I'm not crazy about skyrim, but never played ME, should I trade or keep? Is it freeroam? Like TES in space, or is it just a sci fi shooter like lost planet or halo.

You could probably buy ME 1 for super cheap to try it, but from what I understand it has gone from Space opera RPG to space shooter.

its niether- gameplay is gears of war with more choice and weak rpg elements, exploration is VERY minimal, but story is good-ish. ME is not as good as TES or Looking glass inspired games but better than lost planet, halo and gears of war.

Ok, is ME1 good though?

I only played ME2 but it wasn't free roam. You selected your destination and your ship went to that planet. It was only specific areas though, it's not like the entire planet or city was open to you. It was also pretty linear. There were sidequests but the main focus was on the main storyline. That's not to say it was a bad game, but don't expect it to be anything like TES in space.

The gameplay is mostly linear third-person shooter stuff with RPG elements. The draw of the series is the story, where you make major decisions that have consequences later on. If you do decide to get it, I would recommend that you start with the first game. Since the story is such a major part of the experience, you'll be missing out if you come into the series 2/3 of the way through.

By the way, people are going to tell you not to trade Skyrim in, since you're on an Elder Scrolls forum. If you were to ask on the BioWare forums, you'd just get people saying the opposite.

Mass Effect isn't exactly free-roam, no. Rather, there are smaller set areas that you can travel to from your ship and then explore. Some are fairly large and contain multiple quests, while others are pretty small and only for one sidequest. It's also more an RPG-shooter hybrid, especially Mass Effect 1. In terms of gameplay, combat plays a lot like a shooter, but there are also stats and equipment to tinker with, as well as the decisions you make, which make it more RPG than shooter in terms of scope and story.

I'd recommend playing the first two games first, however. Especially if ME2>ME3 is like ME1>ME2 and assumes you made all of the worst possible decisions if you don't import your own save from one of the previous games.

I enjoyed ME1 a considerable amount, it was a great game.

ME2 was, too me anyway, a boring corridor shooter with exceptional dialogue. If that floats your boat, then go for it. The story is still ok anyway, but I personally would never trade Skyrim for any ME.

Most people on this forum think ME1 is awesome, and ME2 is meh. Both games are absolute must plays.

And trade in Skyrim if you want to, why does our opinion matter.

I haven't been able to play much of Mass Effect as it crashes my computer constantly - although it least it lets me sympathize with the irate people in the tech forums.

From what I have played it seems that ME has a branching storyline, so it has something of a balance between a traditional linear RPG and a sandbox game. I quite enjoyed what I managed to get through (the opening area, the city, and one extended quest on another planet).

I think it would be worth picking up the first two (which are pretty inexpensive) before considering the third.

ME1 & 2 were both boring corridoor shooters to me. deus ex series(mostly original), system shock 2, vampire the masquerade: bloodlines and fallout NV are the games to get. but if you want a simple game with a good story then ME is for you.

I wouldn't call it a branching story, you do get to make a couple of decisions that they want you to believe matter, but I saw no difference in the end. The Main Story is very liner.

Because whether or not your squad members die isn't important, I guess?

I honestly don't get the criticism ME2 gets on this forum.

Well, with ME1 the squad members I got to choose from could have both died and I wouldn't have flinched, they were weak characters. But what I was trying to point out is that it doesn't matter what you choose, the ending is the same, so who lives and who dies doesn't matter. It's not a branch in the story.

Mostly off topic:


Are we desensitized now, or what?

Edit: spoiler'd for the sake of people who haven't played

Well, Skyrim wasn't that good and neither is the Mass Effect franchise, in my opinion anyway.

Get Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

I'd say get ME1 as well, I liked it well enough. ME2 was more or less garbage.

After seeing the ME3 script. No it isnt.

They turned an rpg into a boring tps. Why would people hate devs selling out ?

Your going to trde skyrim in for a worse game. Skyrim isnt great, im going to sell it too, but I dont feel like playing gmes much right now. Dont know why, but im just going to get some money. Its always useful if you dont know what you want now.

no get deus ex 1. best game ever made....

Yes sell Skyrim get the Mass Effect series.

I think a very loud minority say that; from what I can tell, most players enjoyed both.

hey guys i dont like this apple should i trade it for a banna??? heelp me i cant form thoughts and make decisioms

I know I did. ME2 [censored] up some things that were good about ME1, and greatly improved on things that svcked in ME1, but I very much enjoyed both games anyway. I haven't heard many good things about ME3 yet, but that is because I deliberately try to learn as little about it as possible, as to not spoil the surprise. But some of the whining is so vocal that I got wind of it regardless. Still, I feel quite confident that I will enjoy ME3 as well. I just hope that they make the Adept class as powerful as in ME1 again, I hated being forced to use weapons in ME2.

As for trading in Skyrim, I would personally never trade in any game I've bought and I never understood the people that do. The amount of money (or discount on your next purchase) that you get is close to negligible. Not worth it, considering that I always, at some point in the future, feel the desire to replay old games, even when I was sick and tired of them before. But then again, I never considered Skyrim worth buying in the first place, so I wouldn't feel bad about getting rid of that I suppose.

Regardless of what you do with your copy of Skyrim (if you don't really like or get into it, trade it in ), I'd say that ME1 and 2 were good RPGs. They're pretty typical Bioware-style RPGs, that just happen to have "third person shooter" as their combat mechanic.

Each one has some flaws and some better features. I prefer ME1 (the story and pacing are a bit better, better climix), but ME2 improved some of the "RPG" mechanics. (and there will be bitter disagreement here, depending on what each person individually thinks defines "RPG". The "piles of loot & cluttered inventory system" crowd thinks that ME2 isn't an RPG at all anymore. Whereas I thought that the conversation & decision-making - you know, "roleplaying" - was a bit better.)


tl;dr - regardless of what you do with Skyrim, give ME1 a try. Especially if you've played/liked Bioware RPGs in the past.