Have you heard about this new video game called "Mass Effect"?

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > Have you heard about this new video game called "Mass Effect"?

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TOILETLORD: Nov 13, 2012; by XyloJW

would it be baller now to name a kid TUROK THE DINOSAUR HUNTER? I mean it's a defunct game series now and Most people would not realize it's a reference.

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:51

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# ? Apr 26, 2024 06:22

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:

Hey guys! Have you heard of this new video game trilogy called Mass Effect? It's an awesomely amazing series with an excellent storyline that revolves around you - some goofy white space trucker - traveling the known galaxy bangin centuries-old blue bitches!

you, a goofy white space trucker:

lara, a centuries-old blue bitch:

anyways, yeah let'ss get down to the real meta of this game

Mass Effect Trilogy is a sequence of three Mass Effect games that form an epic, almost mythical, rise of a human hero in the face of a galactic annihilation. I can safely say there has not been a game that touched me this deeply since my innocent childhood. At the end of the trilogy, I was ravaged by the sense of resolution it offered. I was obsessed for days, thinking about what had happened during my experience and about my companions. Despite the fact that I am now writing about the game, please note that it is impossible for me to convey in mere words the full extent of the beauty I experienced. Consider playing! (buy)

I will first give an overview of the game plot. Then I will be more technical and attempt to explain why the game succeeds. Then I will conclude with a general impression of the game. I will avoid focusing on minor details about game mechanics (which in my opinion are just means to an end), but clutch to the big picture. There are spoilers, but they are essential to illustrating why the game is so mighty.

Each game takes around 30 hours to complete, with a moderate dose of self-initiated exploration (some take as long as 80 hours). The total number of hours for the trilogy adds up to almost 100 hours.

There are certain types of emotion that arise only from a long journey. Were you touched at the end of the seventh installment of Harry Potter or the third Lord of the Rings movie? During the 100 hours of play in Mass Effect, you surf the galaxy in your personal ship Normandy, meet countless characters and get to know them (across the three games). This is enough time to evoke the feeling of being glad to see an old friend.

As a specific example, you recruit an alien character in Mass Effect 1. He is somewhat irksome and rebellious, but you eventually grow to like and even respect him for his other qualities. By the end of the first game, you feel like he is a genuinely great pal. Now, in Mass Effect 2, he is nowhere to be seen, off to take care of his own business. Only 20-30 hours of additional play into the game will you encounter him again. The gladness of seeing each other's face is mutual.

Nearing the end of trilogy, you will have spent so many hours, having experienced even emotions that only come attached to the waning of age. This galactic community that you have grown so attached to is counting on you to stop the invaders. The sense of duty, honor, and resolution that you feel about saving the galaxy is a result of the sheer scale of the game.

In Mass Effect, you can have romance with your crew members. The developer Bioware is famous for a dialogue system that allows you to communicate with the game characters, however limited. At any point of play, you can choose to hang out in your ship, visiting your crew members in their own cabins. In this private space, you can have conversations that touch on intensely personal issues of your members (which can initiate side missions).

Let me provide a specific example. One of the galactic species is called the Asari. They have bright blue skin, and are one of the most advanced civilizations in the universe. In Mass Effect 1, you recruite an Asari named Liara T'Soni. When I first saw her, I had no particular feelings, mildly repulsed by her exotic appearance.

But as I progressed through the game and got to know her better, I learned to appreciate the strange mixture of qualities in her. Fiercely intelligent in mind but pure in heart, beautiful and terrible at the same time, remarkably capable yet humble. In the real world, it is probably very hard to find someone in which these qualities coexist.

Eventually, I developed genuine liking of her. Strangely, I have rarely if not never felt the feeling of having a crush on someone in real life. The sensation of happiness and the beating of the heart upon just thinking about the character came to me as both bizarre and pleasant. I really think it is a cool outcome. Think about it; a virtual character has taught me what it (kind of) feels like to be in love.

At the end of Mass Effect 3, in the final stance against the Reapers, Liara is killed in a combat. But the situation is too urgent to mourn for her. When my time has come to sacrifice myself to save the galaxy, at the moment I initiate a procedure to turn myself into an immortal but dead program, the memory of Liara flashes on the screen (presumably, the game stores which characters you have romance with and show them at this point). There is no way I can describe how I felt at that moment, on seeing Liara's face one last time.

For most of the game play, special sound and visual effects are very reserved. There are cutscenes and background music, but these are mostly for a storytelling purpose. It is clear that the developers concentrated on improving the game experience itself without relying on easy "cheats" of flashy visuals and grandiose music.

To me, Mass Effect put the Japanese anime and games in stark contrast. J. products tend to be too enthusiastic to impose appropriate restraints that are crucial to achieve truly powerful experiences. Wild moves will be displayed too often, dramatic music will be played too frequently, etc.

On the other hand, Mass Effect is strictly regularized. It focuses on the core experience at all times (not the immediate entertainment specific to that given moment). Consequently, the story alone is immensely enjoyable. When you add additional components on top of this already powerful base, its emotional impact shines forth blindingly.

For instance, in Mass Effect 3, there is a certain signature piano piece --- a deep, poignant, sorrowful yet resolute score. This piece is only played at the most critical moments. (In my play, I think I encountered this piece only twice, one in the beginning and one in the ending.) In the ending, when my Shepard chose to give up her life and grabbed those controllers to begin disintegrating her body, this music began trickling down the screen, touching the very bottom of my inner being. This kind of narrative power only comes from careful reservation. As C. S. Lewis said,
Mass Effect certainly listened to this wisdom.

Playing Mass Effect Trilogy has taught me

How good it feels to rise to become the hero of our time (note: different from a mere star)

What it is like to sacrifice myself to save the world

What it is like to have a crush on someone

In the aftermath of finishing the trilogy, I would daydream about the memories created in this world. And, strangely, this made me happy and contented. It is as if I already lived out a fulfilling life to reflect on --- a life worth living. Actually quite liberating.

sounds good op I'll check it out

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:53

72o: Dec 14, 2007

TOILETLORD posted:

would it be baller now to name a kid TUROK THE DINOSAUR HUNTER? I mean it's a defunct game series now and Most people would not realize it's a reference.

why wouldn't you give your child a fantastic WWE name?

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:54

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

I can safely say there has not been a game that touched me this deeply since my innocent childhood

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:54

TOILETLORD: Nov 13, 2012; by XyloJW

72o posted:

why wouldn't you give your child a fantastic WWE name?

ULTIMATE WARRIOR ALL MUSLIMS AND FAGS OUT OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:54

Woof Blitzer: Dec 29, 2012; [-]

Goons love videogames since they can use them to fill the void in their life that a real person normally would

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:57

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Equine Don posted:

Goons love videogames since they can use them to fill the void in their life that a real person normally would

Tali is my SO

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:57

TOILETLORD: Nov 13, 2012; by XyloJW

Equine Don posted:

Goons love videogames since they can use them to fill the void in their life that a real person normally would

real girls/men cost more and have less interactivity

# ? Jan 18, 2015 19:57

Kimmalah: Nov 14, 2005; Basically just a baby in a trenchcoat.

TOILETLORD posted:

real girls/men cost more and have less interactivity

This combined with your avatar just reminds me of that awful interactive threesome in God of War 3. :cripes:

# ? Jan 18, 2015 20:09

Wicker Man: Sep 5, 2007; Just like Columbus...; Clapping Larry

Kimmalah posted:

This combined with your avatar just reminds me of that awful interactive threesome in God of War 3.

I know it's stupid to ask but please tell me that's not real...

# ? Jan 18, 2015 20:29

Lil Swamp Booger Baby: Aug 1, 1981

These games are seriously bad. Worse than that Firefly show, and that's pretty bad.

# ? Jan 18, 2015 20:40

a pipe smoking dog: Jan 25, 2010; "haha, dogs can't smoke!"

I loaded up a Mass Effect 1 game I hadn't played in a while but then immediately closed it because gently caress that noise.

# ? Jan 18, 2015 20:46

Woof Blitzer: Dec 29, 2012; [-]

TOILETLORD posted:

real girls/men cost more and have less interactivity

Nyet

# ? Jan 18, 2015 20:48

Kimmalah: Nov 14, 2005; Basically just a baby in a trenchcoat.

Wicker Man posted:

I know it's stupid to ask but please tell me that's not real...

I misremembered a bit since it was actually just one-on-one sex with two people watching, but yeah it's real ( :nws:

for sex and titties) and oh my god was it awkward to be in the same room when someone was playing this.

So far it's the only video game sex I've ever seen that had quicktime events.

# ? Jan 18, 2015 20:49

flick my Mr. Bean: Nov 18, 2014

I usually play good games for a few hours before getting bored and play great games once through and never again.

The Mass Effect games are some of the few exceptions and I don't want to think about how many hours I've spent on them.

Mr.Pibbleton posted:

I thought 3 was really well done, but I noticed a lot of my decisions that seemed pretty major in the first two got glossed over, like choosing the human council representative, but the ending was so bad I found myself driving and hitting my wheel in frustration screaming, "That was two months ago, why am I still bothered by it?"

The extended cut DLC fixed some of the worst issues with the ending for me.

flick my Mr. Bean fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Jan 18, 2015

# ? Jan 18, 2015 20:54

Iseeyouseemeseeyou: Jan 3, 2011

a starwar betamax posted:

sounds good op I'll check it out

Thread objective achieved

# ? Jan 18, 2015 21:13

Setzer Gabbiani: Oct 13, 2004

dog buttz posted:

The extended cut DLC fixed some of the worst issues with the ending for me.

Even with the dumb 4th ending, we still don't know what the crucible is, much less why it does what it does, just that we're now magically aware of it's existence and it's the key to ending poo poo all of a sudden, despite the fact we had two games prior tell us we basically picked the mars ruins clean already. the lead-up where liara is recording something for future races makes you think that an early warning is gonna be a fallback for the next generation if poo poo doesn't work. also, a prothean - probably the most important character they could ever introduce thus far - was a dlc character with no major bearing on the story, and his only success was making fire mad because the protheans ran a colonial empire and had an african accent, which is blackface

when you get to the actual warning message postgame, things generally sound like the capsule is about to warn you that reapers exist and they're gonna gently caress you up, so here are their entry points, attack patterns, weaknesses, ways to not be indoctrinated, a reminder that ilos loving exists, and all the other poo poo we've learned about them from the last couple games, but instead it's just begging you to build the crucible early and use it, because gently caress you for not liking the crucible

also gently caress whoever thought a scanning minigame was an acceptable substitute for planet landing

# ? Jan 18, 2015 22:16

naem: May 29, 2011

I liked the scanning game so much I didn't even realize it was to buy upgrades. Then I bought all the upgrades, then just powered through the whole game invincible

# ? Jan 18, 2015 23:52

Iseeyouseemeseeyou: Jan 3, 2011

naem posted:

I liked the scanning

haha good joke, good joke

# ? Jan 19, 2015 18:46

Sephiroth_IRA: Mar 31, 2010

Setzer Gabbiani posted:

Liara's rear end causing a worldwide panic that united gamers to stand up for sex in video games is something that could've only happened in a bush-fatigued america

Today gamers would be split on who to defend in that fox news video.

# ? Jan 19, 2015 19:42

TOILETLORD: Nov 13, 2012; by XyloJW

Equine Don posted:

Nyet

do i need to clarify that was a sex doll joke and not real human interaction joke because you guys are loving nerds.

# ? Jan 19, 2015 19:45

DEEP STATE PLOT: Aug 13, 2008; Yes...Ha ha ha...YES!

mass effect 3 was irredemable trash from start to finish.

SPACE NINJA alone torpedoes that game, so loving stupid. it was like a dead rising psycopath except in a game that was ostensibly taking itself seriously.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 02:22

Young Freud: Nov 26, 2006

Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:

haha good joke, good joke

You'd be surprised at how entertained people can be by minigames.

I liked the scanning part, too.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 04:05

Sephiroth_IRA: Mar 31, 2010

ME3 was bad but it really pissed me off when the computer took control of my character and did the most retarded poo poo. "My Shepard wouldn't chase the ninja guy into the elevator! He'd biotic charge in there and wreck his poo poo!", "WTF I SHOOT BETTER THAN THAT!?" :argh:

# ? Jan 20, 2015 04:08

naem: May 29, 2011

Young Freud posted:

You'd be surprised at how entertained people can be by minigames.

I liked the scanning part, too.

In "Fable 2" there's a black smithing mini game I REALLY liked, a bouncing ball blinks red and you have to press "a" to swing a hammer. I mean it was retarded but I'd do that for an hour a day for a couple weeks just because.

Anyways you earn money at it, and as a low level whatever I bought the most powerful weapon in the game, a hammer. Then the most powerful gun, then the most expensive clothing.

So I one hit every single enemy for the ENTIRE GAME and also EVERY female character threw herself at me trying to get married. I beat everything in three hours lol

# ? Jan 20, 2015 07:21

Kuato: Feb 25, 2005; "I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING"; Buglord

naem posted:

In "Fable 2" there's a black smithing mini game I REALLY liked, a bouncing ball blinks red and you have to press "a" to swing a hammer. I mean it was retarded but I'd do that for an hour a day for a couple weeks just because.

Anyways you earn money at it, and as a low level whatever I bought the most powerful weapon in the game, a hammer. Then the most powerful gun, then the most expensive clothing.

So I one hit every single enemy for the ENTIRE GAME and also EVERY female character threw herself at me trying to get married. I beat everything in three hours lol

Same, but with the bartending mini-game.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 07:26

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Mass effect was just a conspiracy by NASA to get funding.

Look at the things you are missing by not investing in space exploration.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 07:28

Rodnik: Dec 20, 2003

Kuato posted:

Same, but with the bartending mini-game.

good head on that one!

just the right amount of foam!

# ? Jan 20, 2015 07:28

Comfy Fleece Sweater: Apr 2, 2013; You see, but you do not observe.

OP

these games are Mass poo poo

# ? Jan 20, 2015 07:31

Phlegmish: Jul 2, 2011

naem posted:

In "Fable 2" there's a black smithing mini game I REALLY liked, a bouncing ball blinks red and you have to press "a" to swing a hammer. I mean it was retarded but I'd do that for an hour a day for a couple weeks just because.

have you heard of the freddi fish franchise, seems like you'd enjoy it

# ? Jan 20, 2015 08:02

Internet Kraken: Apr 24, 2010; slightly amused

Mass Effect 3 is a really frustrating game because if you've played since the first one, you'll realize that every decision you made was basically pointless and nothing you did over the course of the series mattered. Even ignoring the ending, its just awful to go through the game and realize Bioware lied about every single choice they give you.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 08:11

Lieutenant Dan: Oct 27, 2009; Weedlord Bonerhitler

Rex Deckard posted:

Went Jack and never went back.

This man is right, listen to this man

How come you had to gently caress Kaidan in Mass Effect 3 if you were a gay man-Shepherd and not the hunky new crew member who cracked wise and had hella biceps?
EDIT: he would call me a pendejo but it was my pendejo he wanted

# ? Jan 20, 2015 10:48

The Dennis System: Aug 4, 2014; Nothing in Jurassic World is natural, we have always filled gaps in the genome with the DNA of other animals. And if the genetic code was pure, many of them would look quite different. But you didn't ask for reality, you asked for more teeth.

Rex Deckard posted:

Went Jack and never went back.

Worst character in vidja game history.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 11:00

a pipe smoking dog: Jan 25, 2010; "haha, dogs can't smoke!"

Lieutenant Dan posted:

This man is right, listen to this man

How come you had to gently caress Kaidan in Mass Effect 3 if you were a gay man-Shepherd and not the hunky new crew member who cracked wise and had hella biceps?
EDIT: he would call me a pendejo but it was my pendejo he wanted

I think shepard can do the gay pilot dude as well?

# ? Jan 20, 2015 11:16

A Spider Covets: May 4, 2009

me3 had a fun multiplayer. i enjoyed that part

# ? Jan 20, 2015 12:02

psyman: Nov 1, 2008

The Citadel is a brilliant future city hub and it's sad that a lot of people will never get to experience it, either because they aren't into games or get turned off from seeing all the dumb Bioware romance stuff posted.

I mean smdh if you can't at least appreciate the Presidium in ME1/3 and Zakera Ward tower in ME2. It's like the coolest Blade Runner/Minority Report environment you could ask for.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 12:12

FullLeatherJacket: Dec 30, 2004; Chiunque pu� essere Luther Blissett, semplicemente adottando il nome Luther Blissett

Cubey posted:

mass effect 3 was irredemable trash from start to finish.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 13:16

Iseeyouseemeseeyou: Jan 3, 2011

psyman posted:

The Citadel is a brilliant future city hub and it's sad that a lot of people will never get to experience it, either because they aren't into games or get turned off from seeing all the dumb Bioware romance stuff posted.

I mean smdh if you can't at least appreciate the Presidium in ME1/3 and Zakera Ward tower in ME2. It's like the coolest Blade Runner/Minority Report environment you could ask for.

ME was pretty on-point for scenery, graphics, species design, etc. The Shadow Broker's ship was pretty dope.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 17:34

TOILETLORD: Nov 13, 2012; by XyloJW

Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:

ME was pretty on-point for scenery, graphics, species design, etc. The Shadow Broker's ship was pretty dope.

it was all just stolen from other things, but they know their target audience didn't watch or read enough sci-fi to tell.

# ? Jan 20, 2015 17:35

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# ? Apr 26, 2024 06:22

Fetus Tree: Feb 2, 2003; Can't post for 2 years!

i can't even get laid in mass effect

# ? Jan 20, 2015 18:01

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > Have you heard about this new video game called "Mass Effect"?

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