Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Submit Your Comment On Mass Effect 1 For The Deepest Dive (Patreon)

Published:
2021-06-07 14:15:01
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

We're creating the best, most thorough discussion about Mass Effect 1 on the internet and we need your help! The panelists are Ben Hanson, voice actor Sarah Elmaleh, former Game Informer Joe Juba, and Leo Vader!

This week is the final discussion, we're covering the ending of Mass Effect 1. We're talking Ilos, the ending, all side quests, all DLC. Please do not spoil anything from later games.

Submit a comment below and please get specific. Don't write a long review, please keep your one comment to around the length of a tweet. We want to get to as many comments as possible. Let's get specific, submit a comment about the hardest fight, your favorite mission, the weirdest thing about Vigil. The more specific you are, the higher the odds of us reading your comment during the discussion. We'll finish collecting comments on Tuesday morning.

You can unlock the podcast version of the first discussion by supporting MinnMax at the $5 tier, or you can watch the YouTube version here - https://youtu.be/hDpNBd9mfO0

You can watch us record The Deepest Dive live on Tuesday evening at 5pm Central if you're at the $10 Backstage Pass tier on Patreon. The link will be in the Backstage Pass tier on the Discord. Thanks for your support.

Files

Comments

Zach E

Is there anything cooler in Sci-Fi than an armada of spaceships entering the scene? My answer is no. It's such a relief to hear Joker after defeating Saren (the first time), to then witness the Normandy leading the Fifth Fleet through the mass relay to attack the Geth ships. What a cool space combat scene! In my opinion, the scene is much better if you choose to save the Council.

Nick from Atlanta

Alright Deepest Divers, let's talk about your choice for that big decision on Virmire - that's right, I wanna know if you let Rana Thanoptis live or die! She gave us some very interesting information about indoctrination, but did you shoot her or let her escape?

Joe Kafchinski

Let's talk about the forbidden subject: the genophage. The game's stance on the genophage is pretty clear: anti-genophage is Paragon, pro-genophage is Renegade. But what exactly is the right way to deal with the Krogan problem? Just about any Krogan you talk to makes it clear that living in peaceful harmony with the other species is not on the table and nothing short of full galactic conquest would be satisfactory if the Krogan were at full strength. The Salarians uplifted the Krogan and the rest of the galaxy lives with the consequences. So what's the solution? Eradication? Beat them back to Tuchanka and bomb them back to pre-spaceflight levels, losing billions of people in the process? Perpetual devastating warfare that the other species are probably destined to lose? The genophage was an awful solution. Was it the least awful solution to a terrible problem?

Nick Rodriguez

Audio Design Bug - Dialogue I'm playing the game on a PS4 Pro with a 7.1 surround sound audio setup. An annoying bug I found was that most of the conversational dialogue was correctly engineered to 7.1 accept for the first and last pieces (like when entering a conversation for the first time, or exiting it). For whatever reason those transition cutscenes had the dialogue only coming from the front 2 speakers and engineered at weird levels so it was often hard to hear. The dialogue audio clarity and volume levels throughout the whole game were a disappointing annoyance for me because of this.

Doreen Ford

I was so charming Saren literally committed suicide. When I talked to my teammates not even a minute later they were like, "Let's make Saren pay!" and I was like, "Yeah, I think he has that covered." ...But then of course 2nd phase Saren proved me wrong, I forgot that happens! What did y'all think of this twist? Did it undermine your charm points (or intimidate I guess?) or feel like Best of Both Worlds?

Nick Rodriguez

Graphical Glitches - Missing Cutscene & Other Bonus Bugs So I encountered the bug where your higher level Spectre Gear is not available at the requisition office or on the Normandy. To resolve this, I had to start a new career playthrough and run thru the beginning until becoming a spectre again. During this 2nd time through the opening level, when the player control is taken away for the cutscene where Nilus finds Saren and gets killed plays - the screen went completely white for me. No visuals at all. The scene's audio played out like normal, but remained completely blank white until control was returned to me and everything went back to normal. Very Strange. Speaking of that Specter gear glitch - holy crap what an annoying glitch. I had already deleted out older saves from the beginning so I had to start a whole new career and play through the beginning of the game in order to play musical chairs with save files to kick the game into giving me access to the better gear. This was about a 1 hour workaround.

Ronmar the Only

One of the cooler aspects of the original Mass Effect and carried over to the successors is that your guns contract when stored and expand when utilized (ala Fifth Element). However, I don’t think I ever noticed before this replay that the icon in the bottom left for the weapon also does the same. Did you? Just another element in my mind of how Mass Effect thoroughly placed the player in the world. Finished on Insanity (and replayed the ending using remote play and my backbone because I forgot to finish the DLC before going to Vimire)! Onwards and upwards to ME2.

Scott H

Does the updates made to the game and playing it all these years later change how it ranks for you in the series? I appreciate the changes and updates which made the experience more enjoyable but it does not change how I feel it ranks in the series. ME1 still has the best main story and main villain but I am currently about 70% through ME2 and yeah the overall package of 2 still makes it my favorite. We will see how I feel once I get to 3 as far as how that compares to 1 now.

Fred Dinovo

Saren killed himself, but I still had to fight him? I focused my points into Charm for the extra dialog options and was surprised during my last talk with Saren that he shot himself. Does this happen with non-Paragon/Renegade dialog options? I don't recall how this went down in my 2007 playthrough.

Adam_CW

Did anyone else have a tough time looking at the prothean VI ‘Vigil’? He should’ve come with an epilepsy warning. I screen peaked my way through the dialogue options trying my best to get away from him. Then, finally, just as it was wrapping up, Liara says ‘this may be the last chance we have to learn about the protheans.’ I took a deep sigh and kept going in the name of science.

Kris Calkins

What is the deal with all the important C words in this game/trilogy? We got Commander, Citadel, Conduit, Cipher, Cerberus, Captain, Council, and Councilor in this game alone. A few more are added in the next two games but do you think Casey Hudson was behind this?

sleepy-puffin

Has anyone else had the issue where the sound effects are INSANELY loud? Particularly the shooting and the mass relay loading screens.Seriously, I have the sound effects in the settings turned way down and they still make me jump out of my seat sometimes.

G-Max Thoeren

Almost all of the sci-fi concepts the game explores are extremely creepy. We start with humans being impaled on spikes that convert them into mindless zombies, tech firms resurrecting aliens insects that almost took over the galaxy, and an ancient immortal plant monster that births clones and uses spores to make people its slaves. In this section, it's revealed that the keepers are a previously conquered species that have been bred for obedience, secretly serving their true masters, giant eldritch robots that live in "the dark part of space." and want to wipe out all life. Juicy stuff.

InstagramExpert

So i have a very important question... How does an ancient prothean ruin on Ilos, have the EXACT SAME elevator control panel as The Citadel and other colonies?! The rest is made out of anciet sculptures and stones WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON😂

Sandshrewd

I've had enough of your snide insinuations! This game is pretty good at having the dialog wheel being a short summary of what Shepard is going to say, but I never thought "Time to shut you up" meant to throw a haymaker into the side of the reporter. Did Bioware get caught in some gotcha journalism? Anyways who else punched Khalisah al-Jilani, accidently or otherwise?

OmegaBuster

On Illos, why is Shepard and Co. the only team in galaxy with a car? Saren would have been won if only he had a sweet, poor handling ride.

Braden Summers

The fact that Sovreign is not labelled when you have subtitles on define him and the Reapers as an unstoppable force that cannot be reasoned with, let alone fought.

Colin Mahovlich

Sillypug45 from the discord: The sovereign reveal on Virmire is the standout moment of the game for me. Such a fantastic twist to build hype for the finale and the rest of the series. I’ve never been so intimidated when talking to a hologram.

Jeorin

Unfortunately I am mid move and wasn't able to finish in time. I did complete Virmire, which was brutal. Even if Ashley is a space racist, it was hard to make decisions that led to her death. The encounter with Sovereign was chilling. It reminded me of a book series I read called the Galactic Center Saga, where humanity ventures out among the stars only to find much of the galaxy is conquered by AI, which considers organic life to be imperfect and worthy only of destruction. I can't wait to see where the rest of this story goes!

Luke Strain

"Bringing Down The Sky" DLC is one of the most memorable video game segments for me because it legitimately gave me prejudice against Batarians. From the way Shepard says "BATARIANS!" When they are introduced, to learning the history of Batarians enslaving humans early in their galactic history. That mission shaped the way I viewed Batarians for the rest of the trilogy, especially as... **MINOR SPOILERS** ME 2 & 3 gave me great opportunities to overcome my prejiduice as Shepard overcame his by being merciful to Batarians.

Hunter Sax

For many years I was in the camp that claimed Kaidan is a wet blanket of a personality. This playthrough I really wanted to make choices I hadn't before. I romanced Kaidan and I found that his character has a lot more depth than I gave him credit. His awkward humor is subtle clever flirting and over time I found myself charmed by him.

Harrison Holt

One of the last Assignments in the game is only available when Shepard is detained on the Citadel. It involves a Human political party called Terra Firma, protesting Armistace Day, the end of the First Contact War. It’s basically a lore dump, but one which gave some interesting insights into Human Government. The man you meet is running for what are called Spacer seats in the Alliance Parliament . And the only people who can vote for Spacer candidates are people who spend 6 months a year in space, and can never stay in one settlement for longer than a month. I just found the exchange really interesting, not only for its overt commentary but for the insight into the worlds human democracy.

Erin T.

Hey y’all! Hopefully this makes for some juicy discussion: I think it’s interesting that the pivotal “who lives and who gets left behind” choice is between the only two human characters in your party. Do you think this was to amplify the importance of the alien characters (by ensuring that you aren’t forced to lose one of them) or was this an attempt to try to make the human characters feel more important? I imagine BioWare must have known that the aliens would be more popular, and I felt like there was some plot armor at play here. Thanks for another awesome deepest dive, and extra thanks to Joe and Sarah for being such insightful, enthusiastic guests!

Jordan Holmdahl

Congratulations on making it to the finish line everybody, but especially Leo! The extended conversation with the Prothean VI, Vigil, on Ilos is my absolute favorite scene of this game. Using the eponymous music track for this sequence lends an air of mournfulness and gravitas to the moment, which is appropriate considering the terrifying revelations shared by Vigil. It makes sense, given that the Prothean civilization spanned the known galaxy, but learning that the Reapers' harvest was so absolute and occurred over the course of CENTURIES really instilled in me a profound feeling of dread. Also, I loved relearning the true nature of the Citadel; those details set the stakes perfectly for the upcoming battle. And finally, shout out to that small team of surviving Prothean scientists, the forgotten heroes of the Mass Effect story. PS. I loved this Deepest Dive and I hope you'll consider covering the other games someday down the line! Job well done, Spectres! PPS. Ben, there's a good chance you'd really enjoy The Expanse. That whole show is great characters navigating deep, nuanced space politics and investigating interplanetary conspiracies. Great stuff!

Jalopy Slow

Whenever Mass Effect 1 gets brought up, haunted whispers of clunky Makos and slow elevators are never far behind. But when push comes to shove on Ilos it’s the trusty floaty Mako that gets you to The Conduit and across the galaxy, to save the galaxy! No Mako = Reaper Victory. Not long after that is the fun moment when Saren thinks he’s hit Sheppard in their Achilles heel by locking up the elevator you’re riding in. (Cue Darth Vader “NOOO!”) Bravo to Bioware for giving these two chariots a sliver of spotlight in the finale.

Richie Carrasco

Making the choice between saving the Council and letting them die was I think the most significant choice the game had you make. It truly made you feel like a commander on a battlefield, by having to make an instant decision that could spell life or death for others in the heat of a battle. Needless to say I let those judgy bastards burn in hell while I saved everyone else. No fireworks for Joseph.

Interrotta

This was the first playthrough I’ve done where I had enough charisma to convince Saren to stop fighting, and he shot himself. I was like “oh now I don’t have to do a final boss battle. Sweet.” And then he transformed into a reaper/turian hybrid thing. I had forgotten all about that. I also think his design through the game, he has bits of metal and cables interwoven with his flesh, possibly as a foreshadow that he’s indoctrinated and will transform later when Soveriegn has gotten what he’s wanted out of him.

Will Dane

The radio chatter during the Virmire assault paints such a rich narrative tapestry. I was on the edge of my seat hoping that Captain Kirrahe, Kaiden (Or Ashley) and the other STG operatives could hold on long enough to escape. “Hold the line!”

Ryan Foshee

The “Bring Down the Sky” dlc mission is the only time we see Batarians in the first game. I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved these guys. From their design to rough history with humanity, I just find them compelling. Any Batarian love/hate or general thoughts from the panel?

Adam Harris

Even if the Mass Effect series ended here from exploring Ilos and getting the Prothean data dump to the Citadel for the final fight, I would have been completely satiated. Glad to see the Deepest Dive continuing the theme of Eldritch body horror transformations for final boss fights!

The_Smak

There's one moment towards the end that I still find mind blowing. On the Citadel when you are headed to the tower and the elevator shuts down. Shepard says we are going outside. The camera shifts a certain way to give a long hallway-like effect. Then you are running up the side of the elevator. It's something that could have been disorienting but it's done so well here.

MouseRat

I love how often one of the dialogue options is just "Personal Question", which just amounts to "tell me about yourself". But every time I kinda hope Shepard just asks a really uncomfortable, overly personal question like "Do you think your parents ever really loved you?"

ddark

I’ve decided for every BioWare game I play, I’m going to see just how horrible of a character I can play. I played KOTOR last year and did some truly awful things and it was so refreshing. In Mass Effect, I tried to see how cruel I could be and it seems like a great start to a despicable trilogy. These games give me the chance to play through a story in a way that very few games give me the opportunity to. I’m ALWAYS helping people in games....what if I made these fictional characters’ lives a living hell? It puts me out of my comfort zone, but forcing myself down the dark path can be hilarious, disturbing, and something I’ve never experienced before. I’m taking a short break after ME1 but I can’t wait to see how much I can screw things up on a galactic scale. (Also cricket dick is probably my favorite horrible thing from these discussions)

Anthony Botz

With the changes to leveling in Legendary Edition and the structure of this Deepest Dive I can't imagine anyone was forced to kill Wrex. Did anyone choose to kill Wrex? In my original first playthrough my charm wasn't high enough. Ashley took the shot. I was furious...but It made the next choice pretty easy.

Sean

Is anyone else a little baffled by the choice to save the council or stop the potential end of the universe? Why is this even an option, setting aside the fact that the council sucks krogan nards so who cares about those creeps but why wouldn’t you want your entire fleet to focus fire on THE THING THATS ABOUT TO WIPE OUT ALL LIVE AS WE KNOW IT to save like 3 assholes who hate you. I’m curious, did anyone pick the council? If so why! Thanks y’all <3

Shawn Mills

Let's talk about the true hero of Mass Effect, Conrad Verner. In the first section of the game he asks for an autograph. When you return to the citadel he asks for a picture with you and then finally he will tell you he wants to be a Spectre. My renegade Shephard shoved a gun in his face to show him what combat is really like and he left crying. Here's to Conrad, reminding us that not everyone in the universe is meant to be a hero.

BBK

Meeting Sovereign on Virmire was an incredible moment. It was unsettling, menacing, and so very alien. It really shows what a tremendous threat the Reapers are. “You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.”

Finlay

One thing I find a bit disappointing about this mostly incredible game is the final boss fight. I love the idea of being able to end the conflict by using the Charm or Intimidate skills earned along the way, and I just wish that Saren didn’t have to be reanimated into a freak robot puppet just to fulfill the video game obligation of a final boss. I think Saren’s end would be more powerful without that fight (especially if the player persuaded Saren to take his own life). What do you all think?

Carter Hanson

The music and vibe on Ilos is just so pure Mass Effect to me. Real shame they didn't include that track on the official OST. The first game overall really just nails the hardcore sci fi mood and concepts from beginning to end. The initial confrontation with Sovereign on Virmire and speaking with Vigil on Ilos really just blow the story wide open in all the best ways possible. What a true joy it's been to relive this masterpiece again!

Carl Lewington

With the first game in the bag, what are some predictions from Leo as to where certain story threads may lead? No cheating from the rest of the class!

Colton Westbrooks

I’m not sure what the general consensus is here, but I have always really liked the end credits song, m4 Part II, by the Faunts. Thematically, I think the song maintains the tone and style of the game. It is upbeat in it own way but also carries with it a sense that not everything is ok. Lyrically, well it’s vague enough like lots of music that you can make connections to the game, I have seen discourse online doing just that, but ultimately it’s about the sound of the song and the feeling it invokes. I don’t believe the song was made for the game, so it is not going to be a perfect fit, but for a video game song with lyrics, which are often not good and tend to feel out of place, I think this one is very good.

Yarrow

I love how even small bits of lore and conversations end up coming back later in bigger parts of the story. For example Joker is shown to be an expert pilot early on by "jumping halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead" and that come back into play whenever the crew has to hot drop onto Ilos. Then the way the backstory of Wrex and the Genophage goes from just a nice little history bit at the beginning to playing such a big role in Virmire adds just that much more to the stakes to make it a powerful conversation with him. Then the Keepers going from enigma to crucial role in the Reapers returning. The writing team really used all parts of the buffalo when introduction elements into the lore and story and it is incredible!

Kate Bishop

Really easy comment from me this time. M4 Part 2 by Faunts is the best ending credits song in any video game. It still fills me with so many emotions just as much as it did the first time I beat the game.

Benjamin Boven

After hearing how many times "XO Pressly has the deck", it really made me think that throughout the trilogy and especially in Mass Effect 1, you're never really made to feel like the captain of a ship, especially since your second in command (Pressly) is such a disposable character. Only two of your squadmates are your actual subordinates (Kaiden and Ashley) and the rest are your cool alien friends who are outside your chain of command. You don't really control any aspects of the normandy or its crew except for where it takes you for your next Captain Kirk style away mission, and no one questions the riskiness of sending the commanding officer on a series of increasingly dangerous battles

Jalopy Slow

Just wanted to say thanks for choosing ME 1 for this edition of TDD. I played ME 2 & 3 several times back in the day but never touched ME 1 and was gonna skip the Legendary Edition altogether. The process of thoroughly going through ME 1 with the MinnMax community has given me a rejuvinated AND newfound love for this series. I started ME 2 as soon as 1's credits rolled and am already experiencing it with a leveled up appreciation. Ben, Sarah, Joe & Leo, thank you all for sharing your passion and perspective! It's time consuming to dive this deep and this was the perfect way to kick off my summer of Mass Effect. I'm The Chune, and this is my favourite community on The Citadel.

Daniel Miller

I'm not sure if it's just nostalgia, but replaying this game was a joy from start to finish - even through tedious MAKO exploration, I got the platinum trophy and have continued to binge the entire Legendary edition, taking down every trophy in the way! If you had to pinpoint one thing that Mass Effect 1 that more modern games don't, what do you think it'd be? For me, it's giving characters a bit of time to breathe! It builds a solid foundation for the rest of the trilogy to go full throttle!

Kraid Belmont

Entering Virmire, the conclusion feels like it’ll happen here. We have a difficult “choice” with Wrex, we are storming Saren’s base, we have a suicide mission speech, our party splits up, and we have a stand off with Saren. It is revealed we have Ilos and the climax remaining after Vimire. Anytime an ending to a game feels like it’s approaching and more game is revealed, my best friend and I (Parton VicJake) named this feeling being “Virmired”.

Spencer Botine

I had full intention of playing through the series according to my 16 year old head canon, so I originally intended to romance Ashley. However, I found myself absolutely DESPISING every word that came out of her mouth! My 30 year old self is now much more drawn to Liara. For those replaying the series, what choices in the game have changed for you based off time, growth, or life experience?

Jon G

Forgot how cool talking to Harbinger is. I love an incomprehensible, unknowable antagonist as much as the next guy, but I would love to see something different in future iterations of the franchise. Seems like with as rich of a world as Mass Effect has, there is a ton of opportunity to expand on Game-of Thrones-style factions with competing interests instead of just a nebulous evil. Anyone else feel this way?

Chad Beezy

What’s up with that one salarian prisoner you just can’t interact with? I freed the one guy who Saren left as a control and killed the indoctrined ones but there’s another cell with just one last salarian you just have to leave!