But not for the reasons that many state. I rarely play games for the graphics. I find that silly. If it has good graphics, that's great. If it does not, then that's just fine. But if its graphics are sub-par its gameplay had better be astounding or there really isn't much to recommend the game, don't you think?
I think the real problem was the hype. I'll admit, I've been a rabid BioWare fan ever since KOTOR. Frankly I expected near-godliness out of Mass Effect. And obviously it wasn't godly. Look, it's a good RPG and all, has a decent storyline and has believeable and interesting characters, but in the end, it just doesn't have the same visceral kick as some of the older ****cs. I still play Baldur's Gate II sometimes. But I don't see playing Mass Effect more than two or three times. What's the problem? I think the game doesn't spend enough time on what makes or breaks an RPG: the characters.
The best part of Baldur's Gate II, imho, is that each area you visit is so rich. It's filled to the brim with details and characters, and despite the ancient 90's era graphics it was engrossing in a way that really is difficult to explain. Mass Effect spent way too much time trying to be all over the place and ended up only doleing out tiny dollups of what should've been its main course. The reviewers were right. The "go anywhere in the galaxy" thing was not well implemented. The planets felt generic and uninteresting, and although I hung in there, by the time I reached about 4/5 of the game, I was so sick of it that I just whole-sale ignored the planets and went straight for the main storyline. I just stopped caring. At least each sidequest in Baldur's Gate II had its own personality (remember Trademeet? Or Firkragg? Or best of all, those "hidden" side quests like Kangaxx?).
The parts that worked, worked well. I just wish there was more of it. If there hadn't been the silly planet thing, and they just had the important planets, they could've increased the depth of roleplaying for those locations. Perhaps expanded the Citadel so that you could see more of it. Right now, it feels tiny, like a KOTOR map. The Citadel's supposed to be HUGE.
And, while the game works really hard to get you to like your team-mates, you have to work really hard to do it. You can only talk to them when you're in the Normandy ... if you do it in the open all you get are generic responses. They only banter on loading areas like the long elevator rides ... they don't normally banter between each other in the course of the game (anyone remember the banter between teammates in Baldur's Gate II? Especially if you have the likes of Korgan and Aerie ... it can get really interesting). I especially missed the catfights in Baldur's Gate II when you brought along both love interests, it was interesting and sometimes amusing to watch. No such thing in Mass Effect.
In the end, it seemed like Mass Effect was more shooter than it was RPG ... more's the pity. While I love shooters (if you look at my games you'll notice that most of my library are shooters), I bought this game because it was, first and foremost, an RPG. When I judge and RPG I judge it by a very different standard than I would a shooter. And to me, as an RPG, Mass Effect failed.
I tried really, really hard to like Mass Effect too. I just couldn't get into the game, there were so many distractions, so many unnecessary parts, that it detracted from the whole. You don't need to log every little thing in the Codex, thank you very much. That's not neccessary. What I WOULD like is a better implementation of the journal. Perhaps if I select a mission in the journal, something on the galaxy map could tell me where I should go? That would be nice. Maybe if I'm miles and miles from the Normany, you could give me a handy button to return to the ship? That was in KOTOR damn it, why isn't it in Mass Effect?
It just seems to me that every day, RPGs are taking one step forward, and ten steps back. Way back in the days of Baldur's Gate II, or even KOTOR, it was all about the story and characters because the graphics just weren't there, and they had to concentrate their time and effort on something. Now, it's all about the graphics. In the worst insult to me, Mass Effect's graphics aren't even all that special, when compared to the likes of Gears of War. So really, what's to recommend about this game? I really feel sorry for the kids who pick this up and actually think that it's the best that RPGs have to offer.
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