I wanted to use this forum to reach out to the devs/people working on Mass Effect 1,2,3.
I came a little late to the game, not really knowing anything about it, since at the time of launch I wasn't really into single player games and spent most of my time in MMOs.
Until December last year, when a friend recommended I try Mass Effect after months of no game being exciting for me and this is the result.
Thank you so much, for this master piece of a game. The game's story, the characters, I don't recall caring so much about any other game. The last time I was so invested in something, was when I was reading Harry Potter, as I grew up with that book.
Now I cannot really comment on the "shooter aspect of the game" since I was playing it on casual (as I was mostly interested in the story) but for what it is worth I really enjoyed it (except for the initial sniper moving around, until it got changed later on 
). It took me a while to get into it an understand it fully, but that is normal for a new game. I still used guides on "what would be best" for my particular class / companion choice but that is normal as well. Once again I am not commenting on the "hard core balance" stuff, but general casual gameplay which I enjoyed.
The graphics of the game were great too so good job on that one as well.
But the main thing, the story, the characters...those writers were gold. Yes the story had plot holes in it, and I had the slight feeling that they took the initial "purpose" of the reapers and it got changed in the process but heck, it was still amazing. I read that people were disappointed by the fact that the "choices" one made throughout the game did not really do much and that the outcome was inevitable anyway, which I cannot disprove but the story was amazing none the less. It was finally showing that, just because you're the good guy, doesn't mean you will always get your way. It showed the struggle that sometimes, even if you do everything in your power, it might not be enough.
Yes, I know that in ME1 you delayed the reapers, in ME2 you defeated the collectors, but still the Reapers came in ME3 and even there you fought them off, but...there was sacrifice...and a lot of it.
Now I made my own "Shepard" (personal customisation) so that might be why I was more "attached" to the character but, I can't believe how vested I was in him. I sometimes spent hours thinking about what action I should take and that is amazing. A game actually forced me to think about the "ethical" vs "necessary" values in choices, instead of just going with something and not caring. Do I got for the "it sounds good on paper, but in reality people might suffer and die as a result" or "do I appear cold hearted and a bastard, but in the long run, its for the greater good".
I genuinely cared about Shepard, what he did, who he was, how he was perceived. All his efforts, accomplishments and even failures and bad choices. (I admit, I did one "reload" after a paragon/renegade choice in ME3 when a reporter said stupid stuff and I went for the renegade choice but did not know I was going to punch her Oo, so I re-did that but it took me a while to get to the point where I did that). What I am trying to say is, I wanted to "live" with the choices I made, whether they were good or bad. And even when I did regret my decision sometimes, apart from that one incident with the "hitting reporter", I did not want to change it.
The writers managed to make Shepard awesome, yet humble, yet realistic at the same time. I could hit a nerve where it counted, I could be diplomatic when necessary, the choices were simply spot on. That helped massively when getting "sucked" into the story as much as I did.
Shepard was the focal point of my interest, naturally since he is the main character, but I grew to love all the characters/companions. It shows how everyone has a sort of "dark side" to them, even if they appear to be an angel ( I am talking about core characters, not DLC ones). One thing I have to say I did not like however, was the "romancing" in ME1. I tried to avoid it at all costs, since I started out my Shepard as being a "lone wolf" focused on the task ahead. I didn't even know how, I was just acting normal (not being rude) but I ended up having a romance with Williams, that carried over to ME2 which I was not happy about, since she annoyed me to hell (which is good, once again I felt strongly about her, just in a negative way and I think that has to be part of it too). But that mistake got rectified in ME2 where the options were "clearer" and actually took some effort to get into a "romanceable" state.
One instance that comes to mind (since its still rather fresh in my memory) is when Shepard was talking to Grunt, and he is this compassionate person giving the other a chance, but he is no fool and holding a gun to Grunt's chest just in case things go wrong, that was just awesome and I loved it. Once again I would really like to thank the writers of the story and the characters in ME trilogy doing a great job.
Also, not only companions were amazing but non-companion characters were absolutely brilliant as well, namely Joker. I am glad that apart from Shepard (obv) and Garrus, he was the 3rd character who stayed "on board" for all three games. I am using the word amazing too often but I can't really describe him differently. His humour, his reactions, his attitude once again it really made me genuinely care. I wasn't a huge fan of Anderson, not coz of bad writing, I just didn't like him as much ^^.
The powerful emotions that you guys managed to invoke in me, while playing the game...Shepard (dying and then being revived), Mordin (reciting that "poem" as he was going to his certain doom, heartbreaking) and all the other losses, sacrifices that were made, have just impacted me so much. Before the end of ME3, I could not sleep till 3 AM coz I was trying to figure out what ending to pick and rationalise it (I knew what the endings were before I finished the game) and I was feeling really down and sad about it.
After all that Shepard has done, all the lives he has saved, all the sacrifices he has made, all the **** he had to go through yet never gave up, (I made him human by admitting many times to companions that it is getting too much for him and they held me up) I was destroyed when I picked the ending where he, on one hand saves the galaxy, controls the Reapers and becomes immortal, but on the other the real Shepard dies....after everything he did....he had to die. I am not ashamed to say I cried at the end. I have NEVER been so affected by a game...NEVER...and that is why I am writing this wall of text. I am sorry if I bored you with it, I just wanted to express my gratitude for this game and how this game has affected me so greatly.
I will always remember the Normandy, the crew and Commander Shepard. Thank you, everyone who worked on Mass Effect...thank you.
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