The Mass Effect series embodies narrative perfection

There’s never been a video game franchise quite like Mass Effect, a series that truly embodies narrative perfection and has laid new ground for story telling in all future video games.

[TheSleepyGamer]

I've been blown away at how much of an incredibly in depth universe Bioware has created. Being able to walk through the Citadel and hear five or six conversations that aren't even vital to the main game really makes the universe seem real.

[closnyc]

right. 5 or 6 conversations. Good stuff man. You ever play a REAL rpg? 5 or 6, hahaha..please. I rather have 20 or 30 things to do, like an da:origins, witcher 2, even that borefest of skyrim has more quests in one village. Please

[TheSleepyGamer]

I was talking about one place in the game. Most of the stories evolve as the universe progresses through the war. Did you want a full review in my comment?

Why do people always seem to take a comment as "he must mean that completely and not like anything else, ever"?

The games you listed are all great RPG's, just because I mentioned Mass Effect's narrative in the comments section for a Mass Effect opinion piece doesn't mean I don't like other games and the way they tell a story.

[badz149]

so, stiff character movements and having them talk like they are all robot with expression-less faces is "perfection"? Stop kissing ass so much. It's not even funny!

[pat_11_5]

How does character movement relate to narrative?

[xhedleyx]

I really think it's probably one of the most revolutionary titles of the last 10 years. I've never experienced a more engrossing story line.

[firelogic]

While I loved ME2 and am currently enjoying ME3, I can say without a doubt that the actual story element is quite poor in both games. Why? Because there is no story. There's great interactions between characters, and there's an interesting universe that Bioware crafted, but in terms of story and the delivery of it, it's poor.

Without even dumbing it down one bit, the story for ME2 plays out exactly like this:

SPOILERS FOR ME2
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The reapers are coming. We need shepard to investigate. Put together a team shepard.
*some 30-40hrs later
The reapers are here.

In between, the reapers are coming and the reapers are here, there's practically no relevant story information given.

[krontaar]

What? The overall story is poorly written.

[Godmars290]

Presentative narrative maybe. Possibly even certainly. But its plot and pacing are on a Michael Bay/Paul Anderson level.

[Canary]

Precisely.

But to get widespread appeal, most developers feel like they need to cater to that demographic. Shame so many gamers have such low standards.

[ThanatosDMC]

Wow, you can tell that some people's perspective about games is really narrow.

It's like saying Black Ops has a 9/10 story line for the zombie mode.

[General Shrooms]

ending was complete shit, still have a bad taste in my mouth from it.

[A LIVING LEGEND]

If 'all future video games' follow this model for ' narrative perfection ' the future of gaming is looking rather bland and overdone.Bland and overdone or 10/10.
In between mundane,linear shooting sequences we have ' narrative perfection '.
Can't wait.....

[SaveFerris]

The Mass Effect trilogy is like The Matrix trilogy. The first one was great. Second one had more action but the story wasn't as strong. And the third one was WTF?, especially the ending. Shepard is like Neo. It seems like someone just copy/pasted the story. I still like the games though.

[rattletop]

to experience the full ME universe one needs to read the books by drew karyshyn and william c.dietz. there r some characters who have a small role in the games, but more significant in the books.