Daily Challenge #13: Mass Effect

Mass Effect 1

And why is that? Well because firstly I got attached to the characters in the first game a lot, the ones from ME2 couldn't pull that off. From my former team I never wanted to part ever again, I felt like everyone had established a bond and trusted each other despite differences of race, culture and background.
Secondly I prefer a lot of the controls and designs and miss the open-world feeling from ME1. I'll evaluate on that later because there's an explicit question concerning the changes.
And another import thing: I just remember more from the first game than from the second. Feelings, situations, missions, atmosphere.

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus accompanied me on my whole journey, right from the start. Always open for new perspectives, loyal to Shepard and his team however much the future promised to be doomed, an excellent sniper with a friendly voice (the German voice is relatively similar to the original) and always remaining very "correct" and polite.
Let me quote Deviant Artist Meken who expressed the reason for his appeal perfectly:

“He’s like the ideal of the compassionate renegade….He wants to help people, wants to stop the big bad guy and save the galaxy and protect the innocent, and he doesn’t have time for rules and regulations that slow him down.”

Miranda Lawson (ME2)

Aw man, I hate this bitch. She really is one.
From the moment I saw her I knew I wouldn't like her.
The way she dresses infuriates me, the way she talks makes me wanna smack her (especially in the beginning as she gives the player a tutorial), because of her I couldn't save my whole crew the first time since little madam decided she wouldn't be loyal to me anymore and her self-confidence/arrogance drives me insane as well. I don't feel sorry for her, however unpleasant her past may have been, because I have 9 other people in my team whose background stories move and interest me 1000 times more. She never did anything to make me like her and she also belongs to Cerberus/willingly serves the Illusive Man. End of story.

Garrus Vakarian & Urdnot Wrex (ME1)

Those two and Shepard make a perfect trio. Wrex is a battlemaster with Krogan fighting spirit who also knows how to use biotics and still doesn't rush into battle senselessly. Garrus is a top agent and sniper, a very strategic guy with a strong will to survive and a capable technician. With them by my side I always felt safe.

Virmire: Assault (ME1)

Infiltrating and destroying Saren's base
I will never forget this mission. It was so nerve-rackingly exciting while being heartbreaking, emotionally unsettling and moving at the same time.
I'll quote myself with a few visual additions from now on to tell you about the experiences I made during this mission:

[...] I gladly flew to the next location, called Virmire, where Saren and his Geth army were expecting me. But when I landed, the first thing that astonished me the most was the beautiful environment. It looked like a Tropical Island, with endless mass of water. Driving too far into it kills you though, unfortunately.
So with this holiday'ish atmosphere around I went to face the big, bad Turian. A small army of Salarians joined our team to distract the enemy from Shepard's "Team Shadow" that would plant a bomb inside Saren's base.

And that was the part where it got really emotional as well as even more thrilling than before. At first, Wrex was confused about what was the right thing to do. He randomly shot the water with his shotgun which scared me every single time since I first didn't know the cause of the shots and thought that some enemy was arriving. Eventually I had a talk with him and he decided to stand by my side. I was moved.
Then, when the infiltration was imminent, the Salarians declared they were ready to die and that I had to send one of my crew members with them. I knew for sure that I wouldn't see that person again. I had to choose between that one guy, Kaidan and that one gal, Ashley. I never really liked Ash but I didn't want to sacrifice her because of that. But I had to think logically and Kaidan had the skills and the responsibility to set off the bomb and that way Ashley had to go....
The infiltration made me all nervous and frightened of what was to come but it was so much fun to play. With the constant pressure of hurrying and still trying to save everyone and successfully plant the bomb and not dying myself weighed on me. With me were Wrex and Garrus.

So I happened to meet the 'Reaper' and learn a bit more about the whole Galaxy-Conquest.
Then the damn game gave me some hope of saving Ash but on my way to her I had to make a choice. Go back and defend the bomb from being destroyed by the enemy or go save Ashley and the remaining soldiers. I wanted to save her so desperately at that point but I knew that the few people near the bomb couldn't defend it by themselves and then everything would have been for nothing. That moment when I had to apologise to her...it was the worst thing ever and I regretted it. I knew of her family and her values and ambitions in life but I couldn't do anything.

I went back, Saren showed up, we fought, he fell back as the bomb began its countdown and while sitting safe and sound in the Normandy I could see the massive explosions. *sob* I'm sorry, Ash. I'm sorry, Salarians. You won't have died in vain. [...]


- Kami-chan, "Kami's "Played in 2012"

Legion's Loyalty Mission (ME2)

"A House Divided"
The mission's goal is to stop a Reaper virus which has been adapted by Geth heretics and lets the infected fight against organic life. Inside the Heretic Station there are lot of green lines which mustn't be crossed or an alarm will be set off. But there are also rocket turrets that fight the Geth on the station for 10 seconds or so before they self-destruct. After fighting several enemy waves Shepard can make the decision to either destroy the whole station or rewrite the Geth. I went with the first option which is the Renegade one since it seemed safer and more responsible. Now it remains to evacuate the station. After fighting a Geth Prime that blocks the escape route everyone safely returns to the Normandy. The only thing left at that point is to settle a dispute between Legion and Tali in what ever way the player wishes to. And why is this loyalty mission my fave?
Actually, it's generally the same as the other members' missions: run, shoot, take cover. But in this one just the Geth, some of the few enemy species that made me nervous and fear for my life in the game, fought me and made it even more demanding than before. The cramped and icy atmosphere was nice and it was refreshing to have turrets at hand again.

N7 Side mission (ME2):

Anomalous Weather Detected
EDI senses anomalous patterns that are caused by geth activities on the planet Canalus. The whole planet surface is full of thick smog which makes extremely difficult to see. Shepard and his squad have to disable the devices responsible for the weather change. And actually it wouldn't be a big deal, but there's still the smog. It was a a great experience to be kind of defenceless because you couldn't rely on your senses for a change. That becomes especially inconvenient when some Geth turn invisible or send their Destroyer. But that's what made it so much fun. There was a mission with similar circumstances on Tarith where one's field of vision was also limited by thick chlorine fog. When I was sure to be in a enemy-free area and went to look around for items/loot/whatever you call it in ME I often lost sight of my teammates and called for them, only to realize that they couldn't hear me. xD

There are actually two side quests I hated in Mass Effect 2.

1. N7 Side mission:

Hahne-Kedar Facility
On the planet Capek a factory that creates Mech-corrupting VI viruses must be stopped. Fair enough. Unfortunately inside the factory an almost endless series of LOKI Mechs awaits you. They spawn and spawn and spawn and then, when your're almost completely outta ammo, they suddenly stop. I have no idea what's the trigger for that but the whole thing is so tedious. After a while I just wanted to quit and leave'em be.
(But of course I finished it.)

2. N7 Side mission:

Abandoned Mine
Exploring an abandoned Mining Facility on Aequitas turns into another tedious "Neverending-Respawn"-mission. Down there are so many Husks as well as Abominations that it's hard to keep track of them. Endless spawing doesn't make it easier and because they always run around it's difficult to kill them in an efficient way. The objective is to let two bombs explode and destroy the mine that way. But until you get the chance to do that your ammo is already lower than low and your patience about to run out. I had everything but fun on this mission.

Oh, that's a hard one because I usually pick a male character to play despite being a girl but then I end up with the female love interests which I tend to dislike. At these times I'd like to have the option to date a male character. Because then I'd make Garrus mine! That is my general answer. The customized choice of my favourite Love Interest would be...Tali. In ME1 I got off with Liara but only because Tali wasn't available for a romance yet and in ME2 I only got together with Jack because I didn't know I'd see Tali again. (I will go for her in my second playthrough.) She is one of the few members of my old crew and considerate, understanding and clever with a cheerful spirit.

General Choice: Garrus Vakarian

Custom Choice: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

Miranda Lawson

Surprise, surprise! Never could I get myself to be intimate with her, let alone love a woman like that.

Surprisingly I don't have one. Usually I ship everything and everyone with each other but I have to admit in 75% of the games I play I never really care much for romance. Or I just casually go with the canon couple presented to me.
Mass Effect was never a game about love for me. The only thing I see and care for are all the bromances and friendships and even these aren't my main focus. Shepard is just kind of a manwhore that needs some occupation when he's not sacrificing his life for peace in the galaxy. xD I got together with Liara in ME1 because it seemed convenient for my career and to earn myself an achievement. In ME2 Shepard just forgot about Liara and got together with Jack because my only other option was stupid Miranda and that one girl name Kelly of whom I didn't know if she was dateable or not. When Tali showed up I was too scared to dump Jack because I was sure she'd kill me for that and it also was seemed cruel because I knew what she had gone through and how much it took her to trust and open up to another person. But eventually it was only for the achievement once again.
If I were to ship someone it'd be Garrus x somebody but there's no one good enough around so no!

With all these aliens in the game there'd be more than enough possibilities for crack on crackers.
But I'll go with a inorganic crack pairing as I don't want to imagine most of the organic OTPs that'd result from this question.

Legion x Legion

You know, actually it'd even make sense because Legion is just one individual body with the minds of all the Geth individuals around the galaxy. Yeah, they have a complicated system, I don't even know if I said that right just now. Anyway, as much as this is selfcest, which is always crack, it's also a pretty abstract OTP which no one wants to seriously think about because it's so intricate and surreal. I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Saren Arterius

He is one of the few villains in Mass Effect that remains likeable because he's not almighty and seems to still be kind of down-to-earth. Of course he let's himself be used which is not so great and that's also why he doesn't survive. But he looked cool, was very intelligent and good at scheming, strong and knew how to fool the Citadel Council and show them his authority in a non-violent way that made it hard to track him down or punish him. And he was Turian. Turians are awesome!

And here comes the next question that is more difficult than it should be. Either Turians or Drell. Latter are more reptile-like and have that cool voice that can make vocal sounds outside of the human range. And they are a rare species or at least not many drell are known in the games. And although I'm totally into reptiles I have to go with the Turians.
I can't pinpoint why they look so wonderful...there's something about that body form, these face proportions...something that makes them elegant yet kick-ass. Well, one could've guess this outcome since a lot of my faves on this list are Turians, no?

Holy muffins, I've got no clue about weapons. I just use what I get, what seems best in a certain situation. I don't remember what I used though. Especially when there are so many weapons in the games. What I do know is that the Shotgun (don't ask me for the type) was my second-most used weapon in ME1 because it was so effective which wasn't the case in ME2.
In the second game one of the Heavy Pistols became my shotgun from ME1.
I also remember that I picked up a Sniper Rifle on the Collector's ship in Mass Effect 2 and that it was pretty neat since it killed almost every enemy with one shot. Yep, that's all the significant information on the weapons in Mass Effect that I could find in my head. Oh, and about the general design.
I heard people call dem weapons ugly and uncool. I don't think so. I like that they look a bit different from the real-life weapons, ME is sci-fi stuff after all. At least they dont brazenly copy existing designs. (Or maybe they do. I don't know much about weapons after all.)

Actually I should happily choose the female Shepard because I am female but somehow I'm drawn to play as a guy in games. It's been like this since Pokemon Crystal (because the girls always had the more stupid design) and it seems to continue. Like I already mentioned in 09, FemShep would be advantageous in order to date Garrus or Thane but in the end I just don't like playing as a woman. That way I have more fun looking at my male Shepard's body in his fancy uniform haha. Though that wasn't my motivation. So yeah, Male Shepard.

Name: Kami Shepard
Affectionate Nicknames: Russian war prisoner, Sheppy, "Da Man"
Class: Soldier
Earthborn/Sole Survivor:

Born on Earth, never knew his parents.
A child of the streets, surviving in the hidden underbelly of the megatropolises of humanity's homeworld.
Joined the Alliance military when coming out of age. Volunteered for an expedition to Akuze: Found no survivors on the surface.
At nightfall, the thresher maws struck, fellow soldiers dragged down to a gruesome death.
Fifty marines died on Akuze; he was the only one to make it back to the landing zone alive.

KC taking over Sheppy's life:

Became a spectre and totally made use of the title. Got his ship, the Normandy. Got to know about the Reapers. Decided to chase after Saren. Hated the Council. Yearned for some good friends. Kaidan didn't bond with him as much as he had hoped. Grew attached to Garrus and Wrex. Fought Matriarch Benezia on a snowy mountain in Noveria. Saved the rachni Queen. Got new member Liara. Fought and murdered the Thorian on Feros. Fooled around with cyber-monkeys. Respawned after thresher maw attack (ohh, the irony). Destroyed Saren's base. Had an extreme rush of blood to the head. Lost a precious team member. Mourned. Had some avatar'esque sex with Liara which was more like a psychological fusion or..something..like that? Was appointed as "The Chosen One". Fought Saren. Let the the Council die. Went down the path of the Paragon.

Got attacked by the Collectors. Was revived after two years in a coma. Got a slightly slimmer face. Was suddenly part of Cerberus, complete with 1 stupid bitch and 1 awkward, overly-serious dude as members and 1 arrogant, delusional leader. Got a new Normandy. Missed his old crew more than anything in this world. Discovered Joker and Dr. Chakwas still being with him. Got a brandy assignment. Recruited new team members. Reunited with Garrus. Feelings of indescribable joy. Met Kaidan and was disappointed by him. Got to know how the galaxy had changed over 2 years. Was led into an obvious trap on the Collector's ship. Spent way too much time escaping the ship. Hated on the Illusive Man. Reunited with Tali. More joy. Went to do gain the crew's loyalty.
[To be continued||edited after a second playthrough.]

Alliance

What a Paragon answer of me. But I really began to hate Cerberus in ME2. In the first game they were only faintly on my radar.
I just remember destroying some of their bases. And then The Illusive Man and his people showed up in the second game. Both 'systems' represent the human race. But Cerberus just precedes in a far too ruthless and egoistical way. Humans are treated like the new almighty race that stand above all other species. They are willing to sacrifice everything necessary to let humandkind rise to the top. The Alliance is more like a military, but they are negotiating and cooperating with the other species and just want to make sure that humans receive equal treatment. Cerberus might have saved Sheppy's life and built a new Normandy but in the end he was mainly forced to serve under the Illusive Man and everything turned out even worse.

I definitely disapprove of it. Lemme quote ME Wiki to explain the virus to you:

"The genophage's modus operandi is not to reduce the fertility of krogan females, but rather the probability of viable pregnancies: many krogan die in stillbirth, with most fetuses never even reaching this stage of development. Moreover, every cell in each krogan is infected, to prevent the use of gene therapy to counteract it. Though the genophage was not designed as a "sterility plague", the combination of a low frequency of viable pregnancies with the krogan proclivity to violence and indifference about focused breeding leaves the krogan a dying race, and soon to be extinct."

It's a typical ethical issue and I know that the krogans are a race that are almost impossible to stop, especially when they are in such large numbers but the fact that the genophage is inheritable and extincts them lets the Turians and Salarians become guilty of genocide and doesn't make them one jot better than the Krogans in the Rachni War.
I find myself unable to give a decisive judgment in this matter because there were some crucial motives on the Salarians' and Turians' sides but nevertheless I will always be against that gruesome weapon of mass destruction. Phew, this really is a serious matter. I don't want to elaborate on it too much since this list is already completely spammed with my ramblings.

Opinions?
Well, the fact that the Quarians built the Geth and didn't calculate that they could develop an own consciousness was rather naive and careless. As the most technically outstanding organic species in the galaxy they should have anticipated something like this to happen. But they didn't do it on purpose.
After losing their homeworld to the rebelling Geth the Citadel denied the Quarian escape fleet their help and banned the Quarians from the Citadel embassy since they had exposed a great danger to the galaxy. But the Council has always been a bunch incapable, ignorant idiots.
So actually the Geth aren't really to blame, except for the Heretics that decided to serve under the Reapers because they saw it as an opportunity to attain a mega-structure that could house every existing Geth system.
But really? I'm not that kind of person that really blames the Quarians. These events lie in the past. No reason to discriminate against their race in the present. Mistakes happen. Nothing to do about it, that's life. The only problem might be the peaceful coexistence of Geth and Quarians. I'd take time and a lot of pride, comprehension, patience and a strong will.
But nothing is impossible.
So...um...I'm not taking any species' side but hope they will be able to move on from their horrible past someday.

I cannot really say that I prefer one. Usually my first intention is to go with the Paragon option but there are certain moments when the Renegade decision appears to be much more reasonable. So that's yet another difficult question. Because I'm not a very cruel person at heart I'll say Paragon now because that is also how my Mass Effect Playthroughs always turned out without me aiming for it. I guess it's pretty hard to always be a Renegade. Mainly because in ME2 that'd mean to be on Cerberus' side and just go around and kill, kill, kill even if it isn't necessary.

Uncharted Worlds (ME1 OST)

by Jack Wall
The song when you open the galaxy map. First one might think it's annoying but after a while it gave me a feeling of safety and relaxation. Above all it reminded me of my journeys to undiscovered planets far far away...and it still has the same effect on me.

They should have kept so much!!!

1. The upgrade system

In ME2 I had no idea which weapon and armor did what and in how far it was better. The font was too small so that I could barely read the non-informative description. Mass Effect 1 had this clear register for every piece of equipment that let you compare their abilities. It made use of the manual upgrade but that was much better even if it took longer. In ME2 I just used what I got since I didn't know anything about it in the first place.

2. The Mini-Map/The Radar

In ME1 that precious little blue circle in the lower right corner showed Shepard his and his allies' whereabouts as well as the enemies, anomalies and the Mako. In ME2 the radar served no purpose at all. I never used it even once in the whole game and when I actually could have needed it, it proved how useless it was by not showing me anything. Why, Bioware, why?

3. The Planet Exploring

That's probably the biggest disappointment for me. In the first game one could land on certain planets and explore them with your infantry fighting vehicle (entitled 'M35 Mako'). The flora and fauna as well as the topography, weather conditions and air toxicity varied from surface to surface. Every place let you make new experiences. And despite the few anomalies and resources that were shown on the map you could find many more by searching the whole planet. Sometimes one would find bases of space pirates or Cerberus or the Alliance or something else mysterious and sometimes one just could enjoy the beautiful environment and annoy some animals. Of course that was time-consuming but if you didn't want to explore you didn't have to after all. It was the player's choice. In ME2 planet exploration was reduced to scanning the planets and sending out probes to gather natural resources. At times anomalies found by EDI will trigger side quests but it's not the same. Give me back my open-world, Bioware!

Drowning in the wild seas of Virmire (ME1)

The thing that shocked me most in this situation was my own stupidity (although I should be aware of it by now).
As already mentioned before I was completely astonished by the beautiful Virmire Tropical Islands. The water mass that surrounded Mako and me looked so wonderful and inviting so I imagined how it would feel to drive through the water.
So Kami-chan confidently decided to step on the gas without second thought and immediately drowned. But I was quite lucky under the circumstances because I had reflexively saved one minute before so nothing much was lost except my determination to approach the waves.

Leaving Ashley behind (ME1)

Mhm, okay. I already talked about this in 05, no?
I was surprised that I was so sad because I wasn't too fond of Ashley but when it mattered I knew that we were one team, that she was my strongest soldier, had saved my life so often and that deep down in my heart I cared for her after all. And yes, it broke my heart. Being unable to help her after I had been given a chance. Turning around to let her die...and she even told me it was alright over the walkie-talkie. What a brave and heroic trooper you were, Ash. Nobody will ever forget your sacrifice!

I'm afraid I never got the chance to play one of the DLCs. I bet they are all fabulous! I even have some Special Content on my second ME1 Disc but right now my Gold Membership has expired...So I won't be able to find out about the downloadable or special content any time soon.
Thank you, Mircosoft, for being so overpriced! D:

Making individual choices that will create your very own story and customizing your character

Best thing ever, really! The fighting is also indispensable but all the conversations really create a lot of the unique atmosphere. Also how almost every choice you make has an impulse on the course of the story and makes your gaming experience so special because it will never be exactly the same again. That's so good about RPGs.

Actually there's nothing about the game's general features that I dislike in particular. Hmmm...the only thing that bothers me that women can have relationships with male and female individuals and men can only go for women. (Male same-sex relationships are only introduced in the last game) Isn't that unfair? D: And then, in ME3, I heard you can't even date Garrus or other species but only stinkin' humans. I cannot follow that line of thought, seriously!

- The Reapers being destroyed

although I found that so completely unlikely form the first moment they showed their true abilities. They are almost perfect and weapons can barely harm them...Well, Sheppy will come up with something.

- Meeting more friends and family members of my crew.

No wait, I bet that'd make them easy targets. Well then only if they are definitely surviving!

- An accessible Citadel like in ME1

Because it had always felt a lot like home and that feeling was lost in the 1st sequel so maybe now they could reintroduce that?

- Going to Earth and Mars

Just because.

- All the species united against the Reapers (and Heretics?)

To usher in a new era of peace, unity and harmony (although that's way to optimistic and unrealistic)

- Shepard killing the Illusive Man

Because from my constant point of view he deserves it.
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Okay, actually, if I'm honest, I don't even care. The game should just throw everything it's got at me and I'll accept it somehow.
That's what the series has always done and I could always cope with it till now.

I didn't spoil the game for me of course and don't know what happens. I just heard that the ending is apparently one of the worst ones ever. Still I shall find out by myself. But I'll have to be a bit more patient since the game is still way too expensive so that poor student-layabouts like me cannot afford it. My expectations aka predictions aka guesses are...
that there probably won't be a true Happy End but I bet the galaxy will be saved from the Reapers. There will be (heart-breaking) sacrifices like in every game because they want to mess with the gamers' feels a bit more, dese sadists. And maybe Sheppy dies. Just a vague assumption. Well, Garrus better doesn't die or I'll go on a rampage....
Or you'll get a crack/parody ending choice á la Silent Hill. Involving Sheppy, dogs and rainbows. Or there will be another crack pairing...Right, that'll be all.
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Challenge accepted and done. Banzai and thank you if you read through until the end because I know it was a lot of text but wasn't it worth it? (That shall remain a rhetorical question.)