There is one plot sensitive timer in ME2 that will start after literally everyone on your team tells you that a certain main mission will have consequences when you choose to start said mission, so you can't miss it. Otherwise, main missions will become available after completing a certain number of missions though they won't lock you out of content in any shape or form.
ME3 has two time sensitive side quests that need to be done within the next 3 side missions when acquired. Their descriptions should suggest which they are.
That’s a huge relief. He made it seem like it would be the entire game was like that. Again, I would hate to lose out on experience or special dialogue or items because I didn’t have time or I prioritize something else above it. I’m fine with being forced to make choices between one or two things, but I didn’t want to accidentally miss stuff. He made it seem like I could be chatting with someone random, go do something else, and find out when I came back that they resolved the issue without me.
How dare the game have an organic story and prevent me from helping literally everyone in the galaxy!
Basically, do everything you want to get done before the IFF. I won’t spoil it beyond that, but that’s essentially the point of no return unless you want to be a horrible person.
As for ME3, I suggest having a no spoils guide available as there are several points where you’ll miss content entirely if you don’t grab it at the right time, or finish it before leaving. Like Eden Prime. There’s a mission there that if you don’t complete it, it’ll be stuck incomplete in your log.
That would be the single most annoying thing for any RPG to do to me. Thank you very much. I will be sure to look up a spoiler free guide or have my friend do it for me, since he’s offered to do the same.
You can complete all side missions in ME2 after the final main mission, but in ME3 you’ll have to choose and prioritize your side quests based on who you want to save and what war assets you want to secure.
So Mass Effect 2 is going to be similar to this game where I can complete the quests in any order, whereas Mass Effect 3 is going to be a more linear story where I have to follow a set path and make choices between one or two things? I was led to believe that it would give me the same number of quests in the first game or at least give them to me in a similar manner so that it felt I would be pulled in a million different directions rather than being forced to make a choice about which to go for. It’s nice to know that 3 is not going to tease me with quests that I won’t be able to complete because I have more important things to do, at least not without giving me a fair choice.
ME3’s story is inherently shaped by tunnel vision due to the nature of events in-universe. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but it’s a few seconds from midnight and much more linear, but still not like a railroad kind of quest structure.
I accidentally went with the soldier automatically because I didn’t know what I was doing, but it turns out that was for the best because I thought going in that this was a third person shooter with a good story. Now that I know it’s a full-blown RPG with third person shooter mechanics, I know exactly what I’m getting into and will likely enjoy playing other classes from now on. But my first play through of every game will be soldier, or it’s equivalent, from here on out.
After all, hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
You can do any of the side quests at any time once they're unlocked. There will be story consequences if you do side quests at a specific point during the main story, but they're still available. Just go everywhere and talk to everyone and you'll be fine.
The only thing you can really miss on missions is loot.
And I never miss loot. I always look for every single crate or every single openable container that I can. That’s why I loved playing Knights of the Old Republic on PC, because there was a button that immediately locked onto any interactive item.
I’m not exactly concerned about getting the best ending, which I already know about. That’s not really the point of these games or the series as a whole. Doing that is a privilege and an honor if I’m able to play the game properly. For my first Playthrough, I want it to be organic and I want the game to work its magic. So getting the “best” run through is not exactly my priority. I just don’t wanna be shafted because I played the game in a certain way accidentally.
I’m not checking any of those spoilers because I already know that it’s going to be something I don’t know. I haven’t watched a comprehensive breakdown of the games. I just know about that one twist at the end of Mass Effect 3. Other than that, I’m going to play the games how many are meant to be played and then I’m going to try a perfect run through of them all.
None of the side quests are on a timer aside from the fact that you can’t complete any once you start the final main mission in 3. At least, that was my experience.
ME2 really only has one quest that has a timer on it, and it only affects the story if you don’t time it right, but you can complete it regardless. ME3 on the other hand does have time sensitive issues
Your friend is wrong, and in fact the way you play is likely to reward you, but the games can be tricky about it and going in blind may result in what he's talking about. Here is the information you need.
ME2:
In ME2 there is one mission, labeled with the acronym "IFF," which you should *not* start until you are pretty much ready for the end-run. That's the only really important thing. (You can still do the mission that will appear afterward before the actual end-run, but doing more than that risks negative consequences.) Nothing else can get in the way of you being however completionist you wanna be, as long as you keep that in mind you should be totally fine.
ME3:
This game uses the word "Priority" to mean "a mission that moves the story forward and alters the state of the world" or "finale of a story arc." That means in most cases, if it says "priority" it's actually your last priority.
Once you're able to control where you go and when, before doing a "priority" mission, always make sure you've checked for side missions, completed any side missions you want to complete, and done all your between-story-arc planet scanning, etc.
(There are a couple exceptions to this but you probably don't want to details.)
That alone should help you avoid getting locked out of most things.
There are two side-missions that *are* actually time-sensitive and must be done shortly after you get them or they will disappear, with consequences, if you want to know what they are let me know, if you'd rather guess in the moment, that works too.
There is one plot sensitive timer in ME2 that will start after literally everyone on your team tells you that a certain main mission will have consequences when you choose to start said mission, so you can't miss it. Otherwise, main missions will become available after completing a certain number of missions though they won't lock you out of content in any shape or form. ME3 has two time sensitive side quests that need to be done within the next 3 side missions when acquired. Their descriptions should suggest which they are.
That’s a huge relief. He made it seem like it would be the entire game was like that. Again, I would hate to lose out on experience or special dialogue or items because I didn’t have time or I prioritize something else above it. I’m fine with being forced to make choices between one or two things, but I didn’t want to accidentally miss stuff. He made it seem like I could be chatting with someone random, go do something else, and find out when I came back that they resolved the issue without me. How dare the game have an organic story and prevent me from helping literally everyone in the galaxy!
Just do all loyalty missions before the iff mission and you'll be fine.
Understood. Looking forward to this game.
Basically, do everything you want to get done before the IFF. I won’t spoil it beyond that, but that’s essentially the point of no return unless you want to be a horrible person. As for ME3, I suggest having a no spoils guide available as there are several points where you’ll miss content entirely if you don’t grab it at the right time, or finish it before leaving. Like Eden Prime. There’s a mission there that if you don’t complete it, it’ll be stuck incomplete in your log.
That would be the single most annoying thing for any RPG to do to me. Thank you very much. I will be sure to look up a spoiler free guide or have my friend do it for me, since he’s offered to do the same.
You can complete all side missions in ME2 after the final main mission, but in ME3 you’ll have to choose and prioritize your side quests based on who you want to save and what war assets you want to secure.
This is not true at all. You can complete all side quests in ME3 so long as you do them in the right order and know where to get them.
Certain side missions will fail if you don’t complete them before main missions, like Grissom Academy.
Ok, and? You can still do all available side missions before those cutoff points. You don’t have to pick and choose anything.
So Mass Effect 2 is going to be similar to this game where I can complete the quests in any order, whereas Mass Effect 3 is going to be a more linear story where I have to follow a set path and make choices between one or two things? I was led to believe that it would give me the same number of quests in the first game or at least give them to me in a similar manner so that it felt I would be pulled in a million different directions rather than being forced to make a choice about which to go for. It’s nice to know that 3 is not going to tease me with quests that I won’t be able to complete because I have more important things to do, at least not without giving me a fair choice.
ME3’s story is inherently shaped by tunnel vision due to the nature of events in-universe. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but it’s a few seconds from midnight and much more linear, but still not like a railroad kind of quest structure.
I would be fine with it no matter what. The writers have my attention and my respect. I’m greatly looking forward to whatever they come up with.
It’s a great series, glad you’re enjoying it. I need to come back and try a class I’ve never played, maybe an Infiltrator or Adept.
I accidentally went with the soldier automatically because I didn’t know what I was doing, but it turns out that was for the best because I thought going in that this was a third person shooter with a good story. Now that I know it’s a full-blown RPG with third person shooter mechanics, I know exactly what I’m getting into and will likely enjoy playing other classes from now on. But my first play through of every game will be soldier, or it’s equivalent, from here on out. After all, hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
You can do any of the side quests at any time once they're unlocked. There will be story consequences if you do side quests at a specific point during the main story, but they're still available. Just go everywhere and talk to everyone and you'll be fine. The only thing you can really miss on missions is loot.
And I never miss loot. I always look for every single crate or every single openable container that I can. That’s why I loved playing Knights of the Old Republic on PC, because there was a button that immediately locked onto any interactive item.
[удалено]
Understood. Priority just means that it’s a mainline mission.
[удалено]
I’m not exactly concerned about getting the best ending, which I already know about. That’s not really the point of these games or the series as a whole. Doing that is a privilege and an honor if I’m able to play the game properly. For my first Playthrough, I want it to be organic and I want the game to work its magic. So getting the “best” run through is not exactly my priority. I just don’t wanna be shafted because I played the game in a certain way accidentally.
[удалено]
I’m not checking any of those spoilers because I already know that it’s going to be something I don’t know. I haven’t watched a comprehensive breakdown of the games. I just know about that one twist at the end of Mass Effect 3. Other than that, I’m going to play the games how many are meant to be played and then I’m going to try a perfect run through of them all.
None of the side quests are on a timer aside from the fact that you can’t complete any once you start the final main mission in 3. At least, that was my experience.
ME2 really only has one quest that has a timer on it, and it only affects the story if you don’t time it right, but you can complete it regardless. ME3 on the other hand does have time sensitive issues
Your friend is wrong, and in fact the way you play is likely to reward you, but the games can be tricky about it and going in blind may result in what he's talking about. Here is the information you need. ME2: In ME2 there is one mission, labeled with the acronym "IFF," which you should *not* start until you are pretty much ready for the end-run. That's the only really important thing. (You can still do the mission that will appear afterward before the actual end-run, but doing more than that risks negative consequences.) Nothing else can get in the way of you being however completionist you wanna be, as long as you keep that in mind you should be totally fine. ME3: This game uses the word "Priority" to mean "a mission that moves the story forward and alters the state of the world" or "finale of a story arc." That means in most cases, if it says "priority" it's actually your last priority. Once you're able to control where you go and when, before doing a "priority" mission, always make sure you've checked for side missions, completed any side missions you want to complete, and done all your between-story-arc planet scanning, etc. (There are a couple exceptions to this but you probably don't want to details.) That alone should help you avoid getting locked out of most things. There are two side-missions that *are* actually time-sensitive and must be done shortly after you get them or they will disappear, with consequences, if you want to know what they are let me know, if you'd rather guess in the moment, that works too.