Wolff's Haunt

Holy cow. What an adventure indeed.

I've gotta admit, when I started what was my sixth or seventh replay of Bioware's greatest game created, the 2007 Mass Effect, I did not expect to have this much fun. It was just something to kill my time, just an obstacle I had to get through to get to my preferred installment of the franchise, Mass Effect 2, which had a lot more action, drama, and character development than the first game, not to mention being a hell lot darker. If I had to make a science fiction comparison, ME1 was like A New Hope, while ME2 was like The Empire Strikes Back.

That being said... damn. Playing a badass Renegade is still as fun as I remembered. The moral choices you make (and the subsequent consequences you live with), the vast, various worlds you get to explore, the beautiful background score by Jack Wall, the epic cinematic feel of the cut-scenes that makes you feel like you're watching a movie (especially that ending), and those neat little quirks in the dialogues and the game-lore (the elevator conversations, anyone?); all of these came together to remain as a satisfying experience, and they make it hard for me to say which is the better game, especially when ME2 has a lot of aspects from the first game missing.

And I couldn't emphasize the cinematic feel enough. Take away the gameplay elements , and Mass Effect might as well be one giant Hollywood blockbuster. Furthermore, it also feels like a visual novel, in a way. If the western civilization ever came close to making a visual novel, Mass Effect would be it, what with its heavy focus on dialogue options and romance options like a harem VN.

With how great the first game remains to be, I'm definitely more excited to play ME2 now. Let's just hope the ME2 experience will still hold up as well as the first game.