How long does it take to "finish" Mass Effect?

[StetsonGraves]

By "finish" I mean one play through, without skipping conversations, and doing as many side quests as possible (with whatever morality path you choose). I'm home for the holidays and want to play it before the second comes out but I don't want to get halfway through and have to head back to college.

And from your experiences is it worth playing a second time to see the effects of different choices?

[Daria]

I think my first play-through was like 45 hours. And I did everything. No DLC though.

[StetsonGraves]

Thanks for the reply.

Your answer was perfect, I don't have any DLC and have no way to get it.

[Buns34]

I highly suggest buying the Platinum Hits version then, since you will get the Bringing Down The Sky DLC. It is the best mission in the game. IMHO

[FantasiaWHT]

I did it in around 30 hours. I did skip just a couple sidequests, where either I just wanted to beat it, or it seemed like I couldn't do it and still be a paragon.

As for a second playthrough, I'm going to say no. Almost nothing you do the opposite way has any actual effect on anything except your paragon/renegade rating. The NPC you're talking to might react SLIGHTLY differently, but it will slip back into its exact same conversation pretty quickly. Once in awhile you might fight instead, or vice versa, but not very often, and nothing you do has any long term effects, like, say, The Witcher.

[shopkins]

By "finish" I mean one play through, without skipping conversations, and doing as many side quests as possible (with whatever morality path you choose). I'm home for the holidays and want to play it before the second comes out but I don't want to get halfway through and have to head back to college.

And from your experiences is it worth playing a second time to see the effects of different choices?

It took me about 50 hours on my first playthrough doing damned near everything, including the sidequests and even rolling over all the similar looking planets in the car collecting almost all of the mostly useless crap littered about them. I didn't have the DLC. I wouldn't really recommend doing all the sidequests, though, unless you're borderline OCD like me. They are very repetitive, most of them take place in just a handful of levels with the same exact layouts.

The storyline only changes slightly if you replay to try different choices, but it is fun to try it out with a different type of character and on a harder difficulty level. I played as Paragon engineer first and switched to Renegade Biotic for my second playthrough, which I still need to finish. On the new game you actually get to keep a few of the powers of your old character as a perk.

[Daria]

Well he might want to replay the game if *ahem* certain characters die in the the first play.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

femaie shepard > male shepard...FACT


this is all i have to contribute :(

[jdc]

I bought this game last spring and it is SO absolutely boring that I can NOT bring myself to play it any more. It started out well enough just as KotOR did, but all I'm doing now is driving a little rover around empty planets, wondering what I'm to do next. Makes me wonder why it warrants a sequel. For the record, I'm from Edmonton and am a big Bioware fan, which is why I can't understand why the game is so dull.

[SplashChick]

I bought this game last spring and it is SO absolutely boring that I can NOT bring myself to play it any more. It started out well enough just as KotOR did, but all I'm doing now is driving a little rover around empty planets, wondering what I'm to do next. Makes me wonder why it warrants a sequel. For the record, I'm from Edmonton and am a big Bioware fan, which is why I can't understand why the game is so dull.

I don't know how you managed to get stuck, but if you did it's probably your fault. Check a guide or something.

On topic, the game only took me 15 hours. I didn't do many sidequests, I was going to complete them later but the game ended so suddenly that I never did.

[Daria]

SPLASHEDITS: Making the internet a friendly place. One post at a time.


I don't know how you managed to get stuck, you might find a guide useful.

On topic, the game only took me 15 hours. I didn't do many sidequests, I was going to complete them later but the game ended so suddenly that I never did.

[SplashChick]

SPLASHEDITS: Making the internet a friendly place. One post at a time.

Yeah but now it doesn't sound like me.

[Garry Silljo]

Yeah but now it doesn't sound like me.

That's why people like it better.

[SplashChick]

That's why people like it better.

You're a real shut-in, aren't you?

[Garry Silljo]

You're a real shut-in, aren't you?

I'll keep my reply to myself in an effort to help you survive your sort of probationary status. Keep your nose clean if you can.

[SplashChick]

I'll keep my reply to myself in an effort to help you survive your sort of probationary status. Keep your nose clean if you can.

Well this was unexpected. If you actually mean this, that's very respectable of you.

[Lady Jaye]

Getting back to the topic at hand (now that the flamebaiter is gone)...

@ jdc: How far are you in the game? It's a slow start but it picks up after a while. I'm about 15 hours in the game with sidequests, and now I feel drawn in after initially being underwhelmed. It took me some time to get used to the shooting aspect, since I suck at shooters, but it's better now.

As for rolling round and round to nowhere with the rover, I suggest that you press Start (or open the menu if you're playing the PC version) and look at the map. It will tell you where the artefacts and other points to check out are located. Then, use the flagging feature so that your on-screen radar will tell you the direction to take (in the form of a white arrow). That oughta make things more interesting for you. :) Also, are you playing the PC or 360 version? I haven't played the PC version, but if it's anything like KOTOR, I have to say that I find using a controller much more adequate than the keyboard.

The only thing that frustrates me now is that whenever I get to an artefact on a planet, I get a message that my electronics skills are too low, despite bringing at least one tech specialist in the missions. Can't wait to level up enough for that to stop...

[Kitsune Sniper]

Good lord, 50 hours?!

I bought this during the Steam sale and have like an hour logged in! AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH @_@

[Daria]

Better get playing. 2's going to be out before you know it...

Which reminds me. I started a second play through last month. Need to get back to that, I really want to carry over my new character.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I'm not buying ME2 until a version with all the DLC comes out. I refuse to pay more for DLC but that's another topic. :p