Why I Didn't Like Mass Effect 2

[Vault101]

Oh god here we go.....

all Ill say is that I think ME2 cut out stuff that wasn't really neccicary, managing your squads gear added nothing to he game, as for the plot well yes it wasn't exactally that complex but it still draws you in, and the ME world felt more fleshed out

really I fail to see how removing certain things "dumbs down" the game, you still shot stuff in the first

anyway I like ME2 way better than ME1 and I don't think theres any need to argue this further, if everyone here was a geth I would glady rewire them to love both games but that can't happen

 

[Weaver]

I just hated the removal of equipment. Yes they all had TWO they could chose from, but I really missed specing out my team.

The inventory system in ME1 is one of the greatest atrocities visited upon mankind though. I mean seriously, comparing and upgrading to better items sent you sludging through so many Menus it was ridiculous. I would have liked a good user interface and some amount of equipment, but I would much prefer having a few upgradable items via a streamlined, and fairly shallow system, then one that was as agonizing as they origindally had.

I thought the menu system in ME1 was alright. I played it on PC, don't know if it's different or what you played it on.

Regardless, the solution to a bad equipment menu shouldn't be "remove equipment" it should be "make a better menu".

 

[VulakAerr]

Everyone's got a right to their own opinion. Yours just happens to conflict with the vast majority of reviewers and fans. That's not to say yours is any less valid to me, but unless there's a serious amount of backlash, do you really see Bioware sitting up and taking notice?

For me, Mass Effect 2 was my favourite game of recent years, perhaps ever. Why? Because I feel a good connection with Shepard and I felt like I was playing a role. I felt like the characters were real and flawed and nobody annoyed me as much as the religious-right, racist douche that is Ashley Williams.

It's personal preference, admittedly, and you can't please everyone all the time, but for me and many others, ME and ME2 will always be gaming experiences I treasure and revisit. They are that good. I'm only sorry you're not getting as much out of these games as I do.

 

[Vrex360]

Part of me does agree with you, especially about the balancing and characters in Mass Effect 1. I can't really comment on the 'gameplay' side of any of this because I never care about gameplay anyway and playing Shepard as just a straight up soldier is good enough for me.
So story is my only angle whenever I talk about Mass Effect in general.

I certainly agree with your assessment of the character of Ashley Williams. Her development over the story that could be central to her character (if you the player get involved with it) and it's true, her character really is tragically misunderstood by the majority of players. She's seriously got to be one of my favorite characters in gaming, let alone Mass Effect for just that reason that she was an almost perfect recreation of a human being, flaws and all. It's funny though, people complain about the lack of flawed humanized characters in games then complain that the ones they get aren't likeable.

I also think the romances were much to shallow, and plus given that they ran out of things to say if you didn't romance them, that's a total of six out of the original ten squad members running out of things to talk about the second 'boning' is no longer on the menu. I dunno, in Mass Effect 1 they just felt better. Especially the Ashley one given that it can literally get started in even the earliest parts of the game, you didn't have to wait for a loyalty mission to be able to romance her.

Also, the fact that the majority of the game is spent doing loyalty missions meant that the actual story (stop the Collectors) felt like it was being pushed to the side. I mean you need at least eight missions to recruit all the original team then another ten to get all their loyalties. None of which have any bearing whatsoever to the main plot, with the obvious exception of Legion's 'recruitment'. The fact that I literally spent more time fighting random anyonymous mercs then I did fight Collectors made the whole idea of them being the galaxies new 'big bads' ultimatley laughable.

Also, why did almosy EVERY SINGLE LOYALTY MISSION have to be a gunfight? They got really tiresome really fast and after a while I just slipped into a trance, with only Samara's and Thane's really sticking out as significant. Well, also Grunt's because it meant I got to hang out with Wrex again but still...

Everything about the Mass Effect 2 story felt like just filler. Like between the defeat of Sovereign and the Return of the Reapers, Commander Shepard just potters around for twenty odd hours.

For what its worth, the gameplay was fun (not that I cared) the graphics were great and the characters were well imagined and thoughtfully fleshed out (even if my two favorites from the last game Ashley and Wrex are absent from the team) and there's no denying that the final mission gives me a chill and goosebumps every time.
Even if I ultimatley didn't want to romance anyone (I will win Ashley's heart back damn it) and found the story pacing to be a bit off at times I still admit I had fun with it. Mass Effect 2 is a great, well polished game.
However, it was Mass Effect 1 that I fell in love with in the first place, and like it or not, Mass Effect 2 just lacks the original's charm in some places.
Partly by cramming in a way too huge cast, partly by abandoning the beautiful and vibrant colorful world for a dark angsty one and partly by pushing to the side two characters I absolutely fell in love with (Wrex and Ash, one was my badass and one was my love interest... see if you can guess which was which).

So ultimatley, for nostalgia's sake I still got to go with Mass Effect 1. Sure it wasn't as polished, but I played that game at least twenty times. I've only played through Mass Effect 2 twice, and I haven't even gotten any of the DLC's.

 

[lokialex]

Haha everything you mentioned being wrong with Mass Effect 2 I agree 100% but... I still loved it, partly because in my main playthrough Shepard is a really hot girl.
The main reason though is that the story is just so epic! And it becomes even more epic since you really become attached to your character and other characters in the game, I mean I feel like I'm best friends with Joker and Tali now after having spent over 40 hours saving the world with them.
And man I can not wait for Mass Effect 3. I hope they create some truly awesome characters and bring back Liara, I was so pissed that she didn't wanna join in ME2

P.S. How epic was it when you were reunited with Garrus in ME2?! That was probably the high point of the game for me... *sigh*

 

[theevilsanta]

Mass Effect. I have a lot to say on this. Most of it can be summed up something like this:

Bioware RPGs other than Mass Effect - made for adults

Mass Effect 1 and especially 2 - made for thirteen year olds

I don't have a huge problem with this. They're great games. But Dragon Age is leagues better for anyone with a driver's license.

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

I liked that they didn't change the visual style of ME1, just updated it. I liked the combat better, liked the classes better, liked the fact that the side missions were better designed, and that inventory was streamlined. I also liked some of the characters better.

However, I didn't like that the combat felt more repetitive, that there wasn't such a lot of variety in the selection of powers available to your squad, that "renegade" options in battle were really just the sensible option in some cases (like shooting the mech), and the fact that it felt a lot more linear.

My hope for ME3 is that they strike a nice balance of what I liked about the two games. Neither game was perfect, and each had their unique flaws, but I enjoyed both thoroughly.

 

[Skratt]

It's funny. Reading through the OP and some other posts, the reasons they hated ME2 are the reasons I loved it a bit more than the first. I hated the Mako, I hated the unwieldy inventory system. I would also have to disagree that the game was a big shooting gallery. I stopped to talk to and listen to many side conversations. I also tried to play the game to have it flow more like a movie, so I found myself skipping some "investigation" dialogues because I felt that it would have caused a bump in the pacing. That being said, I still managed to play for almost 30 hours, and I only mined about 15 planets, maybe a few more, so total of an hour and a half perhaps? I'll take that over the Mako exploring any day.

Needless to say, I enjoyed the hell out of both games and hope they make ME3 just as good. Just my opinion though. Can't please everybody right?

 

[Joseph Harrison]

Although you did bring up a valid point with Jacob, although I always thought he was supposed to be kinda bland, dunno why. But if you could give some mor specific examples for some of your topics and most of your arguments are just opinions. I agree with some of your ideas but I still love Mass Effect so everyone's different I guess.