Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
Mass Effect is a fun game series, though incredibly troubled. When EA acquired Bioware's holding company, VG Holding Group, in 2007, fans who know their history knew that the company was on borrowed time. EA destroyed Origin Systems, the company best known the Wing Commander and Ultima series, with its heavy handed management and unrealistic fiscal demands. EA enforces hard deadlines that no company that focuses on good gameplay and storytelling can meet, and when they don't get the success that they mandate, they start cutting staff in order to compensate. It's all about the "almighty dollar" for EA, and they care nothing about their fans.
That's not to say that Bioware's not fighting to stay in the game; the release of the Extended Cut DLC, which fixes the vast majority of the issues most people had with the original ending to ME3 shows that Bioware still cares about their fans. But with the retirement of the founders, I don't know how much more the company has.
Don't mistake me; the game series is, and always will be, fun. The combat system for the games is fun, despite the hiccup that was ME1's combat engine. The characters we meet (except for Jacob) are endearing and it is a delight to see them grow as we fight along side them. And the story is rich and a delight to experience anew every time I put the games into my console. I love watching Liara fall in love with me every time I meet her, and hear the heartbreak in her voice when you tell her you don't feel the same. I love listening to Wrex's stories about his past. I love watching Tali and Garrus stand by my side every step of the way. And I even love the ending of ME3, despite how others complain about it.
The best way to think of Mass Effect is what Bioware used to be; a great company that made great games with great stories. Remember Mass Effect as the story of how Commander Shepard saved the galaxy from the Reaper threat at the expense of her own life, instead of what EA is going to make Mass Effect 4 into. Because Mass Effect 4 has been announced.
I, for one, will not be purchasing Mass Effect 4, or any new game from Bioware from this point. I will only support their Austin office, since I play Star Wars: The Old Republic. Mostly because Disney won't let EA fuck their franchise like a two dollar whore.
In short, Mass Effect is a great game series from a formerly great game developer.
As for me, I just picked up Fable 3, and I plan on doing a retrospective on that series as well.
Until then, happy gaming!
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