So did you end up scanning every planet (as far as you know)?
I can’t commit to “every” as there could be something missed. Why, was that absolutely essential? Or have dire consequences in later games?
No, not essential at all. But it’s possible that you might have missed a few minor side quests if you didn’t scan everything.
Ashley Williams survived and the romance was Liara. Neither Ashley nor Kaiden were main squad members for me, so the death was impactful, but not hugely so. I did all the talking paths I could with Kaiden before he died. I don’t…think…I missed some huge story for him, but I did not have a lot of connection to him.
I did have a few sidequests I missed, but none that sounded super interesting to me. I can’t remember right now, though.
Feros was probably the place I screwed up the most. The community/colonists survived, but I did not get all their problems solved or go back in to the research place to look for data. This was the one location I felt I did not get “nearly everything” in.
The first ME is probably a 30 hour game. You can stretch it to 40, maybe 45 if you land on every extra world and scan every mineral deposit and stuff.
It ain’t no 200-hour Dragon Age Inquisition.
Just finished it. I’ll share thoughts later. Feel free to openly discuss ME1 open spoilers.
Looking forward to ME2. Sticking with normal difficulty. I don’t have patience or time for 1000 deaths.
@Mahaloth, since you’re going Paragon, I assume you saved the Council? Who did you choose as humanity’s representative on the Council?
In fact, come to think of it, are you FemShep or BroShep?
Some thoughts on ME1:
I got the “complete the game on any difficulty” achievement. I am wondering if I misunderstood a difficulty setting and had the game below the default difficulty. I only died in battle 4-5 times. I died a few times in the Mako, like when it hit mines in that one area surrounded by mines. I may have flown through it too easily.
Anyway, the game itself:
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I chose to save the council at the end, though even I doubt my own decision on that. Bunch of losers and I saved their lives for no real reason.
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I picked my buddy Anderson to be the head of whatever. Loyalty.
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I charmed Saren and he killed himself. I still, of course, had to fight possessed Saren in the end.
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My squad was primarily Tali and Liara. No huge strategy here. I just ended up taking them and training them on pistols. Their skills were helpful, too.
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I may not understand the leveling. I was at level 26 or 27 at the end of ME1, but my import just said I was at rank/level 49. I’m not rejecting it, but weird???
I just loaded up ME2 just to watch the import process. It seems to have imported me fairly well. Even the look of the character was excellent.
I immediately noticed better graphics in ME2 and I only played up until Shepard woke up and the game allowed me to save and quit. The resolution/quality is just much higher than ME1. Lighting looks better as well.
Were you shocked by the cold-open of ME2?
In the original ME1, the final save occurred before your last talk with Anderson and Udina, so it didn’t save your selection for who you picked as Council representative. It’s possible you may still have to make that official determination (which will impact ME2) at the conclusion of the first ME2 mission.
On the other hand, it’s also possible that the Legendary Edition saved your choice.
Yes, I was sad to see the Normandy go. I love that its design is pretty weird and that the game hung a lantern on it by having an inspector point it out, but I did love it and its design. Hey, at least I knew where everything was!
Oh, I think it did? I believe the “review” screen that showed my choices listed it as my choice. I hope I didn’t skip over it and get the wrong pick. I definitely stand by the pick.
Again, I literally woke up, got off the table, saved and quit. Haven’t played more than 5 minutes actual content.
The OG game had a level cap of 60. It was next to impossible to get this in one playthrough. The new edition rescales things so you can get to 60 if you’re very thorough. It also adds a new alternative leveling scheme which stretches things out and caps you at 30, which is consistent with the later games (for the OCD player who needs everything to match, I guess). I presume you were using the new scheme (it’s the default), but the importer to the next game reflects the old scheme.
That’s it. I had wondered why I had maxed out a few categories and still, in theory, had 30+ levels I could go. It was also why I was stunned the game was ending and I had only reached level 27 out of 60.
You are right. I was, in the original system, level 49 out of 60 and that is what is importing.
Thanks.
I doubt you would slog through the game just for our sakes, so I’m assuming you at least enjoyed it, but how did you like ME1? If you were giving your 1-5 star review, what would you give it?
ME2 is definitely a longer game and is often considered the best of the three. It’s the first one I played and I adore that game so much. I’m excited to see who you like of all the new characters
Ah, yes, I should probably have said that. 
I probably need to dwell on it for a bit longer and it will also help to see it in the context of the entire series, but I liked it quite a bit. I don’t think it was as good as Knight of the Old Republic or Baldur’s Gate, but I did like it.
I don’t think it was necessary to make me run(slowly) around the ship to speak with everyone all the time. I’m not sure how to fix that issue, but incorporating the conversations more naturally would have been better.
I only played the Legendary version, but I actually liked the Mako sections of the game. I got tired of dodging rockets since it has no left-right strafe option, but I like it. I guess they didn’t half my experience using it. I found that shooting turrets on planets was a huge amount of XP and I always made sure to shoot everything I could find when in the Mako.
Anyway, I liked the story, especially once you begin to realize a little bit more about what is happening. The opening where you earn your Spectre status was a bit of a slog and I hated running around the citadel.
Characters: I liked the alien characters, but found Ashley Williams and Kaiden to be pretty bland and uninteresting. I did not play as Garrus* the entire game and once I settled on Talia and Liara, I never took anyone on missions except when it was their story mission. *(just realized I did take him to re-capture/kill the doctor-scientist he wanted to find).
Anyway, Liara and Talia were interesting and I would keep them as companions if given the choice going forward.
I am hesitant to rank the game out of 5. It was good, but not outrageously amazing. I am 100% definitely continuing on into the second one and would even describe my continuing as “eagerly” continuing because I was really into the story by the end.
Does the Legendary Edition allow you to start at ME2 or 3, or do you have to start at 1?
@Mahaloth, did you punch the reporter in ME1?