[ SECRET POST #2031 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2031 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 043 secrets from Secret Submission Post #290.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

So I've been thinking of getting MASS EFFECT 3. However I haven't played the other two--and my biggest reason for wanting to give the third one a try is because I wanna romance that Kaidan guy with a male Shepard. I know that sounds super shallow, sorry. ):

Anyway. Should I just go ahead and play the third one? Or should I go through the other two as well? But if the latter, should I play as a male or will that mean I lose out on a lot of character development for Kaidan that I would've gotten if I romanced him as a female (there's apparently a reunion scene in the second one, which I'm thinking I wouldn't get with Kaidan unless I play as a female)? I know there's mods if you play on the computer, but I'd be getting it for the XBOX360.

HELP PLZ

[(Anonymous)]

oh for heaven's sake go buy the other two first, you won't understand the plot at ALL

then again if you're only in it for the ~*slashy goodness*~ it's obvious plot isn't that important to you

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't want to give out a lot of unecessary info--but I see I should have, in order to not get people make assumptions like this. So, shit I apparently should've said:

1. I can't afford buying three games right now. I wish I could, but I can't.

2. I'm a gay man, and it'd just be damn nice to play as one as well.

3. Plot is important to me, but not as important as the two previous points. And I just assumed that BioWare would offer some sort of recap of the story, since I know they've done that sort of thing with their other games.

[kallanda_lee]

Hello there.

1) Is there a way you can buy them second hand? I really know a lot of the price off by doing that.

2) As for as I understand you can't play a gay male romance in ME 1 (which is the only one I played). From what I know though, the plot sort of carries on to the 2nd& 3rd game ( I'm still going o play them, so I'm keeping away from too much spoilers).

If you wish to play as a gay man, have you tried playing Dragon Age? I actually much prefer both the plot, game play AND the romance to Mass Effect.

[world_eater]

Ohhh, neat idea! You only need one game to enjoy the gay goodness of Dragon Age!

And if you ever feel like playing 2 (screw the haters, I liked it!) there's two male romance options too.

[elialshadowpine]

Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 are $20 each (at least for PC), and have a ton of playtime. I tried playing ME3 first because the controls on the previous games are seriously difficult for me, but I was pretty confused (and this while hanging around a lot of ME fans and knowing the basics of the series). FWIW it took my partner a couple months to get through the first game, although he wasn't playing hardcore. If you tend to play, like, 8hrs a day, you'd probably go through it faster.

That said, I do get where you're coming from, but if you decide to start with 3, I would definitely look up some synopses for the previous games so you have some idea of what the overarching plot is.

(I'm also going to go along with the reccs for Dragon Age. There is a bi male option in the first game, in the second game, all the romance-able characters are bi. They are a fantasy setting though, which may not be what you're looking for.

[(Anonymous)]

You can buy both ME 1 & 2 for $20 on Steam right now. Given that the in-store value for Mass Effect 3 is /still/ roughly $40-50 dollars, depending on where you shop, that isn't a bad deal.

I would encourage you to buy the first two games first, in spite of the fact that you cannot play a male x male relationship in either of the first two games. It will make for a more immersive experience, especially as ME3 does not recap very much at all; because, being as it's the third in a trilogy, Bioware is assuming (and rightly so) that you've played the two previous installments.

I don't think it's a big deal to wait a while and get the full experience for basically $40 for both. The story is a heavier focus in ME (as it should be) anyway.

[world_eater]

However weird your preferences may be (Kaidan, what did they do to you in ME3? Not that I forgave him for ditching me in ME2 anyway), I'd definitely play the others first, the game basically is not much use if you don't have any connection with the storyline IMHO.
I'm not sure about a reunion scene either, I think you'll meet him whether or not you romanced him.

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the input and info, I really appreciate it!

[gobbledigook]

Don't make yourself play something you don't want to. I thought I'd play Uncharted because I heard Uncharted 2 was good and I can't even get past the first 5 hours, it's such a terrible game.

I haven't played the Mass Effect games but apparently the wikia has a story synopsis:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Storyline

Maybe reading it will get you interested in playing the games themselves? either way you don't have to be embarrassed because you want to play the game for specific reasons, no matter what judgey nonnie above says. :P

[elaminator]

I love Kaidan myself (in all the games) and I think he's a good romance option for either female or male Shepard, but I've got to say I'd play the first two before the third as well. There's a lot that goes on in this universe and I don't think you'll get as much out of the game if you haven't played the others first. I know BioWare says, "You can start from the third game!" but...I just don't think it would be that enjoyable by itself, honestly. The experiences from the other games add so much.

I think the male romance should be fine; it's a bit different yea, and there is an added scene or two with female Shepard because you could romance Kaidan from the start with her (with male Shep you can't because BioWare backed out before the games release), but that doesn't make the male romance bad imo. It's up to you.

I see that you can't afford all the games right now? I'm going with what sometimes else said; maybe try to get them used, or play Dragon Age for now; it's fantastic as well and the first one is super long.

[(Anonymous)]

I've got all three games, but I played through all three as FemShep and I went back to play as MaleShep for this very reason. However, I can't bring myself to sink another eleventy billion hours into this series AGAIN so I skipped 1 by downloading Mass Effect: Genesis for $5 worth of Microsoft Points. It's a voiced "animated comic" that allows you to pick the big decisions from the first game and gives you a bit of backstory as to what happened in 1. There's only one decision it doesn't ask you to make, but if you ask me, it's not that crucial.

If you want to set yourself up for some Kaidan goodness in later games, just remember this: when Liara and Ashley ask you to pick, choose to focus on the mission. And when you have to choose between Ashley and Kaidan, choose Ashley. After that, you should be good! And you'll never have to deal with the Mako! :O

Also, the reunion scene in 2 has to do with whether you choose to sacrifice Ashley or Kaidan in 1 (the second decision up above). If you save Kaidan, you'll still get the scene.

[drakontion]

Personally I'd play all three. You will miss a whole heap of storyline if you start with ME3 (and storyline is important in this particular series), plus if you start straight with ME3 you are automatically given the worst carryover decisions by the game, which will affect your ending status and choices ingame.

The game doesn't give you a recap option in ME3, what it does give is a series of 'Codex' entries which are like encyclopaedia entries that tell you the history of things that have happened and people you run into. Necessarily leaving out the decisions and options you have made during the previous two games, of course (like who you let live or die, who you supported or shot down, that sort of thing).

However 1 and 2 do not have a gay romance option (without a mod), so if that's what you're mainly looking for, then by all means.

Also seconding the Dragon Age and Dragon Age 2 suggestion, and the Genesis thing, which will let you skip ME1 and jump straight into ME2 (though by doing that you're missing the best game in the series, IMO).

this comment was when I finally broke down and got a dw account

[thursdaymoose]

While ME3 is good and does make an effort to reach out to new players in a variety of ways (one character -- Vega -- was introduced in part to have things explained to him, I believe) I'd recommend against this for a few reasons.

- One of the biggest draws for the ME series is the theme of choices having effects much further down the line. Decisions made in the first game will change the way things go down in game 3, if you chose to import. If you start a new game in ME3, though, you only have one choice to make, and that's picking between the survival of Kaidan and Ashley. I would say either get at least ME2 (each party member has a mission, some which affect VITAL plot points in 3) or look into save state editors (which will be much harder if you're playing console). The game ME3 starts you out with is one with a lot of harsh choices made, and it will be difficult to get all the endings.

-as others have said, you won't have the same emotional history with the characters. Kaidan especially, as there's the whole "breakup" thing (even if you look at it without previous romance) that goes down in 2 because he can't accept that you're working for terrorists, and you are annoyingly limited in your dialog options.

- If you're going for the gay, I'd recommend (as others above did) the Dragon Age series. There's a bisexual man and woman in Origins, and all of the DA2 main love interests are bisexual (2/2 m/f, not counting the straight chaste DLC character Sebastian). Dragon Age 2 also takes place in a different area from Origins, and is much less affected, so Origins is much less important to DA2 than the ME games are to each other

Whatever your choices, I hope you enjoy the game you get. I've greatly enjoyed both series, and would love to see more fans!

[darkmanifest]

Personally, I plan to start with Mass Effect 2, because I'm not into ME1's appearance and I've heard the gameplay improves a lot with the later games. I've spoiled myself silly, though, so I know what to expect. If you choose to start with Mass Effect 3, you could maybe browse the wiki to get the gist of things and just avoid the ME3 sections (which are clearly marked) in case you still want to be surprised by some stuff.

And you don't necessarily have to start ME3 with the default options of a new player, either, though it's a little complicated to do otherwise. After you've looked up enough of the story to know what you want, you can go to masseffect2saves.com and follow the instructions for importing a (donated) save game with the history, list of choices, and romances you prefer to have under your belt. This works for the XBOX360, too, I believe, and you can then change your Shepard's name, appearance, and class to your liking.

There's even a few donated saves where the players used hacks to romance Kaidan as ManShep in ME1 and stayed faithful through ME2. According to those who've done this, ME3 will acknowledge this as legit with some extra dialogue you can't get by romancing Kaidan with a new game.

So...yeah, all of that, lol. Good luck!

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I played ME3 without touching the others and I didn't experience much disorientation. I'm considering getting the other 2 now, but not sure.