GirlyG
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Mass Effect - SPOILER THREADOkay who's finished it and what did you think of some of the storylines? I know they differ game to game, but I figure if you've finished it you won't mind talking a bit about what happened in your version of the game?
I won't put anything else until I know I'm not alone 
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kerrigan
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Wow, I just finished the game tonight and thought I might make a spoiler thread. But you beat me to it  !
All together, I think the game was absolutely amazing. I liked the story of Jade Empire a lot more, but the virtual actors of Mass Effect just made it so much more enjoyable. And I'm definitely up for discussing the various paths and twists in the story.
So I guess we can start by going over our characters...
My Shepard was an adept, paragon through and through, and lesbian paramour, of course  . My background was a colonist war hero; this didn't affect me too much, just a couple of comments and side missions, and felt a little tacked on. I finished the game at level 50 after playing for about 43 hours (wow, that sounds a little pathetic, but I did get the "completionist" achievement ). And I named my character Ripley, after my favorite sci-fi heroine.
Even though I spent so long playing, I really just want to jump back in with new character.
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GirlyG
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lol sorry!
I just bought Jade Empire a few days ago and only just started playing it. I only got it because people had mentioned it on here so much, so any hints tips appreciated!
Now onto Mass Effect... Wow you played everything?! I really need to play it again, I kind of got sucked into the main story and before I knew it there was no turning back to do a few of the side quests I'd missed.
I missed the paramour thing.. not sure how, I assume it was becasue I didn't realise Liara was in the room behind medical until I was almost at the end Ripley is my fav sci-fi heroine too!!!!! Cool name.
Here's some questions for you.. did you manage to save Wrex? He was my fave character, he went on most of the missions with me and then WHAAAAA Stupid Ashley!!!!! Also who did you save just after that when hey were setting off the nuke?
The ending was awesome!!!!!
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kerrigan
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I'm just like that when it comes to games and side quests. I actually did almost all of the side quests before starting the main plot missions, which got me a ton of experience. The good thing about the Mass Effect side quests is that a lot of them sorta tie into your missions. Like there's this group experimenting with using the rachni as biological weapons, which goes terribly wrong of course. And you catch some Exo Geni people doing the same with Thorian creepers. And there's a whole series of missions about stopping a geth invasion on several colony planets.
That sucks that you couldn't save Wrex; I hardly used him and still managed to save him. The key to saving people and doing cool shit in conversations is persuasion skills -- charm or intimidate. I've played a lot of Bioware games, so I knew this going in. But yeah, if your persuasion is high enough you're able to talk Wrex down before you or Ashley has to kill him. Also, if you do his side quest and find his family's stolen armor, you can talk him down without persuasions (you have to talk to him a lot on the ship to get this quest).
Oh, and with a high enough persuasion skill, you can even convince Saren to kill himself on the citadel. Of course his reanimated, mechanical skeleton comes back to life later, but it was still a cool dialog scene that ends with him shooting himself.
If you want to flesh out all the characters fully, you pretty much have to talk with everyone after you finish each mission, and you definitely have to do this with whomever you're trying to get with. Also, you get side missions from Wrex, Garrus, and Tali.
I saved Ashley when the nuke was set. I mainly saved her because she was at the AA tower, and I thought she was with all the Salarians, so I didn't want to leave all of them just for one guy. I'm not sure which character I like more though. Both Kaiden and Ashley were pretty interesting to me. Kaiden had this annoying way of speaking in metaphors though...
I loved the ending so much! When everything started to come together while talking with Vigil, things were all just snapping into place. I almost wish they'd had like a cut scene with a voice over there like they do in the Jade Empire flashbacks; I would've loved to see the Protheans finding out they were the only ones left alive.
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GirlyG
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I am going to restart it once games stop coming out so I have more time to replay things! I did notice a lot of the missions were nicely tied in with the overall story and some were just like moral obligations lol
Wrex is such a sore point with me  I was REALLY upset lol One second I was trying to talk him around and next thing BAM.. I was like NOOOO DAMN YOU ASHLEY DAMN YOUUUUU!!!!! I really liked Wrex, he said some funny stuff in the elevator lol The thing is, my charm was maxxed out. I didn't have much on intimidate though, so I don't know if that was the problem.. the reason being I was nice to everyone, I didn't feel I needed to be intimidating. I'll definitely keep your hints re persuasion in mind for when I replay it though 
I saved Ashley when the nuke was set, for pretty much the same reason as you.. even though she'd killed my beloved Wrex moments earlier.
The ending was awesome! I only just started playing Jade Empire as I only bought it last week. If it's even a bit of what Mass Effect was I'll be happy.
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kerrigan
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That's so weird. You should have been able to talk Wrex down easily. Were you choosing options from the top of the dialog wheel? Those were normally the paragon options. Since I'd done his side quest, I was able to stop him really quickly without violence. Hrm...this is why I always save before important conversations.
I guess I need to play with Wrex more to hear some of his funnier lines. My favorite character was Tali; she cracked me up. She was always so dry. There's one time when Garrus was talking about how much he was enjoying exploring and getting away from C-sec, and she responded by saying she was glad the imminent destruction of all life in the galaxy was opening up new career opportunities for him. I just loved her.
Ashley had her funny moments too. I think her best line was about the lake in the Citadel: "they built themselves quite the lake here...I wonder if anyone ever drowned in it." I plan on using her more on another play through. I also thought Liara had her really cute moments, especially in her dialogs on them ship. She wasn't much of a joker once you got off the Normandy though.
So how did you end the game? I did the whole good girl thing and saved the council and suggested Anderson as humanity's representative. I've seen the renegade ending though, and it's totally reminiscent of Palpatine starting to take over the Republic only with that annoying Ambassador guy taking the place of the entire council.
Oh you're going to love Jade Empire if you're looking for a good story. I actually enjoyed it more than Mass Effect's story -- more intrigue. Don't let anyone spoil it for you though. (Also, don't make the mistake of trying to get with Dawn Star, Silk Fox is the only lesbian option. At least she ends up being way cooler than Dawn Star who's just really boring. )
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GreenFairy5591
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Silk fox, that's the one I was telling you about GirlyG. Wasted many hours trying for dawn star. I'm half tempted to start up a new game of Jade empire now, thanks alot ladies lol.
I've started my second play thru of MAss Effect. In the first round, I managed to save Wrex and persuade Saren. I chose to let Kaiden die because Ashley was so damn cute and I couldn't bear the thought of not having her around anymore. Curious about one thing. I saved ashley at the nuke and then fought SAren. Did you fight Saren at the AA site if you chose to take out the guns?
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kerrigan
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Yeah, you fight Saren on the AA tower. I actually liked this scene a lot better because the water at the bomb site annoyed me during the cut scenes (I tried saving Kaiden once just to see how the different scenes played out). Also, when Saren makes his last lunge at you, he ends up dangling you off of the AA tower, which has a lot more effect than just grabbing you. Also, once you fly off from the AA tower, you see whoever's at the bomb site fighting off geth, then get wounded and fall back on the bomb before it goes off.
I get why people thought Silk Fox was annoying at first in Jade Empire, but once you start talking to her, she's a lot funnier and more interesting than Dawn Star. I ended up enjoying her character a lot.
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GirlyG
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Hey Green!!! 
The AA Tower fight with Saren was AWESOME!! I was like OMFG!! haha
Also the scene with Kaiden was really well done I thought.. poor bugger.
I've got Silk Fox emblazoned in my mind now thanks guys. I'l ldefinitely keep an eye out for her, assumnig I actually get any time to play!!
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GreenFairy5591
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Make time, Girly!!!!!! 
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teh spikey
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| GreenFairy5591 wrote: | | I've started my second play thru of MAss Effect. In the first round, I managed to save Wrex and persuade Saren. I chose to let Kaiden die because Ashley was so damn cute and I couldn't bear the thought of not having her around anymore. |
Same here. That, and I was a Sentinel... tech + biotic = piss poor combat, i needed ashley's soldiering in the party. Just finished tonight, and already I want to start again as a nice character. I usually play the bitch first time through, its just so fun!
Though I have to admit, having played as many Bioware games as I have, I was waiting for the "OMFG!" moment that never came. There was no crutial plot twist in this one.
Not to say that it wasnt a good story.. Its usual bioware quality stuff... But after KotOR and Jade Empire, I was waiting to be shocked. There was a moment when you had to choose which teammate to die (I'm still annoyed you couldnt pick one of the aliens to co-ordinate the salarians) but no moment.
As an aside, i had fun picking up voices from different characters to other games or celebs.. I pegged Joker as Seth Green, Hakett as Lance Henrikson, and there were a few girls with the voice of the malkavian in Bloodlines. More i recognised but couldnt place how i knew them.
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kerrigan
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Yeah there was no huge plot twist in this story on the level of like KOTOR or Jade Empire, but I still really enjoyed the way the plot played out in Mass Effect. All the hints were dropped really early on (like the mass relay statue emitting a low hum, etc.) and there were plenty of twists such as Sovereign really being a Reaper and a sentient being controlling Saren and the Protheans surviving to sabotage the Reapers' control over the Citadel. Those are both pretty major twists, they just pale in comparison to the moments in KOTOR and Jade Empire (Jade Empire especially). Of course, Mass Effect is being made as a trilogy, so we won't see the full story until all three games are out--and I'm already so fracking excited. Hopefully the next two games won't take quite as long in development as the first.
One thing that bugged me about the story in Mass Effect is that both of the major twists in the story are revealed to you in a conversations with holograms. Talking with a hologram really just didn't have that much effect on me, even if it was revealing some pretty shocking things.
The voice acting was probably the best I've heard in a video game to date. Of course Bioware used Bastila's actor as the female Shepard and Carth's voice actor as Kaiden, because those two have to be in like every game they make. I also really enjoyed Keith David as Anderson and found myself wishing they'd designed his character to look more like him (I thought Joker actually looked quite a bit like Seth Green).
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GirlyG
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Man you guys remember EVERY detail fo the story don't you.. wish I could do that
I haven't started playing it through again.. I'm intrigued by the 'plot twist' thing you've mentioned re Jade Empire. but please don't post what it is as I haven't played it before!! Assuming I actually find some time to game I'll be looking out for that.
As for voices in Mass Effect - I'm a bit of a Star trek geek and I was playing it one night and said to my gf.. omg it's Deanna Troi!! .. I was so sure it was Marina Sirtis I asked my gf to look it up on imdb, but alas, Mass Effect was not in her credits. I was gutted as I thought who else could sound that much like Marina Sirtis if not the lady herself!! Anyway when I finished the game I was watching the credits.. and there it was. Deanna Troi in all her glory!!
Anyways.. that was my stand out voice acting moment. 
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kerrigan
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Oh, I loved Marina Sirtis's voice work, but I just hated that character design. The whole time she was talking I just wanted to pull her dress up so she wouldn't fall out of it. Also, I felt cheated that her character died so quickly. Noveria was the first world I went to after saving Liara; i just wasn't expecting to take out one of the main bad guys so early in the game. They built her up as this amazingly powerful biotic, taking her down just seemed way too easy.
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teh spikey
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Thats one of the voices I didn't place. But then, I only really watched Voyager.
GirlyG.. Don't feel bad  For me at least, when im playing a game, the story is everything. I find it very hard to "get into" a game if its story is flimsy or non-existant, so when I find one thats good, it sticks in my memory. I love games that are as rich as reading a really good fantasy novel, like Robyn Hobb's works.. Or feeling like I'm in an interactive movie. Bioware is one of the few really reliable games producers that have games with stories of this kind of level.
And to Kerrigan, I didn't realise it was first in a trilogy, but thinking about it, it makes sense. It did end a little "open-ly". You may be right about the OMGWTFBBQ moment coming later. Though if it doesnt, I wont be complaining.. too many twists and it becomes a predictable formula..
I just played it through again.. ( yes, I have nothing better to do with my time..) and its the little differences that surprised me. My first run through, i didnt rescue Liara till about 2 major missions in.. When i found her she did this amusing spiel about hallucinating you, convinced she'd "finally gone mad", it was quite funny. This time, i went there first, and she was lucid.
There were other things too, the order that you do the missions affects the cutscenes in small ways.
I'm not sure which ending I like better. Though in some places i did feel that the renegade diolog options made more sense. One that springs to mind is just before confronting Fist, you can intimidate the workers into not fighting by saying something like "I've just killed all the guards to get here, do you want to die too?"... whereas the charm option is something lame like "Its time to find a different job"..
Though that could just be because its how i played it first, and in the grand scheme of things, only a small criticism of a well polished game.
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kerrigan
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Yeah, I kind of hate it when you start expecting major twists in the plot. Maybe "twist" was the wrong word to choose; I just think there will be some major moments in the next games. Scenes like watching the person you left at the bomb site fend off some geth before setting off the bomb, Saren's suicide, and the Alliance fleet coming in at the last minute to rescue the Destiny Ascension were all really powerful and just left me dumbstruck.
Don't feel bad about the second play through. I started a new game immediately after finishing, and I have finals going on. So if you rescue Liara late, do you still get to flirt with her and everything, or is she just crazy? I've always rescued her like first thing because I knew she was intended to be a party member (I followed the game religiously during development). One of my favorite changes was that changing my background opened up a lot of new dialog. If you choose spacer for your history, you get several extra sections of dialog with Ashley, which was pretty cool.
Every now and then, if someone pissed me off, I would choose a renegade response, but a lot of them seemed really over-acted and out of place to me. Maybe if I played the whole game as renegade they'd fit better. I have a hard time playing as evil in Bioware games though--they make me be nasty to characters I like. Although there were a few sections of the game where the charm options were to be really nice to characters I just hated. Like on my second play, I just went ahead and killed that guy on Feros who wants to kill all the colonists instead of talking him into trying to make money out of saving them.
My biggest complaint about the renegade role in Mass Effect is that it's so xenophobic. It's hard for me to play as someone who hates aliens seeing as I've wanted an alien best friend since I was six.
Girly, find time for Jade Empire! It's such a great game. It's a lot shorter than Mass Effect, so it won't dominate as much of your time. Jade Empire is one of my favorite video game stories, but unfortunately the combat isn't nearly as much fun. It's still a good game, but the combat can get old, and you never really get that feeling of an unstoppable bad ass like you do when you're fully leveled up in Mass Effect or Kotor.
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paxm
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| kerrigan wrote: | | Don't feel bad about the second play through. I started a new game immediately after finishing, and I have finals going on.. |
I just finished first time play-through and have just started a second... *addicted* Trying as a Vanguard... damn it's hard without full weaponry (wimpy pistol).
| kerrigan wrote: | | My biggest complaint about the renegade role in Mass Effect is that it's so xenophobic. |
I felt that too. Odd, given that I imagine futuristic plots to be a bit more open-minded. I suppose that's why it's "renegade." But I felt a number of the characters seemed a bit xenophobic, not just the renegade choices for a player.
Oh... and I've been meaning to try Jade Empire... can't wait!
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teh spikey
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| kerrigan wrote: | | So if you rescue Liara late, do you still get to flirt with her and everything, or is she just crazy? |
No no, the rest of the game she's the same, its just the initial interaction where she's a little loopy. When you tell her the "thunder" she heard was the mining lazer, she realises you're real and its the same from there.
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FyreHawk711
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I've played through completely 5 times, and I'm currently finishing the 6th playthrough... working on the Asari ally, Sentinel ally and biotic achievements.
Current PC - Bryndle Shepard:
Origin Colonist
Reputation Sole Survivor
Class Vanguard
Level 58 (40 hours)
Specialized Shock Trooper
Talent
Past PC - Fyre Shepard:
Origin Spacer
Reputation Ruthless
Class Infiltrator
Level 60 (91 hours)
Specialized Commando
Talent
Next PC - Mistress Shepard > Soldier class
I've played Paragon, Renegade and a mix of both. Now I'm Paragon to the decent folks, and Renegade to the vile ones. I agree the Renegade does tend to be xenophobic.
I always, and will always, play as female Shepard. I love being a lesbian woman PC, and will always play the same sex paramour option with the Asari.
I've only noticed subtle differences in dialogs related to the PCs Origin and Reputation. All of the missions and assignments play out the same except for one at the Citadel. As a Colonist, I had an assignment to defuse a suicidal woman who experienced the slaver atrocities in the same colony my PC did. As a Spacer, there was the assignment to help a military veteran who served with my PC's mother.
I really like the Virmire mission, and have only sacrificed Ashley once to see what the tower fight was like. It's cool to watch a female Shepard carry Ashley to safety at the end. I love that scene! HOT!!
Tips:
- To earn the Asari ally quickly, leave the Citadel before completing any assignments there and start the rescue Liara mission.
- Do the Luna AI assignment early to earn the Specialized Talent bonus. I usually start after leaving the Citadel, and usually after rescuing Liara.
- Always explore/survey all of the planets system, and scan the asteroid belts for unknown objects.
- If you keep Kaiden with you through ~16 missions and ~35 assignments, you'll earn the Sentinel ally achievement.
- Explore the entire map on a planet, not just the locations that are marked. You'll find other artifacts and minerals for the collector series.
- Take time to look at the sky, especially when you're on Earth's moon. The view of Earth is astounding, and the skies on some of the other planets are spectacular. Also, look through the transparent floors of the ships you board. Very cool sights.
- Be sure to speak to both the general and the Elcor diplomat before talking to the Asari consort to complete the assignment. With the right dialog sequence you'll be able to get her affirmation of words, have an intimate moment with her, and get a trinket (which is a key you will use on Eletania in the Hercules system of the Attican Beta system. The anomaly marked on that map is for a Prothean ruin with a hovering Orb. Recover the artifact and Investigate to use the trinket key. A '2001' sort of story will be displayed. After all, this planet has a population of monkeys. The assignment associated with this visit is the UNC: Lost Module. Eletania is a Level 1 Toxic environment... so don't daudle.
- I've experienced a couple of situations where my PC gets stuck between the survey marker and the material surveyed. When this happens, you can't always reach the Mako to 'return to Normandy'. But, you can go to Map and select the 'return to Normandy' option to get you off the planet, and unstick your PC.
My favorite suit is the Colossus, any flavor of light, medium or heavy. I love the red and black look on my female Shepard, and it offers great protection too.
cheers!
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kerrigan
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Those were all pretty good tips. I've completed two plays using Liara as often as i could and still haven't been able to get that damn Asari ally achievement. Getting the Quarian one wasn't nearly as difficult. I think I'm going to move on and try for some other teammate awards just so that I can get their input on conversations for a change. Do I have to redo all the map exploration I did during my first play to get those achievements? Because I got so fed up with driving up the incredibly steep mountains on some planets.
My first play was as a full adept, so I got very used to taking cover and relying on the pause + ability technique. Then I played as a vanguard, but a very biotics oriented vanguard (she got singularity as an extra ability). I enjoyed having better survivability and that powerful shotgun at the end; I could one-shot kill several enemies. My next play is going to be as a renegade soldier, just to get a completely different style in. I was planning on trying to be straight during this time through, but Kaiden just bores me more and more...
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FyreHawk711
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| kerrigan wrote: | | Do I have to redo all the map exploration I did during my first play to get those achievements? |
yes, pretty much... just focus on having your ally of choice with you always and complete at least 35 assignments and all of the missions. at some point during one of the later missions (Virmire, Citadel Lockdown or Ilos) you'll earn the ally achievement. the Asari ally achievement didn't happen for me until after completing 35 assignments and well into the Ilos mission. i nearly fainted when it finally happened because it was a long time coming for me too. kinda like slow climax. lol
for those extra rough terrain landscapes... there are usually paths of least resistance. the paths will not be the most direct. sometimes a 'diagonal' path across a cliff face will help the Mako climb better. i learned this technique climbing mountainsides in Oblivion, and was pleasantly surprised to see in work in this game. the game physics engines might be related.. ?
i'm playing through a 7th time... starting from the beginning as Mistress Shepard... earthborn soldier, on hardcore setting. i want to unlock the insanity setting. i'm also working on the Krogan ally, and finishing out the remaining weapon and biotic achievements. i figure once i've mastered this game on hardcore, i'll be ready for Halo 3?
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Katin
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holy crap. 7 times?
after staying up a few hours later than i had intended i finished up my first playthrough of mass effect. it was good stuff, but i'm, not really sure when i'll get around to playing it again...if i play it again. i still have MANY games i haven't even really started and a few that have never made it into my xbox. i'll probably run through those first before going back and replaying any games.
went through it on the normal setting as a vanguard. did a lot of bad things to people and made it out ok. i sacrificed ashley, shot wrex, intimidated a whole lot of people and generally did a lot of killing. it was a good time.
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FyreHawk711
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Katin: Sounds like you had Renegade fun! LOL Excellent!
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veritelle
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Mass Effect is frickin awesome! Bioware's games are always amazing. I'm on my second playthrough now as a female Infiltrator paragon, though I was definitely renegade my first time around. I attempted playing on hardcore and everything was going well until one of the Cerberus assignments. Those mercenaries just would NOT die. So I cheated and am now playing on normal once again. Which means I'll have to play through at least 2 more times for the achievements. Ah well, if I must I'm an achievement whore anyway.
Oh and Bastila's voice actor is the same one for the female Shepard? That's crazy. My Shepard sounds so much more badass than Bastila ever did hehe.
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FyreHawk711
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whew! i'm finally up to level 40 on hardcore... and it's not so frantic now.
i think i've died 50 times. i'm also hoping that once insanity is unlocked, i can play it with the same leveled up PC so that it's not so friggin difficult. i hate dying so often.
the Asari commandos, Krogan warriors and Geth armatures are just plain nasty on hardcore. that AI mission on Luna was also a bugger at around level 10.
i'm playing an earthborn soldier with a paragon/renegade mix. Mistress Shepard. kept the same look. i like that dark look. like the gal in Underworld.
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