Just finished MASS Effect

[firehawk12]

There's also the Sonic RPG that needs to come out soon too, but I suppose that's more of a side game than anything else.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and yes the game is a DS game so its only 50-100MB. That and the game was completed a couple of months ago, due to be released 5th of September here in the UK.

I doubt it took up that much of their resources.

When the Mass Effect team broke up after the 360 game shipped, they were divided into three teams - Dragon Ages, Sonic and "Project X", which apparently is not Mass Effect 2. There may be a small team working on DLC, but given that we haven't seen or heard anything since "Bring Down the Sky", I kind of wonder.
If Sonic is done, I'm guessing that those people might have been reassigned to Mass Effect 2 pre-production... but if they're serious about Dragon Age being a 2009 game, they're going to need to dump people there as well.

As for the size of a game or the platform, sure, they don't need a huge team to make a DS game, but it's not like they can crap out something (Although, given some of the 3rd party DS software out there, I suppose they could).

As for the difficulty of Mass Effect 1:
1) Set it to casual. You get the achievements anyway, and the next achievement for difficulty can only be "achieved" after you beat the game once anyway.
2) Play a soldier or vanguard. Those are basically the newbie classes and while you technically face more Geth than you do "carbon based lifeforms", the engineer powers just suck.
3) If you're already doing the above - use the cover system. Yeah, it's mostly understated, but it really can help. Invest in lift and medic for you or your AI characters. Medic is one of the few skills that is cumulative throughout your entire party, so each character's skill is added up before the health bonus is applied.

As for Mass Effect 2:
The advantage to BioWare's fairly simplistic white/black method of storytelling means that they can probably get away with doing something vague in the next game, assuming that save files do not contain anything about the choices made in the first game. One simple way to do it is to just dump you into the Traverse and not let you travel in the familiar part of the galaxy and then refer to past events in extreme generalities.
If the save files do contain the outcomes for the multitude of choices, then they could just build some dialog around those choices.

Speaking of which, it'd be kind of cool if Mass Effect 2 did the Rock Band 2 and somehow ported the assets from 1 to 2 so that you could go back and at least go to the planets from the first game in the second game. Not going to happen, but it'd be cool.

 

[Kemaiku]

Soooo basically what I posted there, a side game.

Plus, Ive seen 151 screencaps from the game, they may have taken 3 years on the coding, but it looks like 3 minutes on the actual art, its horribly photoshoped/slapped together.

Rush job again.

 

[firehawk12]

The fact that they broke up the Mass Effect team to put people onto the Sonic game when it looks like Dragon Age could use the people probably means that they're more serious about it than Brain Coach 360 Training Mama.

Besides, they're already running up against the sceptics who think the idea of a Sonic game, let alone a Sonic RPG, is idiotic in 2008, so making it a "side game" probably isn't in their best interests.
But who knows? I haven't really kept up with this title since it was officially revealed.

 

[Arrqh]

I don't see the point in making games that only dedicated gamesters can enjoy. I'm an old lady, I prefer a bit of problem solving instead of having to shoot faster than the sprites.

I'd prefer it if Mass Effect had an "autoplay" function and paused merely for conversations/decisions, like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. I'd probably have finished it by now if that were the case.

< Not much of an RPG fan.

Jesus fucking Christ, what the hell would be the point in a GAME that you don't PLAY.

I despair at the casual gaming movement, I really do.

Look, sorry, I don't mean any offense, but I'm genuinely flabbergasted. You might as well watch a film, or (like you say) read a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. Or play MGS4.

Please tell me you're taking the piss. Please?

Of course, the conversations in ME are gameplay.

I think that's a really neat idea. And it being part of the game doesn't take anything away from non-casual people because if you don't like that mode you just don't use it. And it'd be a cool way to watch the whole story again before ME2 comes out without having to fight your way through. You could probably watch the whole critical path like it was a miniseries on DVD or something. Hell, if I could I'd just replay the conversations where you can hang up on the council over and over.

"Did you call us just so you could hang up again?"
"Yes."
*click*

 

[CaptJimboJones]

As an aside, my dream "Star Trek" game would basically be Mass Effect set in the Trek universe. The Normandy could be a Federation starship, Shepherd would be a Starfleet captain, etc.

Instead, we get crap like "Legacy."

 

[firehawk12]

I figure that's what New Game+ is for. Although the enemies scale to your level, on Casual they're still pretty easy to kill and you can probably just power through the main story planets and skip the majority of the side quests.

I would guess that it would still take pretty long, since there's a lot of ambling around you have to do - especially on the Mako - and it depends if you want to bother doing the three character sidequests, but I'm sure a 10 hour main plot playthrough isn't that unreasonable.

 

[Delsaber]

I'm almost done Star Control 2 based on a podcast recommendation and I'm amazed at how much it inspired Mass Effect.
You have planet driving sequences, a huge galaxy map with planets to explore and the pre-requisite ancient, but long forgotten, alien race who has left technology around for other species to find. But, for whatever reason, the world just has so much more character because there's a twisted sense of humour and just more varied alien species.

I'd love to see versions of the Spathi and Zoq Fot Pik in Mass Effect 2...

 

[FordSVT]

Well documented? Don't think I've ever talked about them.

Not on TBBS, no...

And you're right, I am prejudiced against Chocobo Races.

TBH I've only recently got into Final Fantasy 7 and there's a list as long as my arm of things that prevent it from living up to the fucking hype.

Chocobo Races, random battles (I swear to god that "swoosh!" sound makes me want to throw my PS1 out of the nearest window), shitty world map, inconsistent art design, ridiculously convoluted plot...

But, y'know, I still like it.

It's blasphemous to say in some quarters, but I just finished FF9 for the first time and I like it better than FF7.

It's the last of the "old school setting" FF games and I liked it a lot.

 

[firehawk12]

I'm almost done Star Control 2 based on a podcast recommendation and I'm amazed at how much it inspired Mass Effect.
You have planet driving sequences, a huge galaxy map with planets to explore and the pre-requisite ancient, but long forgotten, alien race who has left technology around for other species to find. But, for whatever reason, the world just has so much more character because there's a twisted sense of humour and just more varied alien species.

I'd love to see versions of the Spathi and Zoq Fot Pik in Mass Effect 2...

Or at least races inspired by them. It'd be cute... or even a grouchy, evil but necessary Dyangi (or however you spell its name).

They need some of that HK-47 "meatbag" factor in their game... just someone with personality that doesn't take everything so seriously.

 

[Trubinator]

One of the best games ever made, hands down. Loved every minute of it.

 

[Jax]

After enjoying Mass Effect, I decided to go back to GTA IV but I just can't be arsed with it now...lousy driving engine with boring side missions I want Mass Effect 2 now.

 

[Deckerd]

As for the difficulty of Mass Effect 1:
1) Set it to casual. You get the achievements anyway, and the next achievement for difficulty can only be "achieved" after you beat the game once anyway.
2) Play a soldier or vanguard. Those are basically the newbie classes and while you technically face more Geth than you do "carbon based lifeforms", the engineer powers just suck.
3) If you're already doing the above - use the cover system. Yeah, it's mostly understated, but it really can help. Invest in lift and medic for you or your AI characters. Medic is one of the few skills that is cumulative throughout your entire party, so each character's skill is added up before the health bonus is applied.

Thanks for that.

 

[FordSVT]

The game can be beaten rather easily on normal difficulty if you stick to a soldier class for your primary character and use the secondary characters that can handle weapons and use a bit of biotics or engineering. Put all of your character's points into the assault rifle as a priority, as well as anything that will increase your overall weapons damage, health and shield. Choose weapons and weapons upgrades wisely: there are dozens and dozens to choose from but once you get certain ones there is no point in using any others. Focus on heat sinks and accuracy upgrades for the assault rifle, after a while you can squeeze off dozens of accurate rounds at a time and simply mow down enemies.

By the time I was about half way through the game, my characters could shoot with the assault rifles very accurately and could clear rooms of enemies very quickly. The only thing you have to remember is to switch to the correct type of ammo before engaging Geths or organics.

This is as oversimplification of course but it's the philosophy I got in mind the first time I played through and it seemed to work well.

 

[Jax]

Am currently redoing it with a Infiltrator and making him a renegade, kind of fun to be a total badass . Just left the citadel for 1st time.

 

[firehawk12]

As for the difficulty of Mass Effect 1:
1) Set it to casual. You get the achievements anyway, and the next achievement for difficulty can only be "achieved" after you beat the game once anyway.
2) Play a soldier or vanguard. Those are basically the newbie classes and while you technically face more Geth than you do "carbon based lifeforms", the engineer powers just suck.
3) If you're already doing the above - use the cover system. Yeah, it's mostly understated, but it really can help. Invest in lift and medic for you or your AI characters. Medic is one of the few skills that is cumulative throughout your entire party, so each character's skill is added up before the health bonus is applied.

Thanks for that.

When you do Soldier of Vanguard, there's also a way to build your character so you have infinite God Mode.

Basically, you'll do an optional mission that will let you choose a "prestiege" class. Pick the one that will improve combat abilities. After that, you can use Barrier or Invulnerability over and over again without any cool down time, as long as you invest the points into the new skill.

It's cheap, but... that's RPGs for ya.