1 is a tech demo, 2 is objectively the best.

(I haven't been posting enough on this forum these days to troll like this, but 2 is the best. Objectively.)

We don't disagree on that. I'm just saying that on ME 1 you could tell it was a RPG, but I couldn't see that on 2 or 3. On the last 2, I felt I was just on for the ride shooting things and not thinking too much. Nothing wrong with that, it was fun, but I can't call it RPG.

Yeah I got that feeling too.
In Mass Effect 2 and 3 the story telling faded away and the action part come front.
It's nothing wrong with that, actually I liked the new combat style they introduced in the second one.

Mass Effect 2 easily. It has the best combat. Good main story and great side missions and DLC (Lair of the Shadowbroker).

Mass Effect 1 has the best character (Wrex), but the combat sucks. Great main story, boring side-missions and poor DLC.

Mass Effect 3 has the best graphics, decent combat, BUT a lot of auto-dialogue and feels rushed.

ME2 > ME3 > ME1

I don't get why people still claim that ME1 has the best story. For me it's boring as fuck, I don't care about Saren and his story at all. Not to mention ugly graphics, stiff combat and fucking mako levels.

For me, ME2 is the best with everything - epic story, great characters you can really relate too, and no fucking mako levels.

I didn't feel any of that love and friendship in ME3 except for Liara, but well, in my storyline Tali is dead :P

after finishing second one, and watching the london invasion trailer for the third one had a massive emotional effect, that all thethree games couldnt provide
regardless of you are rpg or shooter guy, i would recommend 3rd one as it got some epic battle moments, espcially the final run for the portal.

My ME3 is still in the wrap (and I ordered it maybe two months ago), so I have no opinion of that yet. But when comparing 1 and 2, 1 is easily a better game imo. I've finished that one three times, whereas I only finished 2 once and have since forgotten pretty much everything that happened in it. I just didn't think it was a good enough game to justify multiple playthroughs. I hated how they scrapped almost every weapon and there were like three weapon choices per weapon class all throughout the game, IIRC. 1 also had a better atmosphere, better music and more interesting side quests. And for some reason I really liked when you could visit the Earth's moon. Earth looked pretty nice from over there.

There are cons too, like how many bases look eerily similar. But it's still a good game, and the one you should start out with if you're going into the series.

My preference is the second game, but they all have their qualities. I consider the first game to have the best exploration, the second to have the best story and the third to have the best combat.

Regardless, do absolutely start with the first one, and make sure you get Bring Down the Sky. Aside from being a fantastic piece of DLC (and free to boot for PC users) it actually comes into play in the third game.

Anyway, starting from the first game is very, very important because ALL of your choices (well, aside from a single, unimportant bugged one) are imported between games. Two people can and will have very different experiences playing through the series. Not playing from the start means some very bad choices will have been made for you in each game, and overall will not feel very much like your story.
That's funny, my opinion has invalidated that claim. It's a subjective thing. You don't always need to be so edgy about everything, you know. You can be heard perfectly fine without that horrible attitude.

Actually it's not all that "spoilery " but you may have trouble grasping the story. Play them all, in order and take your time. If you rush you will miss story elements.

ME 3, in my view has the best combat system of the series. ME 1 instead has the highest diversity of weapons, weapon mods and armors.

If you play ME 3, download the extended ending (it's free), it will fill in some of the gaps. Also, play the multiplayer, it can be really fun. The caveat is that you actually should do some multiplayer because of how the "galactic readiness" score influences the ending.

having played all me games multiple times for various ending , i felt the most joy in playing me 1 it was great not too much hype and for the first time it was an amazing experience.

the origin of shep with you choosing the traits of the commander.
the origin of the members of your crew and you deciding right from the start the fate of a few.
the first romance in the series.
thrashing around with mako.

The choices you make really do carry over well in me 2 , so its worth it

it was good mass effect 1 gives a great experience without hiding too much in dlcs.

me 2 is good too but it has nice contents in dlc including crew members , so despite completing the game you feel the need to buy the dlc to enjoy more

The first one.

As long as you don't play it as a sequel and play it as a standalone game that only bears some similarities with the first game. Then. Yeah, then it's quite good. But it's not a sequel to the first game, no matter how many plot elements are carried over.

And the ending wasn't anywhere near as good.

The first is the best, the second is ok.
(I'd keep away from the third.)

The series is a whole, no point nitpicking through it. I had most fun with ME 2, but ME 3 fixed a lot of ME 2 problems. I didn't like ME 3 as much as I found the scenario not as nice. I would love to see a ME 2 Directors Cut bringing over some of the ME 3 changes into ME 2.

Definitely start with ME1. I believe that ME2's and ME3's strong points rely a lot on your emotional attachment to the first episode.


ME1 has the most solid storyline in whole series. It contains a huge space and you can visit many planets and it has a big hub and vast major missions. Combat is clumsy and requires a time to get used to, though.
ME2 introduces better combat system and more companions. The main story is stupid but you can easily forget about it because missions are more or less episodic. It has more permanent hubs and - my personal favorite - the protagonist gets more conversational tools how to express herself.
ME3 has a extensive companion barter and fine combat except infamous Spacebar-doing-everything. The dark side is that it's a corridor instead of explorer this time around and you almost never get a chance to affect how the protagonist will react (i.e. auto-dialogue). A secret bonus is that if you don't play as default male character, you can fail to import or reconstruct known face.

I like ME1 for its story and ME2 for giving Shepard the chance to really shine.