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[FromTheFuture]

You're missing the best character in the game.

OH MY GOD HOW COULD I FORGET

I'll admit, when I saw

Spoiler

that Geth help me

, I literally said 'That's fucking awesome' out loud. Prior to that, I was becoming really curious as to who my last recruit would be. It made a build up for the epic reveal.

Original post edited. And let me add that by 'liked' I mean that everyone in that category was fucking awesome.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I usually dont read spoilers this early on, but same here man. Regardless of morality type.

Also I like how they dont really highlight whether the conversation choices are paragon or renegade unless they are on the far end of the spectrum.

Upper decisions are mostly paragon, lower decisions are renegade.

It's pretty clear.

 

[AniHawk]

Miranda was one of the worst characters in the game. Her and Samara.

 

[Wiggum2007]

I just cannot myself to play through either ME game as pure paragon or renegade. I react to each new situation on a case-by-case basis, in a "what do I think seems right in this situation" sort of way. And part of this is living with my mistakes, too; I went with one of my original ME1 playthroughs to import rather then one where I handled each situation perfectly, and I plan on continuing that way.

 

[FromTheFuture]

Miranda was one of the worst characters in the game. Her and Samara.

Didn't care for Samara, but liked Miranda simply for good looks and

 

[spons]

Spoiler

Vents: Tali/Legion
2nd team: Miranda/Jacob/Garrus
Escort: Grunt/Thane/Legion

Anyone else and people start dying. Also, if he wasn't loyal, he's dead.

Tali died here but I guess I got the right people for the job after all. She lost her loyalty after

Spoiler

a disagreement about Legion

and was shot when leaving the vents. Served her right.

 

[neojubei]

Not sure why anyone would hate Jacob, but he is one of my favorite characters. He isn't a douche or cocky or annoying, sort of interesting out of the human cast and has pretty damn hot abs.

My goes like this:

Like: Jacob, Miranda, Tali, Zaeed, Legion, Joker

Indifferent: Mordin, Grunt, Kelly, Garrus

Hate: Samara and Jack

 

[Pappasman]

Can i get Jack's loyalty back without starting the game over? i have a save right before the omega 4 relay.

 

[Wiggum2007]

Not sure why anyone would hate Jacob, but he is one of my favorite characters. He isn't a douche or cocky or annoying, sort of interesting out of the human cast and has pretty damn hot abs.

My goes like this:

Like: Jacob, Miranda, Tali, Zaeed, Legion, Joker

Indifferent: Mordin, Grunt, Kelly, Garrus

Hate: Samara and Jack

Zaeed had the potential to be an interesting character and his loyalty mission was awesome, but god the lack of any other characterization or dialogue trees beyond that was really frustrating.

 

[Papercuts]

Can i get Jack's loyalty back without starting the game over? i have a save right before the omega 4 relay.

I'm not sure, but it does seem like

Spoiler

who you choose to escort the crew is basically a freebie, try making her do that. If someone else dies after that(probably mordin), just bring him with you for the last boss.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Zaeed had the potential to be an interesting character and his loyalty mission was awesome, but god the lack of any other characterization or dialogue trees beyond that was really frustrating.

he actually has HEAPS of unique dialogue if you talk to him in his room. yes, it isn't the traditional conversation, but if you go in there after every mission and talk to him, he'll usually have a handful of interesting things to say.

 

[FromTheFuture]

Not sure why anyone would hate Jacob, but he is one of my favorite characters. He isn't a douche or cocky or annoying, sort of interesting out of the human cast and has pretty damn hot abs.

See the thing for me is that he's just incredibly boring. He doesn't really do much, lacks personality, you don't really get to know him, etc. In hindsight might because he's more of a soldier following the commander's orders, rather than someone who has built a bond with Shepard (ie. Garrus, Tali) or helps out Shepard but ultimately is doing it of free will (ie. Samara, Thane, everyone else). And i can't comment on the abs thing, i personally don't swing that way.

 

[Wiggum2007]

he actually has HEAPS of unique dialogue if you talk to him in his room. yes, it isn't the traditional conversation, but if you go in there after every mission and talk to him, he'll usually have a handful of interesting things to say.

Yeah, he does have some interesting stories a la Wrex in ME1. But the lack of any interaction with him really pulls me out of it. I was really expecting a fully implemented squadmate like Shale from DA:O, so I was pretty disappointed in what we got.

And I like Jacob but is it just me or does he have a freakishly wide upper body. Maybe it's just those shoulder pad things...

 

[AniHawk]

Tali died here but I guess I got the right people for the job after all. She lost her loyalty after

Spoiler

a disagreement about Legion

and was shot when leaving the vents. Served her right.

Tali >>>>

Spoiler

Legion.

You dun screwed up

 

[neojubei]

Zaeed had the potential to be an interesting character and his loyalty mission was awesome, but god the lack of any other characterization or dialogue trees beyond that was really frustrating.

I just loved his accent.

See the thing for me is that he's just incredibly boring. He doesn't really do much, lacks personality, you don't really get to know him, etc. In hindsight might because he's more of a soldier following the commander's orders, rather than someone who has built a bond with Shepard (ie. Garrus, Tali) or helps out Shepard but ultimately is doing it of free will (ie. Samara, Thane, everyone else). And i can't comment on the abs thing, i personally don't swing that way.

I've always thought Jacob not only believed in the mission but believed that humanity should be doing more than just talking. The Alliance and the Council seem to want to sweep the Reaper threat under the table which is probably why Jacob left and joined Cerberus. I think Jacob is far more than the good ole solider, you make him out to be. If he was the following orders type he would have stayed with the Alliance.

 

[Inferno313]

Personally I...

Liked: Miranda, Garrus, Tali, Legion, Thane, Mordin
Indifferent: Samara, Jack, Jacob
Dislike: Zaeed, Grunt.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Tali >>>>

Spoiler

Legion.

You dun screwed up

i like them both

legion can be like the non-retarded dog to tali's alyx

 

[AniHawk]

Liked: Grunt, Garrus, Tali, Thane, Mordin
Indifferent: Jacob, Legion, Zaeed, Jack, Morinth
Dislike: Samara, Miranda

More likable characters this time around. The scene where you see Garrus again was pretty awesome. I think I had totally blocked him coming back out of my mind or I never found out in the first place.

 

[neojubei]

It would be nice to have Aria as a team member or something. I hope she comes back in ME3.

Liked: Grunt, Garrus, Tali, Thane, Mordin
Indifferent: Jacob, Legion, Zaeed, Jack, Morinth
Dislike: Samara, Miranda

More likable characters this time around. The scene where you see Garrus again was pretty awesome. I think I had totally blocked him coming back out of my mind or I never found out in the first place.

I think it is the fact he is a familiar face from ME1 that made that reunion pretty damn cool. Garrus was a bit boring in ME1 but is a lot better now in ME2.

 

[Papercuts]

I think it is the fact he is a familiar face from ME1 that made that reunion pretty damn cool. Garrus was a bit boring in ME1 but is a lot better now in ME2.

I liked Garrus in ME1, but he did seem even better here. I really like what they did with Tali though, she got on my nerves in 1 and is one of my favorite characters in 2.

 

[neojubei]

I liked Garrus in ME1, but he did seem even better here. I really like what they did with Tali though, she got on my nerves in 1 and is one of my favorite characters in 2.

Yeah, i actually think ME2 gave all of the characters, even the minor characters from ME1 personality. I'm not going to say any spoilers but when you run into familiar faces it is interesting how they changed and grown. Feel like a high school reunion in a way. I hope the same happens to the ME2 characters. It would be cool seeing Jacob command his own Cerberus ship or Jack become the new leader of the blue suns.

 

[FromTheFuture]

I've always thought Jacob not only believed in the mission but believed that humanity should be doing more than just talking. The Alliance and the Council seem to want to sweep the Reaper threat under the table which is probably why Jacob left and joined Cerberus. I think Jacob is far more than the good ole solider, you make him out to be. If he was the following orders type he would have stayed with the Alliance.

Well by that I meant that he never really had much input when you talk to him or whatever. Even when I did his loyalty mission, it seemed like he was extremely disconnected from the whole event. The end of his loyalty mission

Spoiler

where he's about to kill his father

felt like a joke to me because of that aforementioned disconnection. He lacks personality as a whole. Also, he is a following orders type, but obviously he joined Cerberus because he felt that they were doing things better than the Alliance. All he does under Cerberus is follow orders, much like he probably would have been doing under the Alliance. I got the impression that he doesn't entirely trust everything Cerberus does, but feels that they are not bound by law in order to get the job done. Regardless, he's still just there.

 

[Jay Shadow]

Well by that I meant that he never really had much input when you talk to him or whatever. Even when I did his loyalty mission, it seemed like he was extremely disconnected from the whole event.

I thought his loyalty mission added more depth to Miranda in the end than it did him.

 

[Tirade]

Romance spoilers:

So

Spoiler

I almost just got it on with Miranda, but she was all like "I gotta think this over." This all happened after getting the Reaper IFF. How do I trigger the sexy times now? I don't wanna go into the Omega 4 Relay and find out that she is rendered unfuckable.

 

[Patryn]

I am kind of an oddball, I guess.

Liked: Miranda, Mordin, Jack, Legion
Indifferent: Tali, Garrus, Jacob, Thane, Zaeed
Hated: Grunt, Samara

 

[Pappasman]

Romance spoilers:

So

Spoiler

I almost just got it on with Miranda, but she was all like "I gotta think this over." This all happened after getting the Reaper IFF. How do I trigger the sexy times now? I don't wanna go into the Omega 4 Relay and find out that she is rendered unfuckable.

going into omega 4 triggers sexy time.

 

[Tirade]

going into omega 4 triggers sexy time.

Very nice, thank you sir.

Spoiler

time for the infiltrator to truly infiltrate.....

 

[charlequin]

You guys just wait until there's a mission on a high-gravity planet, or a planet with an ammonia atmosphere, or an aquatic mission. Then you'll be sorry.

Or a mission to win a trivia contest about the Enkindlers.

 

[neojubei]

One theme I've been noticing a lot in ME1 and ME2 is that information is power, its a commodity to be bought and sold. This is an interesting concept I wonder if this has any significance in the next ME game. Seems like a lot of people in the ME universe are in the information business.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

One theme I've been noticing a lot in ME1 and ME2 is that information is power, its a commodity to be bought and sold. This is an interesting concept I wonder if this has any significance in the next ME game. Seems like a lot of people in the ME universe are in the information business.

It'll be a brain training game.

 

[SuperSonic1305]

I'll admit, when I saw that Geth help me, I literally said 'That's fucking awesome' out loud. Prior to that, I was becoming really curious as to who my last recruit would be. It made a build up for the epic reveal.

Wait what? I hope you didn't just do what I think you just did.

 

[GhostRidah]

She was just so...90's female "badass" stereotype. Male name, shaved head, overload of cussing and extreme attitude. Blech.

I loved it, shes one of my favorites

 

[FromTheFuture]

Wait what? I hope you didn't just do what I think you just did.

Nah, I didn't. It doesn't really have much to do with anything, don't worry about it. Spoilered it anyway, just in case.

 

[Lafiel]

Finished the game, took me around 27 hours and 30 minutes. Some random thoughts and musings.

- Plot-wise the game was pretty disappointing compared to ME1. A few extra story planets outside of recruiting your party members, would have fixed this, i think. Although, as someone said earlier there was nothing in ME2 plot-wise that compared to
virmire or even the last part on the citadel. So more story-content, potentially couldn't have fixed the issue.

- Even though this game was worse than ME1 plot-wise, i thought the writing / dialogue was improved over ME1. In addition, i thought they handled the paragon / renegade alignments, better than ME1. Especially when it came to the "paragon" path. Which was kinda cheesy in the original ME.

- The combat was a big improvement over ME1 mechanics-wise. The game actually felt like a great shooter with rpg elements as opposed to a average shooter with rpg elements. However, i was disappointed in the lack of skills and the cooldowns compared to ME1. It's still 10x better than ME1 combat though. But i hope for the sequel they take the mechanics and put it in with ME1 skills and cool downs.

- Side-quests are probably the same quality as ME1. (disappointingly) on the other hand the planet exploration missions felt better than ME1 missions because of the better combat and the lack of mako. Yet, the "city" side-quests were worse then the citadel ones in ME1. It's a shame, if they had ME1 citadel quality side-quests split across planets like illium, omega and the citadel. It would have been a HUGE improvement over ME1.

- Character cast was top-notch. Thane, Mordin, and Legion, were the real stand-outs, but i liked the rest of the cast besides jack. Surprised, by the hate miranda is getting, i thought she was pretty good. (if only for her looks and VA).

- The lack of banter and interactions amongst your party members is pretty dissapointing, especially with what i said above.

- Like ME1, the actual role-playing with your decisions and stuff was pretty weak. But the game had less decisions then ME1 overall. However, it has potential to be a improvement over ME1. If they actually manage to make the decisions you made during ME2 have a big impact on your ME3 playthrough. ME2 kinda undelivered in that aspect.

- The game managed to make me far more engaged in the universe then ME1 ever did for me. I think, diversity of the planets, the small little details, and banter throughout cities like omega / illium / citadel, the interesting party members (and their loyalty missions) had a play in that.

- They didn't disappoint in the length this time around. It took me 27 hours to finish, and i barely did any side-quests, in comparison to ME1. (which took me 20 hours) and i did most of the side-quests in that game.

- As i've probably said earlier in the thread, the 'streamlined" rpg elements in this game, didn't bother me at all, as the rpg elements in ME1 felt pretty shallow compared to orther w-rpgs to begin with. In fact, the rpg elements were my prime complaint with ME1 at launch, so it's pretty funny seeing people here complain about the lack of them in ME2.

- The Galaxy Map in ME1 > The Galaxy Map in ME2. I don't miss the mako though, i'm really surprised that some people here actually miss it.:lol

- The QTE / Interrupt feature, was kinda gimmicky. Wish it were more like the "interrupt" feature they initially showed for ME1 back at E3.

- Game felt more consistent then ME1 pacing-wise. As much as i love the last 2 planets in ME1, and the start of the game. I always found the middle section (with feros noveria and liaras planet) to be pretty boring. ME2 felt great from start to finish, i really can't
pin-point any weak moments, in the game honestly.

- Voice-work was excellent apart from male shepard, they could have had some of the big actors play more significant roles though. Although, i guess they didn't have the budget for that.:lol

- Last mission was epic shit, i was all tense throughout the whole thing, because i kept thinking one of my favorite characters would die.;_; absolutely hated the final boss though. Then again, i hated the last boss in ME1 too.

- And lastly, the biggest problem with this game. (and this applies to biowares game before this actually) is it plays itself to safe for the genre. It delivers a great sci-fic shooter (with rpg elements!), but it doesn't really do anything "mindblowing" with the material. The whole thing feels predictable in a sense, on how it delivers. On the other hand, this might be a good thing, as ME1 felt to ambitious for it's own good, and came off as a really flawed experience overall, this game felt like it delivered on what it set out to do, despite a few blunders.
Still i'm hoping they take a more "ambitious" route for their next game, especially, as they have a good base in ME2 to work from.

Overall - Despite some of my complaints, ME2 is still a excellent game, and i'd no doubt consider myself firmly in the "ME 2 > ME1" camp. (although if you were looking at my responses in my thread, you probably already knew that.)

 

[pmj]

What a disappointment this game was. Overall I liked it, but man, I was expecting so much more. Classes felt even less unique than in ME1, strong focus on shooting, hardly anything carried over from ME1 in any significant way, monster closets producing wave after wave of enemies at every turn, poor side missions, tedious scanning, tons of work building up a crew for a short and bad final mission and most of the few RPG features from the first game replaced with a moronic upgrade system.

ME2 is by no means bad; I finished it in 41 hours spread over 3 days and I wish there was more, but still: ME1 > ME2

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Finished Mordin and Grunt's loyalty quests. Both of them totally made them so much more awesome. Seriously love the characters in this game.

Mordin has awesome chat at the Normandy. Before loyalty quest, spam him with "tell me about you" and it's nonstop lulz. After loyalty, eventually he won't have lines anymore so he will return to the one liners.

But if you just did the loyalty, now you have the chance to see mordin

Spoiler

sing

.

 

[The Lamonster]

Is there anyway I can get

Spoiler

Kelly to survive?

 

[Daft_Cat]

Wow, this is the first time I've savored every detail of a game since...I don't even know when. The gameplay is so much more fluid and entertaining, and in terms of character, and plot I think that Bioware has managed to top the original KOTOR, which I consider to be one of the best games of the past decade.

I'm 20 hours in, and I've just gone to Illium. I just don't want this game to end. Please Bioware, pull a Dragon Age, and make an expansion pack along with all the other sweet DLC I'm sure is coming.

To me, this is the game of the generation. By far an improvement, gameplay and story wise over it's predecessor, which is no easy feat to say the least. The original Mass Effect was one of my favourite 360 games.

 

[_Xenon_]

Is there anyway I can get

Spoiler

Kelly to survive?

Spoiler

After your crew got kidnapped, don't do anything but heading to omega 4 relay directly.

 

[Papercuts]

Is there anyway I can get

Spoiler

Kelly to survive?

Spoiler

After the crew gets kidnapped, try to go through the relay ASAP.

 

[IAmtheFMan]

So I finished it. Overall, extremely pleased with the game. Gameplay-wise, way better then ME 1.

As has been said by pretty much everybody, characterization was top notch. I really connected with pretty much everyone in the crew, and I liked the expanded mythos and backstory of the ME Universe.

The missions overall were really well done; the sense of urgency was always great.

I guess the main problem I had with the game was the overall story wasn't as strong for me as ME 1. Plus, the ending of ME 1 seemed to set up the sequels for... well... what we'll probably get in ME 3.

Ah well. Really looking forward to the last game now.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Man Bioware needs to hire a new UI designer. Seriously none of these choices make sense and I never know what the hell is going on. Like do my allies have health? Nothing is obvious at all.

I'm a bit surprised so far it doesn't seem like they fixed all that much from the first game.

Time to have a look at the manual.

 

[Pancakes]

Man Bioware needs to hire a new UI designer. Seriously none of these choices make sense and I never know what the hell is going on. Like do my allies have health? Nothing is obvious at all.

I'm a bit surprised so far it doesn't seem like they fixed all that much from the first game.

Time to have a look at the manual.

Even during my second playthrough, I had absolutely no idea what the icons were telling me :lol.

 

[MisterNugNug]

(I'm pretty sure this is old news)

Has anyone see the news update on the Cerberus Network?

The Giants beat the Beijing Dragons 24-19 with QB Krogan Bracus Thul making a 69 yard TD pass. :lol

 

[edgefusion]

Man Bioware needs to hire a new UI designer. Seriously none of these choices make sense and I never know what the hell is going on. Like do my allies have health? Nothing is obvious at all.

I'm a bit surprised so far it doesn't seem like they fixed all that much from the first game.

Time to have a look at the manual.

If there's a shape next to their icon it means it's feeding time, if the shape is red they need to be taken for a walk and if it's blue then they want to be petted. I'm pretty sure that's right.

 

[Papercuts]

Even during my second playthrough, I had absolutely no idea what the icons were telling me :lol.

The quarter circle piece is the shield, the darker the color means the closer it is to depletion. For Grunt it's different, I think it starts off yellow instead of white. When they use a power it has a bar under their picture, but I have no idea why it doesn't seem to actually point out how much time is left until they can use another power, it just stays the same and goes away when they're ready.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

I guess the main problem I had with the game was the overall story wasn't as strong for me as ME 1. Plus, the ending of ME 1 seemed to set up the sequels for... well... what we'll probably get in ME 3.

If I have a single complaint about the game, it is this. And even that, I'm of split opinion. I hated from the very start how they threw in the complete curveball that is the collectors, but loved that they managed to make what is for all intensive porpoises a side story feel so whole and complete. I love how Hale's voice for Femshep feels so weary and defeated compared to the first. How the game gives you personal reason for throwing away the paragon inclinations of the first.

In the end this game totally feels like a comma, a lead up to the meat. Or really a dash, as it's launched by completely blindsiding any expectations you can have from the first part. But it's worth it. If they make thirty sequels that flesh out this game's universe as well as ME2 did then I wouldn't care if they crafted the longest run-on sentance in history.

This is the most enjoyable game I've played that I can possibly recall. And I say that while downright loathing some design choices, and hating it for being such a glitchy mess. Bioware has created true magic with this universe, and they were wise to realize that that was the real appeal of the game. The fact that they also axed the shitty combat in favor of downright enjoyable gunplay doesn't hurt either.

 

[ili0926]

Engineers Donnelly and Daniels are easily my favourite characters.

 

[Vlightray]

If I have a single complaint about the game, it is this. And even that, I'm of split opinion. I hated from the very start how they threw in the complete curveball that is the collectors, but loved that they managed to make what is for all intensive porpoises a side story feel so whole and complete. I love how Hale's voice for Femshep feels so weary and defeated compared to the first. How the game gives you personal reason for throwing away the paragon inclinations of the first.

In the end this game totally feels like a comma, a lead up to the meat. Or really a dash, as it's launched by completely blindsiding any expectations you can have from the first part. But it's worth it. If they make thirty sequels that flesh out this game's universe as well as ME2 did then I wouldn't care if they crafted the longest run-on sentance in history.

This is the most enjoyable game I've played that I can possibly recall. And I say that while downright loathing some design choices, and hating it for being such a glitchy mess. Bioware has created true magic with this universe, and they were wise to realize that that was the real appeal of the game. The fact that they also axed the shitty combat in favor of downright enjoyable gunplay doesn't hurt either.

Agree really hope Mass Effect 3 isn't the end keep it rolling not sure tho without Shepard after 3.
I am enjoying the game so damn much and what an awesome ride from playing 1 straight into 2.

 

[Peronthious]

Having love interests in the crew and being able to pursue romantic options is all well and good, but it seems like with some of the crew members the only way to "win" a dialogue string is to follow it out to the romantic end. I would prefer that there be some other way to follow through with the conversations and not feel like you're only holding short from going all the way. Past Bioware games seemed a bit more flexible here, with the party members occasionally having some mystery behind them that you're encouraged the uncover, or some other event in their past. The people in ME2 have their own share of mysteries, but after you polish off the loyalty mission, at least with the love interest characters, it seems like there's not much more to uncover. With Thane, further conversations uncover much more about his character and his past, I don't really get a similar vibe from Miranda or any of the other love options. It would make sense to have some event that spurred Garrus' departure from C-Sec, some way Miranda is acting as a weasel in your crew, or something similar with any of the other romantic options that you're encouraged to uncover.