Mass Effect: too short
 

I thought I'd never say this about a RPG, but Mass Effect has turned out to be quite short! Coming from an AG background, I have basically stuck to the main missions, to keep the storyline flowing. I am also finding little replay value along this line, since the game does not change that much playing a different class or with different morals (as far as I'm concerned).

So, my question is: any "assignment" story that's worth exploring? By this I mean the ones that take you to other systems, departing from the main missions. It seems to me most are of the simple kind (explore, reach base, kill baddies, get item), but it would be nice to know if some have interesting stories to them. (I think the Bring down the Sky expansion is OK, this one I'll also check.)

I couldn't agree more. Whereas KoToR was huge, the player traveling to multiple planets, Mass Effect ended after the player had gone to two or three planets. I couldn't believe it was ending when it did.

Generally speaking, the "assignment" missions aren't worth bothering with IMO. It sounds like you've already done a few, and what you've seen is pretty much what you get with every one.

RPG's are not designed to just follow the main plot. Half the point of the game is the exploration and side missions.

The side missions are indeed pretty samey, but I couldn't imagine not doing them. Repetitive? Yeah a little, but I've yet to play an RPG that isn't.

Besides, driving the MAKO is fun, even if it made me feel like the universe's worst driver. :D

What threw me about the side missions are how hard some of them are early on. Because so many are available to you almost right away, I expected them to be fairly manageable at my current (at the time) strength. But after having my butt handed to me a bunch of times, I realized that was going nowhere fast. So I went back later and romped.

The important thing to remember in rpgs like Mass Effect is that you're supposed to do the sidequest or sidemissions.

Over on the Mass Effect Forums (on the bioware boards) word is that you can find lot of interesting sidequests on the citadel including one that deals with geneteic engineering (written by patrick weekes...and approved by his wife...)

Trivia bonus: Patrick works at Bioware and his is wife is his boss... -ehm- at Bioware, I mean...

Thanks for the replies. I know RPGers like sidequests. But I, an AGer at heart, tend to avoid them, unless their stories are interesting. What I meant is, I usually fing RPGs very long, even when sticking to the main quest. Not ME (unfortunately, since the story was great and the action was fun).

Plus, there is contradiction in the game: it's all "hurry, we have to save the Galaxy now!", but it turns out you can undertake private explorations at your leisure at any given time... but at the very end, which is when you could in principle relax from the main mission! (Of course, the option is to restart with your old character, and play until you have access to the Galaxy Map.)

I'll be sure to check out some quests that sound interesting, like the one about genetic ingeneering. Or drive the MAKO around so more... I know recall a funny sandworm thingy that was hard to beat.

Otherwise, I can employ the usual AG replayability trick: let the game aside for one year.

You're not really missing out on anything by not doing them. Sure, a few are good, but most of it just feels like filler-content. I don't know why they felt like they had to include all those planets. More or less all of them are just barren wastelands with the same textures only in different colors, and TEXT-BASED POP-UP quests.

You can avoid the side quests on the planets if you wish. But I really think you should at least do the sidequests at the Citadel. They're fairly interesting.

+ Patrick Weekes, who sometimes hang out over at RPGWatch, has written at least one or two of them. (supervised by his wife....)

As to your complaint about the 'hey, we need to save the universe and we need to do it NOW and ASAP' and then you can just dabble around the galaxy doing whatever you want believe me when I say all Bioware's games have had that -ehm- quality? or that design.

In BG2 you had to rescue Imoen, and save your love, but no, no time limit there. Take as long as you long to do some other stuff - and when you feel like it you can resue Imoen. Or investigate the reason behind some strange disturbances in the mines of Nashkell (Baldur's Gate 1)

I feel this is one of the strengths in RPGs. Take your own time and continue on the main story whenever you feel like it - it's a game after all. Not everything has to make sense. That's why I got into games in the first place, they're completely different from reality. Nobody questioned why Super Mario could jump four times as high as his own height, or why he had to jump on turtles, bird, skeletons etc. Also, why does it take several hits from a melee weapon like a sword, mace or club, or several hits from a gun or any kind of projectile weapon to take an enemy down, or even die yourself? Surely, one hit to the head ought to be enough.

Things like that makes the games just that... games. Who cares if it's realistic? Games should be fun, and if that's what makes it fun, then so be it.

I know! But the thing is, coming from an AG background (talk about leisure on those!) and this being an action game, I really thought there was a time penalty for not hurrying up! Seriously. I just took a galaxy assignment which came direct from the Admiral, thinking it was important (it wasn't).

Also, I did take a lot of Citadel assignments, as well as in other similar locations, and still found the game too short (about 20 hours). I was mainly referring to galaxy assignments. Bty, I have found a section in the gamespot guide from which to decide what of these may be worthy.

There was some WWII game that was supposed to be "realistic" in this regard. Medal of Honor?

Mass Effect's main quest was very short, but there were tons of side quests that involve you going to different planets. Now if side quests are fun and diverse, I don't have a problem with this approach, but the problem with Mass Effect's side quests were that they were of the very boring repetitive kind (Here's a new planet, very empty except for a few buildings that look exactly the same as the other planet. Now kill everyone you see.) OR (we want 20 mineral A, 40 mineral B, 60 Gas C, look for them in these barren wastelands of planets). It also doesn't help that the vehicle controls were very wonky.

It does help make replaying the game multiple times, less daunting of a task. The way it should be.

I think the point made is about sending mixed messages without any added value rather than realism. Say, writing off button B as jump, if it's actually A in Super Mario manual.

But anyway...

I've kinda grown into the sort of length like in Mass Effect. If I had to choose I'd rather take less quality content than more copy-pasting (=Oblivion).
I also usually don't bother to go look after drunk elf's missing boots when there's the world on the line and I like the sense of progress in my games. Embedding the possibility to continue the game after the main quest should be industry standard in every RPG imo.

Without playing side quests the game really feels short. What bothered me the most is that game offered me no real challenge on Normal mode, which I always play (I'm no Hardcore freak).

I've turned every stone in the galaxy, ending up with maximum credits without any really cool items to spend them on. I barely touched the combat system in term of squad orders. I found the party to be a bunch of disobedient bastards anyway :)

It's definitely one of my less favourite Bioware games, story and gameplay wise. I have high hopes for Dragon age, hope it turns out ok.

OK, for the record, this has been my two-fold treatment for finding Mass Effect too short:

• Finally playing Portal, realizing that a good, short game should beat a long, mediocre one any time. After all, I never complain of a movie being short if it's good, quite the contrary.
• Rejoicing in KOTOR, a great game that I had missed and which contains many elements later to be found in ME.

Yes Mass Effect is sort of short but I have been upset more by the lack of a modding tool. I know I was spoiled by Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, and Neverwinter Nights but was miffed by the lack of tooling for Jade Empire and Mass Effect. Luckily Dragon Age, so far, has one.
The ability to have easily made community mods is what made good RPG games great, this is the failing of Mass Effect. Even a short game can be added to to make it great if you have a community get behind it.

Um, aren't you forgetting something about BG2? You're doing all those side quests in order to collect the money required to pay either the Thieves Guild or Bodhi to take you to Spellhold. So while CHARNAME surely would like to hurry to rescue Immy (or not, depending on your CHARNAMEs or your relationship to her. I know there are some people out there that despise poor Immy.), they have no choice but to do some work on the side in order to scrounge up the coin before getting on with the actual rescuing. Of course the amount of money was scrounged up pretty quickly, and you didn't really need to do all the quests to get it. But that was the point of it, I think: You didn't need to complete everything, which allowed you to replay the game and discover new things you previously had not done before. Still, there are mods that allow you to increase the amount required so as to give you a valid excuse for you to do the sidequests without breaking character.


Also, the reason why you're going to Nashkel at the beginning of Baldur's Gate is because you don't really have any other lead than Gorion telling you to go see his friends (Jaheira and Khalid), which then tell you you have to go to Nashkel. Since you really don't have a lead on Gorion's murderer's identity, and why they wanted to kill you, the fact that you won't be able to get back into Candlekeep without Gorion, and that you won't have much in your possession apart from the things you're wearing, going to Nashkel and earning some money, while hoping to find out something more about your attacker, is as good a next step as any. Oh, and going to Baldur's Gate is not an option at that point either, I think. Even if you survive the Ankheg's in the farmlands south of the city (As someone on the Bioware forums said before the release of the NWN2 "Mask of the Betrayer" expansion on the matter of not being pampered pampered by a game, there's nothing like coming upon an Ankheg while only at 2nd level early in the game, and ending up with having your whole party including yourself annihilated. Good times, good times. :D ), the Flaming Fist will not let you in before you (or anyone. It just happens that you end up being the one who does it.) have gotten rid of the bandits that have been plagueing the Sword Coast. It's really a valid reason why you just roam about like that. I believe that the Baldur's Gate games are some of the most well thought out ones you can find.

And yes, I do know these games a bit too well. I've lost count of how many times I've replayed Baldur's Gate 2 + ToB. But I've only completed Baldur's Gate 1 + TotSC once, but it seems I still remember all the details.


- :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Hmm... I think this is a hallmark of most games in general. I mean, in Oblivion, with the fiery gates of hell opening all over the country with demons charging out of them and burning cities, one still goes galavanting across the countryside picking nirnroot and running petty errands... so I suppose ME isn't so very unusual in that :)

You know, you are right. I have now played some other RPGs, and lately when I get the "we have too hurry and rescue xxx", my response is "yeah, right, let's look at the daisies first". Even if xxx is part of your familiy, like in Fable. I only hurry when there is a time bar running (which is rare).

I think the thing to remember is that AG and RPG are two different -- but closely related -- genres. In an AG, you have a clear cut storyline. In an RPG, you generally have multiple paths and choices. The developers add sidequests since you have stats, feats and money.

By doing the sidequests, new sections of story could open up, but more importantly, it adds to your character's stats, feats and money. Those are all important in an RPG, in contrast to an AG, where you acquire money (there are no stats or feats) through necessary-to-the-story means.