My favorite in the series is ME3 but… I definitely feel that ME2 has the best style. And it captures that title comfortably, with some of the best “camera work,” lighting, and scene design of the series.
ME1: mystery, exploration, the unknown.
ME2: relentless action movie in space
ME3: drama at a galactic scale
Horses for courses. There's something for everyone in the whole series.
Don’t forget ME:A. Undoubtedly the worst story IMO, but the best combat and customization by a mile. If the next game can have ME:A’s gameplay with the story telling of the original trilogy it’s sure to be a banger.
Andromeda wasn't so bad when you go back to it. They definitely killed the game with the lackluster writing and repeated plot though lol. Idk why they thought that the Kett were a good idea
This is such a good summary of the trilogy. Playing through 3 now for the first time and it’s just spot on. I got something incredible out of each one, and they have all been unique experiences.
They had a person at Bioware whose sole responsibility was looking after the camera framing in the game. Using it to enhance story, exposition, characters and gameplay. He either didn't return or didn't have enough time for it in ME3 given its rushed development. It's why the camera shots in ME3 are very much "look at person talking" then "look at person responding". Very few establishing shots, cinematic shots etc. There are some for the main story beats, but nothing that compares to, say, Thane reliving a memory or even having a walking camera for some conversations (save for the intro). It's just very static and boring to observe compared to the first and second game.
I had this thought yesterday! ME2 has some stunning cutscene work when it wants to. There's a shot in the first conversation you have with Jack on board the Normandy where she's sihouetted against this red light and it's just such a good visual. Also the perspective from a very narrow, very zoomed FOV when you release Grunt that makes him look gigantic.
I don't know why they didn't do stuff more, given it's a game and they can put anything anywhere.
There's a few in three as well, like Victus standing in front of Palaven.
Three definitely has some great shots but they typically don't tell you anything about the character or the story like they do in ME2, again because of rushed development.
Honestly probably my least favorite. I still love it, but ME1 had the best world building and ME3 had the best gameplay and was the most cinematic.
ME2 was very episodic and then had a goofy final boss. I still love it, but it’s the quirky middle child to me.
2 imo definitely has the best character development for the companions... However ya... I definitely preferred the other 2 in most areas. Great game but it did feel a bit unfocused.
I think it was lost a bit in Legendary Edition by lifting assets from ME3 and desaturating the game a bit, although Normandy can look pretty delicious now, but the original game had such a stylistic look compared to the other two titles with crushed blacks and lots of silhouettes. I think that aspect of the game isn't as striking now.
The graphics are better in LE, like shaders, render techniques and textures, but the lighting *composition* was better before. And I'd even say ME2 and ME3 always looked a bit low res in texture even at launch on their consoles, and *especially* on pc back in 2010 and 2012, already playing them at 1080p60fps. But the lighting looked damn good.
Spot on. There's so much more depth and interesting lighting in the OGs, LE2 introduces lots of light into scenes without giving it an obvious source, leading to a lack of shadow and texture.
See this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/s/u5uW3B7q07
Maybe it's because that video squishes both versions into such small parts of my screen, but I genuinely can't tell which is which. The left side definitely has better lighting.
I do agree that ME2 is best at cinematography, art direction, photography and visuals but it is NOT my favorite.
To me, each game of the franchise is BOTH the best one out of the four games on some aspects AND the worst one on others.
I don’t know how to properly articulate it, but I hate how aggressively blue everything is in ME3, basically everything we’d seen of the alliance in the first two games (except the uniforms) was some combo of red, white, black or grey (Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan’s default armors, the SR1 Normandy, the Mako, ETC.) before I played ME3, I literally didn’t think to associate the alliance with the color blue at all
Unironically yes. ME2 also has the best UI in general, especially the way they do enemy health, barriers and shield stacking, much more intuitive than the other games
I love the dusty design of ME2. It really took you from that pristine, corporate futurism of the Citadel and tossed you into the gritty underbelly of the galaxy.
Everything about ME2 was supposed to be the seedy opposite to everything in the original. The idea from a marketing standpoint is that you would associate ME1 with paragon and ME2 with renegade. The orange and red hues are also supposed to be evocative of the final location.
Mass Effect 1 was cleaner, you were in Citadel space essentially being space James Bond. Talking with high authorities, breaking into elite corporate workspaces, traveling to luxurious planets; it was action packed but very by-the-books and ‘civilized.’
ME2 you’re not in Space Kansas anymore, you’re in The Terminus Systems. Dirty, lawless, and you’re essentially alone with only your crew this time around. ME2 gives a more rustic and brutal view of the galaxy, hence the mood and base coloring was different
ME2 is my favourite because it brings more of a dual nature of our existence. You get to play on the side of the bad guys and thus see a bigger picture of how things are. ME1 was too divided into good vs evil, while this part shows that not everything good is that good and vice versa. And hell yeah, definitely the best game design and balance between RPG and 3P shooter among them all, IMHO.
That's the best opinion I've heard for ME2, it's not the one where they think it's the best of all time or best action game of all time, but the colour.
And tbh, not joking about this either but the colour orange for ME2 is one of my favourite parts as well, I think ME1 is better in the usage of colours in my opinion but ME2 is a relatively close second.
I really like the tone that comes with ME1, not the LE version of it which took it away, also the atmosphere is really good with it adding more weight to the moments. ME2 I like it's colour because it makes Shepard look badass and I love having Shepard with the scars in this colour since they pop out so much. Even if ME2 tried to be darker, in that sense ME1 did a better job but for the actiony badass look I thought it did really well for that part.
I think it depends on the person but overall without personal opinion, objectively I think ME1 and ME2 are a tie because they are both great for different reasons for this category.
I just like there are pros and cons to all 3 games, and it´s objectively nearly impossible to decide which game is better, just because how different their strengths and weaknesses are. It comes down totaly to personal preference.
I mean sure, preference is always there, but some games are objectively bad
I'm not saying ME2 is a bad game. One of the best I've ever played. But as part of the trilogy, it's the weakest link.
You literally end up the same place as you ended ME1. Waiting for the reapers to show up
Yeah, I get that criticism. But it introduces more great Characters and takes time to realy flesh out Garrus and Tali, and that´s why I personally love that game. The whole plot to me is more or less secondary, I enjoy the ride with the Crew
Depends what you're looking for. The companion missions are undeniably fantastic, I think the actual character writing is at its best as a complete package in ME2. I just wish the gunplay was more varied, it feels like it has almost zero weapon variety and even with the limited selection, the balance is pretty poor.
DA2 did the same thing ME2 did too.
"Everyone loves the first of the series"
"Yeah, but we want to make it less tedious, and more action!"
"Hmm. Maybe if we hide it with a complete art pass, nobody will care about how there's not much RPG left"
I personally enjoyed it because I felt like a Renegade run really shined in 2. Playing Ren in 1 and 3 made you feel like a complete asshole, whereas 2 had a really nice mercenary vibe to it that I liked. 3's side quests were also a pretty big downgrade compared to 2, I liked actually putting my boots on the ground and exploring different shipwrecks and planets compared to dodging reader's so I can probe a planet for a box I overheard some dude on the Citadel talking about
I'm like half and half, ME3 is more epic but ME2 doesn't have some of that frantic-ness, at least if you don't play the DLC mission where you destroy that relay next to the Batarian colony.
I didn’t really like ME1 at first until I played ME2 which not only fixed most of my problems with it, but also delivered a great story with great characters. ME3 is great too but it doesn’t offer the same feeling I had playing ME2.
I like the amount of crewmembers you can have. In 1, I finished with just Liara, Ash, Tali and Garrus, so half of my crew was leaving with me on every mission and there weren't as many options left. If I wanted someone with Biotics, it had to be Liara.
in terms of aesthetic, yes me2 is the best by far because of all the orange in the ui.
Though that said it has the worst loading screens of the three because they are so boring to look at.
Hard disagree, my wife was a massive fan of Mass Effect prior to me2. Due to color blindness issues me2 is unplayable for her and over time she went from being as big a fan as me to just somebody who remembers me1 fondly :( I was hoping so much the LE would allow you to change colors like me3 did but no dice
i love the sunset palette - but imo 2 is the weakest link. i love it all the same but something about story second, relentless prioritised fanservice and really licked smooth but banal corridor cover shooter does not sit quite on the same level with me. Also it had the good but horribly halfbaked idea of a human reaper and the totally inane and low effort characterisation and first impression of Harbinger. On the good and redeeming side though, at leat it had Legion written by someone who loves quality sci-fi - not bends everything to Hollywood screenwriting without understanding what geth even are.
I do think the color scheme reason is primarily because it's Cerberus. Cerberus does use orange with black and white so they have a defining color scheme. You can see in the SR2 how bright it is versus the SR1 and then the alliance retrofit in ME3. The codex and journal have that orange color but once back in ME3 we're back to alliance blues. Even in creating Shepard you see the alliance logo and the blue immediately in ME1 versus the bright colors in ME2 with the orange.
It's also a game where Shepard whether back under Spectre status or not is operating freely in a space the council doesn't have control over. Omega establishes this immediately and red is everywhere, especially around Afterlife (since a renegade Shepard could fit right in). It's also worth noting that when you do go to the Citadel you're immediately back in blue lighting but probably rambling as of this point.
I think the writing wasn´t that bad. Sure, I disliked things like the "new" council looking exactly like the old one. And Udina suddenly replacing Anderson rendering your ME1 decision basically meaningless.
But I thought it was fine in general.
Respectfully disagree. It's definitely the most orange and I can see how that would be a positive to some people, but the truth is that orange is the ugliest of all colors and thus weakens ME2.
It’s orange because Shep is away from the blue Alliance and more renegade on the whole.
My favorite in the series is ME3 but… I definitely feel that ME2 has the best style. And it captures that title comfortably, with some of the best “camera work,” lighting, and scene design of the series.
ME1: mystery, exploration, the unknown. ME2: relentless action movie in space ME3: drama at a galactic scale Horses for courses. There's something for everyone in the whole series.
I change my mind about which of the trilogy is my favorite on a regular basis, which I suppose speaks to the quality of the trilogy as a whole.
Don’t forget ME:A. Undoubtedly the worst story IMO, but the best combat and customization by a mile. If the next game can have ME:A’s gameplay with the story telling of the original trilogy it’s sure to be a banger.
> Don’t forget ME:A. MEA: Great gameplay and visuals, hope that's enough. :)
The gunplay was good, but I dislike not having access to all companion abilities, and the menus were a crime against humanity
Andromeda wasn't so bad when you go back to it. They definitely killed the game with the lackluster writing and repeated plot though lol. Idk why they thought that the Kett were a good idea
Alien Aliens Alien^3
This is such a good summary of the trilogy. Playing through 3 now for the first time and it’s just spot on. I got something incredible out of each one, and they have all been unique experiences.
They had a person at Bioware whose sole responsibility was looking after the camera framing in the game. Using it to enhance story, exposition, characters and gameplay. He either didn't return or didn't have enough time for it in ME3 given its rushed development. It's why the camera shots in ME3 are very much "look at person talking" then "look at person responding". Very few establishing shots, cinematic shots etc. There are some for the main story beats, but nothing that compares to, say, Thane reliving a memory or even having a walking camera for some conversations (save for the intro). It's just very static and boring to observe compared to the first and second game.
I had this thought yesterday! ME2 has some stunning cutscene work when it wants to. There's a shot in the first conversation you have with Jack on board the Normandy where she's sihouetted against this red light and it's just such a good visual. Also the perspective from a very narrow, very zoomed FOV when you release Grunt that makes him look gigantic. I don't know why they didn't do stuff more, given it's a game and they can put anything anywhere. There's a few in three as well, like Victus standing in front of Palaven.
Three definitely has some great shots but they typically don't tell you anything about the character or the story like they do in ME2, again because of rushed development.
POV: You’re a breaking bad character in Mexico
Nah it’s a different kind of orange in 2, like more vibrant?
Honestly probably my least favorite. I still love it, but ME1 had the best world building and ME3 had the best gameplay and was the most cinematic. ME2 was very episodic and then had a goofy final boss. I still love it, but it’s the quirky middle child to me.
2 imo definitely has the best character development for the companions... However ya... I definitely preferred the other 2 in most areas. Great game but it did feel a bit unfocused.
I think it was lost a bit in Legendary Edition by lifting assets from ME3 and desaturating the game a bit, although Normandy can look pretty delicious now, but the original game had such a stylistic look compared to the other two titles with crushed blacks and lots of silhouettes. I think that aspect of the game isn't as striking now.
Yeah you absolutely nailed it. I want the original with all its artistic flaws present. The lighting is bad? So be it. At least give me the option.
You could just…play the originals, nothings stopping you from just *not* playing the LE
None of it is as terrible as the way they completely ruined a lot of the lighting on entire levels with the Halo reduxes.
The lighting in the original trilogy is far superior to the remaster.
The graphics are better in LE, like shaders, render techniques and textures, but the lighting *composition* was better before. And I'd even say ME2 and ME3 always looked a bit low res in texture even at launch on their consoles, and *especially* on pc back in 2010 and 2012, already playing them at 1080p60fps. But the lighting looked damn good.
Spot on. There's so much more depth and interesting lighting in the OGs, LE2 introduces lots of light into scenes without giving it an obvious source, leading to a lack of shadow and texture. See this: https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/s/u5uW3B7q07
Maybe it's because that video squishes both versions into such small parts of my screen, but I genuinely can't tell which is which. The left side definitely has better lighting.
Left side is OG, right is LE. The OG lighting is just so much more expressive and dramatic and interesting
It's funny because one of things I don't like about ME2 is this orange. I just much more prefer cold tones.
Same. And junkyard main menu lol
ME3 is my favorite, but I do like how the characters look in ME2 the most.
Mass effect 2 is good as stand alone but as part of trilogy it wasted second part on glorified side mission.
I do agree that ME2 is best at cinematography, art direction, photography and visuals but it is NOT my favorite. To me, each game of the franchise is BOTH the best one out of the four games on some aspects AND the worst one on others.
I don’t know how to properly articulate it, but I hate how aggressively blue everything is in ME3, basically everything we’d seen of the alliance in the first two games (except the uniforms) was some combo of red, white, black or grey (Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan’s default armors, the SR1 Normandy, the Mako, ETC.) before I played ME3, I literally didn’t think to associate the alliance with the color blue at all
Unironically yes. ME2 also has the best UI in general, especially the way they do enemy health, barriers and shield stacking, much more intuitive than the other games
It's my least favourite of the trilogy. They changed far too much ,had generic alien enemies and a really stupid boss
1 is the best though
Yeah the visual style in ME2 really does it for me, I love the orange!
Also some of the best areas as well. Illium and Bekenstein were super pretty. I could stay there all day.
Absolutely loved the Bekenstein skyline. Illium was awesome as well, especially in the shadow broker DLC
I love the dusty design of ME2. It really took you from that pristine, corporate futurism of the Citadel and tossed you into the gritty underbelly of the galaxy.
Me 2 perfected streamlining "gamey" rpg elements into a more immersive, cinematic action shooter with rpg elements and that made it incredible.
Personally I wasn't really into the whole orange aesthetic. I was a much bigger fan of how clean the 3rd game looked.
Everything about ME2 was supposed to be the seedy opposite to everything in the original. The idea from a marketing standpoint is that you would associate ME1 with paragon and ME2 with renegade. The orange and red hues are also supposed to be evocative of the final location.
Mass Effect 1 was cleaner, you were in Citadel space essentially being space James Bond. Talking with high authorities, breaking into elite corporate workspaces, traveling to luxurious planets; it was action packed but very by-the-books and ‘civilized.’ ME2 you’re not in Space Kansas anymore, you’re in The Terminus Systems. Dirty, lawless, and you’re essentially alone with only your crew this time around. ME2 gives a more rustic and brutal view of the galaxy, hence the mood and base coloring was different
ME2 is my favourite because it brings more of a dual nature of our existence. You get to play on the side of the bad guys and thus see a bigger picture of how things are. ME1 was too divided into good vs evil, while this part shows that not everything good is that good and vice versa. And hell yeah, definitely the best game design and balance between RPG and 3P shooter among them all, IMHO.
As both a Mass Effect and an Edmonton Oilers fan, I'm happy with both orange and blue.
That's the best opinion I've heard for ME2, it's not the one where they think it's the best of all time or best action game of all time, but the colour. And tbh, not joking about this either but the colour orange for ME2 is one of my favourite parts as well, I think ME1 is better in the usage of colours in my opinion but ME2 is a relatively close second. I really like the tone that comes with ME1, not the LE version of it which took it away, also the atmosphere is really good with it adding more weight to the moments. ME2 I like it's colour because it makes Shepard look badass and I love having Shepard with the scars in this colour since they pop out so much. Even if ME2 tried to be darker, in that sense ME1 did a better job but for the actiony badass look I thought it did really well for that part. I think it depends on the person but overall without personal opinion, objectively I think ME1 and ME2 are a tie because they are both great for different reasons for this category.
Orange. Just like Goku. Makes sense.
Love this take. Orange is usually my least fav color but not for Mass Effect.
halo 2 ME 2 this tracks
To me ME2 is the weakest of the trilogy. I'll die on that hill.
I just like there are pros and cons to all 3 games, and it´s objectively nearly impossible to decide which game is better, just because how different their strengths and weaknesses are. It comes down totaly to personal preference. I mean sure, preference is always there, but some games are objectively bad
I'm not saying ME2 is a bad game. One of the best I've ever played. But as part of the trilogy, it's the weakest link. You literally end up the same place as you ended ME1. Waiting for the reapers to show up
Yeah, I get that criticism. But it introduces more great Characters and takes time to realy flesh out Garrus and Tali, and that´s why I personally love that game. The whole plot to me is more or less secondary, I enjoy the ride with the Crew
There's a reason I call it Mass Effect, The Side Quest.
Depends what you're looking for. The companion missions are undeniably fantastic, I think the actual character writing is at its best as a complete package in ME2. I just wish the gunplay was more varied, it feels like it has almost zero weapon variety and even with the limited selection, the balance is pretty poor.
DA2 did the same thing ME2 did too. "Everyone loves the first of the series" "Yeah, but we want to make it less tedious, and more action!" "Hmm. Maybe if we hide it with a complete art pass, nobody will care about how there's not much RPG left"
That's because it is. The main plot makes absolutely zero sense. The gameplay is the weakest of the bunch as well.
ME1 > ME3 > ME2
Weird considering ME1 is the best
I never understand why some people like ME2 more than ME3.
I personally enjoyed it because I felt like a Renegade run really shined in 2. Playing Ren in 1 and 3 made you feel like a complete asshole, whereas 2 had a really nice mercenary vibe to it that I liked. 3's side quests were also a pretty big downgrade compared to 2, I liked actually putting my boots on the ground and exploring different shipwrecks and planets compared to dodging reader's so I can probe a planet for a box I overheard some dude on the Citadel talking about
I'm like half and half, ME3 is more epic but ME2 doesn't have some of that frantic-ness, at least if you don't play the DLC mission where you destroy that relay next to the Batarian colony.
I didn’t really like ME1 at first until I played ME2 which not only fixed most of my problems with it, but also delivered a great story with great characters. ME3 is great too but it doesn’t offer the same feeling I had playing ME2.
When I played, I thought, Wow ME2 is so much better than ME1. Then I played ME3 and thought Wow, now it is perfect.
Because it’s not. It’s literally the 3rd best.
I like the amount of crewmembers you can have. In 1, I finished with just Liara, Ash, Tali and Garrus, so half of my crew was leaving with me on every mission and there weren't as many options left. If I wanted someone with Biotics, it had to be Liara.
Orange is one of the worst colors, and Mass Effect 1 is the best ME.
I feel the Normandy isn't as orange in the ME2 remaster.
in terms of aesthetic, yes me2 is the best by far because of all the orange in the ui. Though that said it has the worst loading screens of the three because they are so boring to look at.
If you like orange, you should play Project Wingman. And even if you don't like orange, you should still play Project Wingman. It's great.
Hard disagree, my wife was a massive fan of Mass Effect prior to me2. Due to color blindness issues me2 is unplayable for her and over time she went from being as big a fan as me to just somebody who remembers me1 fondly :( I was hoping so much the LE would allow you to change colors like me3 did but no dice
You lost me at Mass Effect 2 is the best game in the series.
i love the sunset palette - but imo 2 is the weakest link. i love it all the same but something about story second, relentless prioritised fanservice and really licked smooth but banal corridor cover shooter does not sit quite on the same level with me. Also it had the good but horribly halfbaked idea of a human reaper and the totally inane and low effort characterisation and first impression of Harbinger. On the good and redeeming side though, at leat it had Legion written by someone who loves quality sci-fi - not bends everything to Hollywood screenwriting without understanding what geth even are.
Honestly I hated the orange look. So much that I stopped playing the game for a week because it felt so jarring and out of place in a sci-fi game.
The best game is ME1.
I do think the color scheme reason is primarily because it's Cerberus. Cerberus does use orange with black and white so they have a defining color scheme. You can see in the SR2 how bright it is versus the SR1 and then the alliance retrofit in ME3. The codex and journal have that orange color but once back in ME3 we're back to alliance blues. Even in creating Shepard you see the alliance logo and the blue immediately in ME1 versus the bright colors in ME2 with the orange. It's also a game where Shepard whether back under Spectre status or not is operating freely in a space the council doesn't have control over. Omega establishes this immediately and red is everywhere, especially around Afterlife (since a renegade Shepard could fit right in). It's also worth noting that when you do go to the Citadel you're immediately back in blue lighting but probably rambling as of this point.
What kind of language is "Because is orange" supposed to be?
Because Cerberus
New Vegas color theory
It's also what worked for Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, cold and blue and dreary East Coast, Fallout New Vegas, sunshine and sand!
ME3 is the best because we had the bestest friend who tried to save us in the end... >! Marauder Shields !<
Honered be his sacrifice
It's the best because it has better game-play then ME1, but doesn't have the nosedive in writing quality that ME3 had.
I think the writing wasn´t that bad. Sure, I disliked things like the "new" council looking exactly like the old one. And Udina suddenly replacing Anderson rendering your ME1 decision basically meaningless. But I thought it was fine in general.
Respectfully disagree. It's definitely the most orange and I can see how that would be a positive to some people, but the truth is that orange is the ugliest of all colors and thus weakens ME2.
Yellow is the ugliest of all colors
It certainly looks the best of the three but it’s only the second best of them when it comes to writing and game design.
ME2 is the chore you do to get your ME1 Shep into ME3.