Support NeoGAF

[Dead Prince]

30 more minutes until i get off work to pick up the game . I won't play this game until my best friend finish ME1 :lol

 

[sweetvar26]

Sorry I don't remember better -- I was just spamming junk to make sure my game was seen as "complete" and that I could use it for importing.

I want to say I hit start and went into the menu system at first convenience to quit -- I remember finding quit for the game to get back to the title screen was hidden under "options>game" or something like that, so I don't think I just exited... but you could probably try it -- since it means there was a career that you could import, just exiting out might do it. :S

I just found what you are talking about, did you save the game at all on your new playthrough or do you know if you auto save feature did a save? Trying all the options I have man, thanks for helping me out so far anyway.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Subject Zero mission spoilers:

Spoiler

How the Feck are people getting past the room with the two mechs, and shit ton of guards. Keep getting sandwhiched by the mechs and the guards. Can't do shit

Spoiler

Lots of cover and lots of Overload and incendiaries.

 

[MMaRsu]

Please give us fans an option to turn off the vein filter. Please Bioware It would make this game so much better

 

[corrosivefrost]

Subject Zero mission spoilers:

Spoiler

How the Feck are people getting past the room with the two mechs, and shit ton of guards. Keep getting sandwhiched by the mechs and the guards. Can't do shit

The recruit Subject Zero mission?

Spoiler

Hrmmm... if it's the room I'm thinking of, I kept retreating back toward the initial entrance and had both party members sitting behind the first piece of cover. I'd wander out, piss people off, then go back and look through the gap in the objects where you can see down the alley... the mech got stuck in there -- Sniper rifle + disruptor ammo to his face until shields were gone; sniper + fire ammo til his armor was gone. But that was only 1 YMIR mech... I don't remember two -- and I just did that mission too.

 

[corrosivefrost]

I just found what you are talking about, did you save the game at all on your new playthrough or do you know if you auto save feature did a save? Trying all the options I have man, thanks for helping me out so far anyway.

No save I think.

If I did, I created new saves, not overwrote anything...

 

[Corky]

I am assuming you're making fun of me for listing something that does not impact the fps? Copy and paste, my friend.

just messing with ya man, c'mere and give us a kiss <3

 

[Slackbladder]

A quick question. Can you still access the DLC/Cereberus Network via Xbox Live if you have a silver account only? I ask because I have a friend has not gone online with his 360 but wants the DLC and I was going to set up a silver account for him using my internet connection.

 

[Zeliard]

you consider weapon schematics as loot? Okay...


I agree, to an extent. But as broken as it was, I still preferred the item/inventory system in ME1 to the research mechanic in ME2.
I understand that some people prefer the game this way but I still think that it's incorrect to say that the game hasn't been streamlined; regardless of how little of a RPG ME1 was.

I don't think anyone really disagrees with the "streamlined" charge (except maybe the Bioware guys). Streamlining is frequently seen as a negative thing because it usually means "dumbed down" (i.e. Deus Ex to Invisible War, or System Shock 2 to Bioshock). In this case, I don't necessarily think anything's been made dumber. It's just different.

They literally scrapped entire gameplay systems and replaced them with others, so I can't call that dumbing down. They didn't necessarily pare down - everything they removed was either switched out for something else entirely, or focus was simply put elsewhere (the cutscenes this time around are a hell of a lot nicer than the first, not to mention the vast improvements in the combat).

If I would have modified an RPG element in Mass Effect 2, it would have been to give your companions more than 4 powers each and more than one unique power each, since you've got 10 people now. It would have helped to diversify them a little bit more from a gameplay standpoint.

But the palette swap loot and cumbersome inventory, I do not miss.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I'm also quite impressed so far with the different sets of specialties with characters. I never feel screwed with any certain character on the field and they all have their own unique stuff they can do.

 

[Skilotonn]

I'm home, and the game is in.

Finally.

Let the goodness flow.

 

[SlaughterX]

Ok now I am wondering if I messed up using my CN card. I redeemed it at the end promo codes part and downloaded the same item twice. Now I see this page, put in the code, but it says it has already been remdeed? Anyone know what you get from DLing from that link, is it just ME2_Collectors (15.5 MB)?

 

[Swag]

Fuck I think my game was bugging and spawning two of them :lol, finally got past it. Had to retreat a lot, Jacob pulled through with some awesome usage of Pull.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Please give us fans an option to turn off the vein filter. Please Bioware It would make this game so much better

It's not that big of a deal when you're playing. It looks a lot worse when you just throw a screenshot up of it. It's barely a "filter". It pulsates and then you either die or it disappears.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Fuck I think my game was bugging and spawning two of them :lol, finally got past it. Had to retreat a lot, Jacob pulled through with some awesome usage of Pull.

Which reminds me, the Squad AI is really great. They do awesome stuff without my having to constantly nudge them.

 

[Swag]

Which reminds me, the Squad AI is really great. They do awesome stuff without my having to constantly nudge them.

Yeah it is. I really love how everyone is a custom class, so I can bring whoever I want. Been rotating party members so far, and it's great to get different dialog.

No more Power Team issues

 

[HK-47]

I don't think anyone really disagrees with the "streamlined" charge (except maybe the Bioware guys). Streamlining is frequently seen as a negative thing because it usually means "dumbed down" (i.e. Deus Ex to Invisible War, or System Shock 2 to Bioshock). In this case, I don't necessarily think anything's been made dumber. It's just different.

They literally scrapped entire gameplay systems and replaced them with others, so I can't call that dumbing down. They didn't necessarily pare down - everything they removed was either switched out for something else entirely, or focus was simply put elsewhere (the cutscenes this time around are a hell of a lot nicer than the first, not to mention the vast improvements in the combat).

If I would have modified an RPG element in Mass Effect 2, it would have been to give your companions more than 4 powers each and more than one unique power each, since you've got 10 people now. It would have helped to diversify them a little bit more from a gameplay standpoint.

But the palette swap loot and cumberous inventory, I do not miss.

They were probably hoping for it to do some more things with RPGs systems. They probably like a lot of things about Mass Effect but just dont like where the focus went.

 

[Zeliard]

Which reminds me, the Squad AI is really great. They do awesome stuff without my having to constantly nudge them.

Also great is that they will (usually intelligently) move on their own depending on what weapons you have them equipped with. Put a shotgun on someone and he'll try to get in close (unless you order him away), and put a sniper on someone and they'll try to stay back away from the enemies, automatically. Don't remember if the first ME did that, but if it did, I doubt it was as seamless.

 

[Jackl]

Weapons, mods, and accessories are almost total gone. You can literally finish the game with the guns you start with. Armor too. As such there very little reason to revisit shops, or ever change anything. That gets a - from me because I liked micromanaging the original game.

The game is seemingly more linear, not as fleshed out.

Spoiler

Little things, like I walk into the citadel with A GETH behind me and no one gives a shit. Really? Oh and btw the citadel was really scaled down. Almost no where to go in it now. I expected when I walked into the place that EVERYONE would be freaking out. I kinda did you know, save the galaxy. Just saying. Something beyond "oh, you're not dead" from 2 people would have been great.

I'm glad they got rid of the barren planets and repetitive exploration. But what we got instead was soulless side missions. OH NOES MORE MERCS!

Combats ok but also quite linear. Biotics are more diverse, character are still dumb as hell. And sniper rifles+Adrenaline Rush+Ammo power kills anything in 1-5 shots.

Loads more issues, and the game is alright. It just seems like where they could have added more indepth and more polish instead threw in placeholders to get it done. But from the scifi epic of the generation I expected....more epic?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Yeah it is. I really love how everyone is a custom class, so I can bring whoever I want. Been rotating party members so far, and it's great to get different dialog.

No more Power Team issues

I kind of wish I was compelled to stick with the same three but it's just too much damn fun with all these awesome people.

 

[hulot]

you consider weapon schematics as loot? Okay....

And you consider weapons with nothing differentiating them from one another except for scaled stat increases as loot? I've played plenty of loot games and I'm pretty sure I can identify what qualifies as a loot game: ME isn't one. There was a discussion about this earlier but it seems you've avoided the question. How is it loot when there's nothing about it beyond equipping palette swaps to keep up with scaled enemies? Weapons and armor and mods were all set, nothing random and they were always better than the previous iteration. ME2 didn't get rid of the 'loot' system. It got rid of the clutter and is, if anything, more ME1 than the game you think you played.

I agree, to an extent. But as broken as it was, I still preferred the item/inventory system in ME1 to the research mechanic in ME2.
I understand that some people prefer the game this way but I still think that it's incorrect to say that the game hasn't been streamlined; regardless of how little of a RPG ME1 was.

I don't think anyone disagree it's been streamlined. The disagreement is on whether it's been 'simplified' or made less of an RPG than the first.

 

[ezekial45]

Quick question; can you re-alter the look of your ME1 character? I heard you can change some other stuff as well.

 

[Bloodsent]

Quick question; can you re-alter the look of your ME1 character? I heard you can change some other stuff as well.

You can alter the appearance and class type of your character.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

And you consider weapons with nothing differentiating them from one another except for scaled stat increases as loot? I've played plenty of loot games and I'm pretty sure I can identify what qualifies as a loot game: ME isn't one. There was a discussion about this earlier but it seems you've avoided the question. How is it loot when there's nothing about it beyond equipping palette swaps to keep up with scaled enemies? Weapons and armor and mods were all set, nothing random and they were always better than the previous iteration. ME2 didn't get rid of the 'loot' system. It got rid of the clutter and is, if anything, more ME1 than the game you think you played.

Can I have the words out of my mouth back, please.

:lol

 

[Zeliard]

They were probably hoping for it to do some more things with RPGs systems. They probably like a lot of things about Mass Effect but just dont like where the focus went.

Yeah, but realistically, Bioware was limited by time and resources. Given EA, they probably had to get the sequel out fairly quickly. To make the loot meaningful they would have had to rebuild the loot system entirely, as what was in the first game certainly wasn't going to fly. They just scrapped it completely because they felt other things in the game took priority (if we're defining loot here as constantly stumbling on stuff like weapons and armor). After having played through a chunk of it, I can't say it was the wrong decision.

Alpha Protocol is going in the other direction, where more focus is being put on stat-based RPG systems, but that may come at the expense of other things. I'm greatly looking forward to it. It's going to answer a ton of questions, about Obsidian, Avellone, and even the future of WRPGs.

 

[zero margin]

Weapons, mods, and accessories are almost total gone. You can literally finish the game with the guns you start with. Armor too. As such there very little reason to revisit shops, or ever change anything. That gets a - from me because I liked micromanaging the original game.

The game is seemingly more linear, not as fleshed out.

Spoiler

Little things, like I walk into the citadel with A GETH behind me and no one gives a shit. Really? Oh and btw the citadel was really scaled down. Almost no where to go in it now. I expected when I walked into the place that EVERYONE would be freaking out. I kinda did you know, save the galaxy. Just saying. Something beyond "oh, you're not dead" from 2 people would have been great.

I'm glad they got rid of the barren planets and repetitive exploration. But what we got instead was soulless side missions. OH NOES MORE MERCS!

Combats ok but also quite linear. Biotics are more diverse, character are still dumb as hell. And sniper rifles+Adrenaline Rush+Ammo power kills anything in 1-5 shots.

Loads more issues, and the game is alright. It just seems like where they could have added more indepth and more polish instead threw in placeholders to get it done. But from the scifi epic of the generation I expected....more epic?

That honestly sounds pretty negative..you really not feeling it? Or is it because it's simply more streamlined? I think they kind of had to do it this time as it was going to be such a big release and bringing in new fans. In that regard I think the hardcore gamer gets the shaft a bit.

 

[AstroLad]

I asked my brother if this game had loot and he said it did! I'm not even asking for Diablo Lootz, just something even on the level of DA.

I'm going to be giving someone a call tonight.

 

[Jackl]

Oh, and the Bartender on Illum is the coolest character in the game. I wish I could have taken her and left Jacob to rot in space.

 

[MMaRsu]

It's not that big of a deal when you're playing. It looks a lot worse when you just throw a screenshot up of it. It's barely a "filter". It pulsates and then you either die or it disappears.

I'm playing it right now. It's bad, it's annoying and it makes zero sense. Just give us the option.

 

[HK-47]

Uhhhhhhhhhh.

While Square and Enix did release some good games in 1997-2000, that's far from the heyday.

Final Fantasy IV-VI, Dragon Quest V (hope VI gets translated soon), Chrono Trigger?

These are fantastic games. So yes, Square, and Enix were that good at one point.



Actually, the timeframe you're talking about is not when people should have been "clueless" about the efforts of Western RPG developers...

Fallout came out in 1997, BG came out in 1998, Torment in 1999...

That's your Black Isle heyday; though it's not as if there wasn't anything decent on the market for the D&D crowd before that.

Yeah it was the Fallouts, the Dales, both Baldur's Gates, SS2, Deus Ex, Torment, Wizardy 8, Anachronox, Gothic, Diablo 1&2, Arcanum. Between 97 and 01 was awesome.

 

[bathala]

anyone have an extra code for Inferno Armor?

 

[HK-47]

Yeah, but realistically, Bioware was limited by time and resources. Given EA, they probably had to get the sequel out fairly quickly. To make the loot meaningful they would have had to rebuild the loot system entirely, as what was in the first game certainly wasn't going to fly. They just scrapped it completely because they felt other things in the game took priority (if we're defining loot here as constantly stumbling on stuff like weapons and armor). After having played through a chunk of it, I can't say it was the wrong decision.

Alpha Protocol is going in the other direction, where more focus is being put on stat-based RPG systems, but that may come at the expense of other things. I'm greatly looking forward to it. It's going to answer a ton of questions, about Obsidian, Avellone, and even the future of WRPGs.

Nah the focus in AP is on C&C and influence systems.

 

[neojubei]

LOL wow i cannot believe, wow... would gamestop be upset?

Spoiler

"for 10 credits we offer data protection for your game."

LOL

 

[hulot]

Also great is that they will (usually intelligently) move on their own depending on what weapons you have them equipped with. Put a shotgun on someone and he'll try to get in close (unless you order him away), and put a sniper on someone and they'll try to stay back away from the enemies, automatically. Don't remember if the first ME did that, but if it did, I doubt it was as seamless.

Don't really want to bring back bad memories but ME1 allies often pulled out weapons you didn't set and often in inopportune moments. They ran around like headless chickens and often shot you in the back. ME2 allies take cover ahead of you, shoot enemies you've lifted and are rather competent. This goes for enemies too.

Can I have the words out of my mouth back, please.
:lol

;D

 

[wind_steaker]

just gave in and ordered this for PC, the Adept class looks brilliant, I might have to change from my Vanguard, the charge move is nice and all, but the other classes seem to have been improved more.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

And you consider weapons with nothing differentiating them from one another except for scaled stat increases as loot? I've played plenty of loot games and I'm pretty sure I can identify what qualifies as a loot game: ME isn't one. There was a discussion about this earlier but it seems you've avoided the question. How is it loot when there's nothing about it beyond equipping palette swaps to keep up with scaled enemies? Weapons and armor and mods were all set, nothing random and they were always better than the previous iteration. ME2 didn't get rid of the 'loot' system. It got rid of the clutter and is, if anything, more ME1 than the game you think you played.

Because there was a sense of reward when you got a new item in ME1 even if you immediately turned it into omni-gel. I don't really care if 90% of it was useless or ubiquitous, the fact that it was there is good enough for me. There's an obvious lacking of armor and weapon options in ME2; why am I at the end of the game using the same weapons, albeit upgraded, as when I started? How many new guns will the eventual DLC add? To me, I don't feel the same level of character progression or item-finding satisfaction as I did in ME1. Then again, some in this thread have called the minerals you scan for as 'loot'. That may be splitting hairs, but I disagree.

 

[sh4mike]

Paid $6 for the Gamestop code on Ebay (pre-ordered from Amazon) -- I'm such a whore.

DLC will continue to grow because of people like me. Oh the shame.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I'm playing it right now. It's bad, it's annoying and it makes zero sense. Just give us the option.

What would you prefer? I don't even know where my personal health gauge is on the screen. Is it the arc along the bottom?

 

[HK-47]

I asked my brother if this game had loot and he said it did! I'm not even asking for Diablo Lootz, just something even on the level of DA.

I'm going to be giving someone a call tonight.

But DA had lame ass loots, and this is coming from someone that doesnt really care about loot collection.

 

[Swag]

Oh, and the Bartender on Illum is the coolest character in the game. I wish I could have taken her and left Jacob to rot in space.

Jacob the new Kaidan? :lol

 

[SlasherJPC]

LOL wow i cannot believe, wow... would gamestop be upset?

Spoiler

"for 10 credits we offer data protection for your game."

LOL

Yep I love the jabs they threw in!

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Jacob the new Kaidan? :lol

Not at all. Jacob is 10x more interesting than Kaidan.

I'm playing it right now. It's bad, it's annoying and it makes zero sense. Just give us the option.

This is one tenet of CoD that I wish devs would stop copying.

 

[careksims]

So where do I get a real copy of

Spoiler

Fornax

j/k

This game is teh WIN!

Jacob the new Kaidan? :lol

Aw hell no. I already like the fella!

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Because there was a sense of reward when you got a new item in ME1 even if you immediately turned it into omni-gel. I don't really care if 90% of it was useless or ubiquitous, the fact that it was there is good enough for me. There's an obvious lacking of armor and weapon options in ME2; why am I at the end of the game using the same weapons, albeit upgraded, as when I started? How many new guns will the eventual DLC add? To me, I don't feel the same level of character progression or item-finding satisfaction as I did in ME1. Then again, some in this thread have called the minerals you scan for as 'loot'. That may be splitting hairs, but I disagree.

But that's such a huge "albiet," dude! Those advancements you get from upgrading are pretty much the exact same thing as getting a Liono IX Assault Rifle in the first game.

 

[AstroLad]

But DA had lame ass loots, and this is coming from someone that doesnt really care about loot collection.

That's my point! I'm setting DA as the low standard I'm hoping ME2 meets or exceeds. My brother is a BioWare whore so I shouldn't trust him and I will be getting him Sonic RPG for Christmas and his birthday if I am disappointed in ME2's lootz or lack thereof. Guess I'll find out for myself tonight....

 

[MattyH]

How do you unlock the blood dragon armor from dragon age origins in ME2
do you use the code again or does it show up in game when you log in to EA?

 

[Zeliard]

Nah the focus in AP is on C&C and influence systems.

Oh, I thought the combat was going to be stat-based?

 

[kitzkozan]

Yeah, but realistically, Bioware was limited by time and resources. Given EA, they probably had to get the sequel out fairly quickly. To make the loot meaningful they would have had to rebuild the loot system entirely, as what was in the first game certainly wasn't going to fly. They just scrapped it completely because they felt other things in the game took priority (if we're defining loot here as constantly stumbling on stuff like weapons and armor). After having played through a chunk of it, I can't say it was the wrong decision.

Alpha Protocol is going in the other direction, where more focus is being put on stat-based RPG systems, but that may come at the expense of other things. I'm greatly looking forward to it. It's going to answer a ton of questions, about Obsidian, Avellone, and even the future of WRPGs.

I think Alpha protocol will be a very good game,but the gameplay will be knocked unless Obsidian mastered this out of nowhere.

The other thing I'm worried about is the art direction which is incredibly bland(something that western game are often infamous for).Writing and roleplaying will have to carry the game and even then,I think a 90 on metacritics should be the realistic goal of Obsidian.

 

[Lebron]

I really hate all the casual friendly changes they made. Bah.



Also, Jack ftw.

 

[sweetvar26]

OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!

I just spent the last 3 hours trying to get my Mass Effect saves working, I was using the stick to scroll through my saves, can't, did whole bunch of stuff from Mass Effect 1, played the ending couple of times again, started a couple of new playthroughs etc...

The fucked up part is you will have to use the motherfucking D-Pad to scroll through the saved files. I don't even know what to say, I asked about 25 questions in here already about the thing not working.

So anybody who thinks its not working, go back, use the D-Pad and try it out.

WOW, just WOW Bioware.