10 Things You Need To Know Before Playing Mass Effect
4. Don't Skimp On The Sides
Typically, and this isn’t something that needs to be stated for completionists, but player’s are truly doing themselves a disservice not digging into massive amount of optional content the series provides.
Mass Effect goes one further by demonstrating ramifications of side quests in subsequent games.
In the first game, Shepherd is tasked with bringing down a rogue Artificial Intelligence in a long-abandoned facility. While you do get some excellent rewards for this quest, keen minds will discover that subduing this enemy leads to Cerberus manipulating the data and creating EDI, the intelligent ship guide and eventual ally by Mass Effect 3.
Outside of some superb weapon and class specialisation rewards, Mass Effect 2 demonstrates the criticality of side missions by introducing loyalty missions, character-centric missions tailored to different members of the crew. Performing these missions can be vital to the overall success of the main game narrative, and further exemplify why this isn’t a game that is meant to be played in a linear fashion.