Just finished it for the first time, wow what an end to a great game! Though I may have enjoyed the way the first ME played out in the end, this game was certainly great and I'm still thinking about the decisions I made. I really think that somewhere between ME1 and ME2 lies the ultimate game, I can only hope that ME3 delivers that kind of experience.
I'd rather have ME1's endless identical warehouses and bunkers that actually had valued items than ME2's few short and linear quests that'd provide you with little to nothing.
I'd rather have ME1's endless identical warehouses and bunkers that actually had valued items than ME2's few short and linear quests that'd provide you with little to nothing.
You mean valued items like "gun that is identical to in every way aside from being strictly inferior to any Spectre weapon", or "suit of armour that largely doesn't matter for the five nigh-invincible classes that have permanent Barrier/Immunity, has maybe a one-in-ten chance of being better than the Scorpion armour that you can always buy anyway, and is strictly inferior if you have Colossus armour"? Considering you had to actually waste your own time selling/gelling all that useless shit, I'd say ME2 had more valuable rewards, if only because zero is a greater value than a negative number.
I'd rather have ME1's endless identical warehouses and bunkers that actually had valued items than ME2's few short and linear quests that'd provide you with little to nothing.
I don't understand how anyone can prefer Mass Effect 1's empty content to Mass Effect 2's. You like driving around barren, boring, repetitive environments? You enjoy going to the same locations with the same interiors, no matter which planet you're on? What the fuck? I don't know about you, but I like to have FUN in my games. I like for the environments I explore to have VARIATION. Mass Effect 2's side content was both FUN and VARIED. Furthermore, it was INTERESTING -- much unlike ME1's bullshit. The fact that ME2 had variation in its environments made its execution believable. I don't know about you, but ME1's copy and paste environments seemed to be anything but believable to me. ME2's content has actual substance and genuinely feels as though it lengthens the overall experience because each situation you're placed in is different. ME1's content was neither varied, nor did it feel as though it genuinely lengthened the game.
ChoklitReign said:
Aside from the maps, most of the side missions are the same damn thing: kill everything that moves. Not much has changed since ME1 in that regard.
To me the ME2 structure with some MAKO'able UCW's for main missions and side missions is the way to go for the finale.
As for equipment...not much to be done there I don't think. I doubt we'll see a return to the canisters full of weapons shit from ME1 but doubling the weapon and skill count would be awesome.
Like what they're doing with the Hammerhead? Totally agree.
As for equipment...not much to be done there I don't think. I doubt we'll see a return to the canisters full of weapons shit from ME1 but doubling the weapon and skill count would be awesome.
Also make the hammerhead's weapon and shields upgradable with the tech damage and squad shields/barrier/armor bonus.
Plus points if tech cooldown/duration also affects the booster of hammerhead.
I don't understand how anyone can prefer Mass Effect 1's empty content to Mass Effect 2's. You like driving around barren, boring, repetitive environments? You enjoy going to the same locations with the same interiors, no matter which planet you're on? What the fuck? I don't know about you, but I like to have FUN in my games. I like for the environments I explore to have VARIATION. Mass Effect 2's side content was both FUN and VARIED. Furthermore, it was INTERESTING -- much unlike ME1's bullshit. The fact that ME2 had variation in its environments made its execution believable. I don't know about you, but ME1's copy and paste environments seemed to be anything but believable to me. ME2's content has actual substance and genuinely feels as though it lengthens the overall experience because each situation you're placed in is different. ME1's content was neither varied, nor did it feel as though it genuinely lengthened the game.
I can agree with this to the extent of what you do. It's a shooting game, after all. However, you cannot deny that it does it MUCH better than ME1.
I said I'd rather have the boring blah blah blah rant rant rant that you just went on about IF IT WAS AS REWARDING AS ME1 instead of the diverse blah blah blah shakefist rant stuff of ME2 that provided you nothing but shiny colors and moving targets.
I said I'd rather have the boring blah blah blah rant rant rant that you just went on about IF IT WAS AS REWARDING AS ME1 instead of the diverse blah blah blah shakefist rant stuff of ME2 that provided you nothing but shiny colors and moving targets.
Please tell me what was so rewarding about ME1's experience. Because the only "rewards" I found in the game were among these lines...
Coxswain said:
You mean valued items like "gun that is identical to in every way aside from being strictly inferior to any Spectre weapon", or "suit of armour that largely doesn't matter for the five nigh-invincible classes that have permanent Barrier/Immunity, has maybe a one-in-ten chance of being better than the Scorpion armour that you can always buy anyway, and is strictly inferior if you have Colossus armour"?
EDIT: Oh wait. I see what you mean. It would be nice if the missions did reward you with armor pieces and/or weapons from time to time. That would be cool.
DY_nasty said:
Thats better than getting a pat on the back like in ME2.
I said I'd rather have the boring blah blah blah rant rant rant that you just went on about IF IT WAS AS REWARDING AS ME1 instead of the diverse blah blah blah shakefist rant stuff of ME2 that provided you nothing but shiny colors and moving targets.
That's it.
To outfit your whole team you had to save/reload a whole lot from levels ~28-40.
If ME3 had NPCs to custom create armors for specific characters. That would be neat. One size fits all armor is dumb and dumb. I want ME2 styled upgrades expanded. Didn't miss ME1's clutter 'rewards' at all.
Which is still more than what you get in ME2's side missions.
Yeah, ME2 looks great and all, but there's not as much actual content when it comes to side missions. Thats my gripe. The offbeat chance of getting some light colossus armor or a nasty biotic amp would keep me going in ME1 when I was bored. ME2 has.... mining? A planet with a hidden stash of *gasp* 5000 Platinum? Lets be real...
I think it is, for me, but mostly because of the RPG umbrella the game puts itself under. I really enjoy the shooting mechanics for ME2, but if I'm not getting a reward of sorts there's little reason to jump into sidequests and the like. As an RPG there should be a reward. When I'm level 30 and doing sidequests the game should still have something there for me to find, or something I can use to expand my character. As it stands they're mostly "KILL EVERYONE NOW DIDNT YOU HAVE FUN!"
I love the changes ME2 made to the inventory system, but I think it could really benefit from an attachment feature. With so few weapons, give us the ability to find attachments and ehnancements to tweak and customise those weapons. It would help flesh out the reward system, by giving us stuff to find and use in sidequests and the gameworld, and it would fit in fine with the now input driven shooting mechanics.
I think it is, for me, but mostly because of the RPG umbrella the game puts itself under. I really enjoy the shooting mechanics for ME2, but if I'm not getting a reward of sorts there's little reason to jump into sidequests and the like. As an RPG there should be a reward. When I'm level 30 and doing sidequests the game should still have something there for me to find, or something I can use to expand my character. As it stands they're mostly "KILL EVERYONE NOW DIDNT YOU HAVE FUN!"
I love the changes ME2 made to the inventory system, but I think it could really benefit from an attachment feature. With so few weapons, give us the ability to find attachments and ehnancements to tweak and customise those weapons. It would help flesh out the reward system, by giving us stuff to find and use in sidequests and the gameworld, and it would fit in fine with the now input driven shooting mechanics.
Which is still more than what you get in ME2's side missions.
Yeah, ME2 looks great and all, but there's not as much actual content when it comes to side missions. Thats my gripe. The offbeat chance of getting some light colossus armor or a nasty biotic amp would keep me going in ME1 when I was bored. ME2 has.... mining? A planet with a hidden stash of *gasp* 5000 Platinum? Lets be real...
I got less time spent spamming, 'reduce to omnigel.' That's better than any pat on the back.
I'd rather get more story from the side missions as opposed to random crap loot. I'm not saying ME2 succeeded in that department, but on the whole it was a little better than what ME1 offered. Ideally I'd be rewarded 1 more throwaway line with the Urdnot Shaman instead of items #117x4-x9.
That's also part of the reason I mostly prefer mission based XP to the traditional RPG grind mechanic. There were plenty of times in ME1 where I would whittle down an enemy in the Mako then hop out to collect my XP bonus. It's tied to the archaic definition of what an RPG is supposed to be.
That leads into the whole group of players tied to 'traditional RPG mechanics' above and beyond immersion. blah blah blah
who really cares
Shiala/Parasini romantic threeway in ME3 or the whole goddamn series is a failure
I got less time spent spamming, 'reduce to omnigel.' That's better than any pat on the back.
I'd rather get more story from the side missions as opposed to random crap loot. I'm not saying ME2 succeeded in that department, but on the whole it was a little better than what ME1 offered. Ideally I'd be rewarded 1 more throwaway line with the Urdnot Shaman instead of items #117x4-x9.
That's also part of the reason I mostly prefer mission based XP to the traditional RPG grind mechanic. There were plenty of times in ME1 where I would whittle down an enemy in the Mako then hop out to collect my XP bonus. It's tied to the archaic definition of what an RPG is supposed to be.
That leads into the whole group of players tied to 'traditional RPG mechanics' above and beyond immersion. blah blah blah
I totally agree with this assessment, but I still think the sidequests need a reward of some sort. Hell, even more story like you suggested would be fine. There's a sidequest where you
get to find and use a Prothean beacon
, and that for me was enough of a reward.
But new equipment would be a fine reward too, because the game has deviated away from those 'traditional' RPG mechanics. The equipment in ME2 focuses on more functional originality than stat based originality. Gun A is different from Gun B not because it has some higher accuracy stat, but because maybe it does more damage to shields but less to armor. I love this decision by the team and it fits in perfectly with the way the gunplay is now.
Because of this though the reward of new equipment would work. Rather than ME1's "here's a gun with random stats", the reward would be a weapon, item, attachment, upgrade, or something else totally unique in functionality, and not something that would be made obsolete by the next planet you land on.
Thats why I think a gun customisation system would be really cool. It doesnt need to be complex. Just a few attachments you can optionally choose to add to your weapons for a little bit of a functional enhancement or change; this attachment will increase the effictiveness of the cryo powerup, this scope will zoom in a bit more when you aim, this will allow you to load two heatsinks into your weapon, etc etc.
Something like that, with each upgrade being unique and being limited to what we can put in our weapons, would encourage people to explore side quests. Rewards would mostly be valuable, as it would be exciting to see what new equipment would be in the game. Attachments having functional abilities prevents them from devolving into 'traditional' RPG stat based grinding for equipment, and being able to mix and match attachments would add an exra layer of customisation and role playing to the overall game.
I totally agree with this assessment, but I still think the sidequests need a reward of some sort. Hell, even more story like you suggested would be fine. There's a sidequest where you
get to find and use a Prothean beacon
, and that for me was enough of a reward.
But new equipment would be a fine reward too, because the game has deviated away from those 'traditional' RPG mechanics. The equipment in ME2 focuses on more functional originality than stat based originality. Gun A is different from Gun B not because it has some higher accuracy stat, but because maybe it does more damage to shields but less to armor. I love this decision by the team and it fits in perfectly with the way the gunplay is now.
Because of this though the reward of new equipment would work. Rather than ME1's "here's a gun with random stats", the reward would be a weapon, item, attachment, upgrade, or something else totally unique in functionality, and not something that would be made obsolete by the next planet you land on.
Thats why I think a gun customisation system would be really cool. It doesnt need to be complex. Just a few attachments you can optionally choose to add to your weapons for a little bit of a functional enhancement or change; this attachment will increase the effictiveness of the cryo powerup, this scope will zoom in a bit more when you aim, this will allow you to load two heatsinks into your weapon, etc etc.
Something like that, with each upgrade being unique and being limited to what we can put in our weapons, would encourage people to explore side quests. Rewards would mostly be valuable, as it would be exciting to see what new equipment would be in the game. Attachments having functional abilities prevents them from devolving into 'traditional' RPG stat based grinding for equipment, and being able to mix and match attachments would add an exra layer of customisation and role playing to the overall game.
I totally agree with this assessment, but I still think the sidequests need a reward of some sort. Hell, even more story like you suggested would be fine. There's a sidequest where you
get to find and use a Prothean beacon
, and that for me was enough of a reward.
But new equipment would be a fine reward too, because the game has deviated away from those 'traditional' RPG mechanics. The equipment in ME2 focuses on more functional originality than stat based originality. Gun A is different from Gun B not because it has some higher accuracy stat, but because maybe it does more damage to shields but less to armor. I love this decision by the team and it fits in perfectly with the way the gunplay is now.
Because of this though the reward of new equipment would work. Rather than ME1's "here's a gun with random stats", the reward would be a weapon, item, attachment, upgrade, or something else totally unique in functionality, and not something that would be made obsolete by the next planet you land on.
Thats why I think a gun customisation system would be really cool. It doesnt need to be complex. Just a few attachments you can optionally choose to add to your weapons for a little bit of a functional enhancement or change; this attachment will increase the effictiveness of the cryo powerup, this scope will zoom in a bit more when you aim, this will allow you to load two heatsinks into your weapon, etc etc.
Something like that, with each upgrade being unique and being limited to what we can put in our weapons, would encourage people to explore side quests. Rewards would mostly be valuable, as it would be exciting to see what new equipment would be in the game. Attachments having functional abilities prevents them from devolving into 'traditional' RPG stat based grinding for equipment, and being able to mix and match attachments would add an exra layer of customisation and role playing to the overall game.
I should really finish this. I have only put about 12 hours into it since I got it on day one. I guess it's a mixture of being Mass Effect'd out (played through the first only the week before release), and I also have way too many games now. It would be a pity for ME2 to be the one that I give up on, so i'll play more tomorrow.
I totally agree with this assessment, but I still think the sidequests need a reward of some sort. Hell, even more story like you suggested would be fine. There's a sidequest where you
get to find and use a Prothean beacon
, and that for me was enough of a reward.
But new equipment would be a fine reward too, because the game has deviated away from those 'traditional' RPG mechanics. The equipment in ME2 focuses on more functional originality than stat based originality. Gun A is different from Gun B not because it has some higher accuracy stat, but because maybe it does more damage to shields but less to armor. I love this decision by the team and it fits in perfectly with the way the gunplay is now.
Because of this though the reward of new equipment would work. Rather than ME1's "here's a gun with random stats", the reward would be a weapon, item, attachment, upgrade, or something else totally unique in functionality, and not something that would be made obsolete by the next planet you land on.
Thats why I think a gun customisation system would be really cool. It doesnt need to be complex. Just a few attachments you can optionally choose to add to your weapons for a little bit of a functional enhancement or change; this attachment will increase the effictiveness of the cryo powerup, this scope will zoom in a bit more when you aim, this will allow you to load two heatsinks into your weapon, etc etc.
Something like that, with each upgrade being unique and being limited to what we can put in our weapons, would encourage people to explore side quests. Rewards would mostly be valuable, as it would be exciting to see what new equipment would be in the game. Attachments having functional abilities prevents them from devolving into 'traditional' RPG stat based grinding for equipment, and being able to mix and match attachments would add an exra layer of customisation and role playing to the overall game.
I agree. I would investigate giving some NPCs/events the power to bestow permanent/temporary passive abilities and bonuses.
Examples:
Explore Normandy Crash Site: +15% Damage to Collector's on your next mission
Romance Chambers: +10% Varren Resistance
(character interaction spoiler) Take
Miranda on Jack's
Loyalty quest: -25% required speech to pass argument check.
It made no sense that having certain characters on certain missions had no impact later in the game. This would be an easy way to deal with that.
I felt the game was just about impossible during first batch of recruitment missions. Everything after was a breeze by comparison with possibly the sole exception of the mid-game
collector ship mission
.
Starting a level 1 insanity run before you have enough armor/weapon mods is not enjoyable in the slightest, IMO.
First Bioware game to leave a sour aftertaste in my gaming memory
Knowing Bioware, the Shadow Broker is probably a Reaper like Harbinger. Maybe the Illusive Man is a Reaper too, siding with humans to attempt to destroy the other Reapers so he can seize control. ME3 ultimate twist: Every mysterious character in the first 2 games are Reapers.
Knowing Bioware, the Shadow Broker is probably a Reaper like Harbinger. Maybe the Illusive Man is a Reaper too, siding with humans to attempt to destroy the other Reapers so he can seize control. ME3 ultimate twist: Every mysterious character in the first 2 games are Reapers.
Having low expectations for Bioware writing has been very rewarding when playing ME and ME2, because they've been way above normal Bioware writing standards in general. But I'm not going to raise my expectations for the next game because I feel every time I do that for anything, the developers find a way to disappoint.
I liked Saren more as a villain in ME1 compared to Harbinger in ME2. Maybe it was because Saren had more screen time and dialogue. Harbinger felt more like a mysterious character behind a mask. I hope ME3 has a more developed villain.
I liked Saren more as a villain in ME1 compared to Harbinger in ME2. Maybe it was because Saren had more screen time and dialogue. Harbinger felt more like a mysterious character behind a mask. I hope ME3 has a more developed villain.
Saren is a better villain, thats why you like him more.
Its really not a matter to debate. ME1's story telling is better than ME2's. Its not a subject of writing quality, or character depth, or any of the little stories regarding characters, but the overall story. ME's is better told, uses better story telling techniques, and delivers more in substance, quality, and hooks to keep the player interested.
For the main quest ME2 is scarily empty. 90% of the story is dedicated to quests that have nothing to do with the Reapers, Collectors, or Cerberus.
But thats just the way it is. We can only hope ME3 does a better job at delivering the main story.
I need help on romancing. You're supposed to talk to them after their loyalty mission, right? So why does Jacob keep saying he wants to talk later after I did his? When is later?
I need help on romancing. You're supposed to talk to them after their loyalty mission, right? So why does Jacob keep saying he wants to talk later after I did his? When is later?
So im kinda far into the game and realized that there's a geth pulse riffle, im playing on hardcore since the beginning and i did tali's quest, somehow for some reason this time i skipped this, i guess i talked to tali before taking the weapon, which is kinda weird since i've been looking around every levels for every little tidbits i can get my hands on.
Im screwed? No way to land back on the planet far as i see, and like i said, im way farther than this so no saves for this... goddamnit
I find it disappointing because I like both systems; with ME1's system you could search out and fit your squad with the best gear and ensure you were damn near unstoppable, but in ME2 the specific character powers and biotics mean that your team are more than meat shields to soak up damage and mixing and matching is actually worth something.
I know by the end game in ME1 outside of Tali (Who was completely redundant because as an infiltrator I could hack everything she could) it didn't matter who I used because their guns were all super powerful.
I don't know.. I played my first time through on Insanity in ME2 and while it was nice to choose characters fit for the mission, aside from a couple of areas I'd say it was about as important as the first game. That's to say really not that important.
I liked both games, but different reasons for each. I miss a lot of aspects of the first game personally, though I don't miss "explorable" planets (code for a flat map of mountains with 4 "points of interest" which are not, in fact, interesting at all).
duckroll said:
Knowing Bioware, the Shadow Broker is probably a Reaper like Harbinger. Maybe the Illusive Man is a Reaper too, siding with humans to attempt to destroy the other Reapers so he can seize control. ME3 ultimate twist: Every mysterious character in the first 2 games are Reapers.
Knowing Bioware, the Shadow Broker is probably a Reaper like Harbinger. Maybe the Illusive Man is a Reaper too, siding with humans to attempt to destroy the other Reapers so he can seize control. ME3 ultimate twist: Every mysterious character in the first 2 games are Reapers.
Hopefully the writers will come up with something that feels worthy and epic. I'd be for the stuff you're throwing out if it meant there was a secret reaper civil war or something.
Wouldn't be surprised if the Shadow Broker was a Reaper...it seems like one game might not be long enough to root out the Shadow Broker problem and having them as Reapers would be a convenient way to clean that part of the storyline up.
Whatever we gained with ME2, we lost something of equal value from ME1. It's a shame that BioWare chose to toss so much away rather than iterate on some of these ideas. If BioWare is listening, then the bowl of porridge named ME3 should be just right; I'm very hopeful.
That would be true if the stuff that was cut was actually implemented successfully instead of the half-assed inventory and Mako sections from ME1. But rework that stuff to be interesting and I'll be there day one.
The main storyline is the one huge thing ME1 clearly has over ME2. The sequel barely moved the plot forward. Disappointing.
I like for the environments I explore to have VARIATION. Mass Effect 2's side content was both FUN and VARIED. Furthermore, it was INTERESTING -- much unlike ME1's bullshit.
HEY! Is there like a "point of no return" at the end of the game, where you can go finish sidequests and stuff before beating it? Or can you continue after the game at all? If someone could let me know how that works, in spoiler tags probably, that would be very helpful!
Yeah, if there were some rewards at the end of side mission chains, like a piece of armor that raised a stat from +10% to +12% and looked cooler, I'd feel a little better about the complete removal of exp for killing that really ticked me off.
The only other things that really annoy me are being in cover and then getting "popped" out of it when you don't want to when your changing weapons or you just start "sliding" to the end of a ledge.
