Hey Yall,

Curious question. I'm trying to get my dad and his girlfriend into cutting the cord with cable and part of it is trying to get my dad into pc games. He is a star trek nerd and thought Mass Effect would have the same kind of feel. which leads to my actual question.

Does Mass Effect 1 have enough charm or is the combat too much of a pain? this would be his first shooter kind of campaign. I think the powers help make it cooler/super solider. I had started at Mass Effect 2 and went back but I dont think I needed it but it helped understand the lore plus you have all your choices and what not. Mass Effect 2 is great but is the slow start to slow to get into it to show to casuals?

I mean it's an RPG and there's a ton of dialogue, but all of it still very much holds up, replayed it a year ago, it's great. The whole trilogy is amazing, so if your dad won't find the mechanics too complicated, give it a try! Maybe start him on the easiest difficulty. Other games with a similar vibe might be Tacoma, Alien: Isolation. Elite: Dangerous might be to difficult but it's cool too. Stellaris is an amazing and fairly easy to get to grand strategy.

Mass Effect 1, for all its faults, kicks things off very well and if he's going to dive headfirst into PC games, then I don't think you need to worry about ME1 having a slow start.

The real problem will come in when he's wondering where to go next, what to do with all these menus, where he should be putting his points (or even how to level up in the first place), and how to take advantage of his teammates. I know ME1 has its fans, but that game just doesn't balance out the RPG and the shooter aspects well at all and both wind up coming across as messy and badly designed. Not to mention the clusterfuck that is inventory management.

It sounds to me like your dad hasn't played many video games, so giving him Mass Effect 1 just sounds like throwing a man who has never seen a deep body of water into the deep end of an Olympic swimming pool.

Mechanically, Mass Effect 2 is way better, although it only gets there because Bioware dropped most of the RPG part and leaned heavily into the shooter part. Whatever you may think of that decision, it does make for an easier game to get into for someone who is new to video games (it's more like throwing the aforementioned man into the deep end of an average swimming pool). On the other hand, the story - the primary reason for playing these games - might be confusing for someone who hasn't played the original. Reapers? What are those and why should I care? Garrus? Who the hell is Garrus, and why is it taking him so long to calibrate things?

Mass Effect 2 will have two things for a new gamer to be mildly confused about - story and gameplay - as opposed to Mass Effect 1 having one thing for a new gamer to be pretty confused about - just gameplay. If he latches onto the story in Mass Effect 1, then that might be enough to get him used to the gameplay.

It totally has enough charm. It arguably has the most charm of the 3 because it focuses more on world and character building than the others. You spend a lot of time in elevators learning more about the crew and how they feel about the world. It does the best job of setting Shepard up as a real character while ME2 is more of an execution of his character and the world that's been set up.

The combat and gameplay can be weird. The shooting feels weak and waiting for your weapons to stop from overheating is annoying, but the powers can feel fun (though lacking the amazing power combos in ME2). Driving the Mako on planets can range from frustrating and tedious to goofy and enjoyable depending on how you are. And for the most part, the planets are pretty bare with the same buildings so it's not really worth doing unless you're really into completing all the side quests.

The story is Mass Effect 1 is great. Its got a great "space opera" feel of saving the galaxy so to speak. Its been awhile since I played, but I can't say the mechanics have aged that well.

Mass Effect 2 in my opinion was the best overall in the series due to the mechanics. In this stated circumstance, it may be best to start him with ME2 only since the controls were way better in ME2 and much more fluid. For someone unfamiliar with those types of controls, I feel that would be a better place to start. I also think you could jump into the story from that point. May not have quite the impact than if you were coming from ME1 but, it would work I believe.

I played it on console but i think the combat would be great for keyboard and mouse. It has the best story of the entire franchise but the least memorable characters besides the main villain

ME1 has issues, but not so much that it should be skipped.

Personally, I'd let him know that ME1 *does* require some patience with its mechanics, and if he's just not feeling it, to feel free to jump to ME2 since it'll fill him in on the plot.

Mass Effect 1 is a huge bother early on because the citadel is such an exposition dump. I don't think you have a lot of options for other Trek-like games though, and for what it's worth I got invested enough to see it all the way through despite disliking the combat, the movement feel, the graphics and thinking the characters were dull. The charm really is the details, the worldbuilding, which informs the main plot well. It's pretty different from ME2, which is all character charm.

I have personally started on 2 with the ps4 then exclusive (?) back story which is now available. I eventually went back and played all of the them. like Justin said i had no idea what a reaper was in me2 but with the dlc with Javik was very good

As someone not that into the series, I think it's charming. ME1 is probably not the game I'd choose to get someone into PC games though. The combat is not balanced well and it's a stiff and janky experience that'll probably frustrate him. A lot of ppl started off with 2 and I think your dad should too. The gameplay is much more simple and straight forward and the levels are linear. Put it on easy and he'll probably have a good time. I don't think it starts that slow either.

Controller mods*

I think Mass Effect 1 is the best Mass Effect for someone like your dad.

It’s the best Mass Effect game and strong game of the generation contender.

Yeah... Don't start him on 1. It just has way too much jank and not fully developed mechanics. Have him play 2, which is a pretty solid shooter, has great characters, atmosphere, and a decent story. The cover mechanic, shooting and using abilities all feel so much more refined than 1 to the point that I think if you're going to introduce someone to gaming, this would be the best game in the series to do it with.

The only thing that 1 really has going for it is story I guess. I've played it enough times to not really want to play it again.

It's the best Mass Effect game

I bounced hard off the PC version. I could never get the controller mod to work and I just wasn't in the mood for a M/KB game at the time. That said I had a good time on the Xbox version of the game. ME2 is a better game, but ME1 sets a lot of wheels in motion.

I think it's the best one, the combat is a mess but I found it to be doable as the RPG mechanics more than made up for it. It's the only game in the series where stats matter, and dialogue checks are a big aspect of that. The writing is also at its peak, the characters felt more real and grounded, unlike the sequels where most of the cast talks with a throaty Dirty Harry voice, like they are in a B-movie.

Mass Effect 1 is perhaps the best game ever and is oozing with charm and promise that the later entries cannot deliver upon. The only thing I remember about the combat though was that it was quick and easy to ignore to move on with the story.

Mass Effect 1 has a great opening hook. I think for all the rigidness of the combat, that opening offers up enough intrigue to keep someone new to games going.

Worst case, set the combat to easy, just in case.

Set to easy, play as a biotic. Boom.

It would likely be very much appreciated by a Star Trek fan, more so than the rest of the series.

As a fellow Star Trek nerd, it's my favorite Mass Effect game. Maybe it's the freshness of the world building and all the political maneuvering, but It just ends up being a more interesting story than what's in the rest of the series.

I've played through it three times on PC and once on Xbox. It's much better suited to mouse+KB in my opinion.

The story holds up. I hate the gameplay, UI, and poorly done RPG stuff. That said, if he's not really used to playing games or using controllers, I don't know how much that stuff will bother him since he'll already be figuring that stuff out. If you can do things to make the gameplay easier (like difficulty settings or advice), he may get to those rewarding story moments without too much difficulty.

It's the best one, especially from the position of a (fellow) Star Trek fan.

2 is mechanically somewhat better but the characters, world, and especially plot all suffer in turn. It's debatable whether or not I'd replay it, while I've finished ME1 three times.

Can't say if 3 is worth it because I never bothered picking it up.

In a lot of ways it's the best game in the series outside the combat. It's got the best story, the best soundtrack, the best sound design, the best overall look.*

Yes, the menus are a pain and the inventory system is a mess and the combat boils down to either "hit it with biotics" or "hold down the trigger until something randomly dies," but you can set the game to super-easy and breeze through it. You're there for the world and story anyway.

* And yes, I know that last one is controversial but hear me out. ME1 was the one that most nailed the look and feel of a throw-back sci-fi movie. The music got less synth-y and cool as the series went on and for all the graphical ugliness that the film grain was covering up, it gave the entire game an undeniable sense of style later entries were lacking. Even the sound design was better. The assault rifle sound in ME1 was awesome. By ME3 they'd ruined it and it sounded like someone had set a phaser to "gently tickle" rather than a proper gun.

I hate the game parts of ME1 but the story, characters, and dialogue are amazing.

It has the best story, characters, music and dialogue in the series.

Gameplay is not that good, but its at least sprawling and feels like it has scale in a way that 2 completely removed.

I really don't see a way of playing the series without it though, they are all very tightly related.

It’ll be great. Just turn down combat difficulty.

to directly answer your question I think it is the most charming of the games. It takes a big effort to introduce a universe that big but it pulls it off. Sure the gameplay isn't that great but the exploration of the game really lends itself to introducing that universe.

If he likes Star Trek, I think Mass Effect will be right up his alley. The game oozes charm, and the world-building, characters and writing is second to none in the genre (yes, I think they are better than in 2 and 3). I would advice you to set the game on easy, so it ease some of the less polished aspects of the combat, but other than that, I think its a safe bet.

Charm? Definitely yes. I don't think the gameplay holds up on consoles too well but it's fine on pc, the biggest test will be if he can get into keyboard and mouse controls in a shooter, maybe portal would be a better first game? Either way the story and flow of ME is second to non, best in the series at least!

At heart, it's a charming space-romp where you can have sex with aliens and can skip the end-boss by using words instead of bullets. It's amazing. I imagine it'll probably put him off it if he keeps playing Mass Effect through the franchise though. The spiral in quality is something else. I'd probably be put off.

My first time playing Mass Effect, I quit out of frustration. I couldn’t stand the controls and everything seemed too loose. But, I was also a broke college student and so without any money to buy antyhing else for my new 360, I figured I would give it another shot. The story is what kept me playing. Once you meet the reaper and get a sense of scale to the story, it kept me going despite the controls. If your dad enjoys narrative, its worth it in this case.

I think I'm one of only a dozen people in the world who played Mass Effect and didn't understand the love for the game. I mean, there are a couple good characters, and some of the stories (especially the side stuff) were really interesting, but the main story seemed pretty 'meh' and all the actual gameplay parts, the combat and exploration, felt tedious and unsatisfying. Want to talk about pointless, uninteresting exploration of alien worlds? No Man's Sky has nothing on Mass Effect. And the combat is just sloppy and the opposite of fun. So, yeah, I definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't have a history of playing games, someone who's maybe more inclined to deal with the game's bullshit because there are crumbs of something good here and there along the way.

But, like I said, I know I'm in the minority.

Mass Effect has tons of charm. It's a hell of a game, despite its shortcomings. A sci-fi head will, I think, love a lot of the story beats. The combat's fine, especially if you haven't played and aren't aware of the later improvements. Just have him play it on a lower difficulty.

Just make sure to kill him before he finds out Andromeda exists.

I played this game recently and by recently I mean a year or so ago in an attempt to play through the entire trilogy all at once. It has a good plot with questionable gameplay I might actually play through it again and get on Ashley's good side just to see what might happen. But to reiterate, play it on easy and your relative should pretty much play it like a shooter.

There's a lot of the meat and potatoes of it as a game that's not so great in my opinion, and the level design leaves plenty to be desired as well. That being said it is still very much worth playing, at least the PC version.

I dunno man, there's a lot of gameplay systems in ME1 that a video game newcomer might struggle with, even though the story is one of the best. But the RPG-ness of it might turn him off. Why not No Mans Sky or Tacoma instead?

ME1 is the only game in the series where Wrex is a main party member so it probably has the most charm by default.