So I've never played a mass effect game, only the demo for 2 and 3, and own a ps3. I intend to play through the entire trilogy, when I can build a pc, latter but wouldn't mind confirming the fact that the 3rd game in a series isn't the best time to jump in like Jeff said. I want to rent this game from RedBox and give it a go...

Yet I'm worried about the variety in more then one play through. Is there enough of a difference in how the game plays out between renegade and paragon to warrant a second play through with another character. I'd hate to ruin myself on the third game in the series without having made any choices. I guess what I'm trying to ask is if the choices carry over enough from the previous games as to actually make the story feel different...

as much as I'd like to get a perspective of ME3 from someone who has never played the series, I think you might be a bit lost going in at the end of a series.

There are a lot of things that certainly carry over but I don't know how different it is from just starting a fresh game.

i'd recommend playing the previous games before jumping into ME3. otherwise it just doesn't have the same emotional impact if you didn't spend any time playing with any of the characters from previous games.

@Marz said:

i'd recommend playing the previous games before jumping into ME3. otherwise it just doesn't have the same emotional impact if you didn't spend any time playing with any of the characters from previous games.

I figure as much and I plan on doing so...but I kinda want to have my cake and eat it to. My plan is to play ME3 as an asshole dudebro, renegade, and then when I get a chance to play the whole trilogy I'd play as a female paragon. I want to know if that's enough of a difference...

It is paramount that you play the first two games to understand what in the world is going on. Heck, even just play Mass Effect 1 to get the main setup. But this is definitely not a series to jump into cold-turkey on 3.

You need to play the previous games. And considering they're cheap as dirt now, you should go with them instead. Mass Effect 1 has best story. Mass Effect 2 has the best mechanics. And Mass Effect 3 has the best WHTF what is going on explosions oh my gawd. So, take them one at a time. :)

jumping in with the 3rd game in a trilogy that was conceived as such and especially one focused on the consequence of your choices is NEVER a good idea.

I don't get how someone could even think that might be the case.

Play through each one without being pedantic about "good" or "bad" choices. It's definitely satisfying to see the consequences of all those choices culminate in 3.

@DeF said:

jumping in with the 3rd game in a trilogy that was conceived as such and especially one focused on the consequence of your choices is NEVER a good idea.

I don't get how someone could even think that might be the case.

Oh trust me I don't! I'm kinda interested in just how inaccessible it is...doing a stupid thing on purpose...

@TruthTellah said:

It is paramount that you play the first two games to understand what in the world is going on. Heck, even just play Mass Effect 1 to get the main setup. But this is definitely not a series to jump into cold-turkey on 3.

You need to play the previous games. And considering they're cheap as dirt now, you should go with them instead. Mass Effect 1 has best story. Mass Effect 2 has the best mechanics. And Mass Effect 3 has the best WHTF what is going on explosions oh my gawd. So, take them one at a time. :)

I'd love to run through all 3 right nao but I'm on the ps3. So my choices are basically 2 and 3 or wait till I can afford a gaming ready pc to run through all 3...

Considering that you say that 1 had the best story I'd rather wait to play all three...which would be a loooooooooooong time from now.

@ThePhantomStranger: What kind of PC do you have? ME1 doesn't exactly have huge requirements.

And, ya know, I -guess- you could start from ME2. The PS3 version does have a very nice comic thing that gives you the gist of everything. I would recommend under no circumstances just jumping in to play ME3, but if you have to, starting with ME2 could work. I mean, if you're really rarin to go, start with ME2 and then go to ME3.

@TruthTellah said:

@ThePhantomStranger: What kind of PC do you have? ME1 doesn't exactly have huge requirements.

And, ya know, I -guess- you could start from ME2. The PS3 version does have a very nice comic thing that gives you the gist of everything. I would recommend under no circumstances just jumping in to play ME3, but if you have to, starting with ME2 could work. I mean, if you're really rarin to go, start with ME2 and then go to ME3.

I...I have a labtop...from 2007...with 1gig of ram...

@ThePhantomStranger: haha. Fine, your laptop is below specs.

I suppose, if it's gonna be forever until you have another PC, you could jump into ME2 right now. It does have a helpful intro thing that lets you make choices from the first game so you don't really miss out on the big decisions.

So, since it sounds like you can't play ME1 right now but really want to play ME2 and ME3, I'd just get ME2 and enjoy that sucker.

Yeah I'd recommend you wait a bit and run through all 3 on PC, definitely worth it.

I don't think anybody's answered your question about "how many differences there are between playthroughs".

To put it simply, a lot of the dialogue and events can happen differently depending on your choices, but the actual levels and weapons don't really change much at all. It's just the happenings surrounding them that are the variables. And yes, it is worth a second and even third playthrough just to see what plays out differently.

Like I said in a similar thread; it would be like going to see Return of the King, without having seen the previous two films.

You'll probably still enjoy the mechanics of the game, and the story is presented in a way that it'd still make sense, but you'd be missing so much, especially the emotional connection between the characters. You really need to play all 3 games to get the most out of them.

Mass Effect 2 won a TONNE of Game Of The Year awards, and some people think it's even better than 3.
 
I'd definately suggest playing ME2, it's a great game. ME3 is a really similar experience, except it'd be wrapping up a story you don't know about.
Mass Effect 1 is alright, but aaaaaa you could probably get away with skipping it. It definately feels a bit outdated and slow n boring compared to where we're at right now.

ME2 is certainly a valid starting point, but I'd still highly suggest waiting until you can play ME1, mainly because if you spoil yourself with 2 and 3's improvements, you'll find 1 very hard to go back to, as it's a very different feeling game in a number of ways.

I am not sure if jumping in at the 3th one is a good idea. It's not bad but i think you will miss out on a lot.

And like i qill keep saying, you don't play mass effect for the gameplay which is fine for a bit but won't grab your attention for the duration of that game.

Start with Mass Effect 2 (seriously why haven't you played it yet) or Mass Effect 1 if you want to full experience.

Play them all. Mass effect one has the best story in the series and even though it's a little outdated by gameplay standards that's really not the reason you play mass effect games is it?.

The decisions do matter, not as much I would have liked maybe but i still couldn't even imagine playing Me3 without playing the others first, and you only get one first experience so playing Me3 spoils so much of ME1&2.

As for the "i want to eat my cake NOW" sentiment i just have one thing to say. You made your bed by waiting this long to get to Mass effect, now lie in it.

It is not like the Mass Effect games are the best trilogy every made. *wink wink* Pssst, it is.

I can't recommend the PC versions enough. They are the best. End of story.

Edit: If you use a gamepad you are doing it wrong. Or play as male shep or soldier. All wrong!

@ThePhantomStranger said:

@TruthTellah said:

@ThePhantomStranger: What kind of PC do you have? ME1 doesn't exactly have huge requirements.

And, ya know, I -guess- you could start from ME2. The PS3 version does have a very nice comic thing that gives you the gist of everything. I would recommend under no circumstances just jumping in to play ME3, but if you have to, starting with ME2 could work. I mean, if you're really rarin to go, start with ME2 and then go to ME3.

I...I have a labtop...from 2007...with 1gig of ram...

oh ..that would've been my question, too. that is truly outdated :D

you don't happen to have a friend with an xbox, do you? so you could borrow that?

before I had a PC that could run the games, I decided to play ME on the 360 even though the first game had the infamous bad framerate etc (which isn't that bad, honestly) and I don't think playing the games out of order is a good experience. with all the engine, handling and gameplay improvements, I don't believe you would be able to appreciate ME1 for what it is or was. you might just sit there and go "uh, you couldn't do that back then?", "why do I have to manage all teh inventoreeez" (sorry^^).

you've waited this long, you can hold out for a PC and get the optimal experience. unless you're more interested in the experimental nature of randomly jumping in than the emotional resonance of consequences throughout the three games.

I say if you can, play all of them in sequential order. However if you can't, at least start from ME 2. I have a friend who played ME 2 on the PS3 having never played the first and he totally loved it. Now telling him to go back and play the first ME would be a stretch.

A large part of ME3 appeal for me were all the emotional payoffs that have been built up over 3 consecutive games.
They are the things that made ME3 so amazing for me.
Without having those payoffsf, it's just a much more bland experience.
 
I would not recomend jumping directly into 3 beacuse of this.

Just play ME1 then pretend the series never continued past that.

@ThePhantomStranger:

Buy two, play through it, and then play three. Granted I've played all three now, but from what I've experienced several pieces of the story, the nature of this universe, and the relationships are just not well explained. I mean, you would probably enjoy the game, but it wouldn't be the same if you hadn't played one of the previous games. I think new players would be lost.

I'd say at least play ME 2 before going into 3. I HATED the combat of the first Mass Effect and it really ruined the experience for me since I just rushed through the game to see the story and avoid as much combat and side missions as possible. Even people who liked the first ME at the time would probably tell you that there are aspects of that game that don't hold up well. ME 2 made massive improvements and is definitely one of my favorite games ever, and ME 3 is a great game as well, just not quite as great as ME 2.

Contrary to what some say, PLAY MASS EFFECT 1. IT'S STILL FUCKING AMAZING.

@believer258 said:

I don't think anybody's answered your question about "how many differences there are between playthroughs".

To put it simply, a lot of the dialogue and events can happen differently depending on your choices, but the actual levels and weapons don't really change much at all. It's just the happenings surrounding them that are the variables. And yes, it is worth a second and even third playthrough just to see what plays out differently.

Thanks for answering the main question!

@Wasara88 said:

Play them all. Mass effect one has the best story in the series and even though it's a little outdated by gameplay standards that's really not the reason you play mass effect games is it?.

The decisions do matter, not as much I would have liked maybe but i still couldn't even imagine playing Me3 without playing the others first, and you only get one first experience so playing Me3 spoils so much of ME1&2.

As for the "i want to eat my cake NOW" sentiment i just have one thing to say. You made your bed by waiting this long to get to Mass effect, now lie in it.

Well it wasn't that I want to eat my cake now so much as wanting two different flavors in one slice of cake. I want to run through the third game without much understanding so I have an opportunity to scratch down an apocalyptic log, an in depth commentary about how wrong EA was to state it as a good point to jump on. Then the second flavour would be to go back and replay the entire trilogy with a different character so that I can enjoy the series the way it was supposed to be played. The best case scenario is that stories can differ enough so that I don't feel like I've seen the end of my ME1 Shepard and instead only feel that I've seen the end to another movie.

@DeF said:

@ThePhantomStranger said:

@TruthTellah said:

@ThePhantomStranger: What kind of PC do you have? ME1 doesn't exactly have huge requirements.

And, ya know, I -guess- you could start from ME2. The PS3 version does have a very nice comic thing that gives you the gist of everything. I would recommend under no circumstances just jumping in to play ME3, but if you have to, starting with ME2 could work. I mean, if you're really rarin to go, start with ME2 and then go to ME3.

I...I have a labtop...from 2007...with 1gig of ram...

oh ..that would've been my question, too. that is truly outdated :D

you don't happen to have a friend with an xbox, do you? so you could borrow that?

before I had a PC that could run the games, I decided to play ME on the 360 even though the first game had the infamous bad framerate etc (which isn't that bad, honestly) and I don't think playing the games out of order is a good experience. with all the engine, handling and gameplay improvements, I don't believe you would be able to appreciate ME1 for what it is or was. you might just sit there and go "uh, you couldn't do that back then?", "why do I have to manage all teh inventoreeez" (sorry^^).

you've waited this long, you can hold out for a PC and get the optimal experience. unless you're more interested in the experimental nature of randomly jumping in than the emotional resonance of consequences throughout the three games.

If I can handle Alpha Protocol's gameplay and still have fun I think I can handle Mass Effect 1.

I think I've made up my mind to wait till I can get the whole trilogy...EA's silly marketing be damned!

As someone who played through as a renegade, the signigicance and awfulness of my actions were only meaningful because of the history I had in the series. Even if it is your joke playthrough, jumping in at this point and playing that way will do a real disservice

The best parts of ME3, at least for me, was seeing the conclusion of the different characters stories, and therefore some of the toughest choices in the game wouldn't carry the same weight if you had no previous connection to the characters or the history. 
So, don't play ME3 before you have at least played ME2, or preferably ME1 as well of course. 
 
I've also heard that the default choices in ME3 if you don't import a character are kinda bad, so yeah...

I would hightly reccomend you play Mass Effect 1 before Mass Effect 2 or 3. Mass Effect 3 is a great game but a lot of it is people from ME1 turning up to thank you for helping in ME1 and then saying how they have improved since ME1. I think you will lose way too much about the world and characters if you dont play Mass Effect 1.

Either borrow a 360 or wait for a PC if you want the "complete" experience.

@ThePhantomStranger: ME1 just welcomes the player to the universe so much better than ME3. I think you will probably enjoy mass effect regardless what you choose, but I seriously doubt that you become a fan unless you play the first one too.

On another point Mass Effect 1 is by far the best game in the series, no matter what some crazy people might say. Yes i agree that it's side missions are recycled bs and that the gameplay is far from perfect, but the atmosphere and the story are infinitely better than the ones in ME2 or 3.

I suggest starting with 2. So you can see what all the fuss is about. You can get the game for $10 - $20. Then make a decision RE DLC. Go back to 1 only if you love the story.

I started with two. I loved so much I played 1 like 3 times. And then went back and played 2 like 5 more times. I am already on my third playthru of 3. It is the best game series period.

PS Play as adept if you love space magic.

The sheer amount of assumptions this game makes about the player's knowledge of the universes lore, characters and story would make it significantly less entertaining, impactful (and perhaps comprehensible) to pick it as your starting point. Bioware's claims about Mass Effect 3 being ideal for new players are just false.

Also, the combat in the previous games will feel quite terrible and limited when played after 3.

Play 1 and 2 this is prab the worst jump in point possible