After the Fact: Reaper-cussions
- Thread starter Bagmun
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Yeah it definately didn't feel quite as good as the first game in terms of storyline, but I did quite like the part where you find out that the collectors used to be the protheans. Although the end was good it just wasn't as epic as the end of ME1. There needs to be less planet scanning in the next one, that was good until you realise how much of it your gonna have to do in order to get some decent upgrades. I miss the inventory system aswell, although that wasn't without it's faults. The time limit on saving your crew was good idea (the normady feels so empty without them!) and choosing different squad members for tasks at the end who may not survive if they aren't good enough was a nice touch. Hoping the 3rd one will have to same RPG feel as the first one but with the combat of the second one. When's it out?! lol 
The questions a lot of people seem to asking about ME2 are "What did we accomplish?", "Why were they making the baby Reaper?". The fact of the matter is, it all makes a fair bit of sense if you think about it. Bioware's only mistake is not elaborating more.Bagmun said:
Reapers are stuck in dark space between galaxies. They retire there to rest and conserve energy in between their galactic genocides. Their original plan called for Sovereign to open the Citadel Mass Relay and let them back in. He failed and got himself killed by Shepard.
To overcome this setback, they need a new Reaper to open the way for them. To this end they activated their other agents in the Milky Way, the Collectors. First, to kill Shepard (just in case), and second to start work on a new Reaper. It presumably takes a fully functional Reaper to activate the Citadel Mass Relay, so off to work they go.
Basically, in the second game you achieve the same thing you did in the first game - Stop the Reapers from getting into our Galaxy!
As for its human shape, that is also easy to explain. As you likely noticed, all Reapers are fairly uniform in their appearance (Giant Mecha Calamari). Furthermore, the Reaper Larva was MUCH smaller than a full-grown Reaper. This would indicate that the Larva is meant to be the core of a much larger construct that would be built later in its development. Each Reaper probably has the likeness of its "source" race deep inside.
If you have any further questions, I'll gladly answer them.
Ironically, I should have elaborated more myself in the article. It would have done wonders if Bioware shed a small light onto the purpose of that machine, but now we're all left in the dark to simply speculate. And let's be honest: you are speculating. We don't know for certain if that was another vanguard (most likely was, but still). It's all speculation.Jandau said:
The original ME actually let you open up a dialogue with one of these things along with a Prothean construct that survived the Reaper assault. This gave us a huge insight into our enemy. ME2 just hints at motives and never lets you know what you actually accomplished. I don't like it that I'm not going to get answers for another 2 or 3 years. Suck town.
Actually, Shepard states that only eight ships were destroyed in the battle for the citadel if you elected to save the council (he/she also names them all but I can't remember what they were). I think it's because the Allience doesn't seem to have much control over the Terminus colonies. They don't even seem to be part of the Allience.Xzi said:
Well, while I am speculating, you have to admit I'm doing a fairly good job of it...Bagmun said:
And I agree, they should have provided a bit more explanation, at least for the people who didn't play the first game. Perhaps they'll make some DLC/expansion to cover that so we don't have to wait until the third game...
yeah it was good. i was disapointed with the lack of number of rifles shotguns sniper rifles etc but it worked. The fact that your squad mates on;y got 3 powers was kinda weak in my opinion. it was nice in the first one to have many options of attack with your squad mates attacks. the new combat was great a huge improvement. the story was lacking a bit but each of the planets had its own mini story like omega one being an asteroid the protheians tried to mine but couldn't for some reason eventually becoming a huge mine and a safe house for intergalactic criminals. I do hope that in ME3 they will let you land on earth just in like a small part of a city like on illium but i really want to see bio-ware's vision of 2185ish earth.
well i think the purpose of the baby reaper was to replace sovereign with an even more powerful reaper. Humans (as far as we know) are the only species to outright beat a reaper in a fight. the reaper trapped in the planet seams like it likely killed what ever took it down but was heavily damaged and fell into the planet. If humans call a reaper what could they do if made into a reaper? it would be the most powerful reaper of all. also humans (based on codex's and how other species feel about humans) seem to have the largest population/fastest growing population of all other species except pre genophage krogan. This huge population may allow humans to be made into multiple reapers or more than a normal species would. Also (as far as we have seen) no humans have been controlled through indoctrination. if humans are immune to indoctrination it would make sense to deal with them first. Humans also have the largest fleet after the massacre at the citadel of the turian and asari fleets.Bagmun said:
Not true. There is no such problem in the world that can't be fixed with a little bit of Martin Sheen. I can't say the same for his son though. Apple has fallen far from the tree.Bagmun said:
You sir get the gold star of awesomeness. I'm glad that some other people knew this, I was starting to worry that I was just some crackpot with conspiracy theories.Jandau said:
This may sound somewhat harsh and evil, but at this point in time we are pushing 7 billion people. In this time Humans are spread across the galaxy. We are talking Hundreds of billions of individuals. A few hundred thousand people would seem like a massive amount to us, but when you look at it on the hundred billion maybe even trillion scale not the Billion scale. Hunderds of Thousands is actually much less than it would appear. Now don't get me wrong it's still a lot, but over a two year period it probably wouldn't be anything more to them then a spike in disappearances as cold and evil as that sounds.Bagmun said:
Edit: Pardon me, I should clarify, I don't mean that there are trillions of humans, I mean that on the galactic stage and in citadel space there are hundreds of billions of individuals. So on that scale these disappearances could be looked over. Also, it's hard to pinpoint and be sure what exactly is going on, due to the fact that they are in the Terminus Systems and contact is lost after awhile.
While that is indeed one thing you do, you also pretty much destroyed the reaper's contol over both the Protheans (there's a codex entry saying that there is only one general in all and he's last seen in the explosion of the genocide->reaper baby machine known as the final dungeon) as well as the geth due to Legion's quest. While I will say that reading this and seeing the final cutscene of the game made me feel a little less awestruck by my actions, you still have to remember that doing this was apparently big enough an issue that they had to bring in millions of reapers to the galaxy (when one alone requires a fleet to take it out as well as the destruction of its avatar).Bagmun said:
Another thing I'd like to mention is that this game is featuring a battlehardened SPACE MARINE, and yet it has managed to make a great story. That alone should be enough (not I'm not trying to say this to be one of those idiots who defend every flaw of the game. I'll freely admit to several of the points you've made being problems. I'm pointing this out only because it has taken this concept that more often than not produces bland multiplayer focused games and made a interesting plot focused RPG out of it).
(I really tried to avoid commenting on this, but I really just can't. I hope you'll forgive this rather fanboy like spout here.)Bagmun said:
The abductions are of remote colonies that could rarely even be called more than small towns in places that are known to be dangerous, or just plain unexplored. In fact, though the total count of abductions was high, if you look at the size of the abductions, you'll see the reason why people didn't really notice it.
The galaxy of this game contains hundreds of fully settled planets, with population sizes in the billions. Add to the fact that there are dozens of species in there. The abductions were really small in the eyes of the council. Best comparason would be if a tribe of no more than 20 people living in a very remote place all disappeared suddenly.
I'd have to say though that I really enjoyed this review. I was able to see a few things I didn't noticed before.
One thing that should also be mentioned is the obivious sequel hooks (dark energy and suns, anyone?).
Absolutely! I'm certain you're dead on. I'm just a little despondent that we didn't get a dialogue encounter with a smug harbinger offering some sort of clarification. I can't wait for the conclusion to this series.Jandau said:Well, while I am speculating, you have to admit I'm doing a fairly good job of it...
Are people just being obtuse or what? Mass Effect 2's story was not about "stopping the Reapers from invading TODAY." The bend of the story was in stopping the Collectors from harvesting human colonies in the Terminus systems, which you suspect is connected to the Reapers.. and you confirm clearly during the course of the game. Yes, the end boss was silly looking, but it was larval. The assumption is that the end product, which would be, err... a hell of a lot bigger, would probably look like a squid profile Reaper, since that's what ALL the Reapers in the end-video looked like.
You accomplish the task of stopping the Collectors. You accomplish the task of stopping a new Reaper from being created from countless human lives, which somehow probably accomplishes the task of stopping the Reapers from reaching the galaxy a bit more quickly. You accomplish the task of putting together a special operations team that you can hopefully draw from in Mass Effect 3. How is that not accomplishing anything? What were people looking for in the middle episode of a trilogy? A showdown with Harbinger and the Normandy? That would have ended badly.
And the Council 1) refuses to believe in the Reapers because it isn't politically expedient, which is in character for them, and 2) refuses to invade the Terminus systems (which is well established from Mass Effect 1. Eden Prime was on the end of the Terminus systems, not in it. Even the Alliance doesn't enter the Terminus systems except covertly. So, while it was disappointing that no one else is going to do anything about it but you, it wasn't exactly surprising that the Council still had it's head in the sand.
You accomplish the task of stopping the Collectors. You accomplish the task of stopping a new Reaper from being created from countless human lives, which somehow probably accomplishes the task of stopping the Reapers from reaching the galaxy a bit more quickly. You accomplish the task of putting together a special operations team that you can hopefully draw from in Mass Effect 3. How is that not accomplishing anything? What were people looking for in the middle episode of a trilogy? A showdown with Harbinger and the Normandy? That would have ended badly.
And the Council 1) refuses to believe in the Reapers because it isn't politically expedient, which is in character for them, and 2) refuses to invade the Terminus systems (which is well established from Mass Effect 1. Eden Prime was on the end of the Terminus systems, not in it. Even the Alliance doesn't enter the Terminus systems except covertly. So, while it was disappointing that no one else is going to do anything about it but you, it wasn't exactly surprising that the Council still had it's head in the sand.
