The art of not breaking the flow of a game

After I read my last post I wondered if I somehow played the game “wrong”?!

Let me explain. 

I’m that kind of gamer that wants to search every nook and cranny of a game if I’ve fallen in love with it. Mass Effect is one of those games, where I must do absolutely everything before I finish it. And in the pursuit of that goal there is a danger of spoiling the fun and flow of a game. 

I’ve never thought of it before, but when I wrote my post I could see that maybe that was the reason I somehow thought the storytelling was a bit of a treadmill. Maybe it was my own fault? I wanted to find all the companions, do all the side mission and upgrade all the weapons and that made me fall out of the natural flow of the game and it become more a “job” that me having fun and following the story of the game.

I’m not sure that I can change my play style cause I do find it immensely rewarding to know that I gotten all out of a game. But maybe I should save the “find and do all” for the second playthrough?

*spoiler alert*
I finished Mass Effect 2 last night. The ending was quiet satisfying and a great setup for the last and final chapter. I loved the way almost everyone in my crew had a part to play, that made the effort of finding them all worth the time it took. And they all survived so now I’m the proud owner of the “No one left behind” achievement :-) 

And the ending left me wondering if I would have had a different experience if I haven’t upgraded The Normandy SR-2? A thing I have to try out when I play for a second time with a renegade female infiltrator.