First Day of ME2 - Expectations met?

[Wolveria]

Huh, I was thinking of making a thread like this in the shower today.

Do you get all your brilliant ideas while in the shower? Man, I thought I was the only one.

 

[brighteye]

I'll copy/paste my impressions from the other thread:

"Basic comparison to ME1 so far:

Pros:
Ability to sprint out of combat
Game feels more alive; characters are more interesting
Hacking/bypassing mini-games are more interesting and fun
Everything flows together better
Cover system is improved
More squad tactics possibilities
Less loading downtime
No graphics issues so far

Neutral:
Combat is faster-paced; you lose shields and hp quickly, but you can also take out enemies quickly
Ammo/reloading is now implemented, so that's one more thing to worry about

Cons:
No crouching
Gear loadout/customization seems slightly more simplistic/limited"

Overall the pros obviously outweigh the cons. The first game was great, and since that framework has been improved upon, Mass Effect 2 is absolutely incredible. Easily met all my expectations, and they were rather high.

Yep, this also sums up my impressions after the first playthrough, sure, i want some more...
But isnt that a really good mark of a quality product, i want more right away ?

One thing though, i kind of missed all tentacle aliens, no floating squids selling stuff, no ground moving things that tries to swallow my mako, and no alien/spider hybrids running around eating scientists on a remote planet, all the alies seemed to be more or less humanoid.
( well apart from THAT thing that krogans like to shoot at, you know what i mean if you have played it...)

I really try to not spoil it , so for those who havent played it yet, DO! and do it as soon as possible, satisfaction garanteed.

 

[Joa_Belgium]

Well, I've been playing for ten hours straight. Mainly because I need to get my review done for our website, but it's as if those hours just flew by. It's a very immersive game and I love the fact that they've polished the gameplay mechanics and the menus.

There are not many games in which I feel related to and empathic with the characters. This one does, and it deserves all the praise.

 

[WayOutThere]

I thought the whole project lazerus thing was ridiculous. Other than that I'm quite pleased.

Only thing that bugs me so far, teeny tiny miniscule text. I have a crap TV, so I can't read a thing, not even mission logs.

The tiny text has been bothering me too.

I thought it was because my eyesight is bad so I put on my glasses but nope, it really is quite unreadable.

 

[shadow skill]

Well ME2 reminded me why I hated the combat in the first game on the 360. I wonder if whoever designed the system actually sat down and played the damn thing with the two sets of button options available. Here's a hint anything except the default stick option is useless, they managed to hard code trigger and button prompts which gets confusing if you use the alternates like I do. The menu colours seem to have been chosen by someone with no consideration for contrast, it's needlessly difficult to read the menus at times because of the choice of orangish-brown background + off-white but it seems like no one made sure that interactive item detection actually worked before they shipped the game. It's totally awesome to have to turn my back to a character and stand in a specific spot before I can get them to comment on something instead of just standing right in front of them when I am in a town; or I highlight objects that are behind walls, or all the way on the other side of a given area.

Subtitles are supposed to help people catch conversations etc. They do in Mass Effect 2 I just wish they made sure subtitles didn't blend into character models, or area backgrounds so that they would be more rather than less useful. It would have also helped to have better timing for the subtitles so that you are not seeing them a full two to three seconds or more before characters start speaking sometimes. It makes the silence seem oddly misplaced because you have already read what they are going to be saying, and are waiting for the dialog to move on by the time the characters vocalize.

One of the major complaints I remember from ME1 was the fact that every fight was basically in a room with a bunch of boxes. It's really sad to see that this hasn't changed at all in Mass Effect 2; but I guess that is what happens when you design maps around specific mechanics.

 

[Korten12]

To all the people complaining about the gear/customization/inventory: It's mostly the same.

In ME1, you simply got guns with bigger numbers to replace your old guns. Same with armor, omnitools and biotic amps.

In ME2 you get the same, only without the cluttered and pointless inventory system that you end up converting to Omni-gel anyway. And at least you can make sure your armor looks the way you want it. The only potential downside is the lack of upgrade slots, but the research system and more weapon types make up for that.

Combat is far better. I'd like to hear anyone present a rational argument that ME1 combat was superior in any way. Graphics are better without being a bigger burden on the hardware. Story and characters are just as good if not better. The entire game flows much smoother. Heck, even the new hacking minigames are better than the old one.

Basically, aside from the somewhat annoying planet scanning (which goes faster when you upgrade your scanned and get some practice) most of the complaints are basically nitpicking.

If you want something to ***** about, try this: If you start a new character the game defaults to the "arsehole" ending from ME1, which means the Council is dead, Humans take over the new Council, Shepard picks Udina as the new Council Leader. As it stands, as soon as I finish my first playthrough of ME2, I'll have to go back and play ME1 just to get a decent save out of it. I don't understand why new characters aren't allowed to specify these things, there's even a section of the game early on where it could have been done easily...

what if I was good the whole game but accidently let the council die but I picked Anderson to be the new council leader? would that be an arsehole ending?

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

this game is awesome

just was traveling to another galaxy called "schwarzchild" and schwarz in german is "black"

so the galaxy is black child lol

 

[Ruzzian Roulette]

Expectations met.

Mind blown.

 

[ShotgunSmoke]

Spoiler

during the first mission when you run out into the space and everything goes silent blew me away. that's when I knew this game was an improvement, because I remember not being awed on ME1 first mission I just stood there looking around enjoying the momentary peace.

I had the same reaction.

Spoiler

Especially when Shepard gets blown into space. Explosions are loud as hell and then...everything just goes silent. You can hear Shepard's breathing. Normal, normal, normal, faster, faster, frantic...none. The screen goes dark and the ME2 logo appears.

I was shaking. It was the most beautiful moment I've ever experienced during a game.

 

[Irridium]

Anyone else notice on the citidel the one guy still looking for his refund?
He's near the werehouse talking to a salarian.

I really loved the diolouge between NPC's. Some of the things they say are hilarious.

Also: "I'm Commander Shepard, and every damn store is my favorite store on the Citidel."

 

[Lord Beautiful]

It exceeded my expectations. There are still problems with it, but it is definitely the best RPG I've played on the 360.

 

[Jandau]

what if I was good the whole game but accidently let the council die but I picked Anderson to be the new council leader? would that be an arsehole ending?

It would be middle-of-the-road, I guess. The good news is that all the side quest you completed (I hope) will transfer over and you'll see a lot of familiar faces. If that's your save, I'd say stick with it.

 

[Korten12]

what if I was good the whole game but accidently let the council die but I picked Anderson to be the new council leader? would that be an arsehole ending?

It would be middle-of-the-road, I guess. The good news is that all the side quest you completed (I hope) will transfer over and you'll see a lot of familiar faces. If that's your save, I'd say stick with it.

well I already beat ME2 so its fine.

 

[Wolveria]

Conversations about humans between a quarian and some turian in the Eternity Bar on Illium are pretty good to, subtle and awesome stab at ME community and their unhealthy obsession with certain quarian named Tali.

I figured thats what it was...

Spoiler

I also thought it was funny how even though you can romance her, you never get to see her face or body. Aaaah, better luck next time Tali-fanatics.

 

[Jandau]

Conversations about humans between a quarian and some turian in the Eternity Bar on Illium are pretty good to, subtle and awesome stab at ME community and their unhealthy obsession with certain quarian named Tali.

I figured thats what it was...

Spoiler

I also thought it was funny how even though you can romance her, you never get to see her face or body. Aaaah, better luck next time Tali-fanatics.

As a Tali fan I can say I hope we DON'T get to see her under the suit. A good deal of her charm comes from the mistery surrounding the quarian appearance. If Bioware decided to "reveal" the Quarians, it would only detract from them as a race and from Tali as a character, not to mention that whatever way they design them, it won't be good enough for many people. It's just better this way.

Also, just to note that while we don't get to see Tali's face, we DO get to see Shepard's face when he takes off her mask. Since he doesn't recoil in terror and even gives a small smile, I'd say he was quite happy with what was underneath and that's good enough for me!