The Game Fanatics Favorite Mass Effect Moments

The crew takes a look at the Mass Effect series as a whole as they pick and choose their favorite moments. For those who have not played/beaten Mass Effect 3 (or the other installments/books/comics), be warned of possible spoilers. What are your favorite moments from the Mass Effect series? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Tavia:

1. Everything Mordin ever said.
2. ME Invasion comic starring Aria T’Loak, she’s under utilized
3. TALKING TO Harrot!!!!

Jake:

1. The ending. I’m serious. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Mass Effect 3‘s ending. The Reaper threat was built up as this massive and unbeatable thing, so of course casualties were going to happen. Not only that, but so what if the ending cutscenes look too familiar. I mean, the same thing essentially happens in each of them, minus various alterations. This is probably because that while, sure, you’re telling your own story with your Shepard, BioWare is also telling their own story and this his how they wanted to end it.
2. The abilities of choice in every game. Being able to convince Saren to shoot himself is a mindblowing thing. The repercussions of your actions in the third one with all the characters and the emotional toll it has on you is quite breathtaking to see in a video game when you imagine how many sacrifices were made to achieve victory in the war against the Reapers. And yes, before you complain, there was choice in the final cutscene. It’s essentially the same choice you’ve made the entire game: do you do one dialog option, or the other.

William: Let’s try and get one from each game…

1. ME3: Grunt’s Mission against the Racchnai. The whole: “Get to the ship Shepard… I’ll hold them off.” This was right after I had lost Mordin, and was all… No… No not Grunt too… T____T
2. ME3: Legion’s line: “it was… an efficient model”. This is the moment where the player realizes that Legion was one of the original Geth from before the war. Originally an agrocultural unit, Legion was trying to protect other, less complex Geth, from the pre-emptive wrath of the Quarrians, not knowing what they had done to offend their masters. “Have we failed you? What did we do wrong?” /tear
3. ME3: If you nail neither Garrus nor Tali, you see them hooking up in the main battery room. In my game everyone fell in to pretty concrete roles at the end of the series. Liara was the Love Interest. Garrus was the Closest Friend. Tali was a Little Sister role. Seeing the two of them hook up as “giving in before the final battle” was awesome. Not in a sad way, but in “Fuck yeah VAKARIAN” way.

1. ME3: “There is no Shepard without Vakarian”. Enough said. Garrus had -the best- 1 on 1 final dialog segment. After being with you through all 3 games, those last 1v1s were done so well. Tali’s was good too, but again the Little Sister “of course I’ll be here” was not nearly as moving as the “If we don’t make it, and we end up in heaven, meet me at the bar, I’m buying” -> “And if I’m at that bar, and you’re not there. Know that I’ll be looking down on you. That I’ve always got your back”.
2. NOT ME3… ME2: I actually really liked Thane’s pre-loyalty mission dialog. Where he’s flash backing to when he met his wife: “Sunset… smell of spice in the wind… those eyes…” That whole bit was pretty unexpected and neat.
3. ME2: Tali losing her father. Through ME1 and 2, Tali was easily my favorite character, and knowing her father was dead (he just had to be), and watching her stress out and try to hold out hope, only to inevitably find his body and know that she contributed to that by sending the Geth parts? That was pretty rough.
4. ME2: Mordin singing. What a boss.
5. ME1: Choosing between Kaiden and Ashley on Vermire. The characters were not my favorite, but I kinda took them for granted. When I was presented with the choice, I didn’t have a clear winner (Kaiden v Tali/Garrus/Wrex/Liara would have been a no brainer). It was something I wasn’t prepared for.
6. ME1: Saving Wrex. Side characters that are passionate enough about something to leave the party / turn against the party are rare these days, and thinking for a moment that I was going to have to kill him because of something he believed in was awesome. I mean. Wrex is just totally awesome.

Greg:

1.  More of a general thing, but I enjoyed seeing the characters develop over time. For example (my favorite), Garrus. Cop – vigilante – respected general. Similar thing with Tali (and the rest of the crew). And even with smaller characters like Bailey at the Citadel. Time actually feels like it passes. You see friendships form, and the individuals grow into an actual team. The characters aren’t static, they grow and change over time. They are really well done.
2. The Thresher Maw taking down the Reaper. BAD ASS.
3. Anything Garrus-related, actually. His recruitment mission in ME2 was pretty cool.
4. Shepard’s death in ME2. Was really well done, and gave the galaxy (and characters) some time to grow on their own.
5. Retaking Earth at the end of ME3. Battling through London was really fun (and somewhat reminiscent of Hellgate: London)
6. Seeing the crashed Mako in ME2, knowing you’ll never have to drive the stupid thing again.
7. Lair of the Shadowbroker

Jen:

1. ME2: Mordin singing
2. ME3: Mordin singing and talking about going to the beach. This was such a sad moment for me and for any Mordin fan. The huge WTF-moment for me during this entire scene, is when I was playing as renegade Shepard and she shot Mordin! I didn’t want to choose the renegade choice but I wanted to see the game from a different perspective. I just didn’t think Shepard would actually shoot him.
3. ME3: Wrex meeting you by your ship, in a mad rage because Shepard tricked him about curing the Genophage and the events that followed, including the false report of his death.
4. ME1: Jumping up and down in the MAKO.
5. ME2: Driving the car with Liara and having to listen to Liara’s commentary during it.
6. ME2 & ME3: Thane
7. ME1, ME2, ME3: Garrus … I only wish I still had my save file where Shepard romanced Garrus. It might be on my old HDD (I hope) and I should try to look for it. I’m interested to see how ME3 plays out with Garrus as a love interest instead of a best friend and brother figure. Garrus is the best developed character from the entire series. He’s the one that stood by Shepard, even when she was teaming with Cerberus.
8. ME3: Marauder Shields
9. ME2: Beating it on insanity, which was more rewarding than beating ME3 on insanity.
10. ME2: When you get to play as Joker, “What the shit?”.
11. ME1: The “hold the line” speech by Captain Kirrahe:

“You all know the mission, and what is at stake.

I have come to trust each of you with my life — but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns.

We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way.

Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts.

These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are.

Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers!

Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that we held the line!

Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line!

Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!”