ME1 is superior to ME2. Not going to explain my reasons because most here seem to think ME2 is better for all the wrong reasons over ME1.
Poll: Mass Effect vs. Mass Effect 2? Seriously. I'm lost.
- Thread starter Verrenxnon
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Both games have their strengths and flaws.
The RPG elements in the first game flat out sucked and I don't miss them one bit. Can you say tedious inventory micromanagement? Also, combat just felt off in the first game, like the weapons didn't hurt the enemies. And while exploring planets were cool, the driving controls were just awful. The story is better in the first one though. Also, I really liked the hacking minigame in the first one, since it's the only minigame in the series that requires some measure of skill and actually increases in difficulty the further you get in the game.
The second game has a very weird pace... 90% of the game is you recruiting new allies, which shouldn't have taken more than half the game in my opinion. Also, while the characters are always my favorite part of any Bioware game, ME2 just had too many, not giving me a chance to get to know all of them as well as I would like.
When all is said and done, I prefer Mass Effect 2. The combat is way better, and that's what you'll spend most of your time doing anyway. Also, Mass Effect 2 fixed the biggest gripe I had with the first one by making Tali romanceable.
The RPG elements in the first game flat out sucked and I don't miss them one bit. Can you say tedious inventory micromanagement? Also, combat just felt off in the first game, like the weapons didn't hurt the enemies. And while exploring planets were cool, the driving controls were just awful. The story is better in the first one though. Also, I really liked the hacking minigame in the first one, since it's the only minigame in the series that requires some measure of skill and actually increases in difficulty the further you get in the game.
The second game has a very weird pace... 90% of the game is you recruiting new allies, which shouldn't have taken more than half the game in my opinion. Also, while the characters are always my favorite part of any Bioware game, ME2 just had too many, not giving me a chance to get to know all of them as well as I would like.
When all is said and done, I prefer Mass Effect 2. The combat is way better, and that's what you'll spend most of your time doing anyway. Also, Mass Effect 2 fixed the biggest gripe I had with the first one by making Tali romanceable.
The only thing I really missed from ME1 that they took away, was the levelling up/skill tree system. Yet the improvements made to the sequel outweigh that loss. If ME3 brings it back and adds a vehicle that doesn't control like a drunk paraplegic elephant on a unicycle it'll be the complete package.
Honestly? I have to give the edge to ME1. Barely. I really liked the big, expansive missions, and ME2's were short and kind a repetitive.
Both are great, though.
Both are great, though.
Well, I guess it could really depend. If you want "More of an RPG" Mass effect one is very rpg, you pick what you want to upgrade, loot is pretty important as well. While I do think the combat system was well, kinda boring and took a small bit of immersion away it was alright. Mass effect two removes the loot system and most of the sometimes confusing menu system, and boosted the combat so it ran pretty smoothly. Like taking out the Mako parts of the game, i'll admit that they weren't really polished at all.
ME1 is the worstest bestest games I haz ever never playezd in mai livez everz.
I hate ME2 becus it'z bestest worstest gamez I haz never played before in all of my cat lives in the woldz evez so it's no good becuse it's bad & it'z not gud cause ME1 is bestest good than ME2 is bestest bad good best ever. You understand me?
ME1=ME2=EPICz0r
I hate ME2 becus it'z bestest worstest gamez I haz never played before in all of my cat lives in the woldz evez so it's no good becuse it's bad & it'z not gud cause ME1 is bestest good than ME2 is bestest bad good best ever. You understand me?
ME1=ME2=EPICz0r
Whenever I see a versus thread like that I'm reminded of that one saying about opinions and assholes. But I think that ME1 was better, mostly because I have only played ME1.=)
I prefer ME1. I don't consider either to be too much of an RPG but at least ME1 had more of a plot and main quest line rather than "collect these people here and then go meet the final boss". Neither was special to me and every time I see a post saying "favorite villain is Saren" or "favorite story is ME" I keep wondering if they haven't played other games. Better games.
ME was liked due to the antagonist. ME2 didn't have one ..much. Maybe the Illusive Man but I actually liked him. I imagined him having a white cat. It's just a matter of preference regarding not only gameplay but characters and character development. ME1 actually let Shepard grow a bit. In ME2, you were the badass of the universe and you collected other badasses. He/She was the same throughout the game.
ME was liked due to the antagonist. ME2 didn't have one ..much. Maybe the Illusive Man but I actually liked him. I imagined him having a white cat. It's just a matter of preference regarding not only gameplay but characters and character development. ME1 actually let Shepard grow a bit. In ME2, you were the badass of the universe and you collected other badasses. He/She was the same throughout the game.
The first Mass Effect is one of my favorite games of all-time. The combat was clunky, but it had it's own unique charm about it. ME2 was a fantastic game, but to me it lacked a lot of what made ME1 so fun and memorable.
-It's hard to make anything out of a villain that is so alien to us. What the hell is a virtually immortal AI from dead space like?Irridium said:
-I would argue about the soundtrack since it seemed to have less focused themes in the first one rather than the second.
-Humanity became special because of Shepard and very few people are happy about it. It's by chance that humanity made it out of the solar system at all.
-See people argue that the "rails" somehow hurt it but Shepard's in the military and military thinking is objective based. "Here's where I am, here's where I need to be, what's the optimal route to my goal?" If Shepard habitually just fucked off to fish or something I would call bullshit.
-They removed the elevators because so many people had shit fits over them when the first game came out.
Or you just don't like the same things, which is entirely ok... unless you liked the Mako then I have no choice but to think you're insane.TornadoADV said:
-Which is why you characterize him. Let us talk to him, understand him, see where he's coming from. Which humanizes him even though he isn't human.manythings said:
-The focus for the first seemed to have been a soundtrack inspired by the likes of Dune/Blade Runner and other classic sci-fi series. ME2's seems to have been inspired by... well everything else I guess, I don't know. I just don't like ME2's.
-All Shepard did was use the Prothean virus(or whatever it was) to screw up Sovereign's plans. Yes he used the beacon, but that didn't do much but set him on the right path. Shepard used tech made by a long-extinct race to win. He, and humanity, didn't produce anything special to win. And they did kill Sovereign. Or rather, Shepard defeated him, and Joker killed him. And by that point he knew he lost and decided to go out fighting rather then surrender/die without a fight.
-In the second game your not part of the military. Your working with a terrorist organization that is known for just giving its teams money and letting them accomplish goals on their own. In ME1, you never got a message from, say, Anderson which forced you into a mission right at that moment. But rather you were told of missions, and could do them at your leisure.
-My complaint wasn't with the elevators, but with the lack of companions talking to each other.
I agree 100%. The missions felt important as well, and a backstory was found the more you did these side missions. While the main story was fantastic, the side missions actually made me feel like a spectre. That was all lost in ME2.Frozen Donkey Wheel2 said:
Overall, the story was greater in the original and the sheer size was much more massive. I hated the citadel in 2, but it was absolutely incredible in the first. Why fuck with it and make it gloomy and tiny?
While I enjoyed the polished look, the gameplay, and the characters more in the second, what it boils down to is story. While the second still had a good one, it was just way more fantastic to believe and unnecessary.
Also, I miss the loot. Who doesn't like finding better treasure?
-But the reapers aren't Human. They are something so old, so immense, so far beyond our very existence that you might as well try to teach a worm to understand us.Irridium said:
-Let's call it personal taste and leave it.
-Shepard not only encountered the beacon, Shepard survived it. A device designed to implant information directly into the brain of a species more advanced than use with a completely different brain and biochemistry. Shepard then goes on to fight the geth, the krogan and Saren thwarting him at every turn with just his/her bare hands. Shepard dealt with everything and came out on top, damn near alone. As the G-Man said the wrong person in the right place makes all the difference in the world.
-Shepard joins at 18 and turns career military getting to N7. Shepard's military to the core even outside the military you're still a ship's captain, have a crew and pursue a military objective. You don't just stop being a soldier by taking off the uniform.
-The crew did talk just at specific scripted moments. Basically the same as the elevators but you couldn't just experience those moments continually. If you take Tali and Garrus onto the Citadel he talks about how he misses the elevators.
So as not to be attacked, let me book end this by saying the obvious: This is all just my opinion.
I like Mass Effect 1 better.
To explain why, lets start with visual aesthetic (because I just watched EC and that's what I'm thinking about). Mass Effect had a GREAT visual aesthetic. From the color palette to the architectural designs. The locations you visited all looked interesting and vibrant. Sure there were texture pop-in problems, but I didn't care. The game just looked good.
Enter Mass Effect 2. Apparently, BioWare REALLY wanted us to get that this game is DARK! A toned down color palette, darker lighting, and architecture more focused on ruin and decay. Hell, a lot of sections wouldn't look out of place in Gears of War. There were exceptions, of course. Illium is a good example, but even here, you're barely able to enjoy the fresh feeling before you're fighting your way through a darkened, partially constructed building or a gray-dominated warehouse.
And don't even get me started on the loading screens. Who thought that Orange and Lime Green were a good combination to make players look at during the game's excessive loading times?
Next lets look at the Planet Exploration vs Probing (bow chicka bow wow). I don't need to say much about the Scanning. It was dull, tedious, and a bad idea.
Yes, the Mako controlled like absolute ass, but I still preferred bouncing around in it to the scanning. The reason is going down to explore the planets gave the galaxy a much more diverse feel. It really made you feel like you were going out and exploring a vast and varied galaxy. Some of the planets were beautiful (my fav is the Silica planet where you get Wrex's family armor), while others were harsh and barren. This contrast gave the game world a very living feel.
Combat wise, it's a toss up. I don't like ME2's reliance on chest high walls and I often felt that my character's skill level was pointless. On the other hand, I felt like ME1's combat was unrefined. It just wasn't always that interesting and I felt like the character was flailing half the time. Early reports say that ME3 is going to be a combination with the focus being on less of chest-high walls, more skills, and increased emphasis on using your characters strengths to support the party in battle. Skeptical, but if they pull it off, it will be the best combat in the series thus far.
Quest and plot structure goes to ME1 hands down (I'm not talking about dialogue because both games have absolutely fantastic writing). Almost every single quest in ME2 lead to a gun fight. The same can almost be said for ME1, but they were better framed. A lot of ME2's quests lead you on thinking they were simple, but as soon as you started seeing chest-high walls, you knew something was about to go wrong.
In Fact lets stop and count which quests lead you on thinking there was going to be no combat:
Freedom's Progress was supposed to be abandoned.
Recruiting Jack was supposed to be a simple pick up.
Same with Samara.
Miranda's loyalty mission was supposed to be simple.
So was Tali's.
And Jack's.
And Jacob's.
Going aboard the derelict Reaper.
And the Collector's vessel.
That's a lot of times to use the same "It's a TRAP" trope in one game.
Then there is the simple fact that ME2's plot plays out a lot like ticking off a checklist. Recruit persons 1, 2 and 3? Check. Solve their daddy issues? Check. It might be more tolerable if the game didn't focus on Combat so much. For example, I LOVED Tali's loyalty mission, but I thought it would have been better if there had only been a token Geth presence on the ship. The game's dialogue is the most interesting part of it. Don't make us wait so long to get to it.
So, is ME2 bad? No. It just stumbles a lot more than ME1 did. Most of these issues come across as not having enough development time, but that's just speculation. It just seems to me like they put less time into it. Choosing to take a cut down, quicker route.
Oh, wait morality system..... Yeah ME1 wins. Tying persuasion to ethical alignment. That doesn't hamper roleplaying at all... :|
I like Mass Effect 1 better.
To explain why, lets start with visual aesthetic (because I just watched EC and that's what I'm thinking about). Mass Effect had a GREAT visual aesthetic. From the color palette to the architectural designs. The locations you visited all looked interesting and vibrant. Sure there were texture pop-in problems, but I didn't care. The game just looked good.
Enter Mass Effect 2. Apparently, BioWare REALLY wanted us to get that this game is DARK! A toned down color palette, darker lighting, and architecture more focused on ruin and decay. Hell, a lot of sections wouldn't look out of place in Gears of War. There were exceptions, of course. Illium is a good example, but even here, you're barely able to enjoy the fresh feeling before you're fighting your way through a darkened, partially constructed building or a gray-dominated warehouse.
And don't even get me started on the loading screens. Who thought that Orange and Lime Green were a good combination to make players look at during the game's excessive loading times?
Next lets look at the Planet Exploration vs Probing (bow chicka bow wow). I don't need to say much about the Scanning. It was dull, tedious, and a bad idea.
Yes, the Mako controlled like absolute ass, but I still preferred bouncing around in it to the scanning. The reason is going down to explore the planets gave the galaxy a much more diverse feel. It really made you feel like you were going out and exploring a vast and varied galaxy. Some of the planets were beautiful (my fav is the Silica planet where you get Wrex's family armor), while others were harsh and barren. This contrast gave the game world a very living feel.
Combat wise, it's a toss up. I don't like ME2's reliance on chest high walls and I often felt that my character's skill level was pointless. On the other hand, I felt like ME1's combat was unrefined. It just wasn't always that interesting and I felt like the character was flailing half the time. Early reports say that ME3 is going to be a combination with the focus being on less of chest-high walls, more skills, and increased emphasis on using your characters strengths to support the party in battle. Skeptical, but if they pull it off, it will be the best combat in the series thus far.
Quest and plot structure goes to ME1 hands down (I'm not talking about dialogue because both games have absolutely fantastic writing). Almost every single quest in ME2 lead to a gun fight. The same can almost be said for ME1, but they were better framed. A lot of ME2's quests lead you on thinking they were simple, but as soon as you started seeing chest-high walls, you knew something was about to go wrong.
In Fact lets stop and count which quests lead you on thinking there was going to be no combat:
Freedom's Progress was supposed to be abandoned.
Recruiting Jack was supposed to be a simple pick up.
Same with Samara.
Miranda's loyalty mission was supposed to be simple.
So was Tali's.
And Jack's.
And Jacob's.
Going aboard the derelict Reaper.
And the Collector's vessel.
That's a lot of times to use the same "It's a TRAP" trope in one game.
Then there is the simple fact that ME2's plot plays out a lot like ticking off a checklist. Recruit persons 1, 2 and 3? Check. Solve their daddy issues? Check. It might be more tolerable if the game didn't focus on Combat so much. For example, I LOVED Tali's loyalty mission, but I thought it would have been better if there had only been a token Geth presence on the ship. The game's dialogue is the most interesting part of it. Don't make us wait so long to get to it.
So, is ME2 bad? No. It just stumbles a lot more than ME1 did. Most of these issues come across as not having enough development time, but that's just speculation. It just seems to me like they put less time into it. Choosing to take a cut down, quicker route.
Oh, wait morality system..... Yeah ME1 wins. Tying persuasion to ethical alignment. That doesn't hamper roleplaying at all... :|
I don't even like Mass Effect, gameplay-wise.
It just wasn't fun. If it was supposed to be an RPG, it was a shallow one, bogged down in boring inventory bullshit. If it was supposed to be a shooter, ME2 destroys it.
Yes, the story is ME1 was a little better, but the characters and setting of ME2 are superior.
Mass Effect 2 is the one I would actually replay is what I'm saying.
It just wasn't fun. If it was supposed to be an RPG, it was a shallow one, bogged down in boring inventory bullshit. If it was supposed to be a shooter, ME2 destroys it.
Yes, the story is ME1 was a little better, but the characters and setting of ME2 are superior.
Mass Effect 2 is the one I would actually replay is what I'm saying.
some people like RPGs.
some people like shooters.
ME1 favors RPG-fans, ME2 favors shooter-fans.
there are more shooter fans in the world, some of which are petulant children that like to antagonize RPG fans, and thus we(RPG fans) find ourselves having to defend our preferred genre against the children that started it and the more reasonable shooter fans who cant understand our anger while simultaneously contributing to it through their ignorance of the source of this conflict.
if thier were other AAA RPG series of equal quality out there, the debate might not be so heated, but there arent, so RPG fans are forced to try and turn mass effect back on track (to no avail). being so casually cast off as a demographic by the once paragon of video game RPGs does little to simmer us down.
some people like shooters.
ME1 favors RPG-fans, ME2 favors shooter-fans.
there are more shooter fans in the world, some of which are petulant children that like to antagonize RPG fans, and thus we(RPG fans) find ourselves having to defend our preferred genre against the children that started it and the more reasonable shooter fans who cant understand our anger while simultaneously contributing to it through their ignorance of the source of this conflict.
if thier were other AAA RPG series of equal quality out there, the debate might not be so heated, but there arent, so RPG fans are forced to try and turn mass effect back on track (to no avail). being so casually cast off as a demographic by the once paragon of video game RPGs does little to simmer us down.
Well for me I do prefer Mass Effect. While it is a game which has its flaws, it does work hard to keep you immersed in the universe.
Mass Effect 2 seems to do the opposite though. From dumping you at the start of missions, to the planet-scanning, to the mission over screens. The game just wants to keep taking you out of its universe and remind you that you are just playing a game.
Mass Effect 2 seems to do the opposite though. From dumping you at the start of missions, to the planet-scanning, to the mission over screens. The game just wants to keep taking you out of its universe and remind you that you are just playing a game.
