Submit Your Comment On Mass Effect 1 For The Deepest Dive

What’s up with that one salarian prisoner you just can’t interact with? I freed the one guy who Saren left as a control and killed the indoctrined ones but there’s another cell with just one last salarian you just have to leave!

Chad Beezy

Tali'Zorah Vas Neemah all the way. I always hated that you could not romance her in ME 1. For me, Liara always felt like the developer-setup where right out of the gate its like "the whole galaxy thinks Asari sleep around" and then Liara tells you the same thing and she talks about sex right away - it felt unnatural and unwarranted to me. I do agree that as a 30-something Ashley is a total put-off. I let her die this time through.

Nick Rodriguez

Forgot how cool talking to Harbinger is. I love an incomprehensible, unknowable antagonist as much as the next guy, but I would love to see something different in future iterations of the franchise. Seems like with as rich of a world as Mass Effect has, there is a ton of opportunity to expand on Game-of Thrones-style factions with competing interests instead of just a nebulous evil. Anyone else feel this way?

Jon G

I had full intention of playing through the series according to my 16 year old head canon, so I originally intended to romance Ashley. However, I found myself absolutely DESPISING every word that came out of her mouth! My 30 year old self is now much more drawn to Liara. For those replaying the series, what choices in the game have changed for you based off time, growth, or life experience?

Spencer Botine

Entering Virmire, the conclusion feels like it’ll happen here. We have a difficult “choice” with Wrex, we are storming Saren’s base, we have a suicide mission speech, our party splits up, and we have a stand off with Saren. It is revealed we have Ilos and the climax remaining after Vimire. Anytime an ending to a game feels like it’s approaching and more game is revealed, my best friend and I (Parton VicJake) named this feeling being “Virmired”.

Kraid Belmont

I'm not sure if it's just nostalgia, but replaying this game was a joy from start to finish - even through tedious MAKO exploration, I got the platinum trophy and have continued to binge the entire Legendary edition, taking down every trophy in the way! If you had to pinpoint one thing that Mass Effect 1 that more modern games don't, what do you think it'd be? For me, it's giving characters a bit of time to breathe! It builds a solid foundation for the rest of the trilogy to go full throttle!

Just wanted to say thanks for choosing ME 1 for this edition of TDD. I played ME 2 & 3 several times back in the day but never touched ME 1 and was gonna skip the Legendary Edition altogether. The process of thoroughly going through ME 1 with the MinnMax community has given me a rejuvinated AND newfound love for this series. I started ME 2 as soon as 1's credits rolled and am already experiencing it with a leveled up appreciation. Ben, Sarah, Joe & Leo, thank you all for sharing your passion and perspective! It's time consuming to dive this deep and this was the perfect way to kick off my summer of Mass Effect. I'm The Chune, and this is my favourite community on The Citadel.

Dixon Denham

After hearing how many times "XO Pressly has the deck", it really made me think that throughout the trilogy and especially in Mass Effect 1, you're never really made to feel like the captain of a ship, especially since your second in command (Pressly) is such a disposable character. Only two of your squadmates are your actual subordinates (Kaiden and Ashley) and the rest are your cool alien friends who are outside your chain of command. You don't really control any aspects of the normandy or its crew except for where it takes you for your next Captain Kirk style away mission, and no one questions the riskiness of sending the commanding officer on a series of increasingly dangerous battles

Really easy comment from me this time. M4 Part 2 by Faunts is the best ending credits song in any video game. It still fills me with so many emotions just as much as it did the first time I beat the game.

Kate Bishop

I love how even small bits of lore and conversations end up coming back later in bigger parts of the story. For example Joker is shown to be an expert pilot early on by "jumping halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead" and that come back into play whenever the crew has to hot drop onto Ilos. Then the way the backstory of Wrex and the Genophage goes from just a nice little history bit at the beginning to playing such a big role in Virmire adds just that much more to the stakes to make it a powerful conversation with him. Then the Keepers going from enigma to crucial role in the Reapers returning. The writing team really used all parts of the buffalo when introduction elements into the lore and story and it is incredible!

I’m not sure what the general consensus is here, but I have always really liked the end credits song, m4 Part II, by the Faunts. Thematically, I think the song maintains the tone and style of the game. It is upbeat in it own way but also carries with it a sense that not everything is ok. Lyrically, well it’s vague enough like lots of music that you can make connections to the game, I have seen discourse online doing just that, but ultimately it’s about the sound of the song and the feeling it invokes. I don’t believe the song was made for the game, so it is not going to be a perfect fit, but for a video game song with lyrics, which are often not good and tend to feel out of place, I think this one is very good.

With the first game in the bag, what are some predictions from Leo as to where certain story threads may lead? No cheating from the rest of the class!

The music and vibe on Ilos is just so pure Mass Effect to me. Real shame they didn't include that track on the official OST. The first game overall really just nails the hardcore sci fi mood and concepts from beginning to end. The initial confrontation with Sovereign on Virmire and speaking with Vigil on Ilos really just blow the story wide open in all the best ways possible. What a true joy it's been to relive this masterpiece again!