Mass Effect series.

[Oyster Sauce]

Mass Effect was brave enough to tell people that melee combat in a futuristic sci-fi setting is stupid and I respect it for that

Shepard should just be operating drones from the Normandy

[rusty_shackleford]

Mass Effect was brave enough to tell people that melee combat in a futuristic sci-fi setting is stupid and I respect it for that

Shepard should just be operating drones from the Normandy

so, nier automata

[Oyster Sauce]

****, every time I think about ME3 story, I remember Kai Leng and get the urge to start mailing anthrax to BioWare employees.

[logincrash]

****, every time I think about ME3 story, I remember Kai Leng and get the urge to start mailing anthrax to BioWare employees.

I played with a mod that replaced him with a generic Cerberus ninja. I don't really need any more ******* in my vidya. Jacob can rot wherever the **** he is in vanilla ME3, not have a plot-crucial rival role.

[J1M]

That is likely the case. ME1 combat is serviceable, but BioWare weren't in the business of making third person shooters at the time. They had to learn the basics just to make ME2, which unfortunately meant gimping all the RPG features in favour of the very boring literally-not-an-RPG leveling system.
Supposedly, the LE reworked the original ME1 gunplay. I will try to stomach the fuckawful dogshit visuals to check out the ME1LE gameplay changes once I finish my completionist playthrough of the original ME1. I'll have a more informed opinion on it then.

Every time I see someone say this I feel like I am being gaslit. The gunplay in ME1 felt serviceable but stiff to me in both versions.

As I said, I haven't played LE long enough to form an informed opinion on the gameplay side. I only started a new game and got to the point where you find dead Nihilus before quitting out of shock at the horrendous visuals.

Mass Effect was brave enough to tell people that melee combat in a futuristic sci-fi setting is stupid and I respect it for that

And then ME3 backtracked on that and gave everyone a glowing orange sword/blue fist. Vanguard turned into a DBZ character.

I feel like this is something that some journos repeated from a press release and it became generally accepted knowledge before anyone had even made a comparison, and now it gets repeated by people familiar with the game who haven't actually tested it themselves.

Maybe there were some changes, but if you asked me to play LE and then asked what the changes were I don't think I would have noticed. Certainly wouldn't make the top 5 most impactful changes.

[Valter]

Did a remaster really adjust fundamental gunplay mechanics? I thought it was just some numbers that were altered.

[rusty_shackleford]

Did a remaster really adjust fundamental gunplay mechanics? I thought it was just some numbers that were altered.

yes, ME1 LE has better shooty pooty

[wndrbr]

Would've been more interesting if instead of Kai Leng we got our squadmate who died on Virmire. Cybernetically-enhanced and indoctrinated Kaiden / Ashley trying to kill us for leaving them to die. Then you pass a dialogue check to convince them that it was their own decision to stay there with the nuke, and they kill themselves. I know it's dumb, but ME3 went full anime anyway, so why not.

[Bertram_Tung]

Would've been more interesting if instead of Kai Leng we got our squadmate who died on Virmire. Cybernetically-enhanced and indoctrinated Kaiden / Ashley trying to kill us for leaving them to die. Then you pass a dialogue check to convince them that it was their own decision to stay there with the nuke, and they kill themselves. I know it's dumb, but ME3 went full anime anyway, so why not.

I agree, but I would also agree that just about anything would have been more interesting than Kai Leng.

[Magick]

The orange UI is ugly as ****. Especially after the clean blue Sci-Fi UI, which had SOVL.

Having no inventory was a terrible idea, customising your armour, rather than wearing different gear is also horrible.

Ammunition is a dogshit choice following the superior heat mechanic of the 1st game.

I simply cannot agree with your assessment of ME1's combat. Perhaps it's because I played the LE, but it is FAR superior to ME2.

Enemies react better to getting hit, have staggers/pain animations/gibbing, etc etc. There's a bigger variety of them too, and the encounters are overall more fun and diverse.

Cover system is less janky, gives you more control since you no longer stick to covers automatically. The actual combat levels are better designed, and don't look like the same copypasted room with a bunch of crates.

Guns are more accurate and feel overall better due to better animations and recoil. Heavy weapons are a good addition. I don't like thermal clips, but they bring an element of short-term resource management, and forces you to leave cover if you run out of ammo. Plus it's just satisfying to see Shepard rack the gun's slide or a bolt handle, and see a glowing spent clip flying away.

I'm not a fan of those stacked layers of shields/armor/barriers, but they make combat more interesting by forcing you to reguarly utilize your party members' abilities. Biotic detonation is a cool new addition. Classes are more distinct and have their own cool abilities, like drones / tech armor / invisibility cloak / biotic charge / bullet time / etc.

I view it like FONV. The gunplay is not great, but changing ammo types, and different weapon choices, even if some are just bad, is far superior than FO4's watered down COD style.

Mass Effect 2 also does away with simple health pack, which is simply annoying. I hate duck and regen health style gameplay. It's unimmersive.

Also, being forced to use abilities makes it less of an RPG. When you HAVE to use something specific, it's no longer rewarding to problem solve.

I might add, problem solving is what makes an RPG.

I hated Doom Eternal for the "forced ability" (weapon) thing, too. It wasn't "problem solving", it was Simon Says. Boring. All creativity and individuality from fights was gone.

ME1 and it's combat aren't ****, just unpolished. You can see it was done with a lower budget / tech / knowledge, but still had heart and respected it's own lore and setting. It was far more immersive in that respect.
ME2 just felt like I was playing a "game", boring cover bro regen shooter mechanics. Even the ******* combat was flashier, but ****. ME1's combat was very "tactical" if playing with Biotics. I'd run as a Vanguard with Tali and Wrex, and each fight was a matter of "planning", assigning stasis, pushes, lifts blabla on each enemy in a room, then running in and blasting as the finale.

The 2nd? Just boring shooting. (Though the Vanguard charge was fun). They even put them all on a stupid shared cooldown, so you couldn't do the tactical planning and multi-ability onslaughts anymore. Just monkey push button and watch boom.

Oh and ME1's use of heat was nice. I liked how it kept to it's sci-fi setting and didn't go the boring "ammo", route. It was different and refreshing. Nearly every other game I've played only had ONE gun work like that, ME1 had ALL of them.

It was still ******** it didn't let me look down the sniper scope without the skill, though. Come on... I'm ok with less accuracy / use but at least make the weapon bloody usable, lol.

[TKVNC]

Enemies react better to getting hit, have staggers/pain animations/gibbing, etc etc. There's a bigger variety of them too, and the encounters are overall more fun and diverse.

Cover system is less janky, gives you more control since you no longer stick to covers automatically. The actual combat levels are better designed, and don't look like the same copypasted room with a bunch of crates.

Guns are more accurate and feel overall better due to better animations and recoil. Heavy weapons are a good addition. I don't like thermal clips, but they bring an element of short-term resource management, and forces you to leave cover if you run out of ammo. Plus it's just satisfying to see Shepard rack the gun's slide or a bolt handle, and see a glowing spent clip flying away.

I'm not a fan of those stacked layers of shields/armor/barriers, but they make combat more interesting by forcing you to reguarly utilize your party members' abilities. Biotic detonation is a cool new addition. Classes are more distinct and have their own cool abilities, like drones / tech armor / invisibility cloak / biotic charge / bullet time / etc.

I view it like FONV. The gunplay is not great, but changing ammo types, and different weapon choices, even if some are just bad, is far superior than FO4's watered down COD style.

Mass Effect 2 also does away with simple health pack, which is simply annoying. I hate duck and regen health style gameplay. It's unimmersive.

Also, being forced to use abilities makes it less of an RPG. When you HAVE to use something specific, it's no longer rewarding to problem solve.

I might add, problem solving is what makes an RPG.

I hated Doom Eternal for the "forced ability" (weapon) thing, too. It wasn't "problem solving", it was Simon Says. Boring. All creativity and individuality from fights was gone.

ME1 and it's combat aren't ****, just unpolished. You can see it was done with a lower budget / tech / knowledge, but still had heart and respected it's own lore and setting. It was far more immersive in that respect.
ME2 just felt like I was playing a "game", boring cover bro regen shooter mechanics. Even the ******* combat was flashier, but ****. ME1's combat was very "tactical" if playing with Biotics. I'd run as a Vanguard with Tali and Wrex, and each fight was a matter of "planning", assigning stasis, pushes, lifts blabla on each enemy in a room, then running in and blasting as the finale.

The 2nd? Just boring shooting. (Though the Vanguard charge was fun). They even put them all on a stupid shared cooldown, so you couldn't do the tactical planning and multi-ability onslaughts anymore. Just monkey push button and watch boom.

Oh and ME1's use of heat was nice. I liked how it kept to it's sci-fi setting and didn't go the boring "ammo", route. It was different and refreshing. Nearly every other game I've played only had ONE gun work like that, ME1 had ALL of them.

It was still ******** it didn't let me look down the sniper scope without the skill, though. Come on... I'm ok with less accuracy / use but at least make the weapon bloody usable, lol.

I guess the combat must have been changed, I was able to use the sniper immediately.

I mostly ran Kaiden and Ashley because I don't like aliens all that much. Some of the fights, specifically the Thorian Creeper, and Biotic Cultist fights required a lot of consideration.

I'd end up kiting them into a killbox with Kaiden throwing everything in the air or blowing up their shields.

It actually felt like a combined arms strike team. Exactly what Shepherd 'should' be. It doesn't matter if it was a little unpolished. It was immersive.

Meanwhile on ME2, the combat was immediately boring with no room for creativity.

[logincrash]

I guess the combat must have been changed, I was able to use the sniper immediately.

He's talking specifically about aiming down the scope with the sniper rifle. You are unable to do that if you don't have the Sniper Rifles skill unlocked. I have just checked on a new Sentinel save.
At least in the original ME1. The remaster might've changed that.

[TKVNC]

I guess the combat must have been changed, I was able to use the sniper immediately.

He's talking specifically about aiming down the scope with the sniper rifle. You are unable to do that if you don't have the Sniper Rifles skill unlocked. I have just checked on a new Sentinel save.
At least in the original ME1. The remaster might've changed that.

I know. I ran Soldier, maybe that changes it. I was on LE.

I was able to use the scope on Eden Prime.

[Bertram_Tung]

[logincrash]

I guess the combat must have been changed, I was able to use the sniper immediately.

He's talking specifically about aiming down the scope with the sniper rifle. You are unable to do that if you don't have the Sniper Rifles skill unlocked. I have just checked on a new Sentinel save.
At least in the original ME1. The remaster might've changed that.

I know. I ran Soldier, maybe that changes it. I was on LE.

I was able to use the scope on Eden Prime.

Just checked: the legendary edition lets every class aim down the scope of the sniper rifle. The original Mass Effect 1 only lets you do that if you have the Sniper Rifles skill on your Character Sheet, no matter how many points you have in it.
So, Soldiers and Infiltrators are the only classes who can use the scope by default in the original.

[wndrbr]

what's the context of this scene? Was Grunt raped?

[logincrash]

what's the context of this scene? Was Grunt raped?

He's hungover.

[wndrbr]

[logincrash]

Sorry, sorta wrong thread.

Here's a silly .gif to be on-topic.

[Bertram_Tung]

what's the context of this scene? Was Grunt raped?

He's hungover.

It's after he challenged Wrex so presumably Wrex raped him.

[Finarfin]

Would've been more interesting if instead of Kai Leng we got our squadmate who died on Virmire. Cybernetically-enhanced and indoctrinated Kaiden / Ashley trying to kill us for leaving them to die. Then you pass a dialogue check to convince them that it was their own decision to stay there with the nuke, and they kill themselves. I know it's dumb, but ME3 went full anime anyway, so why not.

There is one for the OG ME3
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect3/m ... le_id=4891

[Magick]

He's talking specifically about aiming down the scope with the sniper rifle. You are unable to do that if you don't have the Sniper Rifles skill unlocked. I have just checked on a new Sentinel save.
At least in the original ME1. The remaster might've changed that.

I know. I ran Soldier, maybe that changes it. I was on LE.

I was able to use the scope on Eden Prime.

Just checked: the legendary edition lets every class aim down the scope of the sniper rifle. The original Mass Effect 1 only lets you do that if you have the Sniper Rifles skill on your Character Sheet, no matter how many points you have in it.
So, Soldiers and Infiltrators are the only classes who can use the scope by default in the original.

Indeed. As a Vanguard I didn't use it too much, but every class carrying a gun EVERYWHERE that was essentially a paperweight was just silly. I'm fine with inaccuracy or whatever from not having the skill, but not being able to look down a glass tube? Fortunately it was easy enough to mod it at the start of the game to grant the skill, and just not put in any points.

Although I didn't use it much either, the Assault Rifle was at least still useful in some situations even without the skill.
Good they fixed that stupidity in the remaster.

[wndrbr]

Another ME2 sin, ditching the synth score in favor of generic orchestra.

I'm replaying through ME2 right now, and noticing how there's actually a lot of ME1-style synth tracks. The game has a dynamic music system where every level has like ten or so separate pieces that merge and transition into each other depending on the current level sequence - peaceful music that plays at the beginning, tense music that plays between encounters during the earlier stages of the level, mild combat music for weaker enemies, medium intensity combat music for stronger enemies, tense music that plays between encounters during the later stages of the level, loud combat music for the final encounter of the level.

Unfortunately, the synthy-sounding bits and pieces sound too quiet, and also play relatively rarely. Not to mention that the players often memorize the more bombastic orchestral part that plays at the level's climax, while the low-key synth parts that played earlier get overshadowed.

Purgatory (Jack recruitment level):
Tension (only plays during a short segment at the beginning):

► Show Spoiler

Combat (only plays during a short segment at the beginning, gets replaced by a more bombastic orchestral music later):

► Show Spoiler

Final fight against the warden:

► Show Spoiler

Obviously, people will remember the epic warden music.


Grunt's recruitment level tension music

► Show Spoiler

Grunt's recruitment level combat music

► Show Spoiler

the first track sounds like a cool space scifi action game, the second sounds like late 90s/early 00s Hans Zimmer from his 'The Rock' / 'Crimson Tide' days.

[logincrash]

Another ME2 sin, ditching the synth score in favor of generic orchestra.

I'm replaying through ME2 right now, and noticing how there's actually a lot of ME1-style synth tracks. The game has a dynamic music system where every level has like ten or so separate pieces that merge and transition into each other depending on the current level sequence - peaceful music that plays at the beginning, tense music that plays between encounters during the earlier stages of the level, mild combat music for weaker enemies, medium intensity combat music for stronger enemies, tense music that plays between encounters during the later stages of the level, loud combat music for the final encounter of the level.

Unfortunately, the synthy-sounding bits and pieces sound too quiet, and also play relatively rarely. Not to mention that the players often memorize the more bombastic orchestral part that plays at the level's climax, while the low-key synth parts that played earlier get overshadowed.

Purgatory (Jack recruitment level):
Tension (only plays during a short segment at the beginning):

► Show Spoiler

Combat (only plays during a short segment at the beginning, gets replaced by a more bombastic orchestral music later):

► Show Spoiler

Final fight against the warden:

► Show Spoiler

Obviously, people will remember the epic warden music.


Grunt's recruitment level tension music

► Show Spoiler

Grunt's recruitment level combat music

► Show Spoiler

the first track sounds like a cool space scifi action game, the second sounds like late 90s/early 00s Hans Zimmer from his 'The Rock' / 'Crimson Tide' days.

I don't think I'd be able to point out which area the ME2 music comes from. It's very forgettable.
Meanwhile I can listen to any of the ME1 tracks and instantly see the level/planet/moment I heard this music in-game.

[logincrash]

Oh, and they put literal Doctor Who music in the credits instead of Faunts.

[Maledict]

A S H L E Y

@Oyster Sauce the solution is to leave him on Virmire.

Ugly hook-nosed brown bimbo whose survival hinges on you being a pussywhipped simp who values the life of a random grunt you found under a bus over an officer on your crew who has magical powers.

Kaidan is a **** though. I'd rather they both died.

[logincrash]

A S H L E Y

@Oyster Sauce the solution is to leave him on Virmire.

Ugly hook-nosed brown bimbo whose survival hinges on you being a pussywhipped simp who values the life of a random grunt you found under a bus over an officer on your crew who has magical powers.

Kaidan is a **** though. I'd rather they both died.

Kaidan is some kind of Brazilian-Canadian mutt.

[Maledict]

Kaidan is some kind of Brazilian-Canadian mutt.

So a ****?

I may be wrong, I remember reading somewhere he was a ****. Is there a mod to make him a WHITE man?

[logincrash]

Kaidan is some kind of Brazilian-Canadian mutt.

So a ****?

I may be wrong, I remember reading somewhere he was a ****. Is there a mod to make him a WHITE man?

No. ***** are worse than South Americans by orders of magnitude. There's only like 3 ***** in the entire Mass Effect trilogy.
As for the mods, I'm not sure. There's plenty of different retextures for all the squadmates and NPCs, so you'd have to go and look through all of them.
He does get noticeably more pale in ME3 than he was in ME1.

---

Didn't see the strikethrough. Canada wasn't as bad in 2008, when he was created.

[Maledict]

Kaidan is some kind of Brazilian-Canadian mutt.

So a ****?

I may be wrong, I remember reading somewhere he was a ****. Is there a mod to make him a WHITE man?

No. ***** are worse than South Americans by orders of magnitude. There's only like 3 ***** in the entire Mass Effect trilogy.
As for the mods, I'm not sure. There's plenty of different retextures for all the squadmates and NPCs, so you'd have to go and look through all of them.
He does get noticeably more pale in ME3 than he was in ME1.

Where to look for non-woke ME mods?