I was up replaying Mass Effect 2 late last night, and I decided to sit down and write out ways I thought it could be improved. I even thought about sending this to Bioware, only to discover that they don't take requests.
I figured the best I could do was to post my ideas on a Forum. I'm most experienced with how the Escapist forums work, so I figured that this would be the best place to post.
Feel free to offer your criticism or ideas of your own.
(WARNING Wall of text approaching, feel free to just skim or skip and post your own ideas)
Dear Bioware, I love Mass Effect 2, but it's not perfect. You're probably well into the development of Mass Effect 3 by now, but if you should ever decide to do more with the series or concept, here are some ideas I came up with. I don't know much about game design, but if any of this helps, feel free to use it.
Gameplay variety: Mass Effect 2 greatly improved upon the shooting mechanics present in the original Mass Effect, but that was really all most of the gameplay amounted to. I suggest opening up the missions and allowing other approaches, something like what you did in Kasumi's loyalty mission. Of course the point is that you don't have to do that.
What I purpose is that you implement a stealth system. In Mass Effect 2 the Infiltrator had the ability to cloak, but it really only functioned as a magic "Hey, look over there" button. It was useful only for escape and added damage, something that can be equally achieved by the Soldiers Adrenaline Rush. The idea of the classes in Mass Effect 2 was to make them all feel unique, instead of them all being various combinations of the Soldier, Adept an Engineer. The Vanguard did this fantastically, but the Infiltrator just feels like a combination of the Soldier and Engineer with one new ability that just LOOKS different. I've been beating around the bush for a while so let me lay this out, If you want inspiration for the stealth, then look at Splinter Cell: Conviction. It's fast, it's empowering and it's cool, all thing that Sheppard is supposed to be.
Open up the levels, create branching paths and maybe implement some minor platforming to allow some more freedom. Although any class can attempt to do this, the Infiltrators cloak and increased agility(Only Infiltrators will be able to make use of the pre-mentioned climbing) will make them a perfect fit. Characters like Thane are shown to be more than capable of this, but seeing him do it once and never again makes me wonder why he couldn't have done it again on say, Tali's loyalty mission, and saved me the trouble.
Next, Melee kills. Yes melee kills. Not just because they're cool(Which they should be. Think the death blows from Dragon Age, not the little transparent gunbutts in Mass Effect), but because they reflect the heroic tone of the series. They'll also make the combat move at a brisker pace, as you'll be encouraged to press forward and take important cover spots from enemies with badass knife/sword/neck snap/baseball shotgun/demonic teddy bear kills, this will also be the way you use stealth kills. You should also allow some better ways to move from cover to cover. Rolls, slides, flips and so on(Maybe make those exclusive to the Soldier). Another good idea might be deployable cover as an ability for, say, the Sentinel?. Hostages couldn't hurt either, if you think you can do it
Basically, take a page from Gears of War. Isn't it the series that made this whole cover shooting thing so popular?, it only makes sense that it should be where you look for inspiration
Next, Flight. I'm not going to lie, the absolute worst part of BOTH Mass Effect games, were the vehicle sections(With the definite exception of Lair of the Shadow Brokers chase, that was awesome). Not just because they felt drawn out and unintuitive, but I they have no relevance to the rest of the game. First of all, give us some over planet flight missions(Ala Star Wars) with the Normandy, make all those upgrades I got feel more important and make the battles important parts of the story. I also think that instead of just teleporting from place to place you should let the player drive in a sequence similar to that of LOTSB, or at least watch the cab rides(Optionally, of course), it'll give the game a much better sense of connectivity. Car Chases welcome
You should also let us take part in some of those awesome epic battles we keep hearing about. Which reminds me?
Tactical Command. Give us the opportunity to partake in more of what you hinted at in the end of Mass Effect 2. This is a war, let us assign assault teams, design some battle tactics, make some tactical choices. And another thing, this is a maybe, but give us the opportunity take first hand control of other squad members for special missions. This will give the characters a more direct gameplay use and let the player develop a deeper connection to them? Also I wanna play as a Krogan
Next Biotics. Make biotics feel less like grenades and more like magic. Do away with the little ball that travels across the battlefield, and give the Adept one very important ability? the destruction of cover. Instead of having biotics go around cover, let them go through it. This will be balanced by only giving shields to Soldiers Vanguards, and Sentinels. Let me stress that the point of this is to encourage the player to take part in more risky and heroic maneuvers. The Adept will be more dangerous but also more vulnerable so the player has to clear some space and get in close for a melee kill, against which they will be defenseless, or open up a hole in defensive formations to get in a sniper shot. Another thing is that the biotics have more impact if the enemy is hit by them suddenly. An enemy who spontaneously bursts into flames is a more intense and satisfying kill than an enemy who's hit by a slow moving fireball
Which brings me to my next point, Core Gameplay changes. Let me get through the small stuff first. Visual overhaul: Give us more feedback from enemies, like you did with the mechs. Give us persistent wounding and bleeding, which brings me to location damage: As I said, only give shields to certain classes, and make those shields weaker. Make the games combat deadlier. Make those five seconds you get from a cloak really matter. And, as I said, add location damage. Let me shoot a guy in the leg and cripple his movement. Let me take out the arm of an enemy who's using a rocket launcher and force them to switch to a pistol. Let me shoot a guy in the head and kill him outright, hell, let me take his head off. The coolest headshots I got in Mass Effect 2 were the mechs, because they reacted in the most intense and visceral way, their heads exploded.
When enemies are hit by heavier weapons(Close range shotguns, snipers, high powered pistols) or powers(Warp, Slam, Shockwave) have them suffer dismemberment or bone crushing wounds
I get that you might worry about controversy(I don't think they'll mind, you've got plenty already), but even if you skip on the gore(Which I really hope you don't), give us some more visual feedback. This extends to biotics and tech. When Warp says "Tears enemies apart on a molecular level" make it look like it's doing that, let me watch them disintegrate. When I Throw an enemy against a wall with 'Hurricane force", let me hear his bones crack . When I sneak behind an enemy and press the melee button, have me grab him and slit his throat or snap his neck
Let me levitate three enemies, blow their heads off, light them on fire and send them flying at their allies. If I press a button assigned power that's already been used on an enemy before I leave the power wheel, then that will let me direct the direction I want him to be hit from or to. Say I use throw, and then without leaving the power wheel I use throw again, launch the enemy in the direction I pressed the button in relation to the enemy. If I target another enemy launch them at that enemy . Also implement some minor physics to make them react in a more realistic way to gunfire and powers
Speaking of Biotics, treat them more independently. Make biotics more like weapons, have them launch quicker and smoother with less time being taken up by the animation. Also create more defensive biotic powers, powers to shield from enemy fire, teleport to a safer position and so on
MINOR auto aiming for Soldiers, Vanguards and Infiltrators(At least on consoles). Mass Effect is a strictly single player game, which means you don't have to worry as much about balancing issues. When you press the left trigger to aim down the sight, make the cursor lock on to the enemy for a brief second(Excluding snipers and heavy weapons, of course). This is actually more realistic, as no joystick can represent the speed at which the human eye can change targets. This will make the combat more smooth and intuitive, and again faster. As I said before, you'll have less health, which will balance things out. The game won't be easier, it will be harder in fact, but it will feel more frantic, more empowering, more involving. The fact is, the aiming in Mass Effect isn't as sharp as something like, say, Gears of War, so you'll have to make up for it
Loot. Bring back the large selection of weapons and armor from Mass Effect one and let me find them on corpses and in chests, but streamline the system the same way you did in Dragon Age 2, so I won't even be shown items that have no use. Keep the gun variety from 2, but add a few more. Some of the guns will still act similarly, but you'll still have just as many different kinds of guns from Mass Effect 2, and you'll have the sense of progression present in 1
The Conversation Wheel. It's easy to use but it's also limiting. I suggest leaving the top and bottom of the wheel for quick Paragon and Renegade choices, and use the upper and lower right for other variants on both. Selecting the Upper right would show you all the choices that will result in Paragon points, selecting the lower right will show you all the choices that will result in Renegade points and selecting the middle right will show you all the choices that will result in neither or both. Also use the icons from Dragon Age 2 to make sure the player always understands what they're about to say
One last thing. In my opinion, you really REALLY need drop the Paragon and Renegade as Charm and Intimidate ratings. Why?, because it conflicts with the games idea of moral choice(Good isn't good unless it thinks it'll go unrewarded). To (Sort of) quote Mr. Croshaw, I'm not thinking "What would I do in this situation?", I'm thinking "Which option is going to give me the most dickhead(Renegade) points, cause I need them to persuade Tali and Legion to not tear each others intestines out?", by introducing a reward that only we as players can see and acknowledge you force us to make decisions that we wouldn't otherwise and disconnect us from the gaming world by changing Sheppard's character in a way that isn't genuine, thus we no longer feel like Sheppard is us, and we're reminded that we're playing a game. It also destroys the ability to be neutral because if you're not all Paragon or all Renegade then you don't get the persuasion options. See, it's really just one choice at the beginning of the game, do you want to be The Punisher or Superman
Let's talk some specifics with the classes
Soldier: Soldiers have the most extensive and well rounded weapons training, and thus combine the toughness and battle mobility of a vanguard, and the deadly accuracy of an Infiltrator. Instead of bullet time on the fly I think you should activate bullet time when the player does something daring. Have time slow for a few seconds when you vault over or roll/slide out of cover, giving the player a few precious seconds to get off a few headshots. Incidentally, whenever the player pulls of a difficult shot, (A headshot from far away, a no scope, or hitting more then one enemy with a shot gun ,etc) then you grant the player the ability to activate slow motion for a brief period. The Soldier and Vanguard will also be the only classes that can roll, slide and take hostages, the other classes will simply hurry to the target cover. Soldiers are also the only class that can use grenades
Infiltrator: Infiltrators have the tactical cloak they had in Mass Effect 2, but with the stealth system it can be put to greater use. Infiltrators can also climb and jump through he environment. At it's highest rank, the tactical cloak will stay up a few seconds after an attack is made, allowing the player to eliminate several enemies at once. The infiltrator should also be able to use stealth to cause sever damage to bosses. The Infiltrators melee kills are also quicker then other classes, lending them more time to take out groups of enemies. The Infiltrator should also be able at some point to choose between slow motion scoping and rapid reload with a sniper rifle, or the ability to kill every enemy adjacent to him/her with a melee sneak attack
Adept: The adept should be able to use powers faster than other classes, as well as having the option to switch their shooting button for another power. An Adepts powers grow stronger than other classes and recharge faster and individually, meaning that an adept can use another power while his/her other ones are recharging, this will allow for a great deal more combinations. Adepts however have no advanced weapon training or shields, and are thus more vulnerable to melee attacks and crippling shots
Engineers: Engineers already work well in Mass Effect 2, though I think it would be interesting to have the ability to build and upgrade a personal mech in place of the combat drone(As cool as it is).
Vanguard: The Vanguard, like the Engineer, works pretty well, aside from the things I listed under Soldiers there's not much. For one thing, let the Vanguard charge to places there are no enemies, that was a big problem in Mass Effect 2
Sentinel: As I stated earlier, a good ability for the Sentinel would be deployable cover. Another ability would be a tech riot shield. You could use it to defend yourself while moving from cover to cover, and like the armor, it would detonate. You should be able to choose the way in which your armor and shield will detonate, you can choose a biotic burst that sends enemies flying, a cryo blast or an incineration blast. You should also gain some abilities to buff your teammates. Last but not least, a magnetic attraction ability that will funnel enemy shots towards your shield
Here's an idea for a skill tree
On one screen you have the stuff that increases your base stats
Your Charisma for everyone
Your health and shields, your weapon damage and armor/shield penetration, and your accuracy for Soldiers
Your power recharge time, power damage, and power radius for Adepts and Engineers
Your health and shields, Weapon damage and armor/shield penetration, and Power damage for Vanguards
Your weapon damage and armor/shield penetration, your accuracy, and your power recharge time for Infiltrators
And Your health and shields, Your power recharge time, and power radius for Sentinels
Whenever one of those stats reaches a certain rank, you can upgrade a power.
Say you reach level 12(Maximum level) on my weapon damage, I can then upgrade one of my powers, they all have four stages of evolution and a choice at the end
For example, Soldiers choose between the ability to dodge bullets while standing still and the ability to slow time to a crawl for a few well placed shots(Similar to Red Dead: Redemptions Dead Eye)
Next up, Minor visual gripes. I find that the guns(Particularly the pistols and SMG's) look a little to bulky, I'd slim them down a little and make them resemble real guns a little more. I also take issue with the fact that no matter what class you play, you have to wear armor. Wouldn't it make more sense if Infiltrators, Adepts and Engineers wore less cumbersome gear?. I say just let the player deiced like you did in Mass Effect 2, but interject some more variety
So do you guys think any of these would be helpful, even conceptually?
EDIT: Some people have suggested that I send this letter. As far as I know Bioware is strictly against receiving direct requests, If they weren't I would have already.
I would, however, appreciate any other suggestions in terms of trying to have this heard. The entire forum, if possible
EDIT 2: Revised entry on Infiltrators. Open up the levels, create branching paths to allow some more freedom(Similar to Thane's loyalty mission). Although any class can attempt to do this, the Infiltrators cloak will make them a perfect fit. Characters like Thane are shown to be more than capable of this, but seeing him do it once and never again makes me wonder why he couldn't have done it again on say, Tali's loyalty mission, and saved me the trouble.
EDIT 3: I'm now officially going through the forums and asking permission to post stand out(IMO) ideas in the OP, giving credit to the ideas creator, of course. If there's any chance in hell that Bioware will actually see this, then I want it to be as good as possible. If you would like your idea in the front, write it out well and let me know(NOTE: I'll only be able to post so much in a span of time, so the response too a request may take a while. This is also still my personal letter, so I probably won't post things that I strongly disagree with. I encourage you to do that yourself in your own forum)
I'd also encourage all of you to post your ideas on the Bioware forums, if that turns out to be plausible. Quoting eachother (And me) on your own forums may also be helpful to make these ideas heard
EDIT 4: Revised Gore Entry: I was thinking more Red Dead: Redemption then Gears of War in terms of violence(Plus dismemberment obviously). None of the whole disemboweling thing, just gore where it makes sense and would be cool. You could have an option to turn the gore off, you could even have it be that way by default, if that helps
EDIT 5:
Ideas by Escapist user RatRace123(Posted With Permission):
First off I'd say have the pacing of the story be more open ended like it was in the original the fact that ME2 locked you into the story at certain points (Horizon, the collector ship) made it feel constricted, I understand there's a need for urgency but it could've been handled better.
Also I felt that having some party members be unavailable for recruitment until after Horizon was a bit messy. Especially because fan favorites like Legion Tali and Thane were acquired so late and they were originally planned to be available much earlier.
I'd say have every recruitment mission be open to players after they complete the prologue mission(s) and let the players decide who to get first. Then after, say 4 people are recruited you give them the option to go to a story planet like Horizon. They beat it, they continue gathering allies.
Bring back the classic Bioware style. Mass Effect 2's story missions were mostly just a bunch of shooting gallery levels, I missed the larger mission structure that's found in literally every other Bioware game.
No level in Mass Effect 2 (save for the suicide mission) was as awesome as Virmire was in Mass Effect 1.
Make party members die regardless of our efforts, or make it harder to save them. The risk in Mass Effect 2's suicide mission was actually next to nothing once you upgraded everything and knew who to pick for what, it made repeated playthroughs a breeze.
When it takes more effort and tactical thinking to get everyone killed than it does to keep them all alive, then you have some problems. Plus the reason Virmire is remembered as one of my all time favorite missions/quests/levels in any game ever was because of that heart breaking choice, and the encounter with Saren after it.
Which leads to this: Bring back another proper antagonist, Saren is one of my favorite game villains because you got the sense that this guy was everywhere. He was an enemy you could go up against face to face. He's nowhere near as tough or threatening as a Reaper, but because he can face you on a personal level and he served as either your polar opposite or a glimpse into your future it makes him a much more effective villain. Sovereign was pulling the strings but it's Saren who fought you every step of the way.
Bring back choices that mean something, sparing or killing the rachni, saving or wiping out Zhu's hope, saving or killing the council. These choices all had severe consequences and there was about one per story mission, and a lot in the sidequests, I think Mass Effect 2 had maybe 5 of these choices throughout the entire game that really felt really like they had meaning, and one of them was in a DLC. That should be fixed.
More Party member conversations, I recall having at most 5 discussions with party members in ME2. Even Mass Effcet one only had a handful of conversations, though each ME1 party member had more to say than any ME2 one. This probably had more to do with the fact that ME2 had double the amount of party members of ME1, but Dragon Age gave you 10 party members and they all had like 20 different conversation topics each.
Just a chance for Bioware to show off its writing muscle and for us as players to get to know the party members more.
I'd also suggest an approval system like Dragon Age, but I can understand if they want to keep Mass Effect's style seperate.
That's about it, I guess all my problems with Mass Effect stemmed mostly the story and mission structure. I can deal with gameplay issues but ME2's story and pacing, I felt, weren't as good as ME1.
Wow, I guess I did have a lot of ideas on improvement.
Buxhholz101:
"I'd like the animations and character movements to be more fluid and diverse. During cutscenes and in combat, I'd like to say that this improved immensely in between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2, but I still feel we could do better.
Cutscenes already look amazing. I can't think of anything I'd adjust, save for the strange looking drinks and the way they're poured/drank.
In combat I think we can spice it up. I'd love to run from cover to cover, and see Shepard fire his pistol one-handed while he's moving. Or even instead of being able to no-scope, having Shepard hold his rifle in his left hand by the receiver and quick-draw his sidearm with his right hand.
I think each individual motion should look fluid and natural instead of static and rehearsed."
AVATAR_RAGE: "The platforming idea is a good one, though I think if it is included it should be class specific. With a route for biotic, tech and combat based classes. This would give classes like the sentinal and vanguard more of a choice when goin though a level.
For example adepts may be able to move large objects to clear a path, while an engineer could repair a broken door and a soldier could have more of an eye for more tactical routes like say an air vent. (remeber you will be with your group so you can't have any extreme platforming options)"
I figured the best I could do was to post my ideas on a Forum. I'm most experienced with how the Escapist forums work, so I figured that this would be the best place to post.
Feel free to offer your criticism or ideas of your own.
(WARNING Wall of text approaching, feel free to just skim or skip and post your own ideas)
Dear Bioware, I love Mass Effect 2, but it's not perfect. You're probably well into the development of Mass Effect 3 by now, but if you should ever decide to do more with the series or concept, here are some ideas I came up with. I don't know much about game design, but if any of this helps, feel free to use it.
Gameplay variety: Mass Effect 2 greatly improved upon the shooting mechanics present in the original Mass Effect, but that was really all most of the gameplay amounted to. I suggest opening up the missions and allowing other approaches, something like what you did in Kasumi's loyalty mission. Of course the point is that you don't have to do that.
What I purpose is that you implement a stealth system. In Mass Effect 2 the Infiltrator had the ability to cloak, but it really only functioned as a magic "Hey, look over there" button. It was useful only for escape and added damage, something that can be equally achieved by the Soldiers Adrenaline Rush. The idea of the classes in Mass Effect 2 was to make them all feel unique, instead of them all being various combinations of the Soldier, Adept an Engineer. The Vanguard did this fantastically, but the Infiltrator just feels like a combination of the Soldier and Engineer with one new ability that just LOOKS different. I've been beating around the bush for a while so let me lay this out, If you want inspiration for the stealth, then look at Splinter Cell: Conviction. It's fast, it's empowering and it's cool, all thing that Sheppard is supposed to be.
Open up the levels, create branching paths and maybe implement some minor platforming to allow some more freedom. Although any class can attempt to do this, the Infiltrators cloak and increased agility(Only Infiltrators will be able to make use of the pre-mentioned climbing) will make them a perfect fit. Characters like Thane are shown to be more than capable of this, but seeing him do it once and never again makes me wonder why he couldn't have done it again on say, Tali's loyalty mission, and saved me the trouble.
Next, Melee kills. Yes melee kills. Not just because they're cool(Which they should be. Think the death blows from Dragon Age, not the little transparent gunbutts in Mass Effect), but because they reflect the heroic tone of the series. They'll also make the combat move at a brisker pace, as you'll be encouraged to press forward and take important cover spots from enemies with badass knife/sword/neck snap/baseball shotgun/demonic teddy bear kills, this will also be the way you use stealth kills. You should also allow some better ways to move from cover to cover. Rolls, slides, flips and so on(Maybe make those exclusive to the Soldier). Another good idea might be deployable cover as an ability for, say, the Sentinel?. Hostages couldn't hurt either, if you think you can do it
Basically, take a page from Gears of War. Isn't it the series that made this whole cover shooting thing so popular?, it only makes sense that it should be where you look for inspiration
Next, Flight. I'm not going to lie, the absolute worst part of BOTH Mass Effect games, were the vehicle sections(With the definite exception of Lair of the Shadow Brokers chase, that was awesome). Not just because they felt drawn out and unintuitive, but I they have no relevance to the rest of the game. First of all, give us some over planet flight missions(Ala Star Wars) with the Normandy, make all those upgrades I got feel more important and make the battles important parts of the story. I also think that instead of just teleporting from place to place you should let the player drive in a sequence similar to that of LOTSB, or at least watch the cab rides(Optionally, of course), it'll give the game a much better sense of connectivity. Car Chases welcome
You should also let us take part in some of those awesome epic battles we keep hearing about. Which reminds me?
Tactical Command. Give us the opportunity to partake in more of what you hinted at in the end of Mass Effect 2. This is a war, let us assign assault teams, design some battle tactics, make some tactical choices. And another thing, this is a maybe, but give us the opportunity take first hand control of other squad members for special missions. This will give the characters a more direct gameplay use and let the player develop a deeper connection to them? Also I wanna play as a Krogan
Next Biotics. Make biotics feel less like grenades and more like magic. Do away with the little ball that travels across the battlefield, and give the Adept one very important ability? the destruction of cover. Instead of having biotics go around cover, let them go through it. This will be balanced by only giving shields to Soldiers Vanguards, and Sentinels. Let me stress that the point of this is to encourage the player to take part in more risky and heroic maneuvers. The Adept will be more dangerous but also more vulnerable so the player has to clear some space and get in close for a melee kill, against which they will be defenseless, or open up a hole in defensive formations to get in a sniper shot. Another thing is that the biotics have more impact if the enemy is hit by them suddenly. An enemy who spontaneously bursts into flames is a more intense and satisfying kill than an enemy who's hit by a slow moving fireball
Which brings me to my next point, Core Gameplay changes. Let me get through the small stuff first. Visual overhaul: Give us more feedback from enemies, like you did with the mechs. Give us persistent wounding and bleeding, which brings me to location damage: As I said, only give shields to certain classes, and make those shields weaker. Make the games combat deadlier. Make those five seconds you get from a cloak really matter. And, as I said, add location damage. Let me shoot a guy in the leg and cripple his movement. Let me take out the arm of an enemy who's using a rocket launcher and force them to switch to a pistol. Let me shoot a guy in the head and kill him outright, hell, let me take his head off. The coolest headshots I got in Mass Effect 2 were the mechs, because they reacted in the most intense and visceral way, their heads exploded.
When enemies are hit by heavier weapons(Close range shotguns, snipers, high powered pistols) or powers(Warp, Slam, Shockwave) have them suffer dismemberment or bone crushing wounds
I get that you might worry about controversy(I don't think they'll mind, you've got plenty already), but even if you skip on the gore(Which I really hope you don't), give us some more visual feedback. This extends to biotics and tech. When Warp says "Tears enemies apart on a molecular level" make it look like it's doing that, let me watch them disintegrate. When I Throw an enemy against a wall with 'Hurricane force", let me hear his bones crack . When I sneak behind an enemy and press the melee button, have me grab him and slit his throat or snap his neck
Let me levitate three enemies, blow their heads off, light them on fire and send them flying at their allies. If I press a button assigned power that's already been used on an enemy before I leave the power wheel, then that will let me direct the direction I want him to be hit from or to. Say I use throw, and then without leaving the power wheel I use throw again, launch the enemy in the direction I pressed the button in relation to the enemy. If I target another enemy launch them at that enemy . Also implement some minor physics to make them react in a more realistic way to gunfire and powers
Speaking of Biotics, treat them more independently. Make biotics more like weapons, have them launch quicker and smoother with less time being taken up by the animation. Also create more defensive biotic powers, powers to shield from enemy fire, teleport to a safer position and so on
MINOR auto aiming for Soldiers, Vanguards and Infiltrators(At least on consoles). Mass Effect is a strictly single player game, which means you don't have to worry as much about balancing issues. When you press the left trigger to aim down the sight, make the cursor lock on to the enemy for a brief second(Excluding snipers and heavy weapons, of course). This is actually more realistic, as no joystick can represent the speed at which the human eye can change targets. This will make the combat more smooth and intuitive, and again faster. As I said before, you'll have less health, which will balance things out. The game won't be easier, it will be harder in fact, but it will feel more frantic, more empowering, more involving. The fact is, the aiming in Mass Effect isn't as sharp as something like, say, Gears of War, so you'll have to make up for it
Loot. Bring back the large selection of weapons and armor from Mass Effect one and let me find them on corpses and in chests, but streamline the system the same way you did in Dragon Age 2, so I won't even be shown items that have no use. Keep the gun variety from 2, but add a few more. Some of the guns will still act similarly, but you'll still have just as many different kinds of guns from Mass Effect 2, and you'll have the sense of progression present in 1
The Conversation Wheel. It's easy to use but it's also limiting. I suggest leaving the top and bottom of the wheel for quick Paragon and Renegade choices, and use the upper and lower right for other variants on both. Selecting the Upper right would show you all the choices that will result in Paragon points, selecting the lower right will show you all the choices that will result in Renegade points and selecting the middle right will show you all the choices that will result in neither or both. Also use the icons from Dragon Age 2 to make sure the player always understands what they're about to say
One last thing. In my opinion, you really REALLY need drop the Paragon and Renegade as Charm and Intimidate ratings. Why?, because it conflicts with the games idea of moral choice(Good isn't good unless it thinks it'll go unrewarded). To (Sort of) quote Mr. Croshaw, I'm not thinking "What would I do in this situation?", I'm thinking "Which option is going to give me the most dickhead(Renegade) points, cause I need them to persuade Tali and Legion to not tear each others intestines out?", by introducing a reward that only we as players can see and acknowledge you force us to make decisions that we wouldn't otherwise and disconnect us from the gaming world by changing Sheppard's character in a way that isn't genuine, thus we no longer feel like Sheppard is us, and we're reminded that we're playing a game. It also destroys the ability to be neutral because if you're not all Paragon or all Renegade then you don't get the persuasion options. See, it's really just one choice at the beginning of the game, do you want to be The Punisher or Superman
Let's talk some specifics with the classes
Soldier: Soldiers have the most extensive and well rounded weapons training, and thus combine the toughness and battle mobility of a vanguard, and the deadly accuracy of an Infiltrator. Instead of bullet time on the fly I think you should activate bullet time when the player does something daring. Have time slow for a few seconds when you vault over or roll/slide out of cover, giving the player a few precious seconds to get off a few headshots. Incidentally, whenever the player pulls of a difficult shot, (A headshot from far away, a no scope, or hitting more then one enemy with a shot gun ,etc) then you grant the player the ability to activate slow motion for a brief period. The Soldier and Vanguard will also be the only classes that can roll, slide and take hostages, the other classes will simply hurry to the target cover. Soldiers are also the only class that can use grenades
Infiltrator: Infiltrators have the tactical cloak they had in Mass Effect 2, but with the stealth system it can be put to greater use. Infiltrators can also climb and jump through he environment. At it's highest rank, the tactical cloak will stay up a few seconds after an attack is made, allowing the player to eliminate several enemies at once. The infiltrator should also be able to use stealth to cause sever damage to bosses. The Infiltrators melee kills are also quicker then other classes, lending them more time to take out groups of enemies. The Infiltrator should also be able at some point to choose between slow motion scoping and rapid reload with a sniper rifle, or the ability to kill every enemy adjacent to him/her with a melee sneak attack
Adept: The adept should be able to use powers faster than other classes, as well as having the option to switch their shooting button for another power. An Adepts powers grow stronger than other classes and recharge faster and individually, meaning that an adept can use another power while his/her other ones are recharging, this will allow for a great deal more combinations. Adepts however have no advanced weapon training or shields, and are thus more vulnerable to melee attacks and crippling shots
Engineers: Engineers already work well in Mass Effect 2, though I think it would be interesting to have the ability to build and upgrade a personal mech in place of the combat drone(As cool as it is).
Vanguard: The Vanguard, like the Engineer, works pretty well, aside from the things I listed under Soldiers there's not much. For one thing, let the Vanguard charge to places there are no enemies, that was a big problem in Mass Effect 2
Sentinel: As I stated earlier, a good ability for the Sentinel would be deployable cover. Another ability would be a tech riot shield. You could use it to defend yourself while moving from cover to cover, and like the armor, it would detonate. You should be able to choose the way in which your armor and shield will detonate, you can choose a biotic burst that sends enemies flying, a cryo blast or an incineration blast. You should also gain some abilities to buff your teammates. Last but not least, a magnetic attraction ability that will funnel enemy shots towards your shield
Here's an idea for a skill tree
On one screen you have the stuff that increases your base stats
Your Charisma for everyone
Your health and shields, your weapon damage and armor/shield penetration, and your accuracy for Soldiers
Your power recharge time, power damage, and power radius for Adepts and Engineers
Your health and shields, Weapon damage and armor/shield penetration, and Power damage for Vanguards
Your weapon damage and armor/shield penetration, your accuracy, and your power recharge time for Infiltrators
And Your health and shields, Your power recharge time, and power radius for Sentinels
Whenever one of those stats reaches a certain rank, you can upgrade a power.
Say you reach level 12(Maximum level) on my weapon damage, I can then upgrade one of my powers, they all have four stages of evolution and a choice at the end
For example, Soldiers choose between the ability to dodge bullets while standing still and the ability to slow time to a crawl for a few well placed shots(Similar to Red Dead: Redemptions Dead Eye)
Next up, Minor visual gripes. I find that the guns(Particularly the pistols and SMG's) look a little to bulky, I'd slim them down a little and make them resemble real guns a little more. I also take issue with the fact that no matter what class you play, you have to wear armor. Wouldn't it make more sense if Infiltrators, Adepts and Engineers wore less cumbersome gear?. I say just let the player deiced like you did in Mass Effect 2, but interject some more variety
So do you guys think any of these would be helpful, even conceptually?
EDIT: Some people have suggested that I send this letter. As far as I know Bioware is strictly against receiving direct requests, If they weren't I would have already.
I would, however, appreciate any other suggestions in terms of trying to have this heard. The entire forum, if possible
EDIT 2: Revised entry on Infiltrators. Open up the levels, create branching paths to allow some more freedom(Similar to Thane's loyalty mission). Although any class can attempt to do this, the Infiltrators cloak will make them a perfect fit. Characters like Thane are shown to be more than capable of this, but seeing him do it once and never again makes me wonder why he couldn't have done it again on say, Tali's loyalty mission, and saved me the trouble.
EDIT 3: I'm now officially going through the forums and asking permission to post stand out(IMO) ideas in the OP, giving credit to the ideas creator, of course. If there's any chance in hell that Bioware will actually see this, then I want it to be as good as possible. If you would like your idea in the front, write it out well and let me know(NOTE: I'll only be able to post so much in a span of time, so the response too a request may take a while. This is also still my personal letter, so I probably won't post things that I strongly disagree with. I encourage you to do that yourself in your own forum)
I'd also encourage all of you to post your ideas on the Bioware forums, if that turns out to be plausible. Quoting eachother (And me) on your own forums may also be helpful to make these ideas heard
EDIT 4: Revised Gore Entry: I was thinking more Red Dead: Redemption then Gears of War in terms of violence(Plus dismemberment obviously). None of the whole disemboweling thing, just gore where it makes sense and would be cool. You could have an option to turn the gore off, you could even have it be that way by default, if that helps
EDIT 5:
Ideas by Escapist user RatRace123(Posted With Permission):
First off I'd say have the pacing of the story be more open ended like it was in the original the fact that ME2 locked you into the story at certain points (Horizon, the collector ship) made it feel constricted, I understand there's a need for urgency but it could've been handled better.
Also I felt that having some party members be unavailable for recruitment until after Horizon was a bit messy. Especially because fan favorites like Legion Tali and Thane were acquired so late and they were originally planned to be available much earlier.
I'd say have every recruitment mission be open to players after they complete the prologue mission(s) and let the players decide who to get first. Then after, say 4 people are recruited you give them the option to go to a story planet like Horizon. They beat it, they continue gathering allies.
Bring back the classic Bioware style. Mass Effect 2's story missions were mostly just a bunch of shooting gallery levels, I missed the larger mission structure that's found in literally every other Bioware game.
No level in Mass Effect 2 (save for the suicide mission) was as awesome as Virmire was in Mass Effect 1.
Make party members die regardless of our efforts, or make it harder to save them. The risk in Mass Effect 2's suicide mission was actually next to nothing once you upgraded everything and knew who to pick for what, it made repeated playthroughs a breeze.
When it takes more effort and tactical thinking to get everyone killed than it does to keep them all alive, then you have some problems. Plus the reason Virmire is remembered as one of my all time favorite missions/quests/levels in any game ever was because of that heart breaking choice, and the encounter with Saren after it.
Which leads to this: Bring back another proper antagonist, Saren is one of my favorite game villains because you got the sense that this guy was everywhere. He was an enemy you could go up against face to face. He's nowhere near as tough or threatening as a Reaper, but because he can face you on a personal level and he served as either your polar opposite or a glimpse into your future it makes him a much more effective villain. Sovereign was pulling the strings but it's Saren who fought you every step of the way.
Bring back choices that mean something, sparing or killing the rachni, saving or wiping out Zhu's hope, saving or killing the council. These choices all had severe consequences and there was about one per story mission, and a lot in the sidequests, I think Mass Effect 2 had maybe 5 of these choices throughout the entire game that really felt really like they had meaning, and one of them was in a DLC. That should be fixed.
More Party member conversations, I recall having at most 5 discussions with party members in ME2. Even Mass Effcet one only had a handful of conversations, though each ME1 party member had more to say than any ME2 one. This probably had more to do with the fact that ME2 had double the amount of party members of ME1, but Dragon Age gave you 10 party members and they all had like 20 different conversation topics each.
Just a chance for Bioware to show off its writing muscle and for us as players to get to know the party members more.
I'd also suggest an approval system like Dragon Age, but I can understand if they want to keep Mass Effect's style seperate.
That's about it, I guess all my problems with Mass Effect stemmed mostly the story and mission structure. I can deal with gameplay issues but ME2's story and pacing, I felt, weren't as good as ME1.
Wow, I guess I did have a lot of ideas on improvement.
Buxhholz101:
"I'd like the animations and character movements to be more fluid and diverse. During cutscenes and in combat, I'd like to say that this improved immensely in between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2, but I still feel we could do better.
Cutscenes already look amazing. I can't think of anything I'd adjust, save for the strange looking drinks and the way they're poured/drank.
In combat I think we can spice it up. I'd love to run from cover to cover, and see Shepard fire his pistol one-handed while he's moving. Or even instead of being able to no-scope, having Shepard hold his rifle in his left hand by the receiver and quick-draw his sidearm with his right hand.
I think each individual motion should look fluid and natural instead of static and rehearsed."
AVATAR_RAGE: "The platforming idea is a good one, though I think if it is included it should be class specific. With a route for biotic, tech and combat based classes. This would give classes like the sentinal and vanguard more of a choice when goin though a level.
For example adepts may be able to move large objects to clear a path, while an engineer could repair a broken door and a soldier could have more of an eye for more tactical routes like say an air vent. (remeber you will be with your group so you can't have any extreme platforming options)"
