u/Disclaimer_II

I've never played ME, not really. Gave it a try some years back, didn't like it at the time. Just wasn't ready, I guess. I also tried Andromeda once, which I'm told was a bad idea. My only exposure to the game otherwise, was seeing discussion about romances online, and seeing people hold it up as some kind of holy grail of gaming in almost every discussion. I thought to myself, "There's just no way it's all that. No way it has that much depth. Besides, all I've ever seen people talk about online are the romance options!"

Imagine my fucking surprise when I got the legendary edition on sale, determined to revisit this thing, and found that it really is THAT game.

It's impossible not to play this game and see where a million projects since took their inspiration from. The universe is interesting, the characters are compelling, there's just so much here. Everything about this game is grand and charming and just pulls you in so completely.

Really, I need to apologize for ever doubting this franchise. When you guys said it was the absolute pinnacle of a better generation of gaming, you were right. What a work of art. Truly, they do not make em like this anymore.

**for anyone curious, spoilers**

>!Just finished the first game! I lost Ashley and the council. I was able to bring Wrex around regarding the Genophage cure. I was able to make Saren see reason, but it was ultimately too late. We defeated Sovereign and I appointed Captain Anderson to head the council. I'm on good terms with the whole crew. Moving on to the second now.!<

I'm really hyped for the game, and don't have anywhere to put all this excitement for a big space opera. Any recommendations to hold me over? I've already played Mass Effect.

I asked this for Cyberpunk 2077 pre launch and ended up with one of my favorite games of all time, Deus Ex.

Thanks!

Me and my wife just replayed the entire series together, and what stuck out to me the most, was how abysmally bad SR3 is. I'm gonna pick it apart, mostly just to get my own thoughts out, but also to see if anyone feels the same about this overrated mess.

And that's just what it is, right? Overrated. SR fans hold it up as some kind of wonderful compromise between 2 and 4, when it's really the worst of both, a game that does nothing uniquely well. It's characters are just ugly caricatures of the 2010's, it's story is nonsensical and borderline non-existent, and it's open world is, no contest, the most lifeless, boring, personality-less, dead thing I've ever seen. The whole game is a hollow vehicle for the dev's cornball GenX chungus humor and very little else besides.

I'm not bound to nostalgia by any means, but playing it right after 2, it's impossible not to compare. Impossible not to notice just how much less there is to do in 3. The effort from the devs is just not here. The activities are incredibly dull and frustrating, the customization is half what it was, the interiors and map variety are gone, the illusion of freedom in a big sandbox is lost. Not to mention, it's buggy as all hell, especially in co-op.

What surprised me though, is how even 4 was a step up. 4 at least KNOWS what it is. It gives you some fun stuff to fool around with, and despite how absurd it is, actually takes its premise and characters seriously at times. Weirdly, it treats the OG games with much more reverence than their direct sequel did. It also at least remembers to be a fun game first, rather than JUST a parody, which was such a relief after toiling through 3.

I couldn't believe how much time and, I guess, nostalgia had warped my perspective of SR3. Couldn't believe what a chore it was. It's a crass, gray, ugly dick joke wrapped up like a video game. It peaks in the first hour and then nosedives off a cliff, never to recover. What a sad hunk of shit. Should've turned it off as soon as "Power" wrapped up.

Just wtf was the protomolecule DOING prior to creating the ring gate?

So the PM's ultimate goal was to create the gate, okay, cool. Why was it dissecting and and trying to understand humans? What purpose did the hybrids serve on its end? Zombies, flying Eros, a ring..? It does one thing, then another, then, seemingly randomly, another, with no clear line or plan between them. Was the goal always to establish a certain mass and build the ring, and human intervention is to blame for everything else? The show always moves on to the next thing before anything with the PM at the time makes sense.

Unless, and I'm hoping this is the case, I'm just slow and have seriously misunderstood something. Is there anywhere I can go to fully understand the timeline here? Finished the show, wrapping up book one.