I kind of wanted him to dump on Mass Effect a little more first.
I bought this game at lunch!
It seems to me that it all depends on how much you like The Bioware Game, because from the sounds of it it’s exactly like KOTOR and BG. If that gets you wet, then you’ll probably love Mass Effect. Me, I’m loving the lack of loading screens and the GTA feel of Assassin’s Creed’s giant city, plus getting to feel like a total badass without having to actually make all those difficult jumps.
That’s kind of what the “replay God Hand” option in my poll was about. I do like The Bioware Game, but I’d be tempted to just replay my favorite version of it rather than buy a new one. That would be Jade Empire, and after about forty minutes, the combat system would remind me of how awesome the combat in God Hand was, and I’d probably play that instead.
I dunno guys, I’ve played lots of Bioware or Bioware-ish games (Baldur’s Gate, BG II, Planescape, KOTOR), and I gotta say Mass Effect takes it all to the next level. In my personal opinion, anyhow. Sure, it’s a Bioware game, but it’s not your daddy’s Bioware game. I’m digging it a lot more than I dug KOTOR already.
Believe me, if you start playing it, after an hour you will NOT be thinking about the last Bioware game you played. (Unless you’re BobJustBob, that is.)
I did ask for Assassin’s Creed for Christmas though!
Well, I was going to say that this incarnation of the Bioware Game is way better than previous ones. The UI is better; the major mechanics (dialogue, combat, lockpicking) are all heavily modified to depend on a combination of skill and stat in a way that they never were before; the presentation is just amazing; and really, it’s all just as far beyond KOTOR as KOTOR was beyond BG1.
But then you said that Jade Empire was your favorite game, and since that’s the absolute worst Bioware Game ever, I don’t know that my opinions mean anything to you.
Not sure how to take that – I think KOTOR was a big step backwards from the BG series, at least as an RPG (if not game). Hopefully you just mean polish, because right now Mass Effect (which I’m definitely going to pick up) seems like a less exciting KOTOR because of no-Jedi.
Instead of making a new “which game should I buy this month” poll for December, I went ahead and bought ME today.
Thanks extarbags!
The correct answer is to go play rock band with your friends and family.
I mean the polish, yes, but also the immediacy. KOTOR takes you from a top-down 2D world to an over-the-shoulder 3D one; Mass Effect makes that 3D world feel more realistic and less gamey.
(And I was careful to specify BG1, because I think KOTOR was a step backward from BG2, in terms of awesomeness, but not really much from BG1.
Did you buy the full set then?
I went w/ mass effect. I haver a huge backlog now that I finally have a 360 back, and I can see AC dropping in price faster than ME. Thats my only reason though, purely mercenary.
And I picked up COD4 so I can start the long road of catching up while being level negative one zillion while everyone else is level 23984772846578234658.
Not that I have any time to play…
I just realized I should’ve bought the full set just for the one day when I bring it home so my family can play.
Oh, is that what cursed mine? It’s crashed four times today in Mass Effect, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to send it back again. Sixth time’s the charm, maybe?
I’m sure fucking hoping the 6th time is the charm.
I think Mass Effect trumps KOTOR setting-wise, because Star Wars is clearly a mythology; the connection to humanity as we know it (e.g. Earth, 20th century, etc.) is tenuous at best. But Mass Effect is set in OUR 22nd century, there’s a historical timeline from now to then, and that makes it more immersive for me.
Yeah, I couldn’t hold out for individually packaged drums.