Recently completed video games

[Hume's Spork]

The feeling of discovery is what makes me prefer ME to ME2.You're learning about new species and a galaxy humanity has lived in for millions of years and that feeling made me want to read the codices. ME2 is better technically, but I found losing that sense of discovery made it the lesser of the two.

 

Couldn't agree more, I loved the sense of discovery in the first game; in fact I purposefully haven't gone back and played ME1 because I don't want to mar my nostalgia, which I think the mechanics downgrade might do. I don't mind it for older RPGs like Baldur's Gate/Torment etc. but something about shooters makes me always want that extra polish.

[Dewar]

I loved the first 4 hours of ME1 where you're just wandering around the citadel taking care of the small stuff before you launch into the galaxy saving stuff. ME2 felt a lot more like an action movie to me, which isn't what I come to Mass Effect for.

[Twig]

This is a real fact and indisputable: Until they make a Mass Effect game that only takes place on the Citadel and has little-to-no action scenes, they have not made a good Mass Effect game.

[aeolist]

This last weekend I finished A Link Between Worlds which I had picked up during the eShop sale. Honestly it might be my favorite Zelda at this point.

 

I don't think the character art was the greatest, though I definitely liked it better than when I first saw videos of the game. I think the animations help a lot there. The overall design (especially the dungeons) was fantastic though. I liked the item rental system and the overall increased difficulty compared to most recent Zeldas.

[SecretAsianMan]

I echo the ME1 love.  I wasn't super into the mechanics or the story, but I love the setting.  Running around the Citadel getting to know all these interesting aliens was great.  Exploring a really well crafted space full of cool details is my favorite part of almost any game.  To a lesser extent, I also enjoyed running around on the Normandy and poking all the nooks and crannies.

[SecretAsianMan]

This last weekend I finished A Link Between Worlds which I had picked up during the eShop sale. Honestly it might be my favorite Zelda at this point.

 

I don't think the character art was the greatest, though I definitely liked it better than when I first saw videos of the game. I think the animations help a lot there. The overall design (especially the dungeons) was fantastic though. I liked the item rental system and the overall increased difficulty compared to most recent Zeldas.

 

I also recently beat Link Between Worlds (for the second time) and I'd agree with you.  I'm still not into the art but the game design is fantastic.  I'd still have to give the original Link to the Past my personal vote for favorite, but Link Between Worlds is right up there.

[aeolist]

I echo the ME1 love.  I wasn't super into the mechanics or the story, but I love the setting.  Running around the Citadel getting to know all these interesting aliens was great.  Exploring a really well crafted space full of cool details is my favorite part of almost any game.  To a lesser extent, I also enjoyed running around on the Normandy and poking all the nooks and crannies.

I actually liked the mechanics in ME1 the most, as janky as they were. I liked the crazy amount of loot drops, though the UI was pretty poor at dealing with it. The shooting was worse obviously but it felt like the combat had more real options and they were more differentiated than in the following games.

 

Far and away the best story and dialogue options of the series too.

 

I also recently beat Link Between Worlds (for the second time) and I'd agree with you.  I'm still not into the art but the game design is fantastic.  I'd still have to give the original Link to the Past my personal vote for favorite, but Link Between Worlds is right up there.

It's making me want to play my 3DS more too. There isn't a lot I want for it right now though.

[SecretAsianMan]

It's making me want to play my 3DS more too. There isn't a lot I want for it right now though.

 

I share this sentiment as well.  I really want to do more with it but there's not a lot I want to play on it and the stuff I do I can't afford at the moment.

[Dewar]

This is a real fact and indisputable: Until they make a Mass Effect game that only takes place on the Citadel and has little-to-no action scenes, they have not made a good Mass Effect game.

I wish Telltale was working on a Mass Effect game instead of Tales from the Borderlands.

[Professor Video Games]

In the ME1 codex there are these really detailed and well thought out explanations of what space combat is like when ships with faster than light movement and weaponry are involved. Then all the actual space battles were just typical explosiony movie stuff. Anyway I liked ME1 the most. I enjoyed driving around in that stupid mako and I liked the armor customization. The later games went too far from the RPG roots and too heavy into the third person shooter side of things.

[Twig]

I wish Telltale was working on a Mass Effect game instead of Tales from the Borderlands.

Me too except I'd rather they just not make a third season of The Walking Dead or drop Game of Thrones.

 

Or toss all that out the window and just make a new Sam & Max.

[SecretAsianMan]

Maybe Sam and Max could join C-Sec.  Or better yet, they could each be a representative of their species on the Citadel and team up for wacky hijinks.  I'd play that.

[Bjorn]

I would play the hell out of some weird Sam & Max x Mass Effect crossover.  They could just be found in a lost cryotube and be be brought back in Shepard's time.

 

Max interacting with the Elcor...brain melty goodness. 

[tberton]

I still haven't played Mass Effect 3, but I loved Mass Effect 2. I thought that the focus on the characters was a great choice: it felt like Ocean's Eleven, rounding up this team of cool, interesting people. And I liked that they weren't afraid to switch up the type of gameplay you were engaging in for each of the missions. Garrus' mission, where he wants you to kill the guy who sold out his team, and you're just staring down your sniper scope trying to decide if the guy deserves to die, is still one of the tensest moments I've ever experienced in a game. And I thought the finally was brilliant, except for the Terminator boss of course.

 

That said, I would love a Telltale style Mass Efffect game.

[Ucantalas]

I've been playing some L.A Noire recently, and I think I'd really like to see a game like that, in the Mass Effect universe, say as a C-Sec officer on the Citadel.

[voxn]

Mass Effect seems to come up randomly a lot, way more then most games, especially other single player AAA games (which tend to explode the internet for 1 week then vanish forever).

 

should I go back and try ME3 again? I loved 1 and 2, but remember completely losing interest in 3 early on, and its been so long now I can't remember why. Was it a bad game?

[Bjorn]

I really like ME3 mechanically as an action game (and I got kind of obsessed with the co-op horde mode with it).  I think it's the most fun combat of all three.  Story wise...it's got some great set pieces, maybe some of the best in the series, but it's ultimately not as interesting as it lacks the world discovery of 1 and the character development in 2. 

[Trip Hazard]

Playing ME3 now and the combat, as previously stated, is the dog's bollocks. Story hasn't picked up yet as i'm just a few hours in.

[JonCole]

Playing ME3 now and the combat, as previously stated, is the dog's bollocks. Story hasn't picked up yet as i'm just a few hours in.

 

I genuinely don't know if this is a good or bad thing.

[Denial]

Good!

[Trip Hazard]

The fucking cat's whiskers, mate

[melmer]

Deep fried dogs bollocks with a cracked black peppercorn and garlic mayonnaise

[SuperBiasedMan]

should I go back and try ME3 again? I loved 1 and 2, but remember completely losing interest in 3 early on, and its been so long now I can't remember why. Was it a bad game?

 

I did literally the exact same thing, I think I was just already feeling how ME3 was continuing in the direction of 2 (which I enjoyed but was ultimately disappointed by relative to 2) and I really didn't feel compelled to follow the thread through.

 

Also the part at the very start with the child on Earth was a torturous glimpse into what they planned to do with the game, so I knew not to expect something closer to what I wanted.

[SecretAsianMan]

I never played ME3.  I lost all motivation to continue the series after ME2, but a large part of that is my own fault.  Between the release of ME1 and ME2, I had to get a new Xbox 360 because my old one red ringed.  Somewhere in the transfer process I lost my save data which meant either replaying ME1 again or starting ME2 without a previous save.  I didn't want to slog through 40+ hours to recreate my save data so I just started a new ME2 game.  Nearly every choice in the game that was carried over from ME1 defaulted to the opposite of what I had done.  I beat the game but I lost investment in the story since it wasn't really my story.

[mikemariano]

I never played ME3.

 

I also never played it after playing through the first two games twice, mostly because I didn't like the premise.

 

I didn't want a downer opening.  And apparently it's a downer ending, too!