Instant Replay

With the release of Mass Effect 3 less than a month away *squeal* I decided it was time to replay Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 to refresh myself on the story.  Upon popping in the disk, I soon realized that my save files had disappeared.  What was going to be a quick run through of the game as a refresher has turned into a race against the clock to re-establish my character.

I will say again that I was going to replay both of these titles anyways.  But I thought I might just do a quick "beginning to end" to pick up some bits of the story.  After all, it has been almost five years since the first Mass Effect was released.  But with my save files gone, I have rededicated myself to unearthing this amazing story.  The further I go, the more I can't believe how much I missed the first time around !

I never would have imagined that I missed so much the first time.  I scanned but rarely fully explored extra planets.  I completed all the side quests I stumbled across but never made an effort to talk to every single person in every room at the chance of picking up another mission.  It's like the polar opposite of what my normal play style is.  

Now I am discovering all these extra worlds and amazing missions to boost my XP.  I'm leveling up like mad and cranking up my paragon points.  Before I relied heavily on the auto-leveling.  This time I am taking the time to form and execute a strategy about what type of fighter my Commander Shepard will be.  I'm taking the time to compare weapons and armor as well as carefully choose my upgrades.  I'm even *gasp* better at driving the Mako.  Let's not get crazy here; I'm still far from adept but that's a vast improvement from my previous complete inability.  I even like the way my new Shepard looks.

So as much as it pains me to say this, I think that losing my save files was probably the best thing that could have happened.  I have a brand new character with much better skills and weapons.  I'm taking my Shepard on a rampage through every corner of space and I like it.