Mass Effect

[Kaden]

I feel like I'm just about to start the 'real' game

You are. I agree completely about the first chunk of the gaming being pretty scripted. They definitely wanted to make sure that you got pretty much the same introduction to the universe no matter what you're trying to do with your character. A little unfortunate if you're... well... picky, but the game more than makes up for it later on.

One of the things I really liked about Mass Effect was how all of the main characters had their distinct personalities, but the game did not seem to track any kind of "influence" for them. Your actions definitely provoke different responses from each party member, but that doesn't seem to have any effect on how far into a character's backstory you can delve. I'm one of those players that likes to soak up as much as I can about all the main characters, so it was refreshing that I won't need to play through the game with different parties each time so I can get enough influence with each of them so I can get to the end of all of the characters' conversation arcs.

Also, as an fyi, you're definitely locked into a single romance arc per playthrough. Can't have your cake and eat it too, I guess.