Poll: Poll: Mass Effect 1 or 2? Which do you like better?

[scorptatious]

For those who have played both games, which did you prefer out of the two and why?

For me, it was kind of a toss up. I love both games, but each has something a little better than the other. For example, ME2's gameplay is better than ME1's through improved controls and squad commands. Meanwhile, ME1 had a slightly better story and antagonist.

So overall, which of the two games do you prefer? And how anticipated are you for ME3 which is currently in development?

If you didn't like the games, please explain why.

 

[Mittens The Kitten]

Mass Effect 2 only bloomed on the tougher difficulties, forming a perfect team with counters to every armor type was never really required on normal difficulty, which was still challenging if played less tactically.

 

[Senaro]

As much as I love the entire series so far, Mass Effect 2 makes the original feel like a piece of crap. I always say people must play the original to get the most out of it, but part of me feels bad because I would hate to have to give up the gameplay of the second game.

 

[voetballeeuw]

Mass Effect 1, I liked all the extra powers. I thought playing as a biotic in I was better than II. I also enjoyed the Mako sections.

 

[x-machina]

One Without a doubt, two was a gigantic disappointment. The story in two was terrible imo, not to mention the dumbest best fight ever...

 

[x-machina]

My bad double post

 

[scorptatious]

I also enjoyed the Mako sections.

Me too. For some reason though everyone else seems to hate them. I don't know why. The only reason I can think of is that the shields take an incredibly long time to recharge. Which in itself isn't all that bad.

 

[SwimmingRock]

I'm torn on the individual aspects of the games. I actually kind of liked the Mako sequences in ME1 whereas I hated the probe-mining in ME2. I also actually preferred a cluttered inventory of goodies and actually getting exp from killing enemies. Also, I liked the old Citadel more. Essentially, gameplay-wise I prefer ME1.

However, story and writing is very important to me and the second game was much more fulfilling in that regard. The Reapers remained a rather vague threat in the first and you don't actually fight Harbinger yourself, so the whole thing felt like winning a small battle in anticipation of a huge war. ME2, on the other hand, felt like the actual beginning of that war.

I also preferred the variety in characters in ME2 compared to ME1. Garrus and Wrex were the only characters I liked in the first and I genuinely delighted at seeing them again, but the overall cast of 2 is more varied and interesting, plus it has Garrus again (yay! They better bring him back for ME3). Sure, there's overlap and Jack makes me think of that Penny Arcade comic about PoP:WW where the Prince says:"I am filled with generic rage! Grr!", but I felt more like I had a crew rather than a party of strangers.

I guess, in the end, ME2 wins out for me. Well, that's taken me several months to figure out. Thanks for hearing me out, doc. Same time next week?

EDIT: What does "TIM FTW" mean in the poll options? I mean, I know what FTW means, but who/what is TIM?

 

[Good morning blues]

Mass Effect 2 was such a gigantic improvement over the first that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to play ME1 ever again. I agree that the overarching storyline in ME2 was kind of weak, but so was the big story in the first one; the quality of the story comes from the party members and their side quests, which were uniformly better in the later game. I loved the first Mass Effect, but the shooting and general gameplay in the sequel was substantially better.

 

[WayOutThere]

ME 2's combat was outstanding whereas ME 1's was dismal. Still, I'm going to say I like ME 1 more because ME 2 severly fucked over the main plot which was what I liked most about ME 1. I am very angry about it and don't understand why more people aren't.

 

[scorptatious]

ME 2's combat was outstanding whereas ME 1's was dismal. Still, I'm going to say I like ME 1 more because ME 2 severly fucked over the main plot which was what I liked most about ME 1. I am very angry about it and don't understand why more people aren't.

I don't understand why there are people angry about ME2's main plot. Personally, I liked it.

Granted, it did leave some loose threads by the time the game was over, but isn't that what ME3 is for?

EDIT: Sorry didn't see the link. Currently reading through it.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I am tempted to make a thread about the two Mass Effects...anyway, I'll try and keep this straightforward...

Mass Effect one was the one I prefer. The Galaxy seemed much more alive. I am referring to the fact that while there may be millions of items and, clutter was something that was inevitable, every piece of equipment was a product by a larger manufacturer. It's a little thing that makes the tedium of clogged inventory somewhat worth it. Same with the armors, biotic enhancers and, omni-tools. Surveying planets took seconds from orbit and the planets that you could explore offered much to be found even if controlling the Mako was a bit difficult at times. The level cap is 60.

One of the bigger problems I'm having with Mass Effect 2 is how when you activate a weapon mod. I activate the ability which lets me use warp ammo and there seems to be no way to turn it off other than switching out guns completely...I assume...I haven't tried that yet. Weapon modding is a strange subject though because in 1, modifying weapons is more precise. In 2, Weapon modding is permanent and, once you mod one weapon type, it upgrades all weapons in that slot as opposed to one particular weapon.

Anyway: My favorite is still the original. I really hope they make the third more like the first but based on the reveal trailer, it looks like it's going to be even less like the first and more of an action game with a smaller RPG bit. It's bad enough that they took away our unlimited ammunition even though it was established in the first game and book that ammunition consumption is a non-issue. Yet here comes EA with their heat-sinks: a technology not mentioned in the first game or book. I haven't read any of the other books so maybe they were mentioned. The only time in the first game the heat sinks were mentioned was when referencing The Normandy's stealth system.

Anyway: I've already given my answer. I'll stop bitching now.

 

[Agayek]

I prefer the original for one reason and one reason alone: the story is soooo much better. There's so much about the story in ME2 that just doesn't make any sense and is completely ignored by everyone. This wouldn't be that bad, but the whole reason I play RPGs is for the story.

Thus, ME1 is definitely the superior game.

That said, ME2's combat and overall gameplay was significantly improved over the original (especially the removal of the randomly generated bullshit Mako driving planets).

 

[MellowFellow]

I think both are great in different areas. Mass Effect 1 had a better main story than Mass Effect 2, but Mass Effect 2 had better side missions and gameplay, in my opinion. The crews I think were pretty similar, just Mass Effect 2 had more companions to choose from. I really wish that they didn't take away the elevator loading scenes from ME1 for ME2, I felt that the loading screens took away from some of the immersion of ME2. Also some of the conversations were interesting. The mako sections of ME1 and the mineral scanning of ME2 were both 'meh', I could care less for either, neither was complete crap, but they were nowhere near the best parts of the game.

If Mass Effect 3 can take the good from ME1&2 and put them together, it will definitely be one of the best games I have ever played. The game is a year away and I am already anxious to play it.

 

[DanielBrown]

I love them both, but I got a bit disapointed at ME2 since it took focus on being a shooter rather than a shooter RPG.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I just love both of them to bits and want to have their little human-reaper babies.

 

[warm slurm]

Mass Effect 1, definitely. I thought the combat had taken a nosedive in the second one, and I liked the story more.

 

[RJFTW]

Both for me, each one had elements it did better than the other one. When they confirmed it was a trilogy (before the recent "announcement") I couldn't wait to see where they would take it. So far I'm just generally a fan of the series and setting.

 

[Hairetos]

I enjoyed Mass Effect 1 better, but it still needed work.

Mass Effect 2 managed to do something amazing though. It managed to fix all of the problems of Mass Effect 1, but ruin all of the things that made Mass Effect 1 any good. Mass Effect 1 had a great story and strong RPG core with combat that was inconsistent and a little too fluid (infinite ammo=pshaw). Mass Effect 2 had great combat that felt like a true shooter, but scrapped all semblance of a solid RPG and had a POS story anyone could've thrown together in 5 minutes. The visual disparity between the two is also interesting. Mass Effect 1 had much better and more varied visuals than ME2, but ME2 had crisper graphics with a better camera sensitivity. ME2's environments were ugly as butt though.

Why, Bioware, why? So much potential.

 

[Rylot]

I also enjoyed the Mako sections.

Me too. For some reason though everyone else seems to hate them. I don't know why. The only reason I can think of is that the shields take an incredibly long time to recharge. Which in itself isn't all that bad.

The only thing I didn't like about the Mako sections and the biggest complaints I've heard are that every planet is very similar (wide open spaces, no vegetation, inconsequential wild life) Most of the planets felt like pallet swaps of every other place you'd been. Personally I was very disappointed that they removed the Mako and took all the immersion of exploring planets that came with it.

OT: I liked that the feeling of being a lone ship in the vast universe that the first game captured, rather than going from set piece to set piece in the second.