So I recently played through Mass Effect 2. I played the first game like 4 years ago, and didn't remember much of it. Even so, Mass Effect 2 fucking rocked, especially in the area of choices. Basically, that's all the series is about when it comes down to it - you making decisions in situations. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's boring, and sometimes it's so fucking tense I'm YELLING at my TV because of it. And as someone who has played waaaaay to many shitty games recently, it's nice to play one that at least attempts to have some emotional impact.
One of the reasons Mass Effect in general, and 2 in particular are so good is that they present you with choices that actually matter that affect characters you actually care about. Whoa. I'll give you a for instance: Far Cry 3. The story in this game stopped being interesting after you killed Vaas, and the "choice of ending" was pretty unsatisfying.
That's it. This is the first time in this game's campaign that you're actually presented with a choice. It must have some serious repercussions, right? Haha, nope. Depending on what you do, you get a different ending cutscene. After the credits roll, you get the option to go back to the island and keep playing. After that, it's like no campaign even happened - nothing in the environment is different save for one location, and no one makes any kind of comment on what you chose.
If you're going to make the ending, you know, the end of your game, at least make it really the end. If Far Cry 3 had simply ended after picking an ending, without the option to continue playing afterwards, I think it would've worked much better. Certainly would've felt more significant. Also, the characters in this game are so bland I forgot one of their names during the campaign. Forget about feeling any sort of emotional attachment - while it's definitely easy to blame it on the game's uneven writing, you also don't really get to see much of your friends so it's hard to give a shit.
Mass Effect, though, forces you to spend the whole damn game recruiting and doing missions with your buddies. While this doesn't instantly make them super well fleshed out, their optional loyalty missions are all interesting and at least give you some basic background info on them. And Far Cry 3 may not be the best comparison - it's an FPS game, not really on the same plane as Mass Effect.
Which is another thing Mass Effect has that makes it more interesting - you're fighting for the survival of the fucking galaxy. Far Cry 3's quest to save some whiny white kids seems microscopic in perspective.
Oh yeah, and the Illusive Man is badass.
