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[hawkeye_de]

A popular German online game magazine claims (simplified expressed) that only Mass Effect 1 would be a rpg...the successors, especially Mass Effect 3 would be much more action-oriented and not so good.

Since the Christmas sales time is there on Steam, is that claim correct...so would you advise me to get Mass Effect 1 when my focus is more on the rpg side?
Thanks

[Urist McScoopbeard]

In my opinion, ME1 has more RPG features, especially the inventory system. Why did they remove the inventory system? It was awesome, the items were great.

ME1 is a gem, the other two are "meh" especially if you are looking for the rpg aspects.

[Digital Hellhound]

ME3 is very meh from lack of RPG elements even if you ignore the ending. Automated conversations, much fewer choices when you actually do get to talk... though to be fair, there's more RPG-isms in for example, weapon management than in 2 (but less than in 1 -many people hated 1's system, though).

I suggest you get ME1 and if you find yourself liking it, get ME2 as well. Both are excellent games.

[Leatra]

2 > 1 > 3

ME2 had much more options. It was more interesting because your choices in ME1 mattered. The whole Suicide Mission was spectacular. Companion side missions were really interesting since your companions all had different lives and problems while you were... away. I think ME2 is more RPG-ish because of how they handled conservations, choices and the story. Choosing between being a paragon or a renegade felt like it was more important.

It depends on how you perceive "RPG". If you are looking for old-school things like inventory management and dungeon crawling you'll find ME1 better but if you prefer a better story, better dialogs, more choices and consequences, you'll find ME2 better.

However, I don't think you would enjoy ME2 if you didn't play ME1.

[Sharp]

1 > 2

for me. Especially in terms of replayability. ME1 just seemed much more fun gameplay wise although it did get annoying sometimes with 200+ inventory items and long treks on the jumpjet car (whose name escapes me). However I missed both inventory and jump-jet care in ME2, especially when it was replaced with annoying planet scanning and ammo scavenging.

I also liked in ME1 you could combine spells all by yourself if you wanted to unlike ME2's teamwork needed approach which meant you just really went 1 spell all the time.

[Xantalos]

I barely remember 3, but ME2 overall was the best one (apart from the can-shooting in 3)

[Pnx]

It gets less and less RPG oriented, and more and more gears of war style as you go along. Which was good and bad, good because they got rid of some of the fiddly, irritating aspects of the game, and made some very good additions, but also bad because they took away a lot of the fun mechanics.

So pretty typical sequels really. It's a similar story with things like Assassins Creed really.

[Darkmere]

The inventory system in 1 was pointless. There was 1 weapon/armor at each tier that was better than all the others, so you looked for that one, and then a better version of that one. The ammo/armor mods were okay, but about half were still useless, so you picked the good ones there and upgraded them, the end. If you like clutter and garbage sorting, I guess it's okay. Also, the planet environments were NOT designed to be driven over... so geometry screws you over. And there's the same 2 or 3 building interiors and that 1 spaceship that get re-used for everything.

The weapons in 2 and 3 actually had different feels to them, so you were able to pick something that felt good to use and stick with it. I thought the hovertank in 2 was paper-thin and felt a bit too arcadey to be much fun. Fortunately, it's mostly optional.

The writing was decent in 1 and great in 2, fell lightly on its face in 3. Paragon/renegade choices in 1 were mostly accomplishing the same goal with noble/asshole dialog. 2 your choices felt more important, and the interrupt system was a good change. 3 is more of a straight saint/asshole choice, with asshole being outright destructive to your goals at times.

BUT!

The character writing is good throughout, and morality isn't one shifting point on a linear scale, so playing a more nuanced character is possible (I want to fight to the death for the innocent, but people who deserve no mercy get a boot to the head). Many of the larger choices are interesting and have far-reaching consequences through the games, from a characterization perspective.

As said, if you want RPG inventory management and slower-paced character (skills and abilities) development, 1 is it, the others less so. If you want to play a role and interact with characters who develop with/around yours while building a story your way, the series is good. I love the series as a whole, but it's not perfect. Your enjoyment depends on how much you overlook the not-perfect parts to enjoy the rest (and there's far more good than flawed, IMO).

TL;DR: 1 is a good game and worth playing. The others will make NO sense without it. If you play 1 and like the characters/universe/story play 2. If you like 2, 3 refines the gameplay well and provides closure. I highly recommend importing characters from game to game, as the concessions made from not doing so really hamper enjoyment in 2 and especially 3.

[Leatra]

I forgot something. I really hated how they used the same building layouts over and over again in ME1. That's one of the reasons why I quit playing it even though I was really close to the end. It's mostly used in side missions but I can't help the completionist inside me, I have to do these side quests! At least ME2 had different locations and even the seemingly most unimportant side missions had unique locations.

I also liked in ME1 you could combine spells all by yourself if you wanted to unlike ME2's teamwork needed approach which meant you just really went 1 spell all the time.

I liked that teamwork thing more actually. Being a bionic in ME2 was lots of fun. One guy lifts a group of enemies to the air and the other guy throws a grenade at them, sending corpses all over the place. It was cool.

[mainiac]

I loved Mass Effect 1 for it's story.  I feel like 2 butchered the story beyond all hope.  1 spends the entire game creating this massive sword of Damocles hanging over your head.  2 starts from the premise that now you are going to fight the sword of Damocles.  I feel like it's no wonder the ending of 3 feels like a letdown.  If you are fighting what is supposed to be an unstoppable foe defeating them is going to feel wrong.

[Leatra]

I loved Mass Effect 1 for it's story.  I feel like 2 butchered the story beyond all hope.  1 spends the entire game creating this massive sword of Damocles hanging over your head.  2 starts from the premise that now you are going to fight the sword of Damocles.  I feel like it's no wonder the ending of 3 feels like a letdown.  If you are fighting what is supposed to be an unstoppable foe defeating them is going to feel wrong.

That kinda story happens in a lot of movies and video games but some of them can actually pull it off. ME (the series, not ME1) isn't one of them. They ruined a great potential. Still, ME2 did it right in my opinion. It's called a suicide mission for a reason. You and your companions can die. I really expected something amazing for ME3.

[Xantalos]

I loved Mass Effect 1 for it's story.  I feel like 2 butchered the story beyond all hope.  1 spends the entire game creating this massive sword of Damocles hanging over your head.  2 starts from the premise that now you are going to fight the sword of Damocles.  I feel like it's no wonder the ending of 3 feels like a letdown.  If you are fighting what is supposed to be an unstoppable foe defeating them is going to feel wrong.

That kinda story happens in a lot of movies and video games but some of them can actually pull it off. ME isn't one of them. They ruined a great potential. Still, ME2 did it right in my opinion. It's called a suicide mission for a reason. You and your companions can die. I really expected something amazing for ME3.

But then SHPESS CIHLD MAJIK happened. I like to believe that it's a hallucination or something. Or Shepard expires. Either way, no space magic.

[Shadowlord]

ME1 wasn't an RPG, it was an inventory management simulation. You spent 50% of your gameplay time frakking with your inventory, deleting stuff, selling stuff, all to deal with the item glut that the game threw at you without end. 2 and 3 vastly improved that situation.

[Bdthemag]

Storywise, the first game was amazing. The second one kind of ruined some of the previous story, but I still found it to be decent. I think we all know how three turned out.

[Leatra]

I loved Mass Effect 1 for it's story.  I feel like 2 butchered the story beyond all hope.  1 spends the entire game creating this massive sword of Damocles hanging over your head.  2 starts from the premise that now you are going to fight the sword of Damocles.  I feel like it's no wonder the ending of 3 feels like a letdown.  If you are fighting what is supposed to be an unstoppable foe defeating them is going to feel wrong.

That kinda story happens in a lot of movies and video games but some of them can actually pull it off. ME isn't one of them. They ruined a great potential. Still, ME2 did it right in my opinion. It's called a suicide mission for a reason. You and your companions can die. I really expected something amazing for ME3.

But then SHPESS CIHLD MAJIK happened. I like to believe that it's a hallucination or something. Or Shepard expires. Either way, no space magic.

Maybe a prothean did it?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Citadel and the Crucible was built by Protheans and they are supposed to have great technology. Maybe they created a time travel machine (cuz they got tekhnolagee) and learned that a creature called Shepard will try to do the same thing they tried to do but failed. After realizing that this human (they don't know what a human is because humans didn't exist at that time but whatever) will have to make a decision in the end, they pick a random human (by using the time travel machine) to create a hologram and that human appears to be that child we see later.