Mass Effect is not an RPG

[mattttherman3]

Call it what you will, I didn't play the game for it's inventory system. I played it for the story, which I might add is pretty damn good. Sorry if you can't get by without upgrading your armor.

 

[Fawful]

You play the role of a hero tasked with saving every decent creature in the galaxy in this series of videogames. You do this by developing your character, doing quests, having dialogue with NPC's, etc, etc, blah, blah. You get my point.

 

[Vault101]

For the love o- Dude, just fix your grammar and spelling.

This.
Every time you (the OP) posts you generally have something interesting to say, but its often indecipherable.

I'm personally pretty lost on what an RPG actually is, seeing as there are so many personal takes on it, kinda like people calling games like Trackmania, Spore and MAG MMO's while others disagree, however when you think about it Mass Effect 2 really isn't the deepest game in the world anyway.
Its actually pretty damn simplistic, linear too.

It has great dialogue and characters, but thats about it.

Yeah sorry, It's just that I type too fast and tend to be a little careless with proof-reading, plus when I wrote this thread the keyboard started acting funny (like going over letters instead of just filling in) I shall try and Improve on this.

 

[Slangeveld]

Still, its more of an RPG than any MMORPG game in existence, so its forgiven.

 

[JeanLuc761]

Mass Effect has more actual "role playing" than most RPGs. Most JRPGs have no role playing whatsoever, and I do love a GOOD JRPG. It seems to me most people really don't understand what a RPG is supposed to be and they think RPGs are all about leveling, getting skills and abilities, and getting lots of items.

This is my feeling on the matter as well. I love me a good traditional RPG (Hello Dragon Age, I love you!), but Mass Effect has done far more than any other RPG I've played to actually make me feel like I am my character. I couldn't care less about the inventory, I'm here for the great artistic design, fantastic voice acting, endearing characters, and the intriguing story. The combat is decent, but it's not what I'm here for. If I want a true Third Person Shooter I'll go play Gears of War.

 

[Vault101]

Even if they were clear cut i won't argue with you on that. But comparing it to Fable whose only choices are "willful stupid" and "Good" is something i won't allow.

Like I said in my edit - Fable 3 has more depth than Mass Effect 2 when it comes to moral decisions. At least in Fable 3 you're punished for being Paragon, in Mass Effect 2 there's no reason to be Renegade because you earn nothing for it, unlike the first game where it was the only way to talk some sense into certain characters.

At least there was actually some sort of reason for chosing between them, unlike Fable which is basically "only choose the evil option if you feel like being a dick and getting worthless money"

The same is true in Mass Effect 2, the choices are so black and white, and so without consequence, that you just seem to make them for the hell of it.

And QTEs? Lul woot enlighten me, do you refer to the Normandy upgrades or something?

I mean the giant symbols that sometimes appear during cut-scenes, hit the appropriate trigger [or key] and the dialogue in the scene changes, becoming Paragon or Renegade, but you only have a small amount of time to hit the trigger - hence QTE's.

In regards to Mass effects choices I think they are very good, sure you end up doing the same thing but its more about how you do it and the effects your choices have on the ME world, I also think the choices in ME 2 are good but sadly undermined by their paragon renegade systm which encourages you to stick to one of the moral spectrum and makes you feel like youre doing somthing wrong if you deviate, plus it takes the thourght out of it

 

[The Wykydtron]

Even if they were clear cut i won't argue with you on that. But comparing it to Fable whose only choices are "willful stupid" and "Good" is something i won't allow.

Like I said in my edit - Fable 3 has more depth than Mass Effect 2 when it comes to moral decisions. At least in Fable 3 you're punished for being Paragon, in Mass Effect 2 there's no reason to be Renegade because you earn nothing for it, unlike the first game where it was the only way to talk some sense into certain characters.

At least there was actually some sort of reason for chosing between them, unlike Fable which is basically "only choose the evil option if you feel like being a dick and getting worthless money"

The same is true in Mass Effect 2, the choices are so black and white, and so without consequence, that you just seem to make them for the hell of it.

And QTEs? Lul woot enlighten me, do you refer to the Normandy upgrades or something?

I mean the giant symbols that sometimes appear during cut-scenes, hit the appropriate trigger [or key] and the dialogue in the scene changes, becoming Paragon or Renegade, but you only have a small amount of time to hit the trigger - hence QTE's.

I wouldn't really call the interupts QTEs really, i mean you always enough time to think whether you want to valiently save a guy/push him out of a window with the exception of some of the ones in LotSB.

I probably just prefer the way Bioware tells the story really, and since Fable's big Moral Choice hook is simply money (which you can hoard epicly if you buy a few houses) So you can go though all keeping all the promises while still getting the best ending.

 

[D_987]

It's called Roleplaying Game.

So far I know, I am roleplaying the person I want to be and Shepard is just blank enough to fit a role. So it's an RPG. I don't need stats or to tinker with every kind of elements to upgrade. I am good.

By your standards Half-Life 2 is an RPG then - since in ME you really don't get the kind of character freedom a lot of people claim [you're still clamped to the story after all and Shepard can't dot hings to out of chaarcter] whilst in Half Life the player is meant to project their own image onto Gordon Freemon. Hence the problem with this argument, and indeed any argument, that an RPG is a game you specifically "role play" a character in...

 

[Brandon237]

To me it is an RPG, fuck the "RPG must have you flicking back to your inventory every FUCKING 10 minutes" school of thought though if its got good moral choices then it's an RPG.

I'm not saying that all inventory's must be purged just that sifting through all the worthless junk in ME1 was the best way to break the immersion.

Definitely agreed on this one. On my imported save of ME1, I had to omni-gel or pawn off half my inventory just to get the new stuff in, Every hour of play!!!

And I much preferred ME2, the moral choices were good in both games, the dialogue was good in both games, and I felt that more effort was put into the assignments in ME2, yes there were less of them, but they were so... grindy. Drive to underground base... kill all... turn off/ on terminal/ transmitter/ magic machine. Every damn time.

So I think that they are both good games, and while ME2 may have fewer RPG elements than ME1, it refined those elements and improved the combat. A lot.

 

[SentryGun]

of course it's an RPG, it gives you a blank slate to create your own personalised character from, gives you a varied choice of weapons specialities and throughout the game you are given a series of moral choices, yes it's dumbed down through the good blue and red bad pattern but in the end you can still be a dick and kill everyone.

therefore rpg, thread closed tyvm

 

[webby]

It's called Roleplaying Game.

So far I know, I am roleplaying the person I want to be and Shepard is just blank enough to fit a role. So it's an RPG. I don't need stats or to tinker with every kind of elements to upgrade. I am good.

By your standards Half-Life 2 is an RPG then - since in ME you really don't get the kind of character freedom a lot of people claim [you're still clamped to the story after all and Shepard can't dot hings to out of chaarcter] whilst in Half Life the player is meant to project their own image onto Gordon Freemon. Hence the problem with this argument, and indeed any argument, that an RPG is a game you specifically "role play" a character in...

Ahhh damn, beaten to it. Pretty much this though. In every game you play a role and are linearly guided through the story. Generally when people refer to RPGs then mean it more in the table top, D20 kind of RPG. That is after-all where most of the original console versions got their inspiration.

 

[Fuselage]

Would you like a Mass Effect 2 where you hoard 150 guns and armor all the time and when it is full, Then eventually have to reduce like 5 things to omni-gel and have to do it again after getting the best armor in the game and guns.
No.
I play Mass Effect for the awesome story made of awesome cheese+awesome sauce.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Does it even matter what the game is? I mean really both had their own strengths and what not. ME 1 took off near the end and ME 2 just continued the awesome pace. The games are good and fun and thats what matters. I still hate the beginning of ME 1 though. Way too dull for my liking.

 

[Vibhor]

Anyone who thinks mass effect is not an RPG prolly thinks that Call of duty is a RTS and GTA is a[n] FPS.
It even has the level up thing going on.
Of course it is no D&D but it has dialog,choices,leveling,looting,enemies and everything a computer RPG has.

 

[Mahha]

They have thrown out the not so good things of the first game and made a great game. I hope they don't do the same thing with the third one - I mean they should improve upon things, not just cut them out. I have no worries though it's BioWare - they will do the right thing.

 

[beniki]

No I think it's a better RPG than most other classic ones. When playing the game I felt like a space captain, and I felt like it was me doing all those things. Usually in an RPG I waste too much time with a calculator, testing and reloading, and after all that I still don't feel like a paladin.

Mass Effect 2 did an incredible job of turning me, a complete mess of an fps player, into the galaxies most deadly sniper. And they did that through a simple bullet time mechanic, and invisibility buff.

Simple stuff, and easy tricks. You don't need a complex calculation to make you feel like a hero, and certainly don't need it to have fun. Other RPGs should look at this and learn... complexity doesn't equal depth!

So as a Role playing game, as opposed to a number cruncher, it's a lot better.

 

[PeterDawson]

RPG is a broad term. The question becomes where is a game an RPG and where is it a game with RPG elements. I'd pretty much put it thus: if the game is entirely about the combat/action and the RPG elements are very basic, plus the combat itself is basic, then its an action game of some sort. If however the game goes beyond that core aspect, with stuff like dialog trees and dynamic elements based on player choice, then I'll give it the RPG classification. Having an open world is also a common staple though it isn't a required one.

Mass Effect 2 is an RPG. While its RPG elements in terms of the classic leveling up and such are a bit more basic than the predecessor and did away with the idea of a massive inventory, it is still an RPG. The open world elements and the interactive storyline still exist, you shape your character in terms of personality (which is a key element of role-playing after all), and you level up and pick what you want to focus on as well as what kind of party to form. Hell, Mass Effect 2 is genius in its simplicity in some respects as just by denying you being able to get enough skill points to fill up all your stats you have to really think about your character in terms of combat even beyond just what class to pick. You need to pick which powers you'll spam the most, and whether or not you want to focus on powers or basic stats. Hell, I'd happily argue that Mass Effect 2 is a better RPG than the first game because characters feel more diverse and the skill trees don't just feel like generic forms with a couple of items substituted here and there.

 

[Joey245]

So what if Mass Effect 2 isn't an RPG?

It's still one of the best damn games I've ever played.

That's all I have to say on the matter.

 

[badgersprite]

Thank you. I never saw Mass Effect as an RPG in any way, shape or form. It was a third person shooter and action adventure game with a skill tree and overstuffed inventory. I love RPGs but I personally think Mass Effect works better when it's not trying to be one. Not every game with great writing and characters has to be an RPG. And I say this as a huge fan of the series.

 

[IAmTheVoid]

If having a convoluted and horrible inventory 'makes an RPG', then I don't want to play an RPG. My Shepard became my own character in my mind, and I was definitely roleplaying. RPG's do not need the RPG trappings to actually be one, just like, say, Company of Heroes didn't need basebuilding and resource micro to be a strategy.

Generally, if I want inventory management and a sophisticated level-up system, I'll play some Diablo II. I do prefer, however, the move that Dragon Age II is doing (inventory for the player, companions outfits develop over the years and change to reflect what they've been doing).

We need to accept that the RPG is more broad than we think. Of course mechanics reflect upon a genre, but how the game actually freakin' plays matters too. BioWare allow you to flesh out your Shepard in a large amount of ways- character creation, the ordinary classes, companion interaction, side quests which will carry on, the end-game in MEII. And whilst there isn't enough room as in- say, Morrowind- in which to roleplay, it makes up for it with a world dripping with interesting NPC's, a plethora of interesting side-quests and character development, both personal and companions. And who wouldn't want that in an RPG?