Will Mass Effect: Andromeda Surpass Mass Effect 2???

Mass Effect was an amazing game. When I played it back then, it blew me away due to its characterization, voice acting, story, soundtrack, fully voiced main RPG character, lore, aliens, choices, emotionally engaging moments, breathtaking ending and so on.

It was best mainstream RPG, I have had played in a long time. After finishing Mass Effect, I kept my saves for the second game in the series, that was described as "Dark Second Act" from Bioware, and was waiting for it patiently. I watched every video released for the game, even though I tried my best to not spoil anything (but couldn't resist).

After a long wait, Mass Effect 2 finally came out. I was worried that my expectations are sky high, and I shouldn't have expected that much from a game, and should be prepared for everything that is coming along with the game, and keep my expectations in check.

I was surprised that, the game not only met my expectations but exceed them brilliantly. The game was phenomenal. Sure, the game was no longer RPG but a TPS/ARPG hybrid but overall package was absolutely brilliant. Originally released for Xbox 360 and PC and later ported to PS3, Mass Effect 2 was indeed a Dark Second Act, as Bioware described it.

The game had a dark tone, and a lot of creepy moments. The story was fantastic that kept me engaged from beginning to end. Not even a single moment of the game was boring. The game had a lot of leading characters, and all of them were awesome and had their own set of strengths and weaknesses.

Loyalty missions of those characters were amazing too. There was ship upgrade options, that actually mattered, and I realized that too late (lost a lot of my men on my first playthrough during Suicide mission because ship wasn't ready for combat), but I loved the idea. It really helped the replay value of the game.

So, not only choices that you make through dialogue tree changed the course of the story but also upgrades that your ship have. To do these upgrades you have to do secondary quests. And unlike Mass Effect 1, these quests weren't copy pasted. Instead, every mission felt different from the last one. In one mission you are taking care of crates while fighting the enemies, in the next you are trying to run decryption of a broken message, yet in another one, you try to escape a cave that is about to be destroyed and so on.

Last but not least,,, that opening. Intro of Mass Effect 2 is one of the best (if not the best) intro of all time. That intro is the reason why I played the game over 20 times. Every time when I restarted the game just to see the mind blowing intro, I couldn't resist and continued to play rest of the game. So, while the entire game was fantastic, there is no doubt that the excellent intro was also a big reason for me to keep coming back to the game after finishing it over and over again.

After experiencing that breathtaking intro, we all think that we've seen the best that the game has to offer, but no sir. The entire game is full of dark, mysterious, funny, romantic, heart breaking and creepy moments, featuring list of amazing characters including one of the most charming antagonists of all time, The Illusive Man. And how can you forget those awesome tracks either,,, they were just brilliant.

And finally in the end, you are bombarded with amazing final level of the game. Everything you do in the game, comes in front of you throughout the level. The entire Suicide Mission behaves like a playable ending, where you either succeed in achieving your goals, or loose your squad members one by one, based on your choices throughout the game and the final mission. There are so many outcomes in the final mission, and so many variations that it's mind blowing.

And the ending itself is very well done as well. The final conversation with the Illusive Man, the fate of collector base and the very final moment,,, all of them are breathtaking and show us signs of things to come. The final moments really raise the bar, despite opening moments being so amazing. In other words, it was masterful. Then Mass Effect 3 came out, that most people agree isn't best in the series. So Mass Effect 2, for many, including myself, remains the best in the series, and for the right reasons.

Now when I look at inconsistencies of new Bioware, and how games Mass Effect 3's ending, or games like Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition turned out after fantastic games like Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, even though I am interested in Mass Effect: Andromeda, I can't help myself and think that the game might not exceed phenomenal Mass Effect 2 and may turn out to be another disappointment from Bioware. Do you think that Bioware can capture the magic of early Mass Effect games again, especially Mass Effect 2??? I myself have mix feelings. Sometimes I think about their new ideas and the technology they are using and I think that the game is going to be fantastic but when I look at their recent releases, I get worried. Share your thoughts.

As a Mass Effect fan, Mass Effect 2 was by far the best of the best ME game I played and still looks good to this day. From what I seen on Mass Effect: Andromeda, it looks like Bioware is going back to what made the first game when it was an actual RPG but for the most parts, I just hope they kept the combat mechanics like in Mass Effect 2/3 which was the reason why ME2 turn out to be a great game. With Casey Hudson out of the way, I'm sure Bioware could actually surpass Mass Effect 2 standards but in my opinion, I just Know EA is gonna do this to Bioware:

• Cut out content DLC like they did with Mass Effect 3
• MP. [This is not me saying that Mass Effect 3's MP was awful, it was my most played MP of 2012 but Andromeda doesn't need MP just yet]

The reason why Mass Effect 2 was so great was the fact that if you bought the game new, you got free DLC and speaking of DLC, Bioware took the time to work on DLC that was well done and more content but Mass Effect 3's DLC was poorly done and I don't wanna see this kind of crap again in Andromeda.

If the can keep the crisp game play and improve some of the more boring aspects of ME 2 I am game all day for it. I finished ME 2 like 8 times, such a good game. I just found some of the characters to be a bore fest and a half.

Both Mass effect 3 and Inquisition suffered from a horrible ending, as if bioware just didn't have enough time to finish these games. Lets hope history doesn't repeat itself, I really want Andromeda to succeed.

Mass Effect 2 is my fav and best game, i literally love this game and i don't think any game can surpass that for me, it's sth unique and special to me.

About the next installment, i'm pretty much apprehensive and hoping this E3 will give us some idea of how the game might turn out. They can't surpass ME2 but they can create another masterpiece, the potential is there.

Btw, great thread, dem feels !

Seems to be one of the few that thinks ME1 >>>ME2>>>>>>>>>>>>>ME3

ME1 is a better RPG, ME2 is a better game overall imo

Mass Effect 2 was the best, especially the ending speech to rally the troops by Shepard. I hope this new game can capture that vibe.

*goosebumps*

Cant wait to try out the new mako in mass effect Andromeda, I hope its just as cool as the old one.

@adamosmaki: i certainly agree with you (though none of them were bad. yeah the ending in ME3. poor writhers wrote themselves into a corner....oops :P. but up until the last 15 mins..good game).

ME1 had a better sense of exploration (yes i liked the mako exploration...sure there could have been more too it but i still liked it). a sense of exploring an untamed galaxy. plus im an SR1 man :P.

i know nothing about the story in andromeda but im assuming its the races from the milky way on some sort of massive mother ship looking to explore the andromeda galaxy. perhaps a last ditch effort to run from the reapers before they arrived or something.

i dont know if itll surprass the originals. if they go for the same type of story and structure (uniting a galaxy against some overwhelming foe) then probably not. to get out of the originals shadow i think itll have to tell a different story and have its own slant on the whole thing.

ME was the best imo.

Mission Successful.

Really surprised to see positive comment from you. Didn't expect you to be fan of Mass Effect. From what I've seen, you mostly prefer system based games like Total War or Civilization etc (same is the case here, but ME among few others is an exception).

ME2 was the best Mass Effect, while ME1 was more RPG.. 2 just set the standard.

The opening sequence was fantastic, when you die as Sheppard

I have to agree, ME1 had better pacing than ME2 and that suicide mission during ME2 was really annoying. The sad thing is ME3 was pretty damn good tell the last 10 min which almost destroyed the whole series for me.

yeah i liked exploring with Mako. I hoped they would have revamped Mako exploration for the better in mass effect 2 but its a shame they scraped it altogether .

Good think is coming back in andromeda and that is one of the main reasons i'm interested in the new ME. Hopefully they will also add more RPG elements

Story wise i am sure it will be great though

I have a feeling Bioware knows they won't be able to squeeze a trilogy into this gen, hell I don't even know if they can squeeze another game in before the XBO/PS4 run their course. Instead I think Mass Effect Andromeda is going to be a giant sandbox Mass Effect experience, and I bet they're attempting something with a more multiplayer much like what Destiny and the Division will be, and instead of timely sequels will milk it with DLC for the next couple years. I think this is going to deliver a completely different experience but one with potential to be great still, just in an entirely different way. Safe to say though games like Destiny and Division typically lack story, so might be a huge letdown in that way. Though, it would be revolutionary for them to deliver that kind of game and maintain strong story elements, that'd be a first. And surely EA doesn't want to miss out on this style of game now that Activision and Ubisoft now have one. Even Rockstar has managed to get microtransaction revenue streas online games like GTA Online to make good money for them.

The 3rd one was so watered down plus the horrible ending, but the first two were amazing I still play them to this day, it really has to push the boundaries the first one did.

I highly doubt it the team that was behind mass effect 2 is not behind Mass effect Andromeda...bioware is a shell of its former self.

Hopefully. Mass Effect 2 was an amazing game, but for some reason, the only thing that has stuck with me is that damn planet probing. So boring!

Mass Effect 2 wasn't that good.

I have to do another playthrough before Andromeda is released just to refresh my memory.

Don't know much about the story for Andromeda, so i could turnout good.

DA:I is good, so i don't see much a let down with this.

Unless it's Sheaperd again...

Nah, it's Bioware, so the gameplay will be mediocre.

"Objectively" I think it's gonna be much better. Question is if it will feel that way as we still remember ME2 with somewhat nostalgia goggles. I thought gameplay felt much better in 3 (and 2 > 1) and that trend is likely to continue. From what I understand there will be more planet exploration which is sweet. Worry about multiplayer and grindy low-quality filler content though. If it's too much of that the game might feel so bogged down it won't be as fun as 2 (then again 2 had planet scanning...).

My hopes are for the gun play of the 2nd and 3rd with the exploration of the first... Only complete. . Skies the limit for my expectations. I want them to take chances.

after DA:i and ME3, i don't know. I would like that, tho

It will be just as bad. just another mediocre cover based shooter with few RPG elements.

I think they will go fully open world this time around since its the trend nowadays.