15 réponses à ce sujet

[genocidal villain]

I know there's one book where there are a lot of continuity issues (can't remember) but can it be enjoyable if you can ignore it? Same goes for comics. Not sure if I want to invest money for the comics because I tend to skim through the pictures and focus on the dialogue.

I enjoy playing all 3 games and their DLC and I'm wondering if the novels and comics can bring the same enjoyment of storytelling just like the game(s) they're based-off of. Kind of a big investment since I know there are a lot of comics and novels that came from the ME universe.

If they are worth reading which ones would you recommend?

[MrFob]

For an ME fan, I would recommend the first three novels (Revelation, Ascension and Retribution). They are by no means great pieces of literature but they are a fun quick read.
Stay way from the last novel (Deception), it's just going to upset you.

As for the comics, I wouldn't really recommend them but then, I don't particularly like comics in general, so maybe I am a bit harsh. Evolution definitely does play havoc with some major ME characters though, so beware of that.

If you want to see some really cool ME comics, check out Koobismo's marauder shields comics (just google it). While fan fiction, I think the art style of these is much more appropriate to ME than the official comics.

[ComradeShepard7]

The first three novels are alright science fiction but the most recent one was written by someone who knows nothing about the ME universe. I never even touched it because I hadn't bought it when the problems started getting pointed out.

The comic series that were turned into graphic novels are also alright. If you want more back story for some of the main characters in the games I would suggest reading the first three novels and the graphic novels.

[felipejiraya]

The first three books are really good and were written by the lead writer for ME1 (Drew Karpyshyn) who is a solid fiction writer. But the fourth and last one is a mess, don't waste your time reading it.

The comics are ok but they're not solid so I just recommend it if you really want to add some backstory to the games.

[FredLOMD]

I haven't read any of the books. I read a few of the comics and they're generally pretty meh. Surprisingly the only one that I would recommend is the Blasto one. It's short and silly.

[ElitePinecone]

Revelation, Ascension and Retribution are interesting looks at other parts of the universe.

Don't bother with Deception.

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

The first three are okay, with the first one, "Revelation" being the best one - hands down. The other two are all right and an interesting read in case you want to get a few things that get mentioned in ME3 cleared up. "Deception", on the other hand...yeah.

[dcal31]

Like everyone else said, the first three novels provide good backstory and passable story lines. Deception, on the other hand, very much lives up to it's name.

As for the comics, if you like Omega, Invasion does to a decent job of telling the sent up for it. The other ones fill in some of gaps, like what happened to Shepard's body before Cerberus and TIM's backstory. Homeworlds is probably the weakest, since it's a bit light on content, as each backstory can be summed up is a sentence or two.

[Dieb]

The first three novels are a nice expansion of the universe, but I have to say, Karpyshyn's writing style is really nothing special whatsoever. They are interesting, decently written and often exciting, but they don't have a particular special "thing" to them.

As for the comics: I just got the Library Edition #1, which is all comics to this day in a single, atlas-sized (the book with maps in them, not the Cerberus mech) folio. Despite the price being a genuinely good deal, the quality being very good and sophisticated, the stories themselves are mediocre. That's not to confuse with the dialogues - there are some great lines in there. It's obvious Walters was really struggling to keep the respective plots both interesting and relatable for fans, but at the same time absolutely unaffected by anything possibly having been done by the players. That clearly doesn't work very well.

So they were well worth their money and entertaining, without being outstanding. If that's too much, I'd definitely recommend to take a look at the Homeworlds  series.

Modifié par Baelrahn, 25 juillet 2013 - 12:14 .

[P. Domi]

I had the opportunity to read "Revelations" before playing Mass Effect 1 too much, and it gave me with a solid background to the events and characters in the game. If you really like the Mass Effect Universe, "Ascension" and "Retribution" are good, quick-to-read, novels which introduce concepts and characters in the universe before they become important in the games. I personally found the books very entertaining as a Mass Effect fan, but don't expect lengthy prose and descriptions, it's fast and to the point. I enjoy his books, but Karpyshyn loves the word "haphazardly" too much

As for "Deception", I haven't read it and I don't plan to, it'd be a waste of time and money, according to all the people who read it. This thing was written by someone else and it shows.

[HellbirdIV]

I read Revelations, Ascension and Retribution. I found all of them good reads, if somewhat mean-spirited. Man, Saren is a dick long before he properly turns evil.

The comics are of the usual quality of graphic novels, which is "Pretty decent, but characters sometimes state the obvious because comics can't relay information through sound and motion or a descriptive paragraph".

Also Liara is kind of a derp in Redemption, but it kind of suits her - it's the step between her inexperienced ME1 demeanour and her more hardened ME2 persona.

[rashie]

As far as the comics go i would say reading redemption is a good way to get an understanding of how Cerberus obtained shepard between ME1 and ME2 with also explaining Liara's motives behind the DLC pack but they are quite bad comic books all around even with that.

Modifié par rashie, 25 juillet 2013 - 07:49 .

[N7 Shadow 90]

I would definitely recommend Revelations, Ascension and Retribution, although I haven't read Deception because I haven't read it as of yet. I would also definitely recommend all of the comic series so far, although I didn't enjoy Evolution as much as the others. That series was 'cool' as opposed to 'awesome' which I would use to describe them.

[Kidd]

I've read all the novels and I'll echo the past sentiments. Revelation, Ascension and Retribution are good - Deception is not worth your time even if you would somehow get it for free. To me, Ascension stands out as being the best of the three, but I wouldn't skip Revelation even if it's the weakest of them.

Funny so many people find Saren to be such a dick in the first book. I mean, he is, but his character introduction made me squee.

As for comics... they're okay, but that's sadly about it. I think these storylines should take more issues. It always feels like you're reading a "last time on Mass Effect"-segment with somewhat detailed fights in them. The Dragon Age comics are much better in that regard since their storylines don't have to finish in four chapters.

Redemption is an okay read mostly just for the story itself, even though its presentation is hurting for the reasons I put above. Invasion is probably the best comic to me, but I think Redemption is more interesting from the perspective of being a tie-in since it explains what happens between ME2's intro and ME2 proper.

Modifié par KiddDaBeauty, 27 juillet 2013 - 01:00 .