The Mass Effect Minority

[Agayek]

Um ok. Your opinion is your opinion. Im glad you liked the first and sad u dislike the second.

I loved both games. I played the 2nd one twice and then tried to go back to the first and just couldn't do it. There is just too much micromanaging to do that takes away from the game. The 2nd pretty much improved on everything minus the planet scanning. I love the new characters and hope that they blend characters from both games in the 3rd. Honestly, Mass Effect 2 is the best game i have ever played and love everything about it.

Im not arguing with you as its just two different opinions but I have to say I hope they keep most of the changes for ME3 and only tweak a few things.

Basically this, except for one thing: Thermal clips and loading screens can go die.

Elevators > Loading screens, especially since there was occasionally some rather hilarious dialogue in them.

And Thermal clips are just unnecessary. It's pointless and would have been much better to just keep the overheat mechanic from the first game.

Agreed..... well almost. I hate planet scanning!! i'm rather curious why they even implemented that into the game. They should have based the upgrades on XP or credits or simply just doing side missions.

Planet scanning in and of itself is fine, IMO. It's a mindless grind, but there's really not a whole lot of other ways to go about it without just saying "Here, take these upgrades".

The real problem with it is the probes. They should have made it so you either had unlimited probes (maybe each launch costs a handful of credits), which is my preferred solution, or put something to buy probes from in each system. It's retarded to have to leave a system, fly back to the Relay system, buy all the probes and come back. It's not all that uncommon for me to do that at least once for a single planet. It's nothing but mindless busywork with absolutely no reward and just serves to stretch out the end play-time.

 

[Jaranja]

I hated Mass Effect so much. It was just incredibly boring in every aspect.

I loved Mass Effect 2, though. Everything was improved from the first game.

 

[HolidayBrick]

I don't enjoy 3PSs, so I was amazed when I liked Mass Effect, but when I learned that the new one was revamping the combat into a fully cover based shooter with less RPG, I gave up all hope. I won't buy it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I know when I dislike a game with a passion, the first thing I do is head back and play it a couple more times. It adds veracity to my forum rants.

Life's too long as it is, people. Fill it with things you hate!

 

[Loop Stricken]

I agree with the ammo powers, do not want. I agree mostly with your dislike of the crew but Thane? Shallow? I think not.

I didn't mind the elevators; I liked the dialogue. The one in the Normandy was a pain in the arse mind.

 

[GuiltBlade]

Whilst i agree with almost everything you said in terms of flaws in the gameplay, i wholeheartedly disagree with you about the story. It just kept sucking me in like no game has since KOTOR. Of course, the story is all about personal taste i suppose.
And hey, i bet you're still going to buy Mass Effect 3 aren't you?

unfortunately your probably right, although I wont be pre-ordering this time.
What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Well, there's a reason you're in a minority: I respectfully disagree with almost every single thing you said. I could rant, but I won't. Just fyi: this is an example of a game being popular because it's good.

Indeed, I get the impression that ME 2 will turn into one of those games that people hate because it's 'cool' not to like popular, i.e. good, games.

 

[Mushroomfreak111]

Hm, this thread has caused me to decide I'm going to finish ME1. I'm just now looking at the menu screen =). Then I want to borrow ME2 from a friend (cant afford to buy...) and try it, to make up an opinion of my own, cause I'm so impressed that someone had so much negative to say about it! (my brain has long since overloaded with almost fan-boyish glorification of ME2)

Also, I don't think incendiary rounds are what I used to think it was, seeing as it now is "shooting with fire"? =/

 

[Thaius]

Well, there's a reason you're in a minority: I respectfully disagree with almost every single thing you said. I could rant, but I won't. Just fyi: this is an example of a game being popular because it's good.

Indeed, I get the impression that ME 2 will turn into one of those games that people hate because it's 'cool' not to like popular, i.e. good, games.

Sigh, it happens far too often, but I agree. Soon enough it will join the ranks of Halo, Final Fantasy, and many more... Except ME2 seems to be even more obviously and objectively well-made than those. Sigh...

 

[Bob_Bobbington]

While I like Mass Effect 2, I have to agree with the stupid squad ammo powers. One thing that I think they really improved is how the armour is now modular, but the lack of weapons is kind of a downside. Also, where the hell did all my powers go? Now as an infiltrator I have about 2 helpful powers, but can only use one because all my points are going into ammo mods. The planet probing isn't that big of a deal breaker for me and most of the characters are interesting enough to grab my attention.

Also, on thermal clips, give me more of them for my hand cannon.

 

[Pingieking]

I will agree and disagree with numerous points.

1) I think the problem of having too many actions for one button is a carry-over from the fact that Bioware is more of a PC oriented developer. I thought the controls were great on the PC, basically the same as Mass Effect 1, except that "e", "space", and "shift" were switched around.
2) Yes, the switching munitions thing and the total power cool-down is pretty bad. It needs to go back to the old way, where each power has its own cool-down timer. And munitions shouldn't be a power, it should be an inventory style upgrade available only when that party member is present.
3) I didn't mind the planet scanning thing. I do see why people hate them though. I would too, if I had to do it with a controller (so much easier with a mouse).
4) Agreed with the weapons. There was basically no weapons management aside from picking the heavy weapon.
5) I had no problems with the story. It wasn't an improvement over the first game, but since it is the second game of a trilogy I expected worse (the second part of any trilogy always has the worse story).
6) I thought the characters were great. I didn't like them, but that's precisely what made them great. I wanted to hate all the Cerberus people. I enjoyed loathing Illusive Man's existence. I loved hating Miranda's whining. I thought Cerberus was a completely detestable organization, and Bioware created characters that drove that home.

7) This one is spaced out because I think it's the most important one.

Moral choice is no longer as clear cut, while Shepard needs to do morally ambiguous deeds now it often feels like the game is driving Shepard into one of two personalities. Theres no real room for role playing. Your either a sadistic murderer, or a well trained lap dog.

Yes, I agree. However, I don't see this as a negative.
Mass Effect has always been about Shepard and his/her story. The story progression (and by extension, the moral choices) was always designed to be fairly linear. There isn't a whole lot of room for role-playing because quite simply, this story really isn't about what you want it to be. Bioware already has a storyline and identity set out for Shepard, what you control are merely the details. You get to choose, to a certain extent, who lives and who dies. You get to choose how Shepard handles his/her relationships. But you don't have full control over the character.
Mass Effect sits between a TPS and a RPG, without being either one. You do more than just play the game through Shepard, but you don't get to play as Shepard.

 

[TheTaco007]

So I played the first one, and loved it. (Almost done my second playthrough, though I have 3-4 characters all 1/4th of the way through the game.) And I'm watching someone do a playthrough of ME2, as I want to finish this second playthrough, that way I can get a Sentinel to carry over into ME2, but from what I've seen so far, I've got mixed feelings. I think it looks a lot more like a generic shooter *coughgearsofwarcough*, and I wholeheartedly agree that there are a LOT of little things that need to be changed (ex: Planet scanning, ammo types as powers, etc.). However, was that not also true of the first ME? Mako missions are giving me indigestion, and there have been 4 incidents where I've just finished an insanely difficult fight, only to find I'm stuck in the floor somehow, crouching out of it doesn't work, and I have to restart from the last save (Which for some stupid reason is always like half an hour ago instead of maybe a minute or two). And yet ME was still a good game. I agree with you that the new plot is really dumb (from what I've seen). Furthermore, the "waiting to recharge my omni-tool after using biotics" issue, yeah, that's unrealistic, but so is hiding under a table in order to heal from a bullet wound to the face! It's a video game!

All in all, every major game out there is going to have problems, and so does ME2. However, this is not going to stop me from buying this game.

 

[archvile93]

I enjoyed it more than the original. Not because of the streamlined system (which I did enjoy, though felt the game was no longer an RPG, I can see your argument there), but rather because the friendly AI was only retarded instead of braindead.

 

[Macflash]

I didn't really like ME1, it felt like KOTOR but for the xbox. Force powers were barely disguised as "biotic" and all the powers were just different ways to make enemies fall down, and laugh at them. all the guns looked the same, so it didn't matter that there were 25 different shotguns, because they all behaved the exactly same way. The inventory system was overly cumbersome, and the money was basically useless because you couldn't buy anything good (better weapons, armor, or medpacks).

The teammate ai was f***ing retarded, so any improvement there would be welcome. It felt like they removed the micromanaging of KOTOR but didn't actually put in any ai. So teamates just followed you and shot, sometimes, but never went into cover or got out of your way.
I think ME2 is an improvement over ME1 because its a bit more original (since its less KOTOR...) and it has fixed some of the problems of the original.

And honestly you found the tedious dialogues of the first game interesting? I had to skip through them constantly to avoid falling asleep.

and one last note here, ME1 = realtime KOTOR (beating a dead horse here)

 

[thenamelessloser]

Funny, I think the topic post is pretty accurate but I still enjoyed ME2 greatly. One thing I disagree with though is the conversations choices, they are no worse than KOTOR, Mass Effect 1, and Jade Empire. The only Bioware console game that had better choices was Dragon Age. Also, most of the characters weren't that bad. The character who I found lame was Jack... Do agree, that the last party member you could get should have been in the game earlier... Also, found the story to be fine...

 

[Baconmonster723]

I can agree with you on inventory. Adding things to weapons and having a diverse array to choose from really wasn't that bad. However, I didn't mind the new weapon setup that much either. I would simply have preferred more choice like you said. Also squad AI is rather irritating to me. I can't tell you how many times during Praetorian fights Garrus would think it's funny as hell to run right up to it as I drop it's barrier just so it will fall to the ground and refill the barrier. I do miss the Mako though...

However, I will respectfully disagree on a couple things as well. I disagree with a few other items but I understand they are just personal preference. Such as dialogue. I have never had that much of an issue with it because well, I am a Paragon, I need no other dialogue.

Having said that I disagree wholeheartedly with the abilities rant. Why should I, as a soldier, be allowed to pop adrenline rush and Barrier (that is my added talent). If I could do that on insanity I would not have to take cover, it balances the game out. It may not make sense from a technical standpoint, but as a long time player of WOW, I fully support some sort of Global Cooldown. Also, the rant about the ammo, really in this instance it was somewhat poorly implmented, but the ammo thing really isn't a big deal. The squad AI isn't great. Therefore, as a Soldier who has basically every type of ammo I know that after I hit Hardcore and Insanity my squad is about as useful as poopy flavored lolly pop (thank you Rip Torn). Single Ammo is much better anyway, you end up doing far more damage than if you had given your squadmates the power.

Also, will people stop complaining about thermal clips. That is probably the best addition they made to gameplay. It might not make a ton of sense lore wise (although I believe it does), but at least this game wasn't about spraying around with your guns hoping to hit the target without consequence. No more easy-mode, I'm definately ok with that.

Basically the way I see it is, Bioware gave us some old characters that we love, gave us some new characters that we also love (here's looking at you Legion), and a fairly engulfing story. They made gameplay harder (no more easy-mode), both deliberately (thermal clips and Global Cooldowns) and accidentally (just awful squad AI). And to top it all off, this is one of the funniest games I've played in a very long time (Easter Egg wise).

Like has been stated this is a game that people like because it is good, it isn't just "good" because of the title it's not Halo, it's not Uncharted, it's not Fable (all are mediocre IMHO). However, OP I think you understand this. That is why you have played it 3 times. You may not love it, it may never be one of your favorite games. You may have some issues with it on the whole, however, even if you refuse to admit it you do understand that it is a good game. There is a reason people still play Starcraft: Brood War today, because it's good. I know I will be playing Mass Effect at some point 8 years from now. Because it's good.

As Yahtzee says, there are two types of games, games that you stop playing because you become bored or frustrated to the point of rigormortis, and games you stop playing because you realized you should have had dinner two hours ago. This game falls in the latter. (LUH YOU YAHTZEE)

 

[DustyDrB]

I miss the inventory system from the first game, honestly. I really don't see why people had such a hard time with this. You pick a gun, press X, pick a powerup, press A, you're done. Sell what you don't need and make money. I miss being able to customize armor and weapons. I really miss being able to choose my squad's armor. Stupid whiners.

Gotta disagree with you on the morality system, though. My Shepard was a paragon who didn't bow to the whims of Cerberus, didn't automatically trust what he was told by anyone, and who made sure it was known HE was in charge. He wasn't a jerk though. Though the mission was first, he valued the lives of his squad, wanted to do right by them, and went out of his way to help others.

I'm not going to whine about load screens, since I usually do something else during the wait anyway. It's really just not a big deal.

Several of my teammates had weapons powers, but I never ran into the problem of them overriding mine (Warp ammo). I don't know how that happens to you and not me, but my guns kept that beautiful purple glow.

The planetary scans were tedious. Agreed. It didn't bother me that much because I did it little bits at a time, but why have this? It's just not fun at all.

[spoilers]The characters, with a few exceptions, I thought were exceptional. Many are easy to hate if you don't get to know them, but reveal depth when you engage them in dialogue (kind of how people are in real life). The only exceptions are Grunt and Zaeed, both Alpha male who seem to only think about killing. Grunt's is somewhat justified since he's technically a newborn who was created to be a warrior. Zaeed is just one-note and uninteresting. You can't even have a conversation with him (He'll tell you about the stuff in his room, which all has to do with killing), and his loyalty mission reveals little else about him other than he was a merc group founder. The rest (even Jack and Jacob) are well conceived characters with interesting backstories and depth.

As for the plot, I enjoyed the story of the Collectors. It showed that the Reapers are still an imminent threat and have a lot more pawns than just geth (who, by the way, could show up in a big way in the 3rd installment depending on your Legion loyalty mission choices). It also showed that they see humanity as a threat that needs to be dealt with in a more specific manner than the rest of the races.[/spoilers]
I don't know how the plot doesn't make sense. Clarify?

Nice to know that not everyone here has bandwagon blinders on.
I haven't played so I won't comment on the actual game, because I have no idea. I don't like shooters, in such this game didn't have any appeal to me.

I do foresee a torrent of hate coming your way (which is unfortunate, since your piece is well-versed and comes from direct experience with the game). Good luck with everything!

You are going on about every ME thread to make your distaste for the series known. But I guess it is annoying for someone who doesn't care for the games to see 70 new threads a minute on those games (half of which are threads on Tali, just one character in the game. I mean I'm a fan of Tali, but geez). So, fair enough.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

You need to organise your powers and squad better, you shouldn't have to swap between ammo types during a fight.

Have someone with Warp or Incendiary ammo, use Overload against Shields and synthetics, Warp against armour and Biotic barriers and most importantly, control your tema's powers yourself as the friendly AI is utterly dumb.

I'm currently on the final mission on hardcore difficulty, and have not had to change ammo type during a battle once.

I use a Sentinel, with Miranda for extra Shield/Barrier/Armour damage, and Grunt or Mordin for fiery burning death. No situation is unpassable with this setup.