Science fiction has always explored questions of morality and possible futures, but gaming allows fans to actively engage with these ideas. Of all the recent game series which have pushed players to explore complicated moral and philosophical quandaries, none stands out more than 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mass Effect.
When it comes down to it, there is so much that Mass Effect did right, which is why it is loved by fans more than eight years after the trilogy's last installment. But it was not without its faults. Let's look back at some of the reasons the games are timeless, as well as a few ways they seem dated to m𒐪odern fans.
10 ﷺ ♉ Timeless: The Writing
One of the reasons so many people love the Mass Effect games is the writing. The main story is absolutely riveting, pitting its protagonist, Commander Shepard, against both relatable enemies as well as a cosmic threat endangering the whole galaxy. Additionally, each character in She✨pard's crew has their own backstory and motivations. In the s𓆏econd game, Shepard can accompany them on quests that will build trust and friendship between the commander and the crew.
Beyond this, the dialogue is both accessible and nuance🐬d. There are as many funny moments as tense ones, making the characters feel incredibly real.
9 Dated🅺: Limited Dialogue Options ไ
There are some fantastic moments in the game that offer different dialogue options for players. Many of the things the player makes Shepard say also tie into the morality system of the games and will influence the plot,✃ in some cases even altering the events in future games.
However, there are a number of times when no matter what choice a player make🍸s, Shepard will say the same lines of dialogue. This more or less defeats🐭 the purpose of having options in such scenes.
8 ꧃ Timeless: A꧃liens
The worldbuilding in Mass Effect is brilliant, as each of the alien races feels fleshed out with their own histories, cultures, and technologies. From the tough warlike Krogan who survived the attempted eradication of their species to the more reclusive Quarians whose immune systems have been compromised after generations spent living in the rܫecycled atmospheres of their ships, each of the aliens is truly memorable and unique.
Sometimes, their different lifestyles add commentary to the world. The Asari, who are all "female," can mate with any gender or species, but will always produce another Asari, challenging human notions of sexual dimorphism and heteronormativity. Meanwhile, the Geth are an artificial intelligence that forces players to question their o🍬wn biases toward non-organic life forms. It is rare a game can achieve such stunning diversity in its 🍌portrayal of different groups.
7 Dated: Relationship🐠 Limitations
In the first Mass Effect game, there were only three romantic options, one of which was available to either male or female versions of Commander Shepard. After the second game introduced an abundance of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:new romantic pairings, including two new possible same-sex relationship cho🦹ices for Shepard as a woman, many feltཧ cheated by the absence of same-sex relationship choices for men.
There is a tricky balancing act for game designers in deciding how much freedom to give players versus how stringent to apply limitations that define the protagonist's perꦯsonality. However, explicitly denying a male Shepard the opportunity to have a male partner whܫile allowing a female Shepard multiple same-sex possibilities does seem like it is ignoring the romantic preferences of many players.
6 🏅 Timeless: Choices Have Meaning
Throughout the games, there are a handful of moments where players are forced to make a choice whose outcome will have haunting effects. Many players have spoken about the emotional impact the Mass Effect franchis💫e had on them, often describing moments where a choice resulted in the death of a favorite character.
No matter what, such choices are u🐟navoidable. Romances can end in tragedy. Other characters' trust can be won or lost. In one scene, Shepard's words almost certainly result in one of two alien species annihilating the other. There are so many moments that end in tragedy, and the consequences of players' choices in one game impact the events of the sequels.
5 D✤ated: In♋consistent Combat
At the end of the day, most video game combat is not a🎃ll that innovative. While Mass Effect's combat actually holds up surprisingly well and has a lot of diversity of play styles, ꧋it has its limits, as do most action RPGs.
What is more problematic is the shift in combat styles between the first ꧃and second games. The shift is explained as the result of a change in technology, but the result feels jarring when going from one game to the next.
4 Timeless: Morality 💜System
A number of popular games have morality systems that punish or reward a character for their choices, or else ask them to choose between good and evil. In Mass Effect, it is not about good vs. evil, but rather understanding that each person has a mixture of benevolent kindness and aggressively self-serving traits.
The Renegade and Paragon morality b﷽ars do not compete, but each one exists separately. They also bo𝔉th impact the story in meaningful ways.
3 Dated: Limits of Morality ꧃
A lot of game designers have struggled with how to make a satisfying game experience that allows players the freedom to make meaningful choices while still controlling the direction of events. This is especially true of games that judge the morality of player c🃏hoices.
Mass Ef൩fect is better than many games, but its morality system has its limits. Sometimes, choosing to act like either a Paragon or Renegade will result in the same outcome. Other times, the options seem very out of character or don't impact the game at all, which defeats⛄ the whole point of having such choices.
2 ꦿ Timeless: Reapers
The main villains of the series are the Reapers, a group of ancient synthetic life forms that prey on life in the galaxy every several thousand years. These horrifying aliens have been compared to the Old Gods of H.P. Lovecraft and with good re⛦asons, for they ꦜare pure nightmare fuel.
Their sizཧe, their godlike longevity, and their sheer alien nature make these some of the best science fiction villains in all of gam꧑ing.
1 Dated: The En🍎ding 🍎
While the third game in the series came outꦆ eight years ago, there are those who have not finished it or not had the ending ruined for 🃏them. For those fans, this section will remain spoiler-free.
Let it just be said that after three games following Commander Shepard on their adventures across the galaxy, the epic climax that people hoped for turned out to be a huge disappointment. That said, while a bad ending can ruin a series for many people, Mass Effect remains beloved despite this--proof of all it 🦋did right.