Does anyone actually prefer ME1 to ME2?

[Drog Black Tooth]

Hey, let's have another BioWare thread.

I hear so much about ME2 being "dumbed down", with some people even claiming it's not an RPG anymore. OK, maybe it's less complex, I can give you that. But do you actually prefer ME1? What about the awful, cluttered inventory with 999 identical rifles and weapon mods? The terrible Mako sections where you have to explore some shitty pre-generated terrain with awful vehicle physics? The wonky, unresponsive combat mechanics? The copy-pasted side quests that all take place in exactly the same bunker?

I say there's nothing good about ME1 except for its dialog and cutscenes. ME2, on the other hand, is actually a good game.

 

[SoupNazi]

I prefer ME1 because, yeah, its story, dialogue and characters are generally a hundred times better than ME2's. I didn't like either of the games' combat, minigames or side quests, so the only saving grace remains to be the story. When I played ME2 I barely finished it because the story stopped interesting me the moment I met my old comrades.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Haven't touched them personally, however;

The people I know who play CRPG's, even the newer types such as Dragon Age 1, prefer Mass Effect 1.

The people I know who don't like CRPG's normally, prefer Mass Effect 2.

There you go.

 

[Irxy]

I too prefer ME1, despite all it's faults, since ME2 is just a collection of 30-minutes-long linear corridor-like shooter levels which don't even pretend to be something else.

 

[Ulminati]

I say there's nothing good about ME1 except for its dialog and cutscenes.

The Mass Effect series is all about the cutscenes and dialogue. ME1 had better writing. The non-sidequests were more interesting. Places like Noveria and the Citadel - while by now means spawling - felt more like real places than the Potemkin villages of ME2.

 

[Lesifoere]

I prefer ME1 because, yeah, its story, dialogue and characters are generally a hundred times better than ME2's.

Funny, I felt the exact opposite. Case in point? Kaiden (ala Carth Mark II). Liara (in the second game she grew up). And everything else, really. Even ME2's opening is far more interesting. That and the Reaper ship when you go to rescue your kidnapped crew has far, far more atmosphere in it than anything in ME1 ever did.

 

[FatCat]

I prefer ME2 simply because everything that was "dumbed down" was shit in a first place.Shitfuck inventory was just waste of time.If they do something they must do it good and if they can't better for them to remove it.

Tough i will agree that story wise ME1 was slightly better.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

I prefer ME1 because, yeah, its story, dialogue and characters are generally a hundred times better than ME2's.

If it had a better punchline this would be signature material.

edit: Mass Effect 1 has a better story? Are you kidding me? Are you so fucking stupid? Mass Effect 1 is about Commander Shepard receiving visions from an ancient monolith that ancient robots are probably coming to kill everything if they are brought back! So he starts hunting a fucking Disney villain named SAREN through planet a, b, c and d to "investigate" this shit and all he stumbles upon is a bunch of nonsense that doesn't matter the slightest when you finally travel to planet e and you meet the REAL BIG BAD who informs everyone that Bioware didn't think this shit through so they're going with "alas, your feeble minds cannot grasp the grasp that our understanding can grasp, alas, verily, now watch me go boom". Then you travel to planet f, find out more shit that doesn't matter and finally puts a big shotgun in Saren's mouth and pulls the trigger and the big bad REAPER is defeated. The end. As if that wasn't enough, do I even have to bring up that stupid retarded fucking cycle of DOOMSDAY EVERY 50,000 YEARS?! SO ANGRY!!!

Meanwhile, Mass Effect 2 is about evil aliens kidnapping humans and Commander Shepard putting together a badass team of specialists to put a stop to them. Simple.

 

[Karmapowered]

Hey, let's have another BioWare thread.
I hear so much about ME2 being "dumbed down",

It is. It's a pretty decent interactive movie, I can grant you that, not a cRPG by any stretch of imagination.

with some people even claiming it's not an RPG anymore.

Told you so.

OK, maybe it's less complex, I can give you that. But do you actually prefer ME1? What about the awful, cluttered inventory with 999 identical rifles and weapon mods?

ME1's inventory system was (very) far from optimal. However, I have always enjoyed having the choice, choices between different armors, weapons, stats, appearance and stuff I would get in like, you know, cRPGs.

The terrible Mako sections

Compared to the mining mini-game ? Just click on that awesome button, and boring stuff happens ?

where you have to explore some shitty pre-generated terrain with awful vehicle physics?

At least, it was fun. I thought they should have expanded more on the Mako in the OC, a bit more like what they did in the free (pre-EA Bioware used to be a decent company) DLC. Note that people are demanding the return of the Mako in ME3.
Just FYI, I hear that console people had difficult times to control the beast with their pad. I had no issues whatsoever on PC.

The wonky, unresponsive combat mechanics?

I guess can give you that. Combat ME2 probably is > Combat ME1, even though the AI of most enemies and our sidekicks was as bad in either.

Also, I prefer overheating to ammo clips that drop out of thin air before my feet. Again, people are demanding the come back of that feature. So ME1 couldn't have it all wrong.

The copy-pasted side quests that all take place in exactly the same bunker?

Har, har.
In ME1, I somewhat got the feeling sometimes I was actually exploring. I even got lost once or twice in the Citadel.
In ME2, I got the proof I wasn't claustrophobic.
Also, if you saw the same bunker all over in ME1, we probably haven't played the same game.

I say there's nothing good about ME1 except for its dialog

It's incidentally what matters most to me. I am a storyfag, sue me.

and cutscenes. ME2, on the other hand, is actually a good game.

Interactive movie. Interactive m-o-v-i-e!
Don't let me catch you again over that

Seriously though, yes, it was a good game, just not a good cRPG, or better one than ME1 for that matter.

 

[Lesifoere]

Well, it boils down to this: would you rather play an RPG that's a shitty, shitty RPG and a shitty, shitty game--or would you rather play a corridor shooter that's not shitty?

I know what I'd go for, every time.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

The terrible Mako sections

Compared to the mining mini-game ? Just click on that awesome button, and boring stuff happens ?

Sorry, but you're not allowed to compare shitty vehicle sections to a minigame where you just click a button. The mako was a disaster on wheels. No wonder they went Descent in Mass Effect 2.

 

[Topher]

I too prefer ME 1 over ME 2 and for mostly the same reason others have already listed here. Sure the story is cheesy grade "b" sci-fi but it was handled well and for whatever reason I had a lot of fun paying it my first time through.

After being initially interested a friend bought the game and I took one look at some of the new mechanics (inventory, upgrades, etc...) and just lost all interest. It immediately reminded me of some random mid-90's action game with a gimmicky and tacked on upgrade system.

*ME 2 was also the final nail in the coffin for Bioware as far as my interests were concerned. I loved both BG's. I really enjoyed KotOR. I stuck out Jade Empire which admittedly was only decent because of its unique setting and short length. When DA1 release I spent about an hour with it before I just stopped giving a shit and like I said once I saw ME2 in action I was just done. They *might* rekindle my interest once they start up something new but it's doubtful unless they radically change their design direction and that doesn't seem very likely especially with EA in the picture.

 

[Freelance Henchman]

It happens that just a couple of days ago tried to replay ME1 yet again (I was bored and don't have the mental energy to get into something new right now). I gave up after half an hour. Gameplay in ME1 just SUCKS too bad to be worth suffering through again. It's really, really, really bad.

 

[turn_based_fanboy]

Another vote for ME1.

Big maps , skill check based combat, at least minimal amount of thinking required when building team,some quite interesting quests, less retarded romance plot, feeling of B class sci-fi movie in the atmosphere. And Mako was fun - but they did way too many places use it. If it was limited to 5-10 quests it would be great addition to the game.

ME2 - linear shooter pretending to be rpg with stupid story and average gameplay.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Added a poll.

 

[Karmapowered]

The terrible Mako sections

Compared to the mining mini-game ? Just click on that awesome button, and boring stuff happens ?

Sorry, but you're not allowed to compare shitty vehicle sections to a minigame where you just click a button.

Hold on, you mean you preferred that mining mini-game over the mako mini-game ?
You are a masochist in disguise, did I get that right ?

Nah, if they put the Mako back into ME3, with some enhanced eye-candy and maybe some larger areas to explore, with more "hazards", I will be a happy camper. No way I could get back to the mining mini-game, I don't have the mind-numbing patience of a Korean / Chinese mmo player.

The mako was a disaster on wheels. No wonder they went Descent in Mass Effect 2.

Descent was far more enjoyable for what it was than ME2 for what it was.
ME2's hovering thing felt more like a Mario platformer with some silly spinning effects than a space shooter.

Well, it boils down to this: would you rather play an RPG that's a shitty, shitty RPG and a shitty, shitty game--or would you rather play a corridor shooter that's not shitty?

I know what I'd go for, every time.

I can respect that, except that I didn't buy ME2 on the premise of it being just a corridor shooter.
At least it wasn't sold to me as such.

Notice that Bioware's marketing staff has a trend ongoing here, trying to sell stuff for what it isn't.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Who cares what (sub)genre it is, as long as it's fun, FFS.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

The terrible Mako sections

Compared to the mining mini-game ? Just click on that awesome button, and boring stuff happens ?

Sorry, but you're not allowed to compare shitty vehicle sections to a minigame where you just click a button.

Hold on, you mean you preferred that mining mini-game over the mako mini-game ?
You are a masochist in disguise, did I get that right ?

I'm saying you have to be all sorts of gifted to prefer wonky monster truck rally on rocky mountains to initiate a minigame where you plant flags on mineral deposits over just clicking some buttons. They're both stupid things, mate. Pick the least stupid thing.

But yes, I've always enjoyed the sound a whip makes when it comes into contact with my ass. Don't judge.

 

[Lesifoere]

Well, it boils down to this: would you rather play an RPG that's a shitty, shitty RPG and a shitty, shitty game--or would you rather play a corridor shooter that's not shitty?

I know what I'd go for, every time.

I can respect that, except that I didn't buy ME2 on the premise of it being just a corridor shooter.
At least it wasn't sold to me as such.

Notice that Bioware's marketing staff has a trend ongoing here, trying to sell stuff for what it isn't.

Sure, but to start with, ME1 wasn't much of an RPG either. It was a corridor shooter with RPG elements, taking place in the same corridors over and over. ME2 merely went full derp and ditched most of the (badly-done) RPG elements. It even has different corridors to shoot in versus the endlessly recycled bunker of the first game.

 

[Dr.Faust]

Who cares what (sub)genre it is, as long as it's fun, FFS.

I do. If I'm being sold an RPG I expect an RPG. I don't want to find beer in my bottles of port wine.

One vote for ME1. The setting was actually a lot more serious, which is ironic since they deliberately tried to make ME2 more grimdark. Also ME2 was just a bunch unconnected side missions without any major plot.
Gameplay? The very definition of popamole. So was ME1, but it was at least loosely based on some stats.

 

[Freelance Henchman]

I'm saying you have to be all sorts of gifted to prefer wonky monster truck rally on rocky mountains to initiate a minigame where you plant flags on mineral deposits over just clicking some buttons. They're both stupid things, mate. Pick the least stupid thing.

What I also like about the minigames in ME2 is that you can easily cheat to get rid of them nearly completely. Ever since the ME2 savegame editor came out I never bothered again to do any mining whatsoever. In ME1 you HAVE to use the damn Mako to putter over planet landscapes to get to your objectives no matter what.

Yes, I think being able to easily bypass a stupid gameplay mechanic by cheating counts as a plus for ME2.

 

[ChristofferC]

I'm currently playing ME2. Will come back to this thread when I have finished it. Right now after playing a couple of hours of ME2 I would vote ME1.

 

[dbx]

I prefer ME1 because, yeah, its story, dialogue and characters are generally a hundred times better than ME2's.

Funny, I felt the exact opposite. Case in point? Kaiden (ala Carth Mark II). Liara (in the second game she grew up). And everything else, really. Even ME2's opening is far more interesting. That and the Reaper ship when you go to rescue your kidnapped crew has far, far more atmosphere in it than anything in ME1 ever did.

The reaper ship? really? it's just an exact clone of the standard Aliens xeno ship.
At least ME1 had some very cool areas (like the second or third to last level, the one on the dead ancient civilization planet, at least it had style )

Characters are mostly shit in both games, but at least in ME1 they are less XTREME and retarded (and are less ridden with teen angst).

 

[dbx]

I prefer ME1 because, yeah, its story, dialogue and characters are generally a hundred times better than ME2's.

If it had a better punchline this would be signature material.

edit: Mass Effect 1 has a better story? Are you kidding me? Are you so fucking stupid? Mass Effect 1 is about Commander Shepard receiving visions from an ancient monolith that ancient robots are probably coming to kill everything if they are brought back! So he starts hunting a fucking Disney villain named SAREN through planet a, b, c and d to "investigate" this shit and all he stumbles upon is a bunch of nonsense that doesn't matter the slightest when you finally travel to planet e and you meet the REAL BIG BAD who informs everyone that Bioware didn't think this shit through so they're going with "alas, your feeble minds cannot grasp the grasp that our understanding can grasp, alas, verily, now watch me go boom". Then you travel to planet f, find out more shit that doesn't matter and finally puts a big shotgun in Saren's mouth and pulls the trigger and the big bad REAPER is defeated. The end. As if that wasn't enough, do I even have to bring up that stupid retarded fucking cycle of DOOMSDAY EVERY 50,000 YEARS?! SO ANGRY!!!

Meanwhile, Mass Effect 2 is about evil aliens kidnapping humans and Commander Shepard putting together a badass team of specialists to put a stop to them. Simple.

ME2 had Cerberus, shepard dying and then cloned, a giant retarded anime terminator, a pimp nigger keeping his former crew dumb for sex, teen angst in every single characters...do i really have to continue?

 

[Baddygoal]

'Sup Drog,


I much prefer ME1 over ME2. In terms of game content, ME1 at least had that tiny sliver of exploration (even in the crappy generated Mako diversions). The 'bioware visit four places' structure of ME1 is slightly better than the pokemon-esque collect-em-all companion hunt of ME2. Obviously there's also the dumbing down, fewer skills etc.

However, ME2 has a better cover system and better popamole-ing.

In terms of non-game/external stuff, ME1 had fewer DLCs, when ME1 came out there was at least a tiny bit of hope that they would pull off the sci-fi setting acceptably well, ME2 just took that and went full popamole dating sim.