Mass Effect, to me, is the best video game experience that is available out there. I play all 3 in succession and that's how it should be reviewed or played, it's one huge video game. of course I am going to actually rank all 3 not review them since all 3 are 10/10 games.
3rd Place: Mass Effect 3
I put Mass Effect 3 in 3rd and last place and that's fucking hard. Mass Effect 3 is amazing, the game is the most epic of all, story-wise, with the reapers attacking the galaxies. Story missions are also some of the best, going to the Quarians planet? awesome, the Turians planet, the Salarians planets, it has the best story missions of the trilogy and the most epic ones, least filler as well. So why is it in last place? well, the game feels less...personal, less of an "adventure" and more of a 'everything is ending', it is epic yes but the melodramatic theme, the finality, and how Shepard is mentally fucked doesn't resonate with me. The second issue is the companions, I don't love James, EDI is badass but Ashley/Kaiden are meh and their "betrayal" is annoying. The Prothean Javik as a DLC is nice. Still overall the companions are not as good as previous games. Then there is the ending which sucks, all 3 different endings sucks. I wanted Shepard to lead the allies he/she gathered and destroy the reapers without self sacrificing or making reapers controlled or worse making all organic and synthetic lives merge. The ending was just stupid especially with the kid being the reapers master. The gameplay is very good, having all weapons available to all classes is an excellent choice. On insanity the game is very hard with certain missions/sections being horrible like being stuck in a small room with several prime geth or having to kill a reaper with a laser pointing gun thing. I didn't like the side-quests and Journal it felt shallow and planet scanning is not that fun especially without minerals being mined. Overall ME3 is excellent but the ending and the mid companions take it down a notch.
2nd Place: Mass Effect 1
In second place it's Mass Effect 1. The first in the series. Mass Effect 1 has the best story, and the some of the most epic moments. It's very well paced with great characters. One thing ME1 has it the exploration and feel of being in a "space exploring" game, yes the planets were barren and repetitive but it was still fun driving around different looking planets with the shit Mako. Becoming a Specter was special and felt epic. The story missions were great, Noveria is one of the best sections/missions in the trilogy. I also love Feros and Virmire. The ending is also amazing. Gameplay is the worst in the series, shooting and biotics are not as smooth as the sequels. On Insanity the game is hard but not insanely hard (haha). Overall ME1 has the best story and some of the more epic moments like saving the council. It's also the only game to lets us feel like we are in a space exploration game. Also, ME1 has the best version of the Citadel.
1st Place: Mass Effect 2
I used to think ME2 is by FAR the best one but now I think ME1 is actually close to it but ME2 is still the best in the trilogy. The game has the best characters in the series, so many amazing companions, Legion, Tali, Garrus, Kasumi, Legion, Zaeed, Mordin, Grunt...they are all great. Even though the story is "filler" the actual missions like Horizon and the Collector's ship and the last mission are amazing, especially when we get to pick which companion to be leader and which to do certain assignment like who to hold the door etc. Getting the companions is also the most fun since every companion has a recruitment mission and loyalty mission. Doing Kasumi's loyalty mission is fucking amazing, one of the best designed missions in the trilogy. The gameplay is smooth, using heavy weapons is fun, the game is very hard on insanity but not stupid way. The game has an "adventure" feel to it, collecting all the characters and doing their loyalty missions before going to the Omega 4 relay feels o good. Working for the 'enemy' Cerberus is also unique. Overall ME2 is the best in the trilogy and one of the best games ever made.
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