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You Played Mass Effect Wrong

andrewww.mp4

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It's January 2010, and a friend of mine is telling me about his experience so far with Mass Effect 2 (2010). For the most part he was having a great time, but when the topic of the Citadel Council comes up, it's clear he's disappointed. Surprising, since that had been framed as the Big Decision™ you make at the end of the first Mass Effect.

I ask him what's wrong, and he shrugs and says, "I just wonder what would've happened if I hadn't saved the Council."

This video is my answer to that question.

P.S. For those who'd like to check out Shamus Young's retrospective, start here: https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysid...

P.P.S. If you'd like to support the channel directly and help me make more videos like this in the future, you can provide a one-time contribution here: https://buymeacoffee.com/andrewww.mp4

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CHAPTERS
00:00 | Annihilation is One Decision Away
05:13 | Cause / Effect
07:12 | Conrad Verner
11:16 | Avina
15:37 | Rodam Expeditions
19:58 | The Citadel Council
24:05 | [REDACTED]
29:14 | The (New) Citadel Council
31:18 | True Neutral
34:31 | Good Intentions

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FEATURED MASS EFFECT 1 MODS:

LE1 Community Patch by LE1 Community Patch Team
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

Halcyon Hairpack (LE1) by Mellin and Audemus
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...
^(Required if using LE1 Diversification Project)

Advanced Weapon Models for LE1 by Knighthawk1895
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...
^(Required if using LE1 Diversification Project)

Appearance Modification Menu LE1 by DropTheSquid
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

Casual Hubs for LE1 by rondeeno
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

Iconic Fashion Party (LE1) by 55tumbl
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

ME3 N7 Armour for LE1 by Audemus Mellin
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

Alliance Uniform Consistency by Mistyvail
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

Liara Consistency Mod (ME1LE) by Khaar Machinima
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

ME3 Alliance Armor for LE1 by Knighthawk1895
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

Eden Prime Red Sky Restored by Vegz
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

Mass Effect 1 Legendary Lighting Overhaul (ME'LLO) by CATACHR1SM*
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...
^(I installed this part-way through my FemShep run, so it's not present in all of the footage, unfortunately. Mostly the early Council scenes. Any late-game stuff should have included it, as well as the footage from Eden Prime, which I went back and "re-shot" so I could have that classic red sky from the previous mod.)

LE1 Diversification Project by Audemus
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectl...

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FEATURED MASS EFFECT 2 MODS
Coming soon!

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I am other places on the internet, as well! https://linktr.ee/andrewww.mp4

And hey, I make movies, too!

Elusive | Official Website: https://www.StupidBigfootMovie.com/
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20 Comments

@andrewww.mp4 Creator 10 months ago Pinned

I’d like to use this space to thank all of the other incredible and passionate Mass Effect fans out there. This video was a labor of love for me, and it was built upon a foundation laid by so many of you, and I simply can’t thank you enough.

From Shamus Young, whose work continues to be an enormous inspiration for me, to the fan wiki contributors who keep track of the myriad details of this far-reaching, often changing universe.

I especially want to thank the many mod authors whose incredible work you also saw in this video. I am putting together a list of all the mods seen in this video and will update this comment when it’s ready.

In the meantime, if you’re one of the modders whose work appears in this video, please say hi!

@PaulGuy 10 months ago

I didn't save the council. I saved the Destiny Ascension. They just happened to be there at the time.

@BingBangPoe 8 months ago

The surviving council gaslighting Shepard even though they experienced everything first-hand is the most real-life accurate thing ever.

@tontogoldwhip6120 8 months ago

Fun fact about the Conrad glitch: If you don't point the gun at him, he will act like you did in the 2nd game, BUT in the 3rd game, when you find him on the Citadel, he will apologize for lying about you sticking a gun in his face. A fun little acknowledgment by Bioware and a way to canonically explain the glitch.

@Franubian 10 months ago

Saving the council just so the turian expeditions store guy doesn't hate me.

@victorgealtach9574 10 months ago

It always did bug me about how the Council goes "Sovereign? That was clearly a Geth ship." and I couldn't say "Oh you mean the race of unfeeling, uncaring, tireless, hateful-of-all-life artificial intelligence that wants to wipe out the galaxy like you've been telling me, they can build a ship that literally ran through the full might of the Citadel, and you don't think they can build another one? Or, and I might be reaching here, two?"

@cassonancekid 10 months ago

To be fair, a turian recognizing you for a specific military victory (in this case the defeat of Saren) seems like the exact type of thing the average turian citizen would recognize someone for. That, to me, is equally good writing when compared to the Renegade recognition. I see your point overall, but that specific callout is probably not the strongest point for your case. Overall, this was interesting to watch and glad to see Mass Effect love is alive and well. It's clear you have a lot of love for the series, and I appreciate seeing other fans share their perspective.

@BmanTheDude 10 months ago

So you're telling me to play through the trilogy again? Fineeeee I guess I will.

@IAmMyOwnApprentice 9 months ago

That bowl cut is the only truly evil option.

@vapixdarmana4428 10 months ago

"Ah yes, Reapers" and with that one sentence, the Council was condemned to death in every playthrough afterwards.

@marsphoenix1359 10 months ago

4:20 Guy goes down the hill for the tank. Me; I have a sniper rifle, and they're all just... out in the open.

@ShaiAmos 10 months ago

Tbh, I think helping the politicians and them disregarding you is VERY accurate, and makes a lot of sense

@duffelpuffelmcduff1181 10 months ago

Shamus Young DIED!? I still remember when he was telling me to "do it again, stupid"! I read his blog! Never knew he died. I thought he just stopped posting. damn, Rest in peace. This video was excellent, by the way.

@DrawQuick2014 10 months ago

Counter Point the gun store owners pantomime is really cute

@robhoch02 10 months ago

In my opinion, in the example of the turian store vendor, just because a choice had an effect doesn't mean the game needs to directly advertise to you that it was the result of a specific choice. It feels more true to life that it would have an effect that you wouldn't even know was the cause of a chocie you made, because that's more like the real world- people usually don't tell you that they're treating you differently or doing something differently because of a particular things you do, sometimes your choices effect things much more subtley. To me, that is more compelling than an NPC going "Hey I am doing this because of this thing you did," because that feels heavy handed and less realistic to me, reminds me that I'm playing a game. Great video.

@toadofsteel 10 months ago

I always saw the council's backpedaling in ME2 as good old fashioned head-in-the-sand management. They've had 2 years to do the mental gymnastics. I mean, if you were the President of the US, and Cthulhu was lurking somewhere in the Pacific, waiting to attack you, you'd want to think it was some Chinese hoax too.

@Quickpatch12 10 months ago

I always picked "concentrate fire on Sovreign"

@diamondinthesky4771 10 months ago

If modders find a way to add in a option to tell the Destiny Ascension "Throw the Council out the airlock and we'll talk" I imagine that would become an overnight "essential mod".

@alpacaAnarch 10 months ago

The bit about the dialog wheel is interesting. The first time I played Mass Effect, I chose dialog options based on the preview text instead of the location on the wheel. But because Paragon, Neutral, and Renegade Shepard have very different line delivery styles, the effect was that Shepard seemed to have wild mood swings, going from sympathetic to unhinged to professional in the span of a few lines. It was pretty funny, but probably "wrong."

Then Mass Effect 2 came out and suddenly your dialog success became determined by your devotion to Paragon or Renegade instead of letting you put skill points in Charm and Intimidate, so doing that became actively detrimental.

@FakeAmerican 10 months ago

mfw I didn't even know the shopkeeper treats you different. God, so many years later and I'm STILL discovering things about Mass Effect, despite playing through it at least half a dozen times now