Improvements for Mass Effect 2
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More populated planets, the ability to visit earth (at least a bit of it), more side missions, more puzzles like the one pressure one but harder.
Combat was annoying, a headshot should be an instant kill, end of story. Weird enemy-health configuring made combat unsatisfying. Also, auto-looting was stupid, not very RPG-esque.
Dialogue options can be confusing. No matter how hard i tried, i could NOT be an asshole. (I know, there's not "EVIL" option, but...) For instance, I had a female character, and the male shipmate was making moves, and as he happens to be a complete toolbag, i had no interest in his, um, company. Here's a rough recreation of the convo:
[Selected Dialogue Option]
"FUCK OFF you impotent twat."
[Resulting Dialogue]
me: "Hey, i'm sorry, i need a little space right now."
dbag: "Oh ok, i guess i'll talk to you later?"
me: "Sure! I'll stop by your quarters."
dbag: "Splendid! Perhaps we'll have sex?"
me: "Sounds good."
. . . Goddammit.
Dialogue options can be confusing. No matter how hard i tried, i could NOT be an asshole. (I know, there's not "EVIL" option, but...) For instance, I had a female character, and the male shipmate was making moves, and as he happens to be a complete toolbag, i had no interest in his, um, company. Here's a rough recreation of the convo:
[Selected Dialogue Option]
"FUCK OFF you impotent twat."
[Resulting Dialogue]
me: "Hey, i'm sorry, i need a little space right now."
dbag: "Oh ok, i guess i'll talk to you later?"
me: "Sure! I'll stop by your quarters."
dbag: "Splendid! Perhaps we'll have sex?"
me: "Sounds good."
. . . Goddammit.
Destroy Fox News and everyone involved with it.
Wait, we're talking about Mass Effect? Oh, okay. Right. I love this game, but there are so many flaws and I hope they get fixed.
1) Stop with the barren planets. They aren't fun, they aren't interesting, stop it.
2) Combat is just running in and spamming shotgun. How about combat situations that required more than just the shotgun spam? How about tactics. Sniper missions. Prolonged sieges. Mass military assaults where you have a large number of AI helpers and maybe a tank thrown in. I don't know.
3) Make the weapons differ in ways other than colour.
4) Side quests should be more involving. They should take effort. Take the 'help the colonists' quests on Feros. On paper? Excellent, three separate objectives with their own parameters and interesting solutions. In reality? One corridor, three side-rooms, some stuff to shoot. Dullness ahoy!
5) Facial expressions. You know, I heard about them, and I never saw one other than a Ctrl-Alt-Del-esque slack-jawed dead-eyed 'I'm giving exposition now' mask.
6) I saw some damned beautiful sights while I played this game. The only problem? I had to look upwards to see any of it. How about reserving some fancy graphics for ground level, eh? Because endless corridors? Not too thrilling.
7) Side quests with galactic impact! A companion and NPC influence system! Random civilians with personality and purpose! More individual planets with interesting dynamics! Better freaking AI! An inventory screen that could be easily accessed and understood! Dialogue like the pre-release trailers said there would be!
8) BRING BACK NIHLUS NOW. I'm not kidding.
Okay, now I feel like a rabid fanboy demanding the moon, so I'll be quiet.
(Expects flames).
Wait, we're talking about Mass Effect? Oh, okay. Right. I love this game, but there are so many flaws and I hope they get fixed.
1) Stop with the barren planets. They aren't fun, they aren't interesting, stop it.
2) Combat is just running in and spamming shotgun. How about combat situations that required more than just the shotgun spam? How about tactics. Sniper missions. Prolonged sieges. Mass military assaults where you have a large number of AI helpers and maybe a tank thrown in. I don't know.
3) Make the weapons differ in ways other than colour.
4) Side quests should be more involving. They should take effort. Take the 'help the colonists' quests on Feros. On paper? Excellent, three separate objectives with their own parameters and interesting solutions. In reality? One corridor, three side-rooms, some stuff to shoot. Dullness ahoy!
5) Facial expressions. You know, I heard about them, and I never saw one other than a Ctrl-Alt-Del-esque slack-jawed dead-eyed 'I'm giving exposition now' mask.
6) I saw some damned beautiful sights while I played this game. The only problem? I had to look upwards to see any of it. How about reserving some fancy graphics for ground level, eh? Because endless corridors? Not too thrilling.
7) Side quests with galactic impact! A companion and NPC influence system! Random civilians with personality and purpose! More individual planets with interesting dynamics! Better freaking AI! An inventory screen that could be easily accessed and understood! Dialogue like the pre-release trailers said there would be!
8) BRING BACK NIHLUS NOW. I'm not kidding.
Okay, now I feel like a rabid fanboy demanding the moon, so I'll be quiet.
(Expects flames).
I'd like to see a story which was actually integrated into the story a bit better. Most of Mass Effect's story was fairly sedate throughout the majority of the game until you got to the important place at the end (can't remember what it was called) and we just got story hurled at us. A little bit more intrigue and pacing would be nice.
Apart from that, improved AI and fixing the pop-up issues should result in a great game.
And no, they shouldn't remove the sex scenes from the game. Mass Effect was brave for what it did and if we want games to be taken seriously then they can't start dropping distinctive and mature features just because Fox News demands it.
Apart from that, improved AI and fixing the pop-up issues should result in a great game.
And no, they shouldn't remove the sex scenes from the game. Mass Effect was brave for what it did and if we want games to be taken seriously then they can't start dropping distinctive and mature features just because Fox News demands it.
Longer main storyline, greater range/more interesting side missions, definitely make the Mako a lot more fun and exciting.
On a less needed note, would be pretty cool to have some ship-ship combat.
Going back the side missions point, guess generally make it kind of more like BG, in the sense of having lots of shorter missions to earn credits, maybe also with a good/evil option in them too.
On a less needed note, would be pretty cool to have some ship-ship combat.
Going back the side missions point, guess generally make it kind of more like BG, in the sense of having lots of shorter missions to earn credits, maybe also with a good/evil option in them too.
ye fox nearly won that debate if they add more sex scenes fox will ***** again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKzF173GqTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKzF173GqTU
After reading through this thread, I have a question:
Mass Effect for PC is 40 dollars at fry's and will be here in two days - is it worth it? It doesn't sound like the epic game it was made out to be. The Witcher sounds better - at least storywise.
Mass Effect for PC is 40 dollars at fry's and will be here in two days - is it worth it? It doesn't sound like the epic game it was made out to be. The Witcher sounds better - at least storywise.
I think Mass Effect is probably one of the most epic games I have ever played. Once or twice it might descend a little into cheesy territory, but its the heart-warming kind of cheesy, that only makes the game even more endearing. Not like Halo cheesy, which did pull off heart-warming a few times, when it wasnt mouldy-green-stink-waves kind of cheese.ElArabDeMagnifico said:
Its a fantastic game, its just not without flaws - which you will find is the same for every single other game ever made. Outside of the storyline, there is a "galaxy to explore" so to speak, but if by "explore" you mean "huge area to hone combat skills and do sometimes fun, but often times grinding quests", then its pretty accurate. Outside of the story there isnt much "civilisation" going on, since the side missions can be fun, but are definitely too isolated and get lonely.
Errrm, yeah, Id say thats my most biggest gripe, the rather desolate optional galaxy. As for "is this game worth it"? Only as worth it as Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, The Orange Box and most other big titles that came around 2007 and got big reviews are ?worth it?. Mass Effect has every right to stand amongst those biggies, and anyone who says otherwise is not only flat out wrong, simple as, but also fuckin stupid. Any fault you can find against Mass Effect, I bet a bajillion pounds I could find just as many in any other big name title.
As for the storyline - I think its fantastic. Though I havent played The Witcher yet, I will do what you also did and state that The Witcher has a storyline that doesnt look exciting in the least to me, whereas Mass Effect has a plot that had me engrossed, particularly during the later stages of the game.
Xaositect I appreciate your time but I guess I should have mentioned what turned me off in the thread - These two posts.
1-6 is what made my wallet say "hey are you sure you wanna get mass effect?" (EDIT: Also forgot that Mods will give us more weapons and such so there will be some more variety but "corridor shooter RPG" just doesn't appeal to me and I know a MOD can't fix that unless the user had some real ambition - not saying there aren't any out there, but it's just less likely.)
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I'm not saying what you told me is "useless" - but now that you have said what you've said - I'd like more detail on these issues, because you've pretty much already told me that "the good outweighs the bad" - so that's all.
This is why The Witcher sounded better to me, choice makes a huge difference.eggdog14 said:
Foolish Mortal said:
1-6 is what made my wallet say "hey are you sure you wanna get mass effect?" (EDIT: Also forgot that Mods will give us more weapons and such so there will be some more variety but "corridor shooter RPG" just doesn't appeal to me and I know a MOD can't fix that unless the user had some real ambition - not saying there aren't any out there, but it's just less likely.)
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I'm not saying what you told me is "useless" - but now that you have said what you've said - I'd like more detail on these issues, because you've pretty much already told me that "the good outweighs the bad" - so that's all.
Thanks for posting that; I'd never seen it. The Galaxy Map on the trailer is heaps better than the one in the game.tiredinnuendo said:
It looks like they were going to implement a more KotOR stop/start type of combat, in terms of positioning your support, rather then the fluid in-game approach they took in the released version. I guess both have their pros and cons. One allows you precise control over your support but breaks the momentum of combat, the other allows you do adjust things rapidly on the fly but you are limited in what you can tell your support to do.
Okay, well In defense of the game against the first post:ElArabDeMagnifico said:
Specific area damage has never been a big issue in RPG's, which is essentially what Mass Effect still is. Is it any different in Oblivion, where an axe to the skull will do as much damage as an axe to the pinky? No, its exactly the same, because whats important is how good you are at swinging the axe/shooting the gun. The reason for this is because Mass Effect is not an FPS, it only has some elements, even still kept in third person. If headshots were allowed, that would totally fuck the whole system of actually being proficient in chosen areas of combat. You maxed out warp, singularity and throw (biotic/physics attacks), but what was the point, since you could just pot off a headshot with your 1 bar trained assault rifle? Realistic weapon lethality is for straight up shooter games - combat abilities that require you invest time and effort in them to be better skilled is an RPG thing. This first point only baffles me even more when the poster complains about auto-looting not being very RPG'esque. Yeah, and insta kill head shots are?
Now for the dialogue point: There are some instances where you can be an "asshole", but I have to admit, its largely knocked aside considering the character you play MUST, I repeat MUST, have a large degree of professionalism about them. The reason you cant act like the union of the most irritating and stupid cock and **** in the galaxy is because you are A) An extremely elite special forces operative and B) pretty much humanities best on offer. Running around like a dark side prick straight out of KOTOR isnt going to get much done. Mass Effect has plenty of choice, but for once its a realistic choice. Its not pointless good and pointless evil, its do you sacrifice of yourself for others or the mission, or do you sacrifice all, including others for the mission. As for the "rough recreation" of the convo, unfortunately its so OTT from what it obviously originally was, I have no clue what the poster is going on about. Sometimes you might not get exactly what you were expecting from the "bite size" convo choice, but I never once saw it give something other than what was presented.
Also here is my take on 1-6:
"1) Stop with the barren planets. They aren't fun, they aren't interesting, stop it."
Agreed. It was a shame (though most likely true to our own galaxy) that so many worlds were so barren and unpopulated. The missions that you do there can sometimes be exciting, but most of the time its too sparsely populated to be all that much fun.
"2) Combat is just running in and spamming shotgun. How about combat situations that required more than just the shotgun spam? How about tactics. Sniper missions. Prolonged sieges. Mass military assaults where you have a large number of AI helpers and maybe a tank thrown in. I don't know."
Okay, the "spam the shotgun" point is so ridiculous I dont know where to begin. The problem is THAT GUY spammed the shotgun, not that the game forces you to. I personally had a blast with biotics, and as for other points - "Tactics" is too vague to even be addressed, as you could use certain tactics in battle anyway. Sniper Mission? Not bad, but if you wanted it so bad, why didnt you use the sniper in the first place, instead of the shotgun? Essentially the same thing using and sniper and going on a sniper mission, you know, where you are sniping someone.... Prolonged sieges? Thats more of a plot/mission point, nothing to do with combat. Mass military assaults? I hate it when people suggest ridiculous out of game-character things and have no conception of the potential strain that could be on the game. Save it for fucking RTS's, space combat and military battles, Jesus Christ. Ill accept some small AI NPC assistance from time to time, but again, thats what is happening in the plot, nothing to do with moment to moment combat that appears regularly.
"3) Make the weapons differ in ways other than colour."
Agreed. Only two styles of weapon for the four different kinds of weapon. Boring. Hopefully this will be solved in future games, with more weapon variety (heavy weapons perhaps? carnage was the "biggest" weapon based attack, which was disappointing), and the ability to carry only what weapons you will use. I didnt like carrying around weapons on my back that I couldnt/wouldnt use.
"4) Side quests should be more involving. They should take effort. Take the 'help the colonists' quests on Feros. On paper? Excellent, three separate objectives with their own parameters and interesting solutions. In reality? One corridor, three side-rooms, some stuff to shoot. Dullness ahoy!"
A fair point I suppose with a good example, despite many good quests in the game, a few were bogged down in dull execution. However, the recent DLC was a marked improvement, so Id say thats already on the road to being overhauled.
"5) Facial expressions. You know, I heard about them, and I never saw one other than a Ctrl-Alt-Del-esque slack-jawed dead-eyed 'I'm giving exposition now' mask."
Totally individual opinion. Myself and many others found the facial expressions, and the voice acting, to be of amazing quality. The facial features and expressions, and accompanying voice acting are without a shadow of a doubt some of the best I have ever seen in a game.
"6) I saw some damned beautiful sights while I played this game. The only problem? I had to look upwards to see any of it. How about reserving some fancy graphics for ground level, eh? Because endless corridors? Not too thrilling."
Some "prefab" areas had agonisingly repetitive textures Ill admit, but this is mainly limited to uncharted worlds. Maybe this person spent too much time looking up when playing through the main story worlds, because I found an abundance of beautiful sights in game which didnt require looking up. The citadel, Therum, Virmire, and one or two uncharted worlds too, all had some very nice looks to them.
Aaand, thats about it. Sorry about the length. I probably shouldnt even suggest how I could write even more positives about the game than I can negatives.
1. More Sex scenes and WAY FILTHIER
2. Choice of landing vehicle, you could choose the buggy for landing a squad and maybe something like a speeder bike from return of the jedi for a solo landing.
3. Ability to order your individual units rather than controlling them like a 2 person team. whats the point of having a heavy armored soldier and a biotic if every time you order the soldier to move in the biotic follows right behind and gets murdered.
4. Ability to control your individual units rather than just the main character.
5. Better hacking minigame. Why have locks if they are effortless to open
6. Giant mech battles
7. Did I mention MUCH FILTHIER SEX. Perhaps your ship could be staffed entirely by hot slutty female crew members, and one of them has THREE BOOBS
2. Choice of landing vehicle, you could choose the buggy for landing a squad and maybe something like a speeder bike from return of the jedi for a solo landing.
3. Ability to order your individual units rather than controlling them like a 2 person team. whats the point of having a heavy armored soldier and a biotic if every time you order the soldier to move in the biotic follows right behind and gets murdered.
4. Ability to control your individual units rather than just the main character.
5. Better hacking minigame. Why have locks if they are effortless to open
6. Giant mech battles
7. Did I mention MUCH FILTHIER SEX. Perhaps your ship could be staffed entirely by hot slutty female crew members, and one of them has THREE BOOBS
Mass Effect and Bioware are both incredibly overrated in my opinion. If I want a boring, unoriginal, PG-13-ish sci-fi story I can turn on the Sci-Fi Network. Pretty graphics, but otherwise that game was a whole lotta bland, just like the equally overrated Jade Empire before it. I quit halfway through and sold the whole clunky, overhyped package on eBay.
To make either franchise better, they need to make it darker, weirder, more original, and more open-ended. Both franchises as they exist now are just dull, cheesy stories populated by dull, cheesy characters, carefully boxed into a linear, scripted go from A-to-B-to-C type affair. Go talk to this person, go talk to this person, yada yada zz. Might as well just tell me what happens and spare me having to hit buttons at all.
My advice to BioWare is fire all their writers, and scrap the focus on storytelling. If you want to tell a story go write a book or produce a TV show. Shakespeare you ain't; hell, Asimov you ain't. Get back to focusing on making a GAME. Opening up oppotunities for, you know, GAMEplay, that's actually fun. Focus on creating a vast virtual universe to explore, full of bizarre enemies and incredible weapons and customizable spaceships. Focus on letting the character create their own story, instead of feeding them your cliche script. When I play Mass Effect I feel like I'm playing a game made by a bunch of dorky teenagers with very pedestrian artistic sensibilities. In my opinion, what makes a game good isn't stuffing it full of Sci-Fi-Network-style plotlines and visuals.
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To make either franchise better, they need to make it darker, weirder, more original, and more open-ended. Both franchises as they exist now are just dull, cheesy stories populated by dull, cheesy characters, carefully boxed into a linear, scripted go from A-to-B-to-C type affair. Go talk to this person, go talk to this person, yada yada zz. Might as well just tell me what happens and spare me having to hit buttons at all.
My advice to BioWare is fire all their writers, and scrap the focus on storytelling. If you want to tell a story go write a book or produce a TV show. Shakespeare you ain't; hell, Asimov you ain't. Get back to focusing on making a GAME. Opening up oppotunities for, you know, GAMEplay, that's actually fun. Focus on creating a vast virtual universe to explore, full of bizarre enemies and incredible weapons and customizable spaceships. Focus on letting the character create their own story, instead of feeding them your cliche script. When I play Mass Effect I feel like I'm playing a game made by a bunch of dorky teenagers with very pedestrian artistic sensibilities. In my opinion, what makes a game good isn't stuffing it full of Sci-Fi-Network-style plotlines and visuals.
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Xaositect thank you, I'll be picking this up, 40 dollars is definitely worth it. The price will go back up so I may as well just grab it now.
I'm all for filthy alien bondage but lets be realistic here.... besies, there is japanese hentai for that >_>mwhite67 said:
Planets that have more that you can do on them. I was going into this game with images of KOTOR fresh in my mind; and when i got to a planet it was a quick little mission and then we are off to the next one. More content like that would be great.
Let me just put my bias out there by saying that Mass Effect was one of the better games I've played in the past few years.
If you think of Mass Effect as a core offering all I really want is for them to expand on that.
I think the planets could be much more developed.
I'd like to see more involved side quests.
Bioware have clearly developed all this background lore that is fascinating. I hope they utilize it to a greater extent in the next game.
The bottom line is as long as they make the world weirder, the sex filthier, and the music synthier, I'll be a happy camper.
If you think of Mass Effect as a core offering all I really want is for them to expand on that.
I think the planets could be much more developed.
I'd like to see more involved side quests.
Bioware have clearly developed all this background lore that is fascinating. I hope they utilize it to a greater extent in the next game.
The bottom line is as long as they make the world weirder, the sex filthier, and the music synthier, I'll be a happy camper.
I'll tell you what they can fix, those slowass fucking elevators. I swear to god those things annoyed the hell out of me. It's the future and we have to ability to travel across the galaxy but we can't figure out how to make elevators go faster.
Also, I'd make the side quests more interesting. I usually think the side quests are the best part of the game in most rpgs but these just felt bland and unimaginative. Just the same mission over and over again.
Also, I'd make the side quests more interesting. I usually think the side quests are the best part of the game in most rpgs but these just felt bland and unimaginative. Just the same mission over and over again.