PixlBit

I think I’m done with Hitman for now. I have a couple bonus missions to play, but I don’t want to burn myself out on the six locations in the game. Still have my review in the queue, but I’m waiting for senpai (Nick) to notice me.

I had planned on playing The Last Guardian next, but then I watched part of a YouTube video analyzing Mass Effect 1, ten years later. It is a very well-produced video, but as with so many critiques on that game I felt that he got the battle mechanics all wrong. Most people do. I think one of the first videos I want to make is “How to play Mass Effect”, because it seems to be a real problem. I mean, the game does a piss poor job in the tutorial department, but I’m always shocked at how people just pew pew pew, and ignore the myriad strategic benefits of the various abilities and how to utilize them in tandem. The first Mass Effect remains one of my favorite games, and I have replayed it over and over in large part due to how much fun the combat is. I still mourn what Mass Effect has become, namely a bland third person shooter, and I am sad to see Andromeda doubling down on the action aspect of the action/RPG moniker.

This is a long, roundabout way of saying that I started playing Mass Effect again last night. This makes my sixth journey to defeat Saren, and if you know me you know how bizarre that is. Replaying games is something I just do not do. At least, not as an adult. Games are too long, and I have the disposable income that allows me to always move on to something newer and shinier. But Mass Effect always brings me back in. I’ve only played the second game twice, and the third one once, but every time I play Mass Effect I have the life of Commander Shepard mapped out in my head.

My new character is Terrance Shepard. He’s an engineer, born in the colonies, and the sole survivor on Akuze. By and large, Terrance does right by the people he interacts with. You can assume that he’ll do things by the book and above board. But he’s got his flaws, too. Shepard has a thing against krogans, and will only work with them if he must. He can be impatient, and if you test him you will see his temper flare, which is something you don’t want.

I modeled my new Shepard off of Mahershala Ali, who played Cottonmouth on the Luke Cage Netflix show. He’s a handsome dude with an innate swagger, and I like to think that Terrance Shepard has that s well, even if you don’t get to see that reflected in game. I’ll be sure to never allow him to dance in Mass Effect 2, lest I ruin his image.

I don’t know if I’ll play all the way through right now, but I may. I set the difficulty to casual to speed things up a bit, and I’m probably going to mostly mainline the story, since I’ve done every sidequest in the game three times now, and that’s more than enough Mako driving for one lifetime. Somehow, I ended up playing it for almost 4 hours last night. What can I say? This game hooks me like few others.