Mass Effect is a science fiction game franchise about the joys of small talk

"...it’s fundamentally a game about characters and relationships, in which much of your time and energy is spent talking to people — and aliens — about how they feel."

He ain't wrong. It's definitely that. Always has been.

Also: banging.

This man knows what's truly important in the ME universe.

Background conversations are very important to me. It builds the scene. From the original Mass Effect to Andromeda, this is one area that never gets it wrong. As an element, it helps finish the canvas. If I were a Spectre or a Pathfinder, listening to crew and residents helps me gather a better picture of what's going on. When I hear a pair of C-Sec officers arguing about regulations, I feel immersed into that scene. I'm stopping all movement to gather in what's around me and since I'm there... holy cow... who assembled this vista? Listening to the Krogan conversations on Tuchanka made me feel as if I was right there except without the use of my olfactory sense. When these things are done right, it's subtle and reinforces your perception of what is happening. However, when you have people teleport in and out of reality or the weird collision issues...

On the contrary, this was slacking.



But yeah, if you really look at it, the magic of Mass Effect all comes down to that little dialog wheel. It's kind of like peeking behind the curtain, except somehow you can go back and still enjoy the trick.

Seriously now, though: I agree.

My history with Mass Effect is somewhat uncommon,, because I played 3 first, then came back to 2 (and then 3), and only then played ! (then 2 and 3), so what drew me to the franchise was the combat. However, as a sucker for big sci-fi universes, even if every new game (for me) had slightly worse gameplay (or terribly worse, in the case of one), I stuck around because the world was just so fucking engaging. I never thought most characters had particularly great writing, save a few exceptions, but the word-building was awesome and the characters were a natural, engaging window to it.

The only other game I can think of that provides you with that much info is Metal gear Solid; however, MGS is much more about exposition than it is dialogue, and you have no agency in shaping that world, as opposed to ME where your decisions pretty much can wipe races, or life in the galaxy even.

On a lot of ways, Mass Effect is like an interactive book, and I say this as the highest compliment possible.