Mass Effect: Paragon Lost

"Out here, our choices affect not only our lives but the lives of all the people we've sworn to protect. We can only hope... we make the right ones."

Firstly, Happy N7 Day commanders, we finally got our remastered trilogy! Secondly, this is so much more satisfying upon playing the game before and after, since it gives so much more depth to the character of James Vega.

Exploring James' backstory only hinted at during the events of Mass Effect 3, it gives us the full-on explosive adventure full of loss and brutal decisions in typical Mass Effect fashion. Taking place in 2183 to start with a fantastic ... action sequence on Fehl Prime before jumping forward 2 years to 2185 taking place at the same time as the final sequences from Mass Effect 2. Production I.G. (most known for Ghost in the Shell, FLCL, and that animated sequence from Kill Bill), gives their usual high levels of effort in terms of animation, CGI and 3D camera movements, popping with some beautifully horrifying details.

In terms of the cast, well it's certainly a mixed bag. Freddie Prinze Jr. delivers a brilliantly heartfelt performance as Vega and the utterly chilling performance by Vic Mignogna as Messner. However, on the other end of the spectrum is the completely flat and dull performance by Monica "Jelly Bean" Rial as Treeya. Also, this film made the cardinal sin of recasting some of the main supporting cast of the games, with Dr. Liara T'Soni being the main offender as instead of the beautiful vocals of Ali Hillis, you are left with an incredibly disinterested performance by Jamie "False Accuser" Marchi.

The film definitely benefits from the musical talents of one of the composers from the games, David Kates, bringing over the main themes from the games and giving them his own twist thanks to the combined efforts of him and Joshua Mosley. Topped off by the use of Warning Signs by The Anix to complete the experience.

While Paragon Lost may not be perfect, it delivers a horrifying and heartwrenching story with such effort it's hard to stay mad at it, it hits all the right notes in a way only a true Mass Effect product could.

"What kind of a question is that? You're speaking to a Krogan... We live for weapons."

*This is only my second review so some feedback would be nice so I know how to improve my reviews in the future!*

I'd say I'm quite a fan of the Mass Effect universe. It's huge and is filled with amazing planets, alien races and ancient evils just begging to be used on another medium. When I heard about a Mass Effect anime I was ecstatic! I really liked Halo legends when it came out so why shouldn't I have been excited? How brutally disappointed I was...

The story... like I said The Mass Effect universe has so much potentia,l it's great source material for an anime. ... The movie is set between the 1st and 2nd game. Commander Shepard is believed dead and a pro-human anti-alien organization known as Cerberus is on the rise. That was fine I had no problems there. What I did have problems with was everything that came after. The plot became predictable and awfully generic as well as an awkward and totally unneeded forced romance. It really just took different scenes from other sci-fi's like "Aliens" but adding the Mass Effect backdrop. If it wasn't for the character designs and the title it could easily have some other sci-fi anime it just didn't feel like Mass Effect. Then the ending... I preferred the ending to Mass Effect 3 over the way this ends it just felt very unnecessary.

The protagonist!!! Again, the Mass Effect universe is huge there are so many interesting characters to choose from! Who do they pick as the lead for this movie? James Vega!? Why? James Vega is the most uninteresting character in the game why make a movie about his past? He is uncharismatic, lacks any real leadership qualities and makes the most ridiculous out of character decisions. The only explanation for this was because Vega wasn't Shepard. The whole anime focuses on this. Vega is the paragon lost because he's flawed and isn't able to be the same man that Shepard is. Fair enough but then Commander Shepard is a god amongst men with the fate of the Galaxy in his hands! Of course Vega can't match up to him and you don't need to make him out as the shittest marine in the galaxy to do it!

The supporting characters are your average generic marines (Aliens) whom you can predict they're dying order most of the time. You really don't feel anything for them or for Vega when they die because character development is so poor, in fact some of them I couldn't wait until they had been killed off. They were boring and unemotional at the final battle I wasn't rooting for anyone I wasn't invested in the characters enough to care it's a damn shame.

The saving grace however would have to be the art. I liked it, if Mass Effect was going to get more anime this is how I would want it to look. The action scenes looked good and were enjoyable to watch just a shame they are ruined by the story and characters.

It did have some of the soundtrack from the games playing during which is always going to be good. Some of the VA could have been better but I put this down to a poor screenplay more than anything.

Apart from the action scenes there is really nothing worth watching here. If you are a big Mass Effect fan you will probably watch it anyway. I'm not telling you not to this is just my opinion I think you should take a look maybe you'll agree with me when I say that this was a wasted opportunity. Despite how bad this movie was I'm still open to more Mass Effect anime but I'm saddened to say that it probably won't happen due to this first attempt being so poor. It is such a great universe I don't understand how they could have came up with such a generic plot with really dull characters. I hope there is a second chance for a Mass Effect anime and I hope they do better.

With the recent release of the remastered Mass Effect trilogy, I couldn’t help but have Mass Effect on the mind once again. As any fan of the series would know, the biggest appeal to Mass Effect is the lovable cast of characters and the story that unveils with them by your side (minus the ME3 ending, we all know that could have been better). This reputation left 'Mass Effect: Paragon Lost' with some big shoes to fill.

…& unfortunately, this movie is a far cry from what the Mass Effect trilogy has previously accomplished. Granted, not that you could even expect that level of story-telling after ... seeing the choice of main character for this film. Out of all the characters that exist in the Mass Effect universe, they choose the most generic “bro” of them all - James Vega (give me a Garrus movie though & I’m all yours). Just as the MC is the most basic human space marine you could find, the story itself is nothing spectacular. Vega and co fight some Krogans, protect a colony from some Collectors, and reference Shephard a million times to possibly trick the viewer into into liking this movie. That’s about it. It’s a generic space action movie with weak dialogue and lackluster art that’s only standout feature is that it’s wrapped in a Mass Effect skin.

Overall, 'Mass Effect: Paragon Lost' is a generic space action movie at best and a regrettable installment to the Mass Effect franchise at worst. If you - like me - have been back in the Mass Effect mood due to the recent game releases, then I say you’re better off just playing the games again than expecting this to satisfy your Mass Effect craving.