Mass Effect 2,convince me

[genericusername64]

Recently a certain game website listed Mass effect 2 as the best modern video game (last 5 years)
I personally don't give any credibility to the site, and only use it as a news site. Even so, it bothered me that mass effect 2 was considered to be the best. I didn't enjoy it at all, and I only forced myself to get through it because everyone else said it was amazing.

I feel like I'm missing something, Why is everyone in love with this game?

 

[Vie]

I hate the gameplay.
I hate the femshep voice actor.
I hate the way it attempts to do something unspeakable to my computer every time I run it.

But

I love Garrus.

 

[Syphous]

Do like Gears of War gameplay? Do you wish there was a more interesting story, with more interesting characters? Do you like to mix a little RPG into your TPS? Do you enjoy lots of dialogue?

Mass Effect 2.

 

[DustyDrB]

It's my favorite game of all time. Gameplay, characters, story, visuals, sound design...it's all there for me. It's not perfect, as I can think of things I hate about it (the change in health system from the first game to the second was unnecessary, and planet scanning was boring). But there so much to love about it.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

well what don't you like about it?>

personally i love the gameplay, i love the weapons and how they work (although i kinda preferred the first game where it just overheated, but no big nit pick there), the characters were awesome, loved the dialogue and overall story of it (not the strongest part 2 of a trilogy but not bad either) and i like how they are incorporating all the different possibilities for the 3rd game.


planet scanning is basically the only negative nitpick i have at the game...

 

[number2301]

Whilst I would agree with most of the above, I'd say the main reason for my love of the game it that it hits a nice sweet spot of an RPG with a proper combat system with an epic space story reminiscent or Star Wars style sci fi.

Don't get too many RPGs with good combat. It's as though RPG fans aren't happy unless you've got some ancient clunky combat.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Recently a certain game website listed Mass effect 2 as the best modern video game (last 5 years)
I personally don't give any credibility to the site, and only use it as a news site. Even so, it bothered me that mass effect 2 was considered to be the best. I didn't enjoy it at all, and I only forced myself to get through it because everyone else said it was amazing.

I feel like I'm missing something, Why is everyone in love with this game?

You didn't like it... but you want me to convince you why you should like it?

That makes no sense at all.

I love the game. I fully believe it deserves it's listing as "best modern videogame" (even if I'd only put it in the top 5 along with Dragon Age Origins, Portal 2, and Saints Row 2). It has some of the most fun gameplay, a great story with well developed and interesting characters, and great voice acting (Jennifer Hale is one of the best voice actors in the industry). The game is actually focused on the stories of the individual characters rather than the overarching plot (which was a great way to do the "middle" chapter of a trilogy - make it about the characters instead of about the main plot). Really great game.

However, if you've played it all the way through and didn't like it, I don't see how I could convince you. And why would you want me to?

 

[superdelux]

If this doesn't convince you nothing will

 

[spartan231490]

Recently a certain game website listed Mass effect 2 as the best modern video game (last 5 years)
I personally don't give any credibility to the site, and only use it as a news site. Even so, it bothered me that mass effect 2 was considered to be the best. I didn't enjoy it at all, and I only forced myself to get through it because everyone else said it was amazing.

I feel like I'm missing something, Why is everyone in love with this game?

I don't know. Admittedly, the combat was fun, but it felt like a generic shooter to me. The story was meh, the customization wasn't customization, and the only characters I had any real attachment to by the end were the ones who had been in the first game, and thane. I personally call it a failure, but I understand that a lot of people like it. Still, best modern video game: no. Not even close.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

...You were at ign weren't you?

The game is loads of fun but I wouldn't put it at top ten.
Garrus is pretty wicked because he is Garrus and... that's about it. I thought this would help.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/8779-Critical-Miss-Garrus-Badass-Burnout

 

[genericusername64]

well what don't you like about it?>

I didn't like the gameplay, story, or characters, felt it was padded, and it ended with a cliffhanger

However, if you've played it all the way through and didn't like it, I don't see how I could convince you. And why would you want me to?

I'm asking you to explain why you think it's in your top 5 best video games, because I honestly have no idea

 

[trooper6]

If it isn't your game, then it isn't your game. That's all.

It is one of my favorite games, but that is because it does the sorts of things that I value in games. On the other hand, it would be very easy not to like Mass Effect 2 (or any game for that matter) if the sort of game it is isn't the sort of game that you like.

I loved Morrowind, and think it is one of the best games ever. But that is because I really value the complicated and nuanced way the writing team dealt with colonial and cultural politics. I also really enjoyed the ontological mystery of the Nereverine and your position as a possible candidate and all of the conflicting motivations in why you are there. All of those things I enjoyed...were missing in Oblivion. So Oblivion is not as good a game for me.

On the other hand, I know people who like Morrowind for completely other reasons. They liked the exploration. Or they liked the PC mods (which I didn't have access to because I played on the Xbox). Or they liked some other thing. I know people who prefer Oblivion because the graphics are much better, or because they prefer the fast-travel, or a more visceral combat feeling. I know people who like neither game because they don't like sandbox games, or they don't like RPGs, or they don't like Western RPGs, or they don't like sci-fi, or they don't like first person view...or any other number of things. And those are all valid.

So, there are reasons why I think Mass Effect 2 is amazing, really amazing. Apparently a lot of other people felt that way as well. But you didn't like the game--and that is also perfectly valid.

To quote Bonnie Raitt:
"I can't make you love me, if you don't/
I can't make your heart feel, something it won't..."

I can't convince you to like a game you don't like.
You don't have to like the game at all.
You don't have to justify not liking it.
And on the flip side, I don't have to justify liking it.

Now, I could give you reasons why I like the game, but I don't see what that will do.
For example, I could say that I really liked the depth of the characterization of the NPCs...but you may not have found them deep--or you may not have cared about that. Neither one of us is wrong.
I could list 20 things I liked...but none of those will change the fact that you didn't like the game. And that is okay.

 

[manythings]

Well if you think that little of your own taste then... I'm not even sure what this thread is about.

You're kind of falling victim to holding two disparate concepts, Taste and Quality, as being intrinsically linked. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it is bad just like you don't have to like something because it was done really well.

Make up your own mind but don't insist that your opinion of a product is the deciding factor of the quality of it. People love halo, I enjoyed the multiplayer hugely, it's not a particularly good game though. It's very basic, by-the-numbers stuff but there were parts of it worth enjoying.

If you honestly can't enjoy Mass Effect 2 then... that's it. You just have bad taste and should be hit till you get sense. Failing that just don't play BioWare games.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

EDIT: Also, if you try to skip out on planet scanning, don't. It sucks balls having to go through and do that, but it't better to give in and do it for ten minutes every hour or so than go through fifteen hours of gameplay and finally get so frustrated with your innacurate machine gun that you have to give in and scan for a few hours at a time. Trust me here.

planet scanning is basically the only negative nitpick i have at the game...

See, I've never understood why everyone hates the planet scanning so much. It was a mini-game. It was WAY better than the stupid Frogger mini-game in ME1. I was SO sick of Frogger by the time I finished ME1.

And, really, 10 minutes every hour? It isn't even that much. Here's how you do it:

Every time you arrive in a new star system, you click on each planet (except the one where the plot is clearly labeled). Look at the scanner. Moderate? Go elsewhere. Rich? Sink ten to fifteen probes into the planet and move on when it gets down to Moderate (unless you find Ezo, in which case you get it all). By the time you recruit Tali and get the last ship upgrade, you will already have more than enough of every Mineral.

And on the second playthrough, where you get a big pile of starting Minerals? You barely have to do any scanning at all. You can get almost all of the ship upgrades out of the initial batch, and the weapon/armor upgrades you never even notice their cost if you use the above "rich planet only" method.

Anyway, considering how quick and easy it was, I don't understand why everyone hates the planet scanning so much. Thoughts?

And don't say the Mako. The Mako had nothing to do with planet scanning. In ME1, you scanned a planet (and got it's resources) by clicking on it once. And then you didn't do anything with the resources anyway (except get a tiny amount of money and xp).

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I didn't like the gameplay, story, or characters, felt it was padded, and it ended with a cliffhanger

However, if you've played it all the way through and didn't like it, I don't see how I could convince you. And why would you want me to?

I'm asking you to explain why you think it's in your top 5 best video games, because I honestly have no idea

Excuse me, but I believe I just did (in my previous post). My reasons were gameplay, story, and characters... which you just said you didn't like.

Your "convince me" OP is antagonistic - you're basically asking us to give you things that you can complain about. I say what I like, you say those things aren't good. So why should I waste my time?

 

[trooper6]

well what don't you like about it?>

I didn't like the gameplay, story, or characters, felt it was padded, and it ended with a cliffhanger

However, if you've played it all the way through and didn't like it, I don't see how I could convince you. And why would you want me to?

I'm asking you to explain why you think it's in your top 5 best video games, because I honestly have no idea

Hm. I liked if for the gameplay, the story, the characters, that it didn't feel padded, and the great cliffhanger.

So...it looks like we are at an impasse.

 

[DustyDrB]

Anyway, considering how quick and easy it was, I don't understand why everyone hates the planet scanning so much. Thoughts?

You have to scan a good bit more the first time you play Mass Effect 2. It's a very small amount of time still, and hardly anything on subsequent playthroughs. But it's still a bad design decision. What does it add to the game? Maybe it forces players to explore more, then they discover more side missions. But I don't think that's why it was put into the game.

I do still prefer it to the Mako, though. I don't see what anyone got out of riding around on dull, barren planets. You spend more time driving the Mako in the first game than you do scanning planets in the second game. But both were bad design decisions.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

To confirm credibility, this isn't really the place. I loved ME2 but it might very well be not your cup of tea. If you thought it was whack, hey man that's your interpretation of the game.