new perspective on ME original (after the sequels and reboot)

Time to start a new thread on this

I went back and played the original again after beating Andromeda, to see how much of my opinion regarding the original is accurate, how much is selective memory.

1. Combat. It holds up surprisingly well. I grant that it is very unbalanced and very unsmooth compared to all of its successor, but it works for me. The thing about the game is that the combat comes in short, high intense burst: each fire fight is incredibly violent and unpredictable, but they don't last very long and don't feel like a grind. The end result is a feeling of intensity that the sequels don't match.

This is what surprised me the most. I thought I will hate the combat parts of the game, but I didn't. I love it. As clumsy as it is, the game is paced well enough that I am not bothered at all. And when firefights do happen, it was just so much excitement.

2. Dialogue. I didn't realize before, but Shepard in the original doesn't say much. Not many auto dialogue in the original, almost everything Shepard says requires player input, and the way the VA delivers the line can feel out of place in the conversation. Shepard says "I should go" a lot, and often inappropriate to the conversation to the point of hilarity. In this respect, I think Ryder ends up coming off better since alot of what he say is auto dialogue, so at least his line are more coherent and aren't a bunch of chopped sentences.

NPCs tho, are way better in the original. NPCs in Andromeda act like they are in the sitcom, most of their character bits are so blatantly advertised as they shout their "character" at the player. NPCs in the original generally behave like normal individuals, and to the extent they have quirkiness are expressed more subtly and organically.

3. On PC at least, the UI didn't get in the way of player. I had somehow remembered how shitty the UI was, but it wasn't that bad. Customization of actually meaningful, I didn't feel like I was encumbered to arm and fit everyone for combat. I didn't really get why the developer thought it was necessary for the squad mate to have "unique" look. Maybe that's a marketing thing, I never have trouble telling my squads apart in ME1.

4. Decryption. I forgot that you needed a skill to open loot. I m mixed on this. On the one hand, it makes sense in lore, and gives tech specialization something to set it apart of the other classes. On the other hand, it forces you to use certain squad member. Still, it's nice to play as an engineer and feel like you are actually an engineer, instead of just a soldier who happen to use tech power.
This also makes slapping omnigel on locks make sense in the setting, since its not anyone can defeat the lock with the stuff, you actually need the skill level to do that.

Anyway, these are the things that I completely forgot about original, and had rediscovered only recently. Since so many argument regarding andromeda revolves around how ME1 did things, I though it would be nice to go back and replay the game, and actually confirm my own opinion.