old is humping my leg in a frenzy of giggling and incoherent babble. Regarding this, I think that I can't find entertainment in it because I play a game SOLELY for the story most of the time; already knowing what is going to happen just kinda kills it for me.octafish said:
Secondly and to the second poster: Good on you for such dedication to the game and the criticism is thought out. I would have much rather been allowed to be like...screw you alliance, screw you cerebus and screw you Council...I'M TAKING MY TOYS, MY COMPANIONS AND MY SUPER POWERED ASS AND MAKING MY OWN ORGANIZATION. On that note, I would have loved to have seen more down with the Shadow Broker...he just seemed like a plot hole answer. Like if something couldn't be explained, the answer was Geth, Reaper, Drug addict or Shadow broker.
Absolutely. I have played all the classes and experienced all the outcomes for all those games as well as the Fallout series. I'm the type of player that has to find and do everything in the game. Having multiple save games from ME1 and ME2 will greatly enhance my ME3 experience.Magicman10893 said:
everytime i hear the name edward i have to think ofWanzer said:
and for jacob i always end up thinking
instead of the shit characters you mentioned fortunately
and oddly enough i play games solely for story too most of the time..but hey, differences aren't necessarily a bad thing.