What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

RobertB wrote: It's been a little while, so I might not remember this correctly, but did Renegade/Paragon ever close off any options for you in ME/ME2? I didn't think they did - it was just a matter of being a nice guy or asshole.

nono, it did a bunch of stuff. It opened up shortcuts and ways to get around situations (ME1). In ME2 it also added a really cool feature during cut-scenes where you could do something super-boss if your paragon or renegade were high enough.

i loved these games. ME3 was a disappointment but it was still very good. The multiplayer was really fun.

Hipsters and haters will crap on ME2 but it's a remarkable achievement.

I guess I was wondering if high Paragon/Renegade 'alignment' closed or changed options. Like Mission X turned into something more alignment friendly (or alignment hostile). Or if the main quest line would change, based on alignment.

You and JEM have reminded me enough that I now remember the Paragon/Renegade options. Paragon 50+ : Kiss more ass. Renegade 50+ : Shoot guy in face.

I got the option to shiv some gangster with a quicktime trigger event for Renegade, which possibly would not have been an option if I had 0 renegade points. This resulted in a mini-boss battle being easier shortly thereafter. The whole min/maxing of either of those attributes reminds me of more ways these games coerce you into behaving like some uber-narcissistic sociopath. Trying to score loyalty with team members means compromising whatever moral self you might have constructed for your character, because you want Mordin or Jack to be super-friends with you for Game Rewards but they have no time for your tree-hugging jibber-jabber. So you RP out like you're down with cracking some heads or conducting a little light genocide and being all "whatever" until you get the achievement.

There's probably some teachable moment in there about selfhood vs pragmatism.

I think the "romance" angle is way overstated by media and players in general. I also think that the Dragon Age games (I played them up to Inquisition which I'm just starting) were way, way more progressive with their approach to sexuality and romance options than Mass Effect was.

Still don't get this vehicles griping. It was the first game only, right?

I think it's hard to go back to ME now that I've played Witcher 3 which does a similar thing but has some very non clear cut choices and less cheesy characters.

Gary, stop making me want to try Witcher III. I promise I will at some point.

Mass Effect 1 had this incredible trailer that really got me excited about the game...



i still ended up loving the game but I was really disappointed that you never get faced with any type of decision like this, that has impact. They must have gotten flak cuz ME2 had way more of these where if you picked wrong, you lose close crew members. The Mordin loyalty mission was REALLY hard to decide what to do. That was the mark of a great RPG. And i ended up deciding to prioritize certain missions over others which directly led to the death of a crew member I wanted to make sexy time with.

The Witcher 3 is on my radar for sure, as is the new Planescape game.

It helps that Geralt is written a bit more like an adult. If you play him as someone who wants to fuck, he just wants to fuck and his character is given those options---but they aren't attached to elaborate storylines with an explicit fuck "reward" or whatever if you say the right thing---though there are two characters who are actual relationships for him so have a bit more baggage and play a tad bit more that way. More helpful is that the two "love interest" characters 100% have their own agenda so aren't these "unlockable" dick/pussy automatons if you say the right thing.

His whole character, in fact, wasn't born fucking yesterday and that's suffused through the whole game. He has an identity, a past. It sounds weird but it's critical that he even has a job he's been working for 80 years or whatever. It makes all the quests make sense (dude knows what to do in his line of work) and it contextualizes how all the other characters, including random quest givers, treat him. I see this game as the absolute next step in the Mass Effect/Bioware system. It's a shame that the new Bioware joint isn't sounding super compelling given that it has been challenged---I loved ME 1, 2 and 3 for all their faults which you guys are pointing out.

The writing in the Witcher games really kind of puts all other games to shame...in fact, I would go so far as to say that the Witcher games are pretty much what ruined me for other RPGs. The storylines and decisions put anything in a Bioware game to complete and utter shame. It's such a far jump from the simplistic "morality" of games like Bioshock and Mass Effect to that in the Witcher. You don't get "paragon" and "renegade" choices...you get really sadistic, "bad or slightly less bad" options. That Bloody Baron quest...jeez. And it is all sold by making the supporting characters rich, vibrant and with their own agendas and conflicting senses of right and wrong.

I actually thought the sex stuff in Witcher 2 in particular was quite well-done...there's that bit with Triss after a particularly nasty battle or something and it's actually kind of tender and romantic, a scene between mature lovers and not some skeevy alien hook-up.

Jem, I totally agree with you about Bioware's more progressive, sex-positive approach...let's not forget it was their inclusion of gay characters that pissed off the "Gamergate" crowd and incensed them, insisting that Bioware had a "gay agenda" or whatever and where "cramming gay rights down people's throats" or whatever. Hats off to them for having the courage to promote inclusivity and equality.

My interest in The Witcher has mostly been piqued by watching Liana K's conversations with Troy Leavitt which focuses for quite a while on the storytelling in the Witcher games.

I'm sticking with ME2 for now because it showed up as I already owned it (probably from some Humble Bundle) five years ago, when I grabbed ME3 for $10 last week, and reasons above. It'll be some months before I get time to dig into The Witcher.

played Witcher 2 and 3 and I can’t recall the name of any characters other than Dandelion (because it’s a very stupid name). The writing wasn't great- not that I'm expecting Calvino or a Vidal novel. The third game was bloated with fetch quests and opportunities to craft gear that would quickly become useless. Mass Effect 2 was great because it was a middle installment. No closure needed. It had all of the promise of meaningful choices without having to make good. ME should have continued on an open-ended serial experience instead of trying to craft trilogy after trilogy of games where the fate of the universe is in your hands. The best moments in those games are always smaller anyway, but to each their own.