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[The Storyteller]

God damn the Joker section! It is SHEER trial-and-error without a fucking map. I don't know where the fuck to go in Engineering. I followed the floor lights and wandered into a scion. Worst fucking game decision yet.

:lol :lol

That part was awesome.

 

[Coop]

He's a Lost fan guys, give him a break.

 

[Killzig]

Holy shit, you can fail that section?

 

[Keyser Soze]

God damn the Joker section! It is SHEER trial-and-error without a fucking map. I don't know where the fuck to go in Engineering. I followed the floor lights and wandered into a scion. Worst fucking game decision yet.

This is my favourite post on the Citadel

 

[Akai]

Holy shit, you can fail that section?

Yeah, in the last bit if you run up like a moron without waiting for the group of Collectors to pass by you'll get caught (I did it the first time through... :lol )

 

[Dresden]

Holy shit, you can fail that section?

If you get caught by the Scion, yeah.

 

[ChoklitReign]

*sigh* Of course I followed the damn lights, but then I opened a door next to a scion or something and it ate me. The monsters aren't very predictable for me so I don't know when I should wait and when I should run. So you're supposed to go up the stairs in Engineering and wait for the thing to pass? Just tell me what the fuck to do next so I don't have to do it over again (really, no checkpoints whatsoever?).

 

[Dresden]

*sigh* Of course I followed the damn lights, but then I opened a door next to a scion or something and it ate me. The monsters aren't very predictable for me so I don't know when I should wait and when I should run. So you're supposed to go up the stairs in Engineering and wait for the thing to pass? Just tell me what the fuck to do next so I don't have to do it over again (really, no checkpoints whatsoever?).

It's like five minutes long and the only point you have the stop is at the stairs in Engineering. Seriously, just wait for this big shadow to pass over you, then continue walking.

 

[Booda]

It's like five minutes long and the only point you have the stop is at the stairs in Engineering. Seriously, just wait for this big shadow to pass over you, then continue walking.

IIRC EDI explicitly tells you when it's safe to move up the stairs.

 

[abundant]

IIRC EDI explicitly tells you when it's safe to move up the stairs.

She does. She says something like "Engineering is cleared of hostiles..."

 

[Van Owen]

I didn't even know it was possible to die on the Joker part. :lol

 

[PBalfredo]

Mass Effect on Insanity is tough fun.

Mass Effect 2 on Insanity is much less enjoyable.

The enemies take too many bullets to down which is a killer considering how ammo starved you are at the start of the game (e.g. primary weapon only holds 10 bullets). It'll get easier when I get my character some ammo+ upgrades plus a better weapon with a naturally higher clip capacity...but at the point that I'm at it's all frustration all the time.

Tearing down an enemy's Barrier, then Armor, only to have them survive multiple headshots with a sniper rifle is a wee bit aggravating in a game where the difficulty is as front-loaded as it is in this game.

Also, team AI is retarded. If you don't tell them to take cover they stand in the middle of an arena for a few seconds (losing their barrier in the process) and then slowly walk over to cover only to pop out of cover later and again stand in the middle of an arena. If you DO tell them to take cover, you still have to deal with their pitifully slow treck to their cover position.

These are things that were always present, just never as visible, on earlier difficulties.There where some low laying pipes in the Krogan homeworld that I wanted to climb over. When I touched them my character began to float up to the cieling. Save-->Load didn't fix it. Wish I saved before that happened because it was after an annoying fight with infinitely respawning Krogans.

The other side of this is that I absolutely love how Hardcore difficulty is handled. Is this day and age pretty much every game handles difficulty by just ramping up enemy health and damage. While this is present in ME2, the difference is how they do it. Instead of simply piling a ton of HP on each enemy, they give enemies armor, shields and/or barriers. This is much preferable to fighting a bunch of bullet-sponges since each defense type has a weakness and the player has plenty of tools to exploit that weakness. Suddenly powers that strip defenses become invaluable. Powers that effect defenseless enemies are no longer the be-all end-all. Switching weapon types and ammo becomes useful. Deciding which squadmate to bring into battle is more important.

Though Insanity is pretty much the extra enemy defenses of Hardcore + bullet-sponginess. It's pretty damn rough in the beginning for most except Soldier because they start with enough guns and ammo to sink into their enemies.

 

[Revelations]

Well I decided to just go ahead and finish it. I really reget that.

 

[Dan Yo]

The other side of this is that I absolutely love how Hardcore difficulty is handled. Is this day and age pretty much every game handles difficulty by just ramping up enemy health and damage. While this is present in ME2, the difference is how they do it. Instead of simply piling a ton of HP on each enemy, they give enemies armor, shields and/or barriers. This is much preferable to fighting a bunch of bullet-sponges since each defense type has a weakness and the player has plenty of tools to exploit that weakness. Suddenly powers that strip defenses become invaluable. Powers that effect defenseless enemies are no longer the be-all end-all. Switching weapon types and ammo becomes useful. Deciding which squadmate to bring into battle is more important.

Though Insanity is pretty much the extra enemy defenses of Hardcore + bullet-sponginess. It's pretty damn rough in the beginning for most except Soldier because they start with enough guns and ammo to sink into their enemies.

I still think it could've been handled better. There's no reason certain powers should be made pretty much useless on harder difficulties making some of the other classes far less enjoyable to play than on lower difficulties.

I think bullet sponges are always bullcrap in harder difficulties but I agree that if you're going to go with bullet sponging, then ME2's system is the way to do that.

IW are still one of the few developers that understand how harder difficulty settings should be handled.

 

[Dresden]

I still think it could've been handled better. There's no reason certain powers should be made pretty much useless on harder difficulties making some of the other classes far less enjoyable to play than on lower difficulties.

I think bullet sponges are always bullcrap in harder difficulties but I agree that if you're going to go with bullet sponging, then ME2's system is the way to do that.

IW are still one of the few developers that understand how harder difficulty settings should be handled.

IW is a terrible example, and is probably where Bioware got the idea of monster closets and spawn point triggers from. And all Veteran in MW/MW2 does is get you killed faster while tossing more enemies at you until you finally move on to the next area. I prefer enemies needing to be debuffed before killed.

No class is 'far less enjoyable' on any difficulty. Every class has enough tools to deal with any situation. Every class-defining ability is useful and every ability in the game has a time and place where it is either viable or needed.

 

[HK-47]

I still think it could've been handled better. There's no reason certain powers should be made pretty much useless on harder difficulties making some of the other classes far less enjoyable to play than on lower difficulties.

I think bullet sponges are always bullcrap in harder difficulties but I agree that if you're going to go with bullet sponging, then ME2's system is the way to do that.

IW are still one of the few developers that understand how harder difficulty settings should be handled.

lol wut. IW is horrible at harder difficulties. Its just the standard "bullets hurt you more and more guys spawn" bullshit.

 

[Keyser Soze]

IW are still one of the few developers that understand how harder difficulty settings should be handled.

Oh god no...

Naughty Dog (Uncharted) and Rocksteady (Batman) deserve praise. IW just make your character less good, and toss in more enemies that seem to cheat more to get shots at you (and don't forget spawning grenades at your feet too)

 

[Zalasta]

Regardless, I do agree that the brief Joker "gameplay" adds absolutely nothing to the game and is completely unnecessary.

 

[Cep]

IW is a terrible example, and is probably where Bioware got the idea of monster closets and spawn point triggers from. And all Veteran in MW/MW2 does is get you killed faster while tossing more enemies at you until you finally move on to the next area. I prefer enemies needing to be debuffed before killed.

No class is 'far less enjoyable' on any difficulty. Every class has enough tools to deal with any situation. Every class-defining ability is useful and every ability in the game has a time and place where it is either viable or needed.

All very true, but some classes just have more tools than others and some tools were just better thought out. Or not (Vanguard charge is horribly broken, the geth colossus proves that).

As for difficulty, yeah, IW is not a good example.

I really miss the days when each scenario had carefully thought out spawns and enemy units to maximize the situation. Instead we get silly spawn points and regenerating ammo spots.

Regardless, I do agree that the brief Joker "gameplay" adds absolutely nothing to the game and is completely unnecessary.

I personally feel that it could have added something. Had they bothered to put any thought into it.

 

[Dresden]

Regardless, I do agree that the brief Joker "gameplay" adds absolutely nothing to the game and is completely unnecessary.

It was five minutes long and served as a way to show just what the fuck was going on in the ship while Shepard was gone. I preferred it to some cutscene, tbh.

 

[Dan Yo]

lol wut. IW is horrible at harder difficulties. Its just the standard "bullets hurt you more and more guys spawn" bullshit.

Which is fine. As long as they don't add more health to the enemies like every other game does. MW2 on veteran would've been far less enjoyable if all of a sudden, instead of one shot to the head or 1 or 2 to the body, I was now having to empty entire clips into enemies.

That's just dumb, and a cheap way to increase difficulty.

It would completely screw with the system that game has where every kill is satisfying, because every enemy goes down with the perfect shot, no matter what the difficulty setting.

I remember playing Dead Space on a higher difficulty setting after playing on normal for a few minutes and figuring I'd have more fun if there were more of a challenge. Only problem was, the limbs of the enemies didn't chop off in one satisfying shot anymore. Now I had to shoot their limbs 3 or 4 times. The first 2 or 3 shots appearing to have absolutely no effect until the last shot magically severed the limb. Not nearly as satisfying and I was having less fun because of it.

I think devs should avoid this tactic for "rasing difficulty" at all costs. IW has managed to keep their games very difficult on higher settings without resorting to turning enemies into bullet sponges and I hope more devs at least aspire to that goal.

 

[Dresden]

Which is fine. As long as they don't add more health to the enemies like every other game does. MW2 on veteran would've been far less enjoyable if all of a sudden, instead of one shot to the head or 1 or 2 to the body, I was now having to empty entire clips into enemies.

That's just dumb, and a cheap way to increase difficulty.

It would completely screw with the system that game has where every kill is satisfying, because every enemy goes down with the perfect shot, no matter what the difficulty setting.

I remember playing Dead Space on a higher difficulty setting after playing on normal for a few minutes and figuring I'd have more fun if there were more of a challenge. Only problem was, the limbs of the enemies didn't chop off in one satisfying shot anymore. Now I had to shoot their limbs 3 or 4 times. The first 2 or 3 shots appearing to have absolutely no effect until the last shot magically severed the limb. Not nearly as satisfying and I was having less fun because of it.

I think devs should avoid this tactic for "rasing difficulty" at all costs. IW has managed to keep their games very difficult on higher settings without resorting to turning enemies into bullet sponges and I hope more devs at least aspire to that goal.

It's the exact same thing. Instead of one enemy taking five bullets you now have five enemies where one enemy used to be.

 

[Cep]

It's the exact same thing. Instead of one enemy taking five bullets you now have five enemies where one enemy used to be.

Yeah, I am not sure how infinite spawns are any better than bullet sponges.

Best way to do it is to somewhat increase your enemies stats, but make them MUCH more capable and aggressive.

But really, it depends on the game.

EX: Fire Emblem. In those games, increasing enemy stats just makes sense. Spawn points and amounts/triggers are also changed, enemies become more aggressive and certain items and bosses change.

But in return, players get a few more capable units and some new tools.

 

[Dan Yo]

It's the exact same thing. Instead of one enemy taking five bullets you now have five enemies where one enemy used to be.

Huh? Add more enemies? Why?

Even if that were the case, it would still be preferable to bullet sponging.

 

[soldat7]

Regardless, I do agree that the brief Joker "gameplay" adds absolutely nothing to the game and is completely unnecessary.

Are you kidding me? I was standing up during that whole sequence because I wasn't on some dumb recruiting or loyalty mission.

 

[Revelations]

Are you kidding me? I was standing up during that whole sequence because I wasn't on some dumb recruiting or loyalty mission.

This. It was seriously a breath of fresh air and a nice change of pace from all the hold RT > X > hold RT > Y > Hold RT > X > wash/rinse/repeat. Story had me hooked though...can't really tell you what else I wanted in the game right now though.

 

[Dan Yo]

Yeah, I am not sure how infinite spawns are any better than bullet sponges.

Don't put words in my mouth. I never said anything about infinite spawning.

 

[Arjen]

Started my Insanity run with my level 30 Sentinel.
Uhm wow, so far it's not really hard, but it takes forever to clean a room :lol
Really dreading the hard sections like

Spoiler

Horizon and Collectors ship

though.

 

[PBalfredo]

Just got through

Spoiler

Horizon

on Insanity today. It was brutal. Anyone know what exactly unlocks

Spoiler

the Cain? When I get to the collector ship I want to nuke that damn Preatorian outright.

 

[Cep]

Don't put words in my mouth. I never said anything about infinite spawning.

No need to get defensive. Poor choice of words on my part.

 

[ChoklitReign]

Finished! Great finale, totally as good as the ME1 finale. I loved the music on the Collector ship, the boss fight, and the credits. Is it all on the official soundtrack? I also liked the twist that

Spoiler

the Reapers originated from another galaxy.

Disappointments:

Spoiler

1. Legion died, along with the Normandy crew. Can I upload a save and finish the mission again to get the achievement?
2. No romances. I tried Jacob at the beginning but started hitting on Garrus after recruiting him. Both declined talking after some missions and I wonder why. I nearly got Jacob after the final mission. Does the romance scene happen before or after the final mission?

 

[Wiggum2007]

I also liked the twist that

Spoiler

the Reapers originated from another galaxy.

Say what now?

Spoiler

All that was shown at the end was the Reapers out in dark space where they reside between cycles of harvesting the galaxy, not that they are actually coming from a different galaxy or anything.

 

[Revelations]

Say what now?

Spoiler

All that was shown at the end was the Reapers out in dark space where they reside between cycles of harvesting the galaxy, not that they are actually coming from a different galaxy or anything.

Exactly.

 

[Coxswain]

Mass Effect on Insanity is tough fun.

Mass Effect 2 on Insanity is much less enjoyable.

The enemies take too many bullets to down

what

Mass Effect 1 on Insanity was stupid because every non-Geth enemy was a giant bullet-sponge that took forever to kill, and just to add an extra layer of boredom you were never in any danger of dying during that time, because every other skill was an insta-win button that rendered the enemy completely incapable of fighting back (Lift, Throw, Singularity, Overload, Neural Shock, Stasis). Every encounter was over in the two and a half seconds or so it took to neuter the room, but they made you wait around for another couple of minutes until their life bars hit zero.

Every non-Elite enemy (except maybe Krogan) in ME2 will go down in one good Shotgun/Sniper hit, once you've stripped their defenses; effectively getting rid of their defenses almost invariably involves at least some variation in tactics besides holding down the trigger with your one, single weapon of choice, and a protected enemy will be stunned, but not defeated by biotic powers; they can actively fight back at least until they're down to Health, and they can keep fighting back even then if you don't have a biotic in the group.


The part of ME2's combat on Insanity that maps to the whole of ME1's combat on Insanity takes maybe a fifth as long as it did in the first game. Even if it takes as long to down an enemy from scratch in ME2, it's a pretty massive leap up in complexity and, apart from Scions, isn't really accurately described just by saying "takes more bullets".

 

[Gattsu25]

what

Let me help you out:

The enemies take too many bullets to down which is a killer considering how ammo starved you are at the start of the game (e.g. primary weapon only holds 10 bullets). It'll get easier when I get my character some ammo+ upgrades plus a better weapon with a naturally higher clip capacity...but at the point that I'm at it's all frustration all the time.

I wasn't saying that ME1 was sinless, just that ME2's ammo system adds an extra layer of difficulty that just barely tips it over the challenging/frustrating line, in my opinion. This is a complaint that is only relevant before your character gains weapon damage mods (which will take care of my multiple sniper headshots to kill certain foes complaint), ammo capacity mods, or a weapon with a larger clip size.

 

[ChoklitReign]

Say what now?

Spoiler

All that was shown at the end was the Reapers out in dark space where they reside between cycles of harvesting the galaxy, not that they are actually coming from a different galaxy or anything.

Spoiler

They were definitely outside of the galaxy when I saw them.

 

[Dresden]

Don't put words in my mouth. I never said anything about infinite spawning.

The implication was there, since you lauded Modern Warfare's 'spawn shit till the player trips the invisible flag while chucking fifteen grenades around him to make things challenging' school of game design.

Let me help you out:I wasn't saying that ME1 was sinless, just that ME2's ammo system adds an extra layer of difficulty that just barely tips it over the challenging/frustrating line, in my opinion. This is a complaint that is only relevant before your character gains weapon damage mods (which will take care of my multiple sniper headshots to kill certain foes complaint), ammo capacity mods, or a weapon with a larger clip size.

With the exception of sniper rifles, I can't remember a single time where you are starved for ammo.

 

[Kenaras]

With the exception of sniper rifles, I can't remember a single time where you are starved for ammo.

The hand cannon can chew through ammo even faster than the sniper rifles. The other weapons all hold a good amount of ammo, though - as does the Viper sniper rifle.

As for ME1 Insanity, that was a cakewalk once you'd leveled up and gotten the overpowered abilities. When warp was on cooldown it could take forever to kill all the immunity-spamming enemies, but they never posed much of a threat. My Infiltrator pretty much only died when I got hit with a biotic while Immunity was down, and my Vanguard never died.

 

[Cep]

The implication was there, since you lauded Modern Warfare's 'spawn shit till the player trips the invisible flag while chucking fifteen grenades around him to make things challenging' school of game design.


With the exception of sniper rifles, I can't remember a single time where you are starved for ammo.

The Vindicator. Great gun, but its ammo reserves are pathetic.

I still like how it handles much more than the revenant.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Has this been posted? Sorry if old.

Unlimited Skill Point Trick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMk_G-KcoN8

 

[deim0s]

It was five minutes long and served as a way to show just what the fuck was going on in the ship while Shepard was gone. I preferred it to some cutscene, tbh.

They could've added more 'close calls' and nail biting situations.

 

[Wiggum2007]

Spoiler

They were definitely outside of the galaxy when I saw them.

Spoiler

Yes. In dark space, outside of our galaxy, which as was revealed in the first game is where they wait in hibernation between cycles of harvesting. Not in a different galaxy.

 

[Antithos]

Spoiler

They were definitely outside of the galaxy when I saw them.

True, but

Spoiler

being outside the galaxy and originating from another galaxy are two different things. It was explained in the first game that they hibernate in deep space (outside the galaxy), but it was also revealed in the 2nd game that a reaper was being constructed in our galaxy. Maybe they all were? Who knows. Their origination is still unrevealed.

 

[Antithos]

Just got through

Spoiler

Horizon

on Insanity today. It was brutal. Anyone know what exactly unlocks

Spoiler

the Cain? When I get to the collector ship I want to nuke that damn Preatorian outright.

I picked up the

Spoiler

Cain while on Jacob's loyalty mission.

However I have yet to be able to use the damn thing, it just buzzes and nothing happens. How do you get it to work?

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

I picked up the

Spoiler

Cain while on Jacob's loyalty mission.

However I have yet to be able to use the damn thing, it just buzzes and nothing happens. How do you get it to work?

you need 100% ammo or more to work, if you get all the upgrades you can get two shots from it

 

[clashfan]

Really disappointed there is no

Spoiler

lesbian

romance. :lol

 

[Mindlog]

They could've added more 'close calls' and nail biting situations.

One more dangle by the fingers.
One more one handed grab.
One more dangerous jump.

and I will show the Krogans how to use the Conduit

Really disappointed there is no

Spoiler

lesbian

romance. :lol

Noticed about the romance.

After you complete a romance the (minor romance related details)

Spoiler

picture in your cabin is down. If you end it later you can get the picture back up. I guess that doesn't count as cheating.

At what point should I be able to get the romance achievement with

Spoiler

Miranda? She keeps telling me she'll drop in when things are quiet, but I'm about to head through the Omega 4 relay and nothing is happening.

Very similar to Mass Effect 1.

Spoiler

When you enter the relay.

 

[The_Dude]

At what point should I be able to get the romance achievement with

Spoiler

Miranda? She keeps telling me she'll drop in when things are quiet, but I'm about to head through the Omega 4 relay and nothing is happening.

 

[Inferno313]

At what point should I be able to get the romance achievement with

Spoiler

Miranda? She keeps telling me she'll drop in when things are quiet, but I'm about to head through the Omega 4 relay and nothing is happening.

That's when it happens. I don't understand why this is so strange to a lot of people. It was the same way in ME1

 

[The_Dude]

So it happens when I

Spoiler

go through the Omega 4 relay? I was worried that was a point of no return that might screw things up and it was supposed to happen before that.

Anyway, thanks for the help!