I did really enjoy my time with this game, and I'm debating whether or not to give it another go. I'd like to try another class (went Vanguard) and go all Renegade, as well as pick up some more of the achievements. How tough is the S Rank in this game? How many playthroughs for it? I'm not adverse to this sort of thing, as I have Plats in ACII, Batman: AA, Uncharted, Infamous, and Heavy Rain.

And if you want to hear my long-winded thoughts about the game, you can go here.

Mass Effect 2 is easily the pinnacle of the series for me. I'd suggest pushing along into ME2 to have consistency in your most recent storyline. Then again, I think Mass Effect was revolutionary for its time and is always worthy of a replay (I replayed it!).

I think in order to S-Rank the game, you need to do 3 playthroughts at least. You have to beat the game with 2 different partners everytime for sure to get the majority of the achievements (maybe their different on the PS3, I could be completely wrong in this). I would recommend 1 more play of ME1. I did one Paragon play and one Renegade. That way I could get the experience of doing stuff the opposite of how I played the first time. Then you could go into ME2 with a character set full Renegade and full Paragon.

I would tend to go straight into ME2. Although my person bias is a strong preference for ME2 due to its trade-off in terms of better shooting mechanics and less emphasis on the RPG stat side.

On the getting everything side, I'd just suggest looking it up at the below. It indicates that the average is 45 hr to hit everything.

http://howlongtobeat.com/gamebreakdown.php?gameid=468

It's not too tough, just time consuming. I haven't played ME1 in a long time, but you should be able to get most of the achievements in 3 playthroughs. The big ones to watch out for are the "Play through most of the game with character X." These make you play a lot of the sidequests with that character in your party the entire time. Also I remember playing through the game 5 or 6 times to get to the max level, and that the amount of experience needed to max level your character is an absurd amount. That being said I probably haven't played ME1 since 2008ish even though it is one of my favorite games. Also I'm not sure how the PS3 version differs from the original 360 version (probably not a lot if at all).

EDIT: You should probably just play ME2, and make sure to play it renegade.

I should have said I am playing it on the Xbox, though I doubt it means much. And it would take me 3 MORE playthroughs probably, as I got hosed by the "once you do Virmire, you lock out all citadel quests" thing. I kept playing at that point hoping it would go back to "normal" but it never did. Though I wonder if I still have a save from before I finished Virmire. Though honestly it wouldn't help much, since I did the majority of my galaxy exploration after that.

I have a friend who played it 12 times, and according to him it takes between 3-4 playthroughs to S-rank it on the 360.

The worst part about trying to S rank it is playing it on insanity. The larger geth enemies are ridiculous and since the combat isn't great, makes it worse.

I thought the first ME was a chore to play, but if you liked it I would suggest going for the S rank if it is something you plan on doing either way. Once you play the second one, I don't think you will want to go back. I found it had better:

• Combat
• Exploration
• Characters
• Missions
• Graphics/stability

While ME2 is a step down from the great original it is still a good game that is worth playing.

Also, depending on your level in 1, you get starting bonuses in 2.

Play ME 1 and forget about the rest. Also the S-Rank isn't hard just time consuming.

@Irishdoom It takes 4-5 runs to S-Rank ME1 so here's what to do to get it ASAP...

• Run 1: Soldier class, play paragon or renegade, take the first two squad-members and play with them for the rest of the game, unlock all weapon based achievements, beat the game once.
• Run 2: Adept class, play opposite attitude of what you did with soldier, take second set of squad-members, unlock all adept power based achievements
• Run 3: Engineer class, play whatever attitude you wish for this character, take last two squad-members, unlock all tech power achievements
• Run 4: Take your favorite class for the hardcore achievement run and to unlock insanity
• Final run: Beat Insanity

The reason why you only play as Soldier, Adept, and Engineer is cause they have all the powers/strengths of their class. Infiltrators don't have AI Hacking like the Engineer and the achievement only counts if your characters delivers the blow. You can dumb the number of runs down to 4 by playing on Hardcore while on your second or third run, but you'll be reminded about how under-leveled you are.

Whatever the choice I'm wishing you good luck in your endeavor. The ME franchise is a must in my book even if you don't think the genre and style fits your taste. It's a must down the line in anyone's backlog. Good luck, and have Batman. =]

i was pretty bummed out by a lot of the choices they made about the tone and gameplay in ME2 but still its satisfying to see your choices carry over from the first game.

i'd play the second asap so you dont forget about the little details that pop back up in the second

I'd jump into the second right away. The better combat mechanics make for a far more enjoyable experience overall.

S rank in ME1 is bullshit. It locks you in with certain party members and makes you do a ton of dumb side quests.

i've s-ranked ME1 and ME2, and will do the 3rd once all the DLC is out. my advice is this:

if you're really jazzed on the story and universe- i'd hop right into 2. 2 is my personal favourite in the series, and they build terrific momentum between 1 and 2. playing 2 will also allow you to appreciate the unique aspects of each game. it'll keep the experience fresh. if you burn through one at a time, you might not have the patience to jump right into the next immediately.

tl;dr- play each at your own pace, and then go back for the s-ranks. there's no advantage to burning one-at-a-time, and at the worst you'll just get tired of the series (or at least i would). the s-ranks are worth it, but they really expose the weaker aspects of each game.

@Irishdoom: I was first going to say "your Crazy! just hope onto the next game!"

Then recalled my three play throughs before ME2, then another ontop after loseing all data for ME3.

So yeah go ahead, played ME1 another time and milk it. Since once you go onto 2 and 3, you may never go back to ME1.

If your up for it I give a thumb up.

Play ME2 for sure, now or later. Easily the best game in the series. Also seeing all your choices and character in ME1 transfer over is just too awesome.

because the whole trilogy is available to you i would go through the whole thing with your first character, then go back to the beginning for your second, etc.

1 was always my favorite but compared to how polished the combat is in 3 it did feel clunky to me when i went back to it recently, so there is that to consider. but i still say continuity and roleplaying are more important (also s-ranks don't help with either of those things).

@Irishdoom said:

I did really enjoy my time with this game, and I'm debating whether or not to give it another go. I'd like to try another class (went Vanguard) and go all Renegade, as well as pick up some more of the achievements. How tough is the S Rank in this game? How many playthroughs for it? I'm not adverse to this sort of thing, as I have Plats in ACII, Batman: AA, Uncharted, Infamous, and Heavy Rain.

And if you want to hear my long-winded thoughts about the game, you can go here.

Mass Effect 1 is one of the worst games I've ever played. 2 is 50x better and 3 is 500x better. Don't torture yourself by playing the slow, pain in the ass first game ever again.

Play as Femshep :D

Funny, there seem to be some pretty extreme opinions of ME1 in this thread hehe. A few people seem to have LOATHED it in comparison to 2 and 3, and a few others think it was the best in the series. I think perhaps what I'll do is give it one more playthrough as a Renegade, a different class and a higher difficulty.

So question about the "finish most of the game with" achievements. CAN you do that with Kaiden and Ash? Since one of them HAS to die on Virmire?

@Irishdoom said:

So question about the "finish most of the game with" achievements. CAN you do that with Kaiden and Ash? Since one of them HAS to die on Virmire?

i don't rightly recall- all i know is you have to complete 45 assignments per character for those 'ally' achievements. this should help-

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Party_Member_Achievement_Guide

Yes, If I remember correctly, you should get the achievement after 40 plus mission/side quests.

I wanna say it's 40 to 50 sidequest.