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[gcfan2k5]

Yeah. I'm pretty sure that's how they intended Hardcore and Insanity to work. The problem is that you're stuck with the same character for three playthroughs, which is kind of lame.

I would rather they let you start at the same level with all the points, but let you change up your class/background.



Don't do ANY quests until you get the characters you want. Even then, it'll take you nearly every single side quest to get the achievement.

Already tried that, still get nothing. I got to level 60 in under 22 hours, got over 500 achievement points my first playthrough, did almost everything, and its giving me jack squat.

 

[firehawk12]

There's a list of quests in this thread, I think. You should double check to see if you've done as many as you can.
For Tali and Liara, you have to be careful because you already lose out on about 5 quests due to Eden Prime and becoming a Spectre.
Other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you. I didn't really have any problems with the Turian/Krogan achievements by making sure they were with me all the time. I even made sure to finish the collection quests on a planet so that the team would get credit for it.

 

[gcfan2k5]

There's a list of quests in this thread, I think. You should double check to see if you've done as many as you can.
For Tali and Liara, you have to be careful because you already lose out on about 5 quests due to Eden Prime and becoming a Spectre.
Other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you. I didn't really have any problems with the Turian/Krogan achievements by making sure they were with me all the time. I even made sure to finish the collection quests on a planet so that the team would get credit for it.

I think they should patch it so you only need to get 75% of all quests completed to get those achievements, just like getting the one for completing "the majority of the game"

 

[firehawk12]

Well, the problem is that you don't get most of the characters until after you finish the Citadel main quest. That's why it's easier to do the Sentinel/Soldier achievements than the other ones.

Honestly though, I think the achievements should be as simple as do 10 quests or something. As it is, you sort of want to stick to the same characters for the whole game just to get the achievements, where before you wouldn't mind swapping characters out depending on the situation.

Of course, it's such a pain in the ass to change out characters that you probably wouldn't want to do it that often anyway.

 

[clashfan]

Just finished the game.

Main storyline was pretty damn good. Especially the end. The only problem is it went by way too quickly. There just wasnt much to do once you got out of the Citadel on any of the main planets. Atleast Feros tried to have sidequests (very meager ones), but surprisingly for a game of this scope it was very linear.

Side missions were a bore. Seriously, some had interesting story but would it have killed them to put a city or two somewhere in this universe? Mountains, mountains, unclimbable mountains, plain, thresher maw, mountains, mountains, outpost which looks exactly like 5 or 6 ive already beaten, back to the Normandy. The game seriously had 4 design layouts for sidequests. FOUR. I know because I counted. Im not even talking about 4 designs that were modified slightly to make them unique. No, Four total.

Combat was actually pretty fun. I like the way biotics, tech, and weapon combat worked together. My only problem is sometimes I would die and not really be sure why.

As far as how I rate it compared to Bioware games. Probably somewhere around the original Baldur's Gate. Good, but missing something to be great. KOTOR and Baldur's Gate II left me with high standards for Bioware. I just think that in making this game Bioware was so focused on making the game seem huge, they forgot to actually make it huge in real depth. But there is hope all the major problems (those mentioned above and the glitches) are easy fixes as far as the core design philosophy is concerned. Bioware is proven they can take a good model (Baldur's Gate) and make it great (Baldur's Gate II). Here is what Mass Effect II needs.

1. Main quest planets which arent just about the main quest. Make them seem like actually cities where other concerns are.

2. Sidequest planets that are just massive. I still want the barren rocky planet and it has its place, but I like to go to a planet thats just a huge Turian metropolis and explore.

3. Less planets to land on. Yes, this game needs to reign in its focus to become less linear. That might seem completely contradictory but its the truth. With so many planets, they all get very samey making the game the land, kill baddies, and leave. This is the first Bioware game (including the unfortunate Jade Empire) which I didnt want to beat every sidequest before beating the game. I did the interesting ones, but why do I want to go look for some lost probe when I know what its going to be like.

4. I want a planet on a Hanar colonized world. Actually, I want a planet to land on thats run by humans.

Good game though, looking forward to sequel.

The comparison with the first Balders Gate is a good one. I think they laid the ground work with Mass Effect and the sequel should be even better...

 

[Romance Pie]

Anyone know where to get the end song from?

Probably one of the most awesome story lines to be put in a game, plus the art direction was bloody stunning! Loved the character designs and vehicles and Ilos was an amazing environment.

Want to go through again but might give it some time so it will fade in my memory a bit.

 

[gcfan2k5]

Well, the problem is that you don't get most of the characters until after you finish the Citadel main quest. That's why it's easier to do the Sentinel/Soldier achievements than the other ones.

Honestly though, I think the achievements should be as simple as do 10 quests or something. As it is, you sort of want to stick to the same characters for the whole game just to get the achievements, where before you wouldn't mind swapping characters out depending on the situation.

Of course, it's such a pain in the ass to change out characters that you probably wouldn't want to do it that often anyway.

With my soldier i can pretty much own any fight with almost no trouble (unless i get surrounded). Spectre grade X shotgun + 2 of those Rail enhancements (+26% damage each) and High Explosive Rounds X = all sorts of ownage in a straght up fight, enemies cant stay on their feet long enough to damage me and by the time they get back up ive hit them again.

On my Hardcore playthroguh i outfitted my squad with the shittiest gear i had, they didnt do shit for damage, i took care of that myself, wasnt really all that hard.

I only get one shot at a time with my shotgun the way ive got it setup, but its a hell of a shot :lol:

 

[firehawk12]

With my soldier i can pretty much own any fight with almost no trouble (unless i get surrounded). Spectre grade X shotgun + 2 of those Rail enhancements (+26% damage each) and High Explosive Rounds X = all sorts of ownage in a straght up fight, enemies cant stay on their feet long enough to damage me and by the time they get back up ive hit them again.

Strangely, with the relatively poor AI, you can just draw them towards you and pick them off with a pistol... even on Insanity. But I definitely think Invulnerability is better than Barrier.

Anyone know where to get the end song from?

It's on the OST...

 

[gcfan2k5]

Strangely, with the relatively poor AI, you can just draw them towards you and pick them off with a pistol... even on Insanity. But I definitely think Invulnerability is better than Barrier.



It's on the OST...

Indeed, but i preferred to take the fight to the enemy and put em down with my shotty. Its tons of fun watching enemies flail about due to havok not being able to cope with the force of my shots. Plus you gotta admit, Lift + a hit from my uber shotty and ANY non boss enemy goes flying thousands of feet into the air = instant kill on any difficulty

 

[firehawk12]

Hahaha. I didn't even think of exploiting the physics engine.

 

[gcfan2k5]

Hahaha. I didn't even think of exploiting the physics engine.

If you have a soldier, grab a good shotty and outfit it with two of those rail enhancements and the high explosive rounds, and hit anything smaller than an armiture with it, its funny as hell.

 

[Pudding Tame]

Bring on Mass Effect 2!

Spoiler

Theres a few things of note

One is, with the apparent power of the Geth fleet in conjunction with Sovereign, why were the Geth complacent to be in their own sector for 200 years?

Spoiler

1. This is a bit of a guess, The Citidel governs relations between species and leaves the internal matters of its member races up to them. Given that the Geth were created by the Quarians and the Geth rebellion only affected Quarian space, the Citidel viewed it as an internal matter that it didn't want to be involved with.

As for the Geth, it stands to reason that they probably didn't want to get involved in a war with the Citidel either because they didn't have the resources to win, or simply had no interest in expanding the conflict or their territory.

 

[Uncle]

There's a ME2&3 speculation thread too, you know (SPOILERS, obviously):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213507

 

[firehawk12]

If you have a soldier, grab a good shotty and outfit it with two of those rail enhancements and the high explosive rounds, and hit anything smaller than an armiture with it, its funny as hell.

I need to try that. I just started a Soldier, but I wonder if I'll get to 50 to start hitting the good gear.

 

[gcfan2k5]

I need to try that. I just started a Soldier, but I wonder if I'll get to 50 to start hitting the good gear.

You should try it on one of your other characters, you dont need to be trained in shotguns, your aim will be piss poor but at point blank it dont matter.

 

[beerbelly]

The ending song is called M4 Part II by Faunts. You can listen to it on their myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/faunts

Soundtrack can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XXWKAW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[firehawk12]

Duh, yeah, my Vanguard.
Gotta love ragdoll physics!

 

[gcfan2k5]

Duh, yeah, my Vanguard.
Gotta love ragdoll physics!

Hilarious isnt it? also makes close quarters combat WAY too easy eh?

 

[NewLib]

I think that Vanguard might be the most unbalanced of the classes. Use all Biotic Powers + Marksman + Adrenaline Boost + All those great skills again means if you time it right, you never run out of powers to throw.

I found really that Ashley with a Sniper Rifle, Vanguard with Pistol, and either Tali or Liara, depending if the mission was mostly geth or not, just absolutely dominated. I could switch Wrex for Ashley but I really didnt need the extra biotics. I found Kaiden completely useless and Garrus alright but not a good partner with Tali or Liara and kind of pointless with Ashley or Wrex.

 

[firehawk12]

Hah, no kidding.
I always thought those HE rounds were bullshit because of heat penalty. I didn't even try equiping them.

Oh, the Faunts song is also up on iTunes. Along with "Part 1"...

 

[Kittonwy]

Soldier class is such shit, no biotic, no tech. I usually have to set my squad to a more defensive position because they tend to die easily but I don't really have any biotic powers to play around with, and shooting isn't exactly all that great, especially the sniper rifle, it's been alright so far, I don't get the whole button sequence survey/salvage crap though, just seems like something to stuff a mini-game in for no reason.

 

[gcfan2k5]

Hah, no kidding.
I always thought those HE rounds were bullshit because of heat penalty. I didn't even try equiping them.

Oh, the Faunts song is also up on iTunes. Along with "Part 1"...

They ARE bullshit on pistols and assault rifles.

Sniper Rifles make great use of them (when outdoors, where youve got significant cover that cannot be approached by the enemy).

Shotguns are the best to use with them, because even BEST case you only get four shots out of a shotgun without overheating it, and knocking the enemy down for the entire duration of the cooldown more than makes up for the penalty. Plus, again, its funny as hell watching the enemy flail about!

 

[Son of Godzilla]

I think that Vanguard might be the most unbalanced of the classes. Use all Biotic Powers + Marksman + Adrenaline Boost + All those great skills again means if you time it right, you never run out of powers to throw.

I found really that Ashley with a Sniper Rifle, Vanguard with Pistol, and either Tali or Liara, depending if the mission was mostly geth or not, just absolutely dominated. I could switch Wrex for Ashley but I really didnt need the extra biotics. I found Kaiden completely useless and Garrus alright but not a good partner with Tali or Liara and kind of pointless with Ashley or Wrex.

Vangaurd Shock Trooper can pretty much have Barrier and Marksman up for as long as they like and with Shield Boost and good toxic resistance is in no danger whatsoever of dying. That + the big shotgun of death and the game is remarkably simple. I was running around with Liara to spam Singularity/Lift and Tali as pretty much a dead wait hacker.

It was really cool seeing all the cutscenes with the Barrier animation too.

I'm gonna rush through a 2nd time to unlock the insane difficulty and then try to take a level 1 engineer through it. Trying that weak shit on Hardcore is terrible enough, I can't wait to cry.

 

[firehawk12]

I find Snipers to be useful only if you spend the points on them... otherwise, it's a pain to use because your "shooter" instinct kicks in and you wish that the damn guy would stop swaying all over the place. Even then, a lot of the maps have you in close up combat - like Feros, so really spending all those points on the Sniper seems like such a waste.

 

[gcfan2k5]

I find Snipers to be useful only if you spend the points on them... otherwise, it's a pain to use because your "shooter" instinct kicks in and you wish that the damn guy would stop swaying all over the place. Even then, a lot of the maps have you in close up combat - like Feros, so really spending all those points on the Sniper seems like such a waste.

Nah i was thinking more to do with assaulting large groups of enemies at a certain 5 system cluster of enemy outposts from the top of mountains where they CANT get to you. Just stay up there and have fun basically. No points involved, and almost no risk of dying, especially on Insanity difficulty, im sure you know the part i speak of.

 

[Uncle]

I use sniper rifle indoors too. Shooting people through walls is awesome.

 

[firehawk12]

Nah i was thinking more to do with assaulting large groups of enemies at a certain 5 system cluster of enemy outposts from the top of mountains where they CANT get to you. Just stay up there and have fun basically. No points involved, and almost no risk of dying, especially on Insanity difficulty, im sure you know the part i speak of.

Oh yeah, I know the quest you're talking about and that's how I did that quest too for the start of it... but I just got pissed off at how much you sway if your Sniper skill is to too low. I end up using the Mako at that point, since it zooms and you can jump to avoid some fire.
On another board, I saw a post where someone asked if there was a "hold breath" button ala every FPS/TPS game out there... and I have to admit, I kind of wish there was.

 

[Uncle]

Well crouching does lessen the swaying somewhat. Helped me before I maxed out my sniper rifle. And of course assasination stops it completely for one shot.

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah, I tried crouching and using Assassination... still didn't help me that much and I have it at 6 points.

Out of curiosity, I tried dumping all my points into it and it helped a lot. But I would rather spend those points elsewhere, to be honest.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Oh wow there's a tower of hanoi puzzle. What's with this and Bioshock including classic puzzle games as computer terminals recently? What a random coincidence.

 

[Uncle]

There really should have been more puzzles.

 

[Rorschach]

Finished my first play through last night. Just under 29 hours, level 49 and all assignments except one. I couldnt find the temple that requires a key to open nor these monkeys that every one was talking about, but I did get Kaiden and Ashley ally achievements in one go.

Spoiler

Attican Beta -> Hercules -> Eletanio

 

[firehawk12]

Was that actually a quest or just some kind of weird bonus?

 

[Phthisis]

Was that actually a quest or just some kind of weird bonus?

It was a really optional quest with an interesting payoff.

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah, I wandered into it by accident... I'm not sure if it showed up in the quest log though. I think it shows up AFTER you complete it, but not before?

 

[arhra]

I suppose the reasonable explanation is that they just ran out of time.

This is exactly the issue, judging by a lot of the comments on the CE bonus disk. So many times where they say "well, we'd have liked to do <thing>, but we just ran out of time", and the sidequests had probably the lowest priority out of everything (there's even a specific mention of their plans for modular prefabs they could put together in various ways for the sidequest areas). It sounded like there was a bit of bad time management, too - the planet where you pick up Liara was originally meant to be a far more fleshed-out hub world, more like Noveria or Feros, with a seedy mining settlement/base/city area, a ton of sidequests, etc, and they even got quite far in concepting it (up to 3d mockups of various sections of it) before realising they didn't have time to finish it properly for release (they do mention that they'll probably use it for DLC, though, which is good, i guess).

Hopefully with so much groundwork done for the first game, they'll have more time to flesh things out for the sequel.

The CE bonus disk is awesome, btw - the usual making of documentaries, a massive concept art gallery, with full audio commentary by the artists involved (which reveals such gems as the fact that the original design brief for the Asari was "Alien Space Babes", and a discussion of Space Vampire costumes for Space Goths, in the section with concepts for human civilian costumes), a decent chunk of the soundtrack, and a whole bunch of gamerpics/themes.

Oh wow there's a tower of hanoi puzzle. What's with this and Bioshock including classic puzzle games as computer terminals recently? What a random coincidence.

There was a Hanoi puzzle in KotOR, too. I think one of their designers just likes it.

 

[firehawk12]

That sounds a lot like what happened with KoTOR where the cut out an entire NPC party member and a planet from the game. It's too bad.

 

[Romance Pie]

It's on the OST...

Thanks for the obvious answer, but was wandering if any gaffer had a helpful link to it somewhere as someone usually does.

pretty keen to pick up the art book though and check out their concept sketches, hopefully one of our retailers carry it :S

I wished that items were specific to an area rather than randomly generated as it would add more value to that item in game than it should. I don't mind if it was a dice roll for enemy drops, but those crashed probes would of made exploration so much more rewarding.

 

[Lonesome_Raod]

Just completed it. This is how you make a game!

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Oh yea, I forgot about this. On Liara's planet I

Spoiler

totally broke the progression or whatever. I was too annoyed by the Rachni or w/e to want to rush off to the Hot Labs, so I did the side quests in the base and eventually found myself doubling back into the base with all the gaurds now hostile towards me or something. Then I doubled back and found Benezia chillaxing in the middle of nowhere. I'm assuming I missed some major development or something where the dudes turn out to be evil bastards hiding her, but it's really cool how that doesn't matter at all.

Apparantly I suck and the above applies to Novaria because I totally confused Liara with Benezia because all blue aliens look alike.

 

[Solo]

Finished up Noveria, which rocked. The boss fight was giving me fits until I realized it was boss fight cliche #7 - kill all the minions first. Once I figured that out, the Matriarch was a breeze. Now I only have Virmire left. Ive decided to do a bunch of sidequests first before heading there. I finished up my session by landing on the moon and beginning the Rogue VI quest.

 

[Future PhaZe]

Finished up Noveria, which rocked. The boss fight was giving me fits until I realized it was boss fight cliche #7 - kill all the minions first. Once I figured that out, the Matriarch was a breeze. Now I only have Virmire left. Ive decided to do a bunch of sidequests first before heading there. I finished up my session by landing on the moon and beginning the Rogue VI quest.

Yeah, go into a side mission fest. After doing Virmire you will likely get an overwhelming urge to just continue to the next story missions.

 

[BrokenSymmetry]

which reveals such gems as the fact that the original design brief for the Asari was "Alien Space Babes"

I'm surprised this hasn't been remarked on more, but the whole concept of a female-only race that only has sex with other species ... Come on, that's sf-fan service to the highest degree.

 

[Solo]

Yeah, go into a side mission fest. After doing Virmire you will likely get an overwhelming urge to just continue to the next story missions.

Yeah, probably a good idea. I mean, Im not rushing through the game by ANY means, and Ive done a ton of sidequests already, and spent a fair bit of time just soaking in the surroundings. Yet, my game clock is only at 11:18, and Im at the final planet mission. It baffles me to see some of you guys at 40+ hours. Im enjoying the game at a relaxed pace, yet at this rate, I cant see myself needing more than 15-20 hours, let alone 40 or 50.

 

[Psychotext]

I did every side mission (literally everything) before I headed to Virmire and my game clock is at 36 hours (relaxed pace, exploring all over the place). Probably have a few more hours left in the game.

 

[Kabouter]

It was a really optional quest with an interesting payoff.

Wasn't able to complete that quest for some reason, had the required item, but it just kept saying I needed that item when I had to open.

 

[Solo]

I did every side mission (literally everything) before I headed to Virmire and my game clock is at 36 hours (relaxed pace, exploring all over the place). Probably have a few more hours left in the game.

This is what I mean. Hmmm, well, I guess everyone has a different definition of "relaxed". Ah well, even if I do beat it in 15 hours, its not like I wont be replaying it several more times.

 

[ckohler]

I've completed Noveria and I'm just starting Ferros. Before I arrived at Noveria, I made sure and completed every single UNC, Citidel, Ally and random side quest I came across. I even returned to the Citidel numerous times to make sure I got them all. On away missions, I always drive the Maco around the entire map to find every mineral and downed probe.

As of last night, I think I'm at 32 hours... and I've not even finished Ferros yet!

 

[RubberJohnny]

Spoiler

As Far as the other reapers, I had that same kinda of thought, "did they forget?" the where/the when/the who etc etc. The only thing I can think of is that the Reapers, in order to leave no trail what so ever they must be millions and millions of light years away? Way out in the unknown where no life exists? Perhaps they even destroy any link to known space?

Spoiler

They are way out of the Galaxy, it could be thousands of light years from anywhere and since they can't use their Mass Relays, they'd have to travel at ship based FTL speeds which could take them decades (we don't know how much faster-than-light they can go)

 

[Brandon F]

I've completed Noveria and I'm just starting Ferros. Before I arrived at Noveria, I made sure and completed every single UNC, Citidel, Ally and random side quest I came across. I even returned to the Citidel numerous times to make sure I got them all. On away missions, I always drive the Maco around the entire map to find every mineral and downed probe.

As of last night, I think I'm at 32 hours... and I've not even finished Ferros yet!

You've rightfully earned your OCD gamer's card. Welcome to the club brother!