My ME Rankings (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, January 30, 2017, 21:17 (2855 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

The only other thing I would say about ME2 in particular is that it is one of the best examples of a game where the story & character development mesh together with the mechanical gameplay experience to create something larger than the sum of its parts. The way you spend the entire game tracking down crew members, building relationships with them, fighting along side them, and then you push into the final suicide mission with the weight of responsibility on your shoulders. The last ~2 hours were especially powerful for me. The combat was so intense, and the stakes felt so high on a personal level. I worried about each decision I made along the way (which crew members to assign to each task), which made me fight that much harder, which made me more nervous for my crew because the combat was so stressful... It's a perfect feedback loop between gameplay and narrative that very few games come close to achieving.

The last few hours of ME2 were amazing, in no small part because I was so worried about Thane, who I'd let down by failing his loyalty mission. If I'd had a perfect run, I don't think it would have been nearly as dramatic. One of the most ecstatic moments of my gaming life came when he and the rest of my crew lived.