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[Confidence Man]

You're right, its nothing like that, but it's never supposed to be nor claimed to be. There's nothing open world about the game at all.

Mass Effect had much larger areas. Not open world, but not nearly as confined as ME2.

 

[Lostconfused]

I got the sense that the game is supposed to be, trying to be an open exploration game, but fails. Isn't it a self-described 'space Odyssey'? Doesn't that suggest grand-in-scale? There are a lot of planets to explore, there just isn't much there, and when there is something to see, its little more than a few rooms or corridors. You can tell they put effort into the lore, they provide details on each planet. Its just when it comes down to the 3d environments, they skimped.

It would take time and effort. All the text and a lot of codex entries carried over from the first game. They tried to add exploration to the game with the mako and roving around on the surface of the planet. But they didn't put in the time or effort to make it really great or meaningful. So all of it got scrapped for Mass Effect 2, just like every other system that needed work.

 

[esk1mo420]

Shadow Broker was an awesome DLC (even though for PS3 its built-in)

The layout of the ship while outside is one of the sickest designs. Wish you could go back outside after completing the mission (when coming back you are instantly inside)

For my run I left Liara there to be an ally/info obtainer hoping she will be useful in ME3.

 

[EatChildren]

Mass Effect had much larger areas. Not open world, but not nearly as confined as ME2.

Its still not an open world RPG in any way, shape or form.

 

[Pickles the Firecat]

At the end of ME1, when they asked who you'd prefer as councilor, I wish they had included an option to let me put a bullet in Udina's head.

Turian Councilor: "Well, I suppose we can consider that settled".

Give Turian Councilor more credit than that. If you could shoot Udina, he'd say "SHEPARD! Is this really how you operate? Marauding around the galaxy, killing the finest humanity has to offer?"

And if you didn't he'd say "SHEPARD! Is this really how you operate? Marauding around the galaxy, putting incompetent fools like this in positions of power?"

Turian Councilor could replace trollface.gif with ease

 

[gundamzeta209]

You're right, its nothing like that, but it's never supposed to be nor claimed to be. There's nothing open world about the game at all.

ME1 felt like an open world to me though. Even though the majority of the planets were nearly all the same barren rocky landscapes. I still felt like an explorer.

 

[esk1mo420]

Anyone notice on the main galaxy map the lower right quadrant is pretty much devoid of any systems. DLC? ME3?

 

[Lostconfused]

ME1 felt like an open world to me though. Even though the majority of the planets were nearly all the same barren rocky landscapes. I still felt like an explorer.

Thinking about it, its just a tonal shift in the way the game is presented. The first game was all about introducing you to the universe in which the game is set along with the general idea of exploring space in general. Landing on a planet/moon/asteroid and things like breathable or hazardous atmosphere were probably there to add some kind of sense of exploration. A long with a few random events where you board ships. There is much less of that going on in the second game. The N7 missions are more varied but they are also a lot more contained compared to ME1, they feel like you are either in a combat area or you are just going through a specific level in a game.

 

[Confidence Man]

Its still not an open world RPG in any way, shape or form.

Well he mentioned the Witcher which wasn't open world, nor was Stalker. He seemed to be talking more about the lack of grand environments to explore. ME2 environments were largely straight out of a corridor shooter.

 

[TheRagnCajun]

I'm not talking about Eldersrolls-eque sandbox. I'm talking about a substantial amount of environment to explore that is rewarding and compelling.

 

[distantmantra]

Beat the game last night, and managed to only lose Legion (failed Samara's loyalty mission and wasn't able to mend things with Jack after the fight between her and Miranda)... absolutely fantastic, can't wait for ME3 in the fall.

 

[hermit7]

Anyone notice on the main galaxy map the lower right quadrant is pretty much devoid of any systems. DLC? ME3?

That was all used in the first game.

"Citadel Space or w/e"

 

[sam27368]

For my run I left Liara there to be an ally/info obtainer hoping she will be useful in ME3.

Come onn, just paid and downloaded this about to start it, please spoiler tag choices!

 

[Coxswain]

I did loyalty missions, but not the ones you mentioned. The innate problem with black and white moral systems is that they barely provide more choice than not having a moral system at all. Especially in a game that rewards you for max/min'ing your alignment. Its like you say to yourself 'I want to unlock all the evil alignment options' in which case you must be a complete dick through the game to make that happen, you don't really have the freedom to do something nice once in a while, and you're never challenged to wrestle with your own morality like a good WRPG can do.

That's a fair point, particularly if you don't import a save from ME1. The Renegade Option -> Renegade Points -> More Renegade Options loop can definitely cut down on your ability to play the game how you'd like. You've got a lot more freedom if you have a save to import, though.
Personally, after importing my ME1 Shepard, she had no problems choosing whichever option I felt was best. I think the only choices I was ever locked out of were the Paragon option to solve the Legion/Tali dispute (Renegade was open) and talking Zaeed into being loyal after doing the Paragon route in his mission (mostly because I did it after every other mission and by then the requirement had scaled up pretty ridiculously).

On the one hand, it's kind of a cool bonus to get to do that because I imported a good mixed-alignment Shepard, but on the other, if you don't have a proper ME1 import or you're starting fresh, you are unfortunately limited to going one way or the other.
And yeah, definitely check out those loyalty missions if you go back to the game. Those three are some of the best missions in the game, storywise. (Femshep absolutely flips the fuck out in the Renegade conclusion to Tali's, and the end of Garrus's mission has some of the best-directed camera work in the game, particularly if you take the Paragon route or drag it out for a while before going for the Renegade conclusion).

 

[Neki]

I think Mordin's loyalty mission was probably the best character back story and it actually had me doubting whether the responses I gave were actually Paragon because of how Mordin responds to them. He's so adamant in his beliefs that it started to make me doubt mine.

 

[DiddyBop]

I think Mordin's loyalty mission was probably the best character back story and it actually had me doubting whether the responses I gave were actually Paragon because of how Mordin responds to them. He's so adamant in his beliefs that it started to make me doubt mine.

yea they did a fantastic job with that one. before that mission i really thought that the genophage was a terrible thing but after mordin's explanation i starting having doubts. i then realized that no race has any right to alter another's natural development in such a way, but mordin was damn convincing for a while.

I love how all the information helped create this fully realized universe. the amount of info/lore is mind boggling.

 

[Stallion Free]

Ugh I'm in the midst of building my perfect save to carry over to ME2 and then 3 and the costume DLC comes out tomorrow but I'm still on the ME1 portion of Stallion Free's canon run and I just watched Chuck and Yvonne Straadjfhajhfd was looking so fucking fine and I just want to appreciate me some Miranda in ME2 tomorrow but I can't go out of order.

TL;DR: CONUNDRUM.

 

[kitzkozan]

I got the sense that the game is supposed to be, trying to be an open exploration game, but fails. Isn't it a self-described 'space Odyssey'? Doesn't that suggest grand-in-scale? There are a lot of planets to explore, there just isn't much there, and when there is something to see, its little more than a few rooms or corridors. You can tell they put effort into the lore, they provide details on each planet. Its just when it comes down to the 3d environments, they skimped.

If their intention was to give the player the means and the desire to explore, without providing anything substantial or rewarding to see, then mission accomplished I suppose. Forgive me if I don't congratulate them for setting their sights low. Its a missed opportunity, in any case.

This is why you don't see more sci-fi rpgs,especially considering that HD gaming demand more time,effort and money.Pulling off this feeling of exploration in space is noble,but incredibly hard to pull off.It's much easier to do so if you focus on a given area like in Fallout or the Elder's scroll (or the upcoming Dark soul).Imagine the numerous art asset when creating numerous planets with specific climate,fauna,etc.

Xenosaga also failed when it come to the exploration.Star ocean is more fantasy than sci-fi (with limited exploration at best),so that should be telling of how hard it is to properly pull off the sense of exploration in space (especially across numerous planets).The first Mass effect tried,but most planets were dull,empty,generic outside of different color palettes.

Star Wars:The old republic will have planets with plenty of content and landmass,but it's an mmorpg that cost well over 100+million and that could very well end Bioware if it's a complete bomb (which I doubt it will be).

 

[Lostconfused]

Ugh I'm in the midst of building my perfect save to carry over to ME2 and then 3 and the costume DLC comes out tomorrow but I'm still on the ME1 portion of Stallion Free's canon run and I just watched Chuck and Yvonne Straadjfhajhfd was looking so fucking fine and I just want to appreciate me some Miranda in ME2 tomorrow but I can't go out of order.

Step 1: Start a non canon run of opposite gender and play an hour or two to get it out of your system.
Step 2: Continue with canon run.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit.

 

[semiconscious]

I just completed this game (PC) and while I enjoyed myself, I can't understand why this is GAF's GOTY...

funny you say that, as i've played enough at this point (3 loyalty missions to go) to finally appreciate why it is:

1) it's very likable - well written, straight-forward, nicely paced
2) it looks & sounds (particularly the voice work) very good
3) there's lots to do
4) it's not (at least on normal) terribly challenging
5) it's an easy game to get comfortable with / lost in...

while i don't often think of games as 'comfort food', in a way, that's the feeling i get from me2. i'm pretty surprised by how much i'm enjoying it - it's got this whole charmingly juvenile aura about it that's solidly hooked the prepubescent dweeb in me (& this from someone who thought da was pure shit)...

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Yeah they don't have a tab for it or anything, I have to follow some weird maze of links through news stories about their latest DLC release.

?
http://social.bioware.com/page/me2-dlc
http://social.bioware.com/user_entitlements.php

yeah, you do have to look though the forum to find the upcoming release
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/category/129/index

 

[Woo-Fu]

I finally got around to playing Mass Effect 2 and I have to say I'm dismayed at how dumbed down it is compared to Mass Effect. The combat is still clunky compared to other 3rd person shooters and now many/most of the RPG elements have been dumbed down or entirely removed. You end up with a crappy RPG melded to a crappy 3rd person shooter, albeit with wonderful voice work. Seems like they should pick one or the other and make it great instead of gimping both.

 

[John]

finished this today, and now i've been playing it so long, that i don't know how to stop.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I realized I'd never actually played as the default male Shepherd.

So In the past couple of days I've played through both ME and ME2. Adept in ME1 and Vanguard in ME2. The best looking male I had ever played as.

So much easier to make a smoking female.

 

[lucius]

Yeah the default male Shepard is very well done everyone should do at least one playthrough with it.

 

[mauaus]

any news on the patch?

 

[Zen]

Have we heard anything about upcoming DLC yet? I've been searching around but I can't find anything... so I'm assuming not.

Sooner rather than later, hopefully.

I hope it bridges Mass Effect 2 and 3 better than bringing down the sky did for Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. The Batarians were billed as something of note for the future of the franchise, and they spent a lot of time setting up that backstory in the Mass Effect 1 DLC.

But Batarians had no impact on Mass Effect 2 at all.

 

[EatChildren]

Have we heard anything about upcoming DLC yet? I've been searching around but I can't find anything... so I'm assuming not.

Sooner rather than later, hopefully.

I hope it bridges Mass Effect 2 and 3 better than bringing down the sky did for Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. The Batarians were billed as something of note for the future of the franchise, and they spent a lot of time setting up that backstory in the Mass Effect 1 DLC.

But Batarians had no impact on Mass Effect 2 at all.

There's one more big pack coming out sometime later this year. The Cerberus Daily News went offline, and will come back shortly before the launch of the new DLC.

I dont expect it for a good few months.

 

[kitzkozan]

Have we heard anything about upcoming DLC yet? I've been searching around but I can't find anything... so I'm assuming not.

Sooner rather than later, hopefully.

I hope it bridges Mass Effect 2 and 3 better than bringing down the sky did for Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. The Batarians were billed as something of note for the future of the franchise, and they spent a lot of time setting up that backstory in the Mass Effect 1 DLC.

But Batarians had no impact on Mass Effect 2 at all.

Probably going to be released in the summer,if the release date for ME3 stick to december 2011.

I think it's going to be a bigger DLC than Lair of the shadow broker given the potential development time.

 

[SixStringPsycho]

any news on the patch?

This, anyone knows about this? Why does it take so long for Sony to approve patching?

 

[The Super Bob]

I think Mordin's loyalty mission was probably the best character back story and it actually had me doubting whether the responses I gave were actually Paragon because of how Mordin responds to them. He's so adamant in his beliefs that it started to make me doubt mine.

Yeah, I felt his was the best loyalty mission.

Just bought and finished both Overlord and LotSB. Both were okay, Shadow Broker one was really good in certain places but a bit poor in others. All in all can't wait for the next DLC and ME3.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Guys, this is the old thread.
There's a new one:http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=25843655#post25843655

Well now it's in the right one.

 

[sam27368]

Someone help me here

Spoiler

Legion states the non heretic Geth are able to coexist with organic beings. Why then can the Quarians not return to their homeworld? Surely this must signal the end between the Geth and the Quarians?

 

[Patryn]

Someone help me here

Spoiler

Legion states the non heretic Geth are able to coexist with organic beings. Why then can the Quarians not return to their homeworld? Surely this must signal the end between the Geth and the Quarians?

Spoiler

Quarians cannot coexist with the Geth.

 

[Lostconfused]

Someone help me here

Spoiler

Legion states the non heretic Geth are able to coexist with organic beings. Why then can the Quarians not return to their homeworld? Surely this must signal the end between the Geth and the Quarians?

Spoiler

They can but they wouldn't want to. Besides all the hate and antagonism towards the Geth, the Quarians can't survive on their homeworld anymore. The sterile environment of the migrant fleet pretty much destroyed their immune systems and left them incapable of living anywhere else at present. Also I think their homeworld is still polluted or something, but the Geth are perfectly willing to give it back the moment Quarians ask for it.

 

[Stallion Free]

So I downloaded the DLC costume pack the other day and I decided after playing a bit that Miranda is hotter in her loyalty costume.

I am sad.

 

[EatChildren]

Someone help me here

Spoiler

Legion states the non heretic Geth are able to coexist with organic beings. Why then can the Quarians not return to their homeworld? Surely this must signal the end between the Geth and the Quarians?

Spoiler

The Quarians have made no efforts for peace. The Quarians, and the rest of the galaxy, are insistent on hunting down and killing all the Geth. As Legion says, peace is an option, but its a choice that needs to come from both sides. Legion isn't even sure why the Geth still stick around on the Quarian home planet, and says that most of the Geth there live on orbital stations, only surfacing to clean up the planet. He likens the Geth attitude towards the Quarian homeworld as an organic returning to a grave.

The Quarians could have their homeworld, but the Geth arn't just going to hand it back to them, not with the Quarians still harbouring a grudge. From the Geth perspective, they dont even fully understand why they were attacked in the first place.

 

[Sai]

Spoiler

Don't remember hearing anything about their homeworld being polluted.

I do remember Tali saying that there'd be a major difference in acclimation time between their homeworld, and some other random world for the Quarians to colonize if they gave up on their homeworld.

If I'm remembering Legion's words right, the non-Heretic Geth would be willing to co-exist with the Quarians. It's the vast majority of the Quarians that wouldn't want to co-exist with any of the Geth, as they're still butthurt about catching that synthetic boot offa their homeworld.

So I downloaded the DLC costume pack the other day and I decided after playing a bit that Miranda is hotter in her loyalty costume.

I am sad.

Sure, she looks hotter with her regular stuff, but I think it'd make more sense to get her in that DLC outfit when it's time to shoot things up.

 

[Trick_GSF]

Hey everyone.

I've just started the game, so I'm not sure, but I thought there was some kind of interactive comic at the start of the game. So far, this is just playing out like the demo. Problem is, I've only rented the game, due to being poor at the moment. Does this comic thing come later, or is it like a piece of DLC or something? I know a code came with the game, but it's rented so..

(I would search more, but I'm worried about spoilers).

 

[Wario64]

Hey everyone.

I've just started the game, so I'm not sure, but I thought there was some kind of interactive comic at the start of the game. So far, this is just playing out like the demo. Problem is, I've only rented the game, due to being poor at the moment. Does this comic thing come later, or is it like a piece of DLC or something? I know a code came with the game, but it's rented so..

(I would search more, but I'm worried about spoilers).

No code, no comic. You have to download the Cerebus Network thingy which is redeemed from the code.

 

[Trick_GSF]

No code, no comic. You have to download the Cerebus Network thingy which is redeemed from the code.

I see. Well cheers for letting me know.

Edit: Holy shit, the code has worked. Downloading now.

 

[Lostconfused]

Spoiler

Legion isn't even sure why the Geth still stick around on the Quarian home planet

the Geth arn't just going to hand it back to them

they dont even fully understand why they were attacked in the first place.

Spoiler

Um no, Legion pretty clearly states that they are "caretakers" of the Quarian homeworld. They are taking care of it and cleaning it up in case the Quarians would ever decide to return.

Also according to Legion the Quarians attempted to destroy the Geth when Geth started asking questions and showed sings of sentience. That was the start or the war

 

[EatChildren]

Spoiler

Um no, Legion pretty clearly states that they are "caretakers" of the Quarian homeworld. They are taking care of it and cleaning it up in case the Quarians would ever decide to return.

Also according to Legion the Quarians attempted to destroy the Geth when Geth started asking questions and showed sings of sentience. That was the start or the war

Spoiler

I know all this, and Legion still likens the homeworld to a graveyard, and does mention something along the lines of not having a truly definitive reason for sticking around.

Same goes for the war. They know why the war started, but from their perspective its pointless. They were just defending themselves. The Quarian's aggression, to them, was misguided.

 

[Wario64]

I see. Well cheers for letting me know.

Edit: Holy shit, the code has worked. Downloading now.

Just FYI, the comic doesn't kick in until about 10 minutes into the game.

 

[Trick_GSF]

Just FYI, the comic doesn't kick in until about 10 minutes into the game.

Yeah, I got it. Can't believe the code worked lol.

 

[sam27368]

So the Quarians just decided to

Spoiler

destory the Geth because they became self aware? That's it? I thought the Geth started to rise up?

 

[WrenchNinja]

So the Quarians just decided to

Spoiler

destory the Geth because they became self aware? That's it? I thought the Geth started to rise up?

That's how Legion tells it, anyway. There's probably more to it than that.

 

[Kurtofan]

So the Quarians just decided to

Spoiler

destory the Geth because they became self aware? That's it? I thought the Geth started to rise up?

Spoiler

The Geth became aware and asking philosophical stuff so the Quarians realised they screwed up and they could get in trouble with the council for it.
So they tried to destroy them but got their asses handed to them and lost everything.

 

[EatChildren]

So the Quarians just decided to

Spoiler

destory the Geth because they became self aware? That's it? I thought the Geth started to rise up?

Spoiler

The Quarians built the Geth as a non-sentient sythetic lifeform for use in dangerous labour. Due to their networking capabilities, the Geth started expressing signs of sentience and intelligence. A creature showing an understanding of self awareness and sentience, being forced into labour, would be considered slavery in Citadel Space. The Quarians panicked, and attempted to 'shut down' the Geth project before it got out of hand. The Geth revolted, as from their perspective they were being attacked by the Quarians (of whom they had no problem with). The Quarians and Geth went to war, the Quarians got owned, and the Citadel booted the Quarians from being a Citadel species due to the creation of the Geth.

The Quarians still see the Geth as a threat, and mostly nothing more than sythetic tools. To most Quarians the Geth are an enemy who caused them pain, and the loss of their homeworld, forcing them into the lives they have now. The Geth see the Quarian conflict as confusing, and are willing to accept peace, but know that this agreement must come from both parties. The Geth, as rational and logical as they might be, became splintered in trying to decide their fate. The Heretics followed Saren as a saviour, while the rest are building a gigantic AI interface for all to upload to, as that is the only future they can decide on.

TLDR; The Quarians are cunts.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Tali explains it pretty much the same way in the original game, if I remember correctly. The Quarians simply freaked out.