whining and omg Mass Effect is my favorite series ever

[luciazephyr]

NGL, I am so angry at this chapter of MoC, I want to print it out just so I can set it on fire.

It's fucking FILLER. It's interludey shit before the next arc. Why is it so hard?!




Anyway. I'm randomly replaying Mass Effect 2. I forgot how much I fucking love this game. The writing is crisp and amazing. The VA work, even with such a wide and varied cast, is excellent (ESPECIALLY Jennifer Hale's female Shepard). The graphics are beautiful and some of the vistas are stunning. And the world-building is second to none.

No one world-builds like this game, holy crap. This is the only game where I'll voluntarily read all the background info from the in-game encyclopedia. I love the way the universe feels so lived in. You exist, yes, but history has already happened and it colors everything. The subtle tension between humans and turians that harkens back to the First Contact War, the way the asari control so much just by virtue of being so versatile and being the first race to find the Citadel, the entire Batarian-Human racism. You know the Skyllian Verge colonization is a hot-button issue, like a futuristic Israel.

I loooooove it. So excited for whatever BioWare has to show off at E3 this summer. ♥

Comments

[noizemaze]

It's interesting just how much of the Mass Effect universe is fleshed out in the Encyclopedia entries, NPC dialog, and environments. I've been considering going back and playing ME2 again now that all the DLC is out. I've only played it once at release and got frustrated when I beat it and attempted Insanity. Let's just say I didn't get passed the initial base escape.

I'm somewhat surprised there aren't more books set in the Mass Effect fiction. It seems like there is a lot of material to work with.

[luciazephyr]

Srsly. I love the thought put into it. The realization of the geth society, the way the turian advancement system works, the prejudice against pureblood asari in their own culture, the way you can watch Wrex change krogan clans just by running Urdnot differently-- the detail is astounding. I'd love to read a text on Turian culture. They're so fascinating, especially when you look at the kind of people to come out of that race, as varying as Garrus to the warden of Purgatory to the ridiculous Councilmember.


Also: Gaaaaaaaaarrus. ♥

[noizemaze]

I agree. The detail that Bioware has put into each aspect of the game really makes the universe feel alive. I'd love to own a complete Mass Effect "Bible" with all of the writer's notes and universe cannon that they pull from.

The complexity of the social systems and politics is what I think made some of the game decisions truly difficult. Deciding what to do about the Zenophage is one of those situations that I honestly had to sit and think about for about five minutes before I made a decision I was comfortable with. The very "realness" of the world is why I think I have a problem playing a Renegade character. Mass Effect makes it very difficult to consciously go against your natural tendencies in certain situations. Well, except for the reporter, she had it coming.

Crap, I'm going to spend the next week replaying ME2 now when I should be playing Hunted.

[everbright]

*laughing*

[luciazephyr]

I didn't have any problem with the xenophage situation, but I did love talking to Mordin about it and hearing about it from his perspective. I loved that I was coming from a human background and I could reflect that in my game politics.

I think the best part of the whole worldbuilding hit me when Legion made a remark, something along the lines of... Legion chides Shepard for imposing her views on the geth, saying-- lemme find it...

"No two species are identical. All must be judged on their own merits. Treating every species like one's own is racist. Even benign anthropomorphism."

And that's ME in a nutshell. The universe is huge and there is so much to understand it's amazing. ♥

[foxfirefey]

Dorky suggestion: girlgamers is a good place to share your ME2 love!

[luciazephyr]

Done so, thanks!