Good old games… that you never played (Blaugust post 4)

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Mass Effect_character window

Maybe you were too young when game XY originally released. Or you weren’t into games then. Or you just completely missed game XY and never even knew it existed. Or (insert any other reason for why you didn’t play game XY when it originally released). Do you know such a game? Do you think you can still play it now that it’s probably outdated? Thankfully, thanks to platforms like GOG, it is very much possible to play these old games. But is it any fun?

For me, there is Mass Effect, for example. For some odd reason, I thought it was a simple FPS shooter with a story. And I cannot play first person shooters because of simulation sickness. I need at least the “over the shoulder view”. But I had been looking for a good SF RPG for quite a while – until I was told that Mass Effect is exactly that. I’m 17 hours into the first game of the franchise and I really love playing it – or loved, rather, as my hand issues spoiled the fun and I had to take a break from it. I am just not sure if I should start with the first Mass Effect game or jump to the sequel. I’ve seen recommend skipping the first and starting with Mass Effect 2, but since I’m playing the games for the world and the story, I guess I’d feel like I’m missing something.

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I was also recommended Planescape: Torment for its amazing and deep storyline when I’d talked with friends about games and that I’m often not too happy with the stories narrated in RPGs. I have only started to play it, so I can’t yet say if I like it or not.

I am certain there are a billion more great games that I never played or even knew about. But I think Mass Effect is the “worst” one on that list as it fills the gap I’ve been trying to fill for years and the only reason I never touched it was that for whatever reason, I was absolutely certain that this was a shooter game!

8 Comments

  1. I loved Mass Effect 2 then went back to play Mass Effect 1. I got pretty far in, I think, and liked it but stopped playing for some reason I can’t recall. I should go back!

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    1. That’s two of us then. :) I’ll try to get back into the first game and will definitely take a look at the second one afterwards… well, if I do get through the first one. ;)

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  2. I’d recommend start with Mass Effect 1. I still think it has the best story of all the games in the franchise. It is just that the gameplay wasn’t that good yet. Also, some of the characters that will be doing a reoccurring appearance in the series will show up there first.

    Mass Effect 2 has better gameplay but the story starts to go downhill from there in my opinion.

    Planescape: Torment is another one I loved. I got into it late too because back in the days I couldn’t get it to run in my computer for some reason. So when GOG got it I grabbed it and started playing. Then I got to a point where I got into some bug where I couldn’t save and stopped. I will try again eventually, hopefully it was a one-time thing or some weird bug with the version of DOSBOX that shipped with the game at the time.

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    1. I googled to see what others say about this and found that apparently, the story and the world are great in the first game, but the combat is better in the second. I’m playing on casual settings anyway, because I don’t care much about the challenge. I just want to experience a good story. So yeah, as you suggested as well, I’m sticking with the first one then. :)

      I got the enhanced edition for Planescape: Torment. So hopefully, there is no such bug for me. :p

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      1. Oh, yeah. I forgot Planescape got an Enhanced Edition now too! I think I might have that version as well… I will give it a try next time I try playing Planescape. :)

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  3. Mass Effect 2 is in my top 5. I played it first, then went back and played the first one, and then played it again. The story builds from each one to the next, so I’d recommend starting from the beginning!

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  4. I also only played them long after release from late 2016 on and I loved all three of them – but I disliked the combat in part 1. For someone who stopped playing shooters many many years before it did feel a bit like an FPS at times, but the pause mechanic made it better. I also played on lowest or nearly-lowest difficulty, which made it more bearable.
    Stick to it, they’re all awesome!

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