First off, "Hi all" I'm new here. I have a 5speed manual 1998 Eclipse GS NT. This problem happened very quickly when driving. 1st, 3rd, and 5th shift decently, tight but not so much I can't shift into them (still a problem none the less). 2nd, 4th, and Reverse forget about it, I have to use all my arm strength to get it into gear.

I looked under the hood to see what was going on, the only thing I could find while my buddy shifted it was just visually seeing it shift sluggish, nothing looked out of place, clip pins seemed to all be there, it is a tight space to see without removing the air filter, etc. so I may not being seeing all of the parts that connect it. I'm sincerely hoping this isn't a transmission problem.

I want to take it into the dealer to get it worked on but I'd like to go there with some knowledge of the problem and a solution. I don't mind working on it myself if it's something fairly easy, including finding/ordering parts. Any help appreciated into getting this fixed, my car is currently sitting, I can drive it but oh my god what a pain... please help!!

could be a bent cable maybe dead bushings at the shifter plate, but the fact you have 3 gears leads me to believe your cable is bent

Ok! thanks for the tip I'll check it out in the morning.