Support NeoGAF

[ToyMachine228]

Finally picked up Mass Effect and I have to say it's addicting. Managing your Squads talents and gear is time consuming enough. And then oh yeah...You have to play the game:lol I like the combat system so far. It gives you enough action, but you can slow things down and issue commands almost in a turn-based way if you choose. It's a good balance. About 3.5 hours in.

 

[Captain Glanton]

Finally picked up Mass Effect and I have to say it's addicting. Managing your Squads talents and gear is time consuming enough. And then oh yeah...You have to play the game:lol I like the combat system so far. It gives you enough action, but you can slow things down and issue commands almost in a turn-based way if you choose. It's a good balance. About 3.5 hours in.

When you get the chance to choose which planet you want to go to next don't choose the cold one first jesus christ fly around and pick up some exp. points on random worlds or something.

 

[AniHawk]

When you get the chance to choose which planet you want to go to next don't choose the cold one first jesus christ fly around and pick up some exp. points on random worlds or something.

I chose that one first for some reason and kicked a lot of ass.

I was level 12 or something ridiculously high before I left the Citadel though.

 

[Revengeance]

Just pause the game with the RB and then aim whereever you want.

Holy shit I'm an idiot. I knew about RB, but never thought to use it this way. The final fight might have been much easier if I had figured it out.

 

[Ventrue]

You know, you can turn down the difficultly at any point in the options menu.

 

[firehawk12]

Holy shit I'm an idiot. I knew about RB, but never thought to use it this way. The final fight might have been much easier if I had figured it out.

Yeah, it's the only way to target those bastards that keep jumping around all over the place.

 

[Solo]

Alrighty, so I did 2 things last night.

First, I completed the Rogue VI mission, and was pleasantly surprised to get a specialized class out of it. I chose Shock Trooper.

Then I visited and completed Virmire. Oh. My. Lord. Easily the best part of the game so far, and that is saying a lot. I

Spoiler

killed Wrex and let Kaiden die

. The whole level was incredible, the way the music kept building up, all the dramatic stuff, and the Sovereign and Saren encounters. Just so awesome.

Ill probably beat the game tonight, cant wait!

 

[Vyse The Legend]

Phew, finally got all the ally achievements (took four complete runthroughs). Never again will I have to play most of the side quests. Thank God. Ugh.

Anyway, 4 achievements to go: Warp, Hacking, Dampening and Singularity.

 

[Kadey]

After leaving the citadel you can do the planets in any order right? I'm getting my behind handed to me during the geth shock trooper blockade in Noveria.

 

[JeStaH]

After leaving the citadel you can do the planets in any order right? I'm getting my behind handed to me during the geth shock trooper blockade in Noveria.

Yes you can do them in any order. Noveria is the toughest out of first three main plot planets ( Feros, Artemis Tau, Noveria ) . I would do either Feros or Artemis Tau first to level up a little bit before tackling Noveria.

 

[hooijdonk17]

Just finished the Citadel.. After all the talk about this game I was expecting more. This is KOTOR with a better UI and fresh story. Even the graphics are not really all that mind blowing IMO, looks very much like KOTOR 2 if my memory does not fail me. Yes, higher poly count and better textures, but it's not THAT different.

As for graphics settings - do you use the film grain and motion blur? They were on as default and I left them be. Without them, the game looks even more like KOTOR..

 

[MMaRsu]

Just finished the Citadel.. After all the talk about this game I was expecting more. This is KOTOR with a better UI and fresh story. Even the graphics are not really all that mind blowing IMO, looks very much like KOTOR 2 if my memory does not fail me. Yes, higher poly count and better textures, but it's not THAT different.

As for graphics settings - do you use the film grain and motion blur? They were on as default and I left them be. Without them, the game looks even more like KOTOR..

WHAT?

vs

:lol :lol

 

[Son of Godzilla]

I don't think thats Kotor 2, but it's still a ridiculous thing to say and it's stupid to criticize the game solely from how the Citadel looks.

 

[Hunahan]

Phew, finally got all the ally achievements (took four complete runthroughs). Never again will I have to play most of the side quests. Thank God. Ugh.

Anyway, 4 achievements to go: Warp, Hacking, Dampening and Singularity.

Damn, congrats man. I've been trying to decide if I'm even going to try for those.

I seriously think this game might be nominated for my "worst achievements ever" award. I have no idea what they were thinking, unless they actually wanted people to dislike their game. :lol

 

[Mrbob]

Worst achievements ever?

I would disagree sir! I think they are one of the best uses of achievements overall by giving you bonuses.

Thankfully I just got the quarian achievement on Virmire so it is possible to get two ally achievements in one game.

 

[Hunahan]

Worst achievements ever?

I would disagree sir! I think they are one of the best uses of achievements overall by giving you bonuses.

Thankfully I just got the quarian achievement on Virmire so it is possible to get two ally achievements in one game.

wait...
....WHAT?!?!?!

uhhh.....agree to disagree I guess.

 

[Confidence Man]

I'm sure their intention wasn't for people to blast through the game four times back to back just to get all the achievements as quickly as possible.

 

[npm0925]

The last 2 or 3 hours in this game are the best I've played in a game. Nonstop action, plot twists galore, great graphics, and awesome music all with zero texture pop-in and no slowdown.

 

[JayDubya]

I'm very happy with this game, all in all.

The Prologue chapter is solid, the Citadel chapter teaches you a lot about the setting and alien cultures, the three story planets are nice and varied in terms of content, Virmire is awesome, and the finale is made of WIN.

Plus, there's the ending credits song, which is holy shit fuck awesome wintacular.

Oh, and, just about to get Insanity achievement.

2 ally achievements left (the easy ones, though - Ash and Kaidan), a bunch of Engineer and Adept skills to spam, and Renegade 75%.

 

[arhra]

The only quibble i'd have with the achievements is that Completionist and the Ally achievements are set a little too high - you really have to do almost every sidequest in the game to get them (well, less so for Completionist, but definitely for Asari Ally...), and you have to play through the game in a very specific way for some of them (skip everything possible before going to Artemis Tau, if you want Asari Ally) and it wouldn't have detracted from them if they were made a little easier to get.

Other than that, the achievement implementation is amazing. The fact that they actually unlock useful bonuses, so there's actually a reason to get them, is something that's far too rare for my liking.

 

[npm0925]

1) Does the framerate ever settle down? Because it's been at least two hours since I saw smooth animations. I usually don't bitch about such things, but two hours of play [tonight, that's how I know how long it's been] is a long time to go without smooth play.

Frame rate is disappointing until you get to Ilos, at which point it becomes -- and remains until game's end -- smooth as butter. Which is strange because the graphics are by far the game's best at that point.

 

[JayDubya]

Garrus and Wrex's Ally Achievements require you to to take out Fist, do all three story planets, knock out all the Citadel quests, hit Virmire, and then just do about a third of the sidequests. This can be fast if you just buzz right through bad guys and beeline the Mako for quest locations.

Tali and Liara's harder. Liara requires that you do virtually every side quest because of when you get her. Tali's a lot more forgiving - well, if you bring her to Liara's Dig, which is apparently worth far more than it should be.

Ash and Kaidan are stupid easy in theory, but in practice, I didn't have enough to get Soldier Ally when I thought for sure I would in my first playthrough. Still, it shouldn't require very much of the side planet questing if you're diligent in your Citadel questing. And besides, there are some very quick, easy planetary side quests.

 

[Tieno]

Any way to find out how much you're able to carry?

 

[PedroLumpy]

The achievements are the best ones ever, since they actually do something useful. I think I realized normal achievements suck balls when I collected 30 cog tags and got nothing. These achievements are a refreshing change, although those ally achievements are still broken, but I can deal with that.

 

[Captain Glanton]

After leaving the citadel you can do the planets in any order right? I'm getting my behind handed to me during the geth shock trooper blockade in Noveria.

I did Noveria first, and I hadn't leveled up very much at all at the Citadel. It's hard, and frankly the game stopped being very good/fun for a while, but it can be done, and you have to remind yourself of all the ass you're going to kick because you'll be 'overleveled' for the other two opening planets.

 

[Big-E]

The achievements are good and bad. Good in that they give you something of value in the game but bad in that some of them require a stupid amount of stuff to do. They fix the ally achievements and it will be the best use yet I think.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

I hate the ally achievements. I like to switch my team a lot to see different reactions and dialogs while playing, also sometimes I just like to go on a mission and only bash the enemys with pure weapon force while sometimes I like to use some Biotic and Tech skills.

 

[qirex99]

dumb questions here gents.

Im level 26 vangaurd.

I have two squadmates w/ 2nd level first aid.

1) How do I use THEIR healing power on the whole squad?

2) As a vangaurd i have low tech skills, but my mates have higher tech skills.

How can I make THEM open/hack sec terminals I c ant open? Seems like the entire ice base I could only open crates...

yeah, great game btw.

Interesting that the grfx smooth out as you get further.

If so, its really too bad they didnt optimize the rest of the game. OTOH, given that they wanted to make their launch window - great idea to optimize the END of teh game - not teh beginning.

Im on virmire now, but Im gonna reload an older save and do more side-quests.

i didnt realize the game was almost over...

 

[Walshicus]

The achievements are good and bad. Good in that they give you something of value in the game but bad in that some of them require a stupid amount of stuff to do. They fix the ally achievements and it will be the best use yet I think.

Well they're designed to allow you to get them all through playing the game on the highest difficulty setting available. Three runs for the ally achievements and three runs for the difficulty achievements. The rest can be done in one go.

I doubt you're expected to play the game three times in a row either...

 

[Big-E]

Well they're designed to allow you to get them all through playing the game on the highest difficulty setting available. Three runs for the ally achievements and three runs for the difficulty achievements. The rest can be done in one go.

I doubt you're expected to play the game three times in a row either...

Its not just simply beating the game three times in a row, its that you have to do a majority of the sidequests as well.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

dumb questions here gents.

Im level 26 vangaurd.

I have two squadmates w/ 2nd level first aid.

1) How do I use THEIR healing power on the whole squad?

2) As a vangaurd i have low tech skills, but my mates have higher tech skills.

How can I make THEM open/hack sec terminals I c ant open? Seems like the entire ice base I could only open crates...

yeah, great game btw.

Interesting that the grfx smooth out as you get further.

If so, its really too bad they didnt optimize the rest of the game. OTOH, given that they wanted to make their launch window - great idea to optimize the END of teh game - not teh beginning.

Im on virmire now, but Im gonna reload an older save and do more side-quests.

i didnt realize the game was almost over...

they need to have a high enough decryption skill (there is low, average and high encryption)

 

[arhra]

I have two squadmates w/ 2nd level first aid.

1) How do I use THEIR healing power on the whole squad?

2) As a vangaurd i have low tech skills, but my mates have higher tech skills.

How can I make THEM open/hack sec terminals I c ant open? Seems like the entire ice base I could only open crates...

1) First Aid scores (or rather, amount healed) are combined from all active party members when you heal.

2) It uses the highest electronics/decryption score in your active party to determine what you can open, you don't have to do anything special to get it to use other party members.

 

[Big-E]

they need to have a high enough decryption skill (there is low, average and high encryption)

Electronics is also needed to open somethings .

 

[Revengeance]

2) It uses the highest electronics/decryption score in your active party to determine what you can open, you don't have to do anything special to get it to use other party members.

Because I played as a soldier, I immediately boosted Tali's electronics/decryption skills, and had her in my party the whole game just for crate opening. Of course, I didn't get the Quarian Ally achievement

 

[Solo]

Frame rate is disappointing until you get to Ilos, at which point it becomes -- and remains until game's end -- smooth as butter. Which is strange because the graphics are by far the game's best at that point.

Presumably it was the last area of the game they designed, so by then they were much better at getting the most out the engine, and efficiently too.

 

[Shinjitsu]

Presumably it was the last area of the game they designed, so by then they were much better at getting the most out the engine, and efficiently too.

Bodes well for Mass Effect 2!

 

[Hunahan]

Its not just simply beating the game three times in a row, its that you have to do a majority of the sidequests as well.

Its not just simply doing the majority of the sidequests as well, it's the fact that the majority of sidequests aren't really worth doing.

 

[dk_]

Spoiler

Wrex is dead.

Is he important/irreplaceable?

 

[Big-E]

Its not just simply doing the majority of the sidequests as well, it's the fact that the majority of sidequests aren't really worth doing.

That is what I was trying to imply. Once I hit level 60 I think I am going to be done with the game.

 

[Ventrue]

I don't think thats Kotor 2, but it's still a ridiculous thing to say and it's stupid to criticize the game solely from how the Citadel looks.

That is indeed KOTOR 2.

 

[Zen]

When you get the chance to choose which planet you want to go to next don't choose the cold one first jesus christ fly around and pick up some exp. points on random worlds or something.

I went to that one first as an Infiltrator and the fight was awesome. I died maybe 6 times and pulled through by using strategy and timing. What were you an Adept? That would make sense. I was an Infiltrator.

 

[Captain Glanton]

I went to that one first as an Infiltrator and the fight was awesome. I died maybe 6 times and pulled through by using strategy and timing. What were you an Adept? That would make sense. I was an Infiltrator.

I was a Vanguard, actually. I didn't help myself by leaving the Citadel pretty quickly, and perhaps putting too many exp. points into my Pistol. But I was getting raped by those Force attacks in the boss fight. Nearly half the time, I was getting about two shots off, then knocked down by a Throw and then shot to death before I regained control. I didn't do too badly when I could get 'into' the fight, but there were so many times when I felt like I was dead before I could even start playing.

I didn't like the game by the end of that planet, but now I'm past it and I think the combat has gotten markedly easier.

 

[MirageDwarf]

Any way to find out how much you're able to carry?

There is 150 items limit. Game will warn you as you approach that limit.

I was in middle of quest and only option I had was to dismantle unwanted items into omni-tool. You have to select each one manually and convert it. It's pain. So if you know which items u don't want either sell them or dismantle them time to time.

 

[MaizeRage25]

Because I played as a soldier, I immediately boosted Tali's electronics/decryption skills, and had her in my party the whole game just for crate opening. Of course, I didn't get the Quarian Ally achievement

I had her and Wrex the whole game, and only got the Krogan achievement. Not sure what I did wrong either.

 

[Ventrue]

I had her and Wrex the whole game, and only got the Krogan achievement. Not sure what I did wrong either.

The actual quest to get Tali (and then the quest to get Liara) count for a lot in terms of completion percentage, apparently. You have to do several sidequests more to make up the difference.

 

[op_ivy]

can someone spoil "the fan" side quest for me from the citadel? i signed an autograph and took a pic with him, but i never saw past that. kept expecting him to turn both of those against me as evidence somehow... also, while i'm thinking about it, what about the signal or whatever from the hacked slot machine?

 

[Solo]

Theres nothing to spoil, really. That quest was a stinker. I finished it, but it ended up with me putting a gun to the fan's head and him running away.

 

[Uncle]

can someone spoil "the fan" side quest for me from the citadel? i signed an autograph and took a pic with him, but i never saw past that. kept expecting him to turn both of those against me as evidence somehow... also, while i'm thinking about it, what about the signal or whatever from the hacked slot machine?

The fan will appear at the same place every once in a while. Go to the persidium and from there walk to the wards. IIRC, the signal tracking will continue in the tunnel between the locations.

 

[sixteen-bit]

can someone spoil "the fan" side quest for me from the citadel? i signed an autograph and took a pic with him, but i never saw past that. kept expecting him to turn both of those against me as evidence somehow... also, while i'm thinking about it, what about the signal or whatever from the hacked slot machine?

The Fan:

Spoiler

He wants to join you as a Spectre and you talk him out of it.

Signal Tracking:

Spoiler

An AI construct is funneling the funds so he can get installed into a spaceship, leave the Citatel, and possibly join the Geth

 

[Ventrue]

also, while i'm thinking about it, what about the signal or whatever from the hacked slot machine?

Journal tells you where it is coming from.