Your most essential PSAs to other players
Feb 3, 2017 17:20:53 GMT
dmc1001, Hawke, and 1 more like this
Post by Link"Guess"ski on Feb 3, 2017 17:20:53 GMT
PSA = Public Service Announcement; a typically used abbreviation when posting protips and helpful information to make people aware of certain tips, often to increase people's enjoyment of a game.
I've found after multiple trilogy run-throughs that there are certain playstyles, options as well as mindsets that create a better experience for me. I'll list 7 of them and then I wanna hear yours!
1. There is a fully-fledged codex that updates over the course of each game -- use it!
Why: It contains sublinial details to the plot at hand or the characters that can deepen them, and it really helps you feel invested in the story. It creates a knowledge that puts certain conversations or even romances under a different light, but do watch out you don't become obsessive over it to the point of creating alchemical formulae for Tali's sweat.
2. During subsequent playthroughs of ME3, turn off hints and movement indicators.
Why: This makes the experience more organic and creates a better sense of freedom. Jumping doesn't feel as scripted.
3. Planetary descriptions, the Codex entry "The Reaper War" and War Assets should be read.
Why: They both contain clearer information than the main story about how the Reaper war progresses and foreshadows how the Crucible functions. A surprising number of optional planets contain an extra paragraph specifically mentioning how the Reaper war was handled on the specific world, often describing the way the world fell under Reaper control. Again, you are given more context for the main plot, you feel the scope increase as you read it, and you also understand the timeline of the invasion a bit more, even Reaper capabilities compared to that of the resistance.
4. The Citadel's kiosks are prefered over the Normandy's procurement shop.
Why: They have the same wares but they're cheaper on the Citadel and the game contains a finite amount of Credits per playthrough, so you can't buy everything you see if you also want to upgrade guns.
5. Do check in on the Citadel but not too often (goes for all 3 games)
Why: It updates with new NPCs and quests but for ME2 and ME3 it only primarily happens twice. Even when you get mails from squad to go see them, I recommend waiting until you have a batch of team-members there so there's a fair amount of time to be spent there and not wandering around for 20 minutes only to find out there was only one new conversation to discover.
6. Create a character in your head and play as that person as much as the game allows it.
Why: Playing strictly paragon top-right or renegade bottom-right the whole time is very boring. It's also limited how much you can play as "yourself" before you start going through the motions over several playthroughs. Think about the pre-military history and military service background and how that would affect a person and start making choices from that and maybe even plan ahead for all 3 games. I had one Shepard who I decided was a cold and ruthless leader until he found genuine compassion for an alien, which was Liara, and as his sense of responsibility increased he started to become a better person, and I kinda had that gradual increase from bad-guy to hero over the three games. I also think you should play this way so you can have a playthrough where you're siding with the Quarians but distrustful of Geth or just a racist or anti-humanity -- create principles for your Shepard and decide the dialogue from that.
7. Not being a completionist is a valid way to play for the story
Why: Particularly in ME3 you can skip several optional missions. During each of the ME2-squadmember missions in the game you find logs from Cerberus detailing what was going to happen if you hadn't interfered. This actually has some slight ramifications and it can spice up your playthrough to leave some of the distress-call missions, and similarly choosing a normal dialogue choice even when you have a persuade option available can sometimes be more interesting for your story. I also recently beat ME2 while skipping 3 recruitment missions and it kinda has become a unique experience in my mind and it was also a more focused playthrough with less busywork or babysitting.
Most of these were story-related, but it could be anything. What are your PSA/protips for the trilogy to make it more interesting?
I've found after multiple trilogy run-throughs that there are certain playstyles, options as well as mindsets that create a better experience for me. I'll list 7 of them and then I wanna hear yours!
1. There is a fully-fledged codex that updates over the course of each game -- use it!
Why: It contains sublinial details to the plot at hand or the characters that can deepen them, and it really helps you feel invested in the story. It creates a knowledge that puts certain conversations or even romances under a different light, but do watch out you don't become obsessive over it to the point of creating alchemical formulae for Tali's sweat.
2. During subsequent playthroughs of ME3, turn off hints and movement indicators.
Why: This makes the experience more organic and creates a better sense of freedom. Jumping doesn't feel as scripted.
3. Planetary descriptions, the Codex entry "The Reaper War" and War Assets should be read.
Why: They both contain clearer information than the main story about how the Reaper war progresses and foreshadows how the Crucible functions. A surprising number of optional planets contain an extra paragraph specifically mentioning how the Reaper war was handled on the specific world, often describing the way the world fell under Reaper control. Again, you are given more context for the main plot, you feel the scope increase as you read it, and you also understand the timeline of the invasion a bit more, even Reaper capabilities compared to that of the resistance.
4. The Citadel's kiosks are prefered over the Normandy's procurement shop.
Why: They have the same wares but they're cheaper on the Citadel and the game contains a finite amount of Credits per playthrough, so you can't buy everything you see if you also want to upgrade guns.
5. Do check in on the Citadel but not too often (goes for all 3 games)
Why: It updates with new NPCs and quests but for ME2 and ME3 it only primarily happens twice. Even when you get mails from squad to go see them, I recommend waiting until you have a batch of team-members there so there's a fair amount of time to be spent there and not wandering around for 20 minutes only to find out there was only one new conversation to discover.
6. Create a character in your head and play as that person as much as the game allows it.
Why: Playing strictly paragon top-right or renegade bottom-right the whole time is very boring. It's also limited how much you can play as "yourself" before you start going through the motions over several playthroughs. Think about the pre-military history and military service background and how that would affect a person and start making choices from that and maybe even plan ahead for all 3 games. I had one Shepard who I decided was a cold and ruthless leader until he found genuine compassion for an alien, which was Liara, and as his sense of responsibility increased he started to become a better person, and I kinda had that gradual increase from bad-guy to hero over the three games. I also think you should play this way so you can have a playthrough where you're siding with the Quarians but distrustful of Geth or just a racist or anti-humanity -- create principles for your Shepard and decide the dialogue from that.
7. Not being a completionist is a valid way to play for the story
Why: Particularly in ME3 you can skip several optional missions. During each of the ME2-squadmember missions in the game you find logs from Cerberus detailing what was going to happen if you hadn't interfered. This actually has some slight ramifications and it can spice up your playthrough to leave some of the distress-call missions, and similarly choosing a normal dialogue choice even when you have a persuade option available can sometimes be more interesting for your story. I also recently beat ME2 while skipping 3 recruitment missions and it kinda has become a unique experience in my mind and it was also a more focused playthrough with less busywork or babysitting.
Most of these were story-related, but it could be anything. What are your PSA/protips for the trilogy to make it more interesting?
