So, I finished a bunch of games since my last visit.
Mass Effect LE trilogy.
This was an interesting experience, I must say. I find that my old opinions were changed quite a bit - as I played more and more, and reflected upon it.
Overall, though, I must say that I'm just not that big a fan of the trilogy. Don't get me wrong, they're all more than worth playing - they're just not really approaching other of my sci-fi favorites. In fact, I have to say I still think Andromeda is the superior game - which is obviously a preference thing.
I'm more into the mystery and exploration of sci-fi - and I prefer more elaborate and flexible RPG mechanics, including both progression, loot and combat. I also like bigger games with more open world natures.
But as for the original trilogy, I must now agree that Mass Effect 2 is the best one overall. I would probably rate it 7.5/10 or something like that. Both 1 and 3 are around 6.5/10 - for different reasons.
The first game is the most compelling in terms of world building and ambience - because it has more mystery and more meaningful exploration, at least to me. The RPG systems are somewhat more involved, but also a little barebones and dull at the same time. Combat is clunky as hell - and the actual narrative is hit and miss. The lore is fantastic - but I consider that shared between all the games.
ME2 is superior because it's so much more varied when it comes to the environments and the quality of each mission tends to be high. The systems are rather boring and underwhelming - and the combat is trivially simple. But at least it feels better - and I think the writing is at its peak here. Do note, though, that "peak" is referring to the trilogy - and, apart from the lore, I think it's slightly above average at best. But I'm hard to please in that way.
ME3 combines the fluidity of ME2 with a few bits of the customization from ME1 in terms of mechanics - so the combat ends up being a significant step up from the first two games. This is about the only area where it's superior. The story isn't as tight or well written. Around half the content is uninspired - and the ending, while "ok" (I never played it originally) - is nothing special. It does have a few missions that I really loved, though. The Leviathan mission is probably my favorite - and that whole thing with the party on Citadel was just great for what it was. But it's so clearly a rushed game and it shows in many places.
Anyway, I finally completed all of them back-to-back - which is something I've been wanting to do for ages.
As for the Legendary aspect in itself - I think it's a somewhat competent remaster. Not what I would consider low-effort as such, but definitely a cash-grab with suits calling the shots in terms of how much to invest.
Ask me, they should have combined all the best parts of each game - and made a unified character system - with the ability to import all aspects from game to game.
But that would have required more in the way of actual work, so….
I still don't think 60 Euro is quite fair - but it's better than I originally thought it would be.
Watch Dogs
I never played this much upon release, as I found it rather bland and underwhelming compared to the massive hype campaign.
But since there's a DLC out for Legion where you can finally play a real character that I can actually relate to (Aiden from the first game) - I told myself I should give the first game a shot, so I have the background info on the character and story.
Tell you what, I'm glad I did - because Watch Dogs is really quite good, considering it's mostly a standard Ubisoft game.
I quite liked Aiden, actually - and found him a reasonably well-written character. Sure, he's stoic and a little one-note - but he does have a way about him.
Most surprising was the excellent gunplay and the entertaining way you can utilize the various hacking abilities during missions.
Having played GTA and RDR2 - I've grown sick of missions that are overly designed and rigid when it comes to how you're expected to execute them, and Watch Dogs was - for the most part - quite open and generous in terms of how you dealt with enemies and challenges.
Meaning, I ended up benefitting from wise progression choices and I was allowed to use my rather OP weapons just like I wanted to use them, which I appreciated.
Also, a handful of the missions were genuinely inspired in terms of set up and ambience.
I would probably rate it around 7.5/10 - which is very high for me, considering what we're talking about.
Dead Space 1 + 2
Since my trilogy obsession worked so well for me, I decided I also needed to replay the Dead Space trilogy - since I never played the 3rd one through.
Another interesting experience, actually - because I've reversed my opinion of these two games as well.
I used to largely prefer Dead Space 2 - but now it's the other way around.
First of all, I was surprised at how well these two games hold up today. The first one in particular was surprisingly pleasant to play in pretty much every way.
Dead Space has just the right amount of quiet moments - where you can be reasonably certain nothing is going to attack you, so you can invest yourself in the various logs and environmental details. I also greatly appreciated what little backtracking there was in the game - which was just enough for me to enjoy it.
It's true that the Ishimura is quite samey - but it's less due to technical constraints and more because of the nature of being a single spaceship with a single purpose. For that reason, it didn't bother me that much to explore samey areas.
Now, for Dead Space 2 - I have to say I was quite disappointed with the last half of the game. I remembered it as much more vibrant and varied when it comes to ambience and areas - but that's really only true for the first half of the game.
If I had to rate these games based on the first half of DS2 - then it would still be the clear winner overall, but I must say it becomes more and more uninspired as it goes on.
It also doesn't help that it's absolutely chock full of ridiculously cheap jump scares and endless "cinematic" moments where you're taken out of the action.
In fact, the entirety of the last level is pretty much one big chase action sequence - where you're basically just running away from the same shit over and over and over.
The story was also a little underwhelming.
Anyway, I would rate Dead Space 7.5/10 and Dead Space 2 6.5/10.
Still relatively high scores from me - because I will always think of them as too shootey - and somewhat cheap System Shock knock-offs.
Obviously, they're not quite that - and I know they're going for a different kind of audience. They're more trying to be Resident Evil 4 in space - and I suppose they are.
But well worth playing all the same.