Why I Didn't Like Mass Effect 2

[ShadowsofHope]

All opinions valid to some point or another, I am one of the one's that enjoyed Mass Effect 2 enough for a GOTY mention. No, it wasn't perfect. Yes, it was a little more shooter orientated than Mass Effect 1. Yes, parts of the RPG experience were cut in favor of more shooter elements. No, the RPG elements existing within the game where top notch, but not perfect either. Yes, the story was shorter, but it was also an intermediary between the first and the third upcoming game. It did it's job, and was meant to be a shorter run. And yes, the characters were very well designed and fleshed out overall. In my opinion.

That's about all I will say about it, here.

 

[Mimssy]

I agree with the Miranda complaint. I loathed everything about her. Never once could I like her.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

I'm convinced that if you merged the two games together, you would reach Nirvana and consequently rip a whole in the space-time continuum.

Pros ME1:
More morale dilemmas and choices
One single villain for audiences to fight against
(Saren made for a very powerful antagonist)
Ending (Everything after landing on Ilos)

Pros ME2:
More involving and strategic combat
Deep character development and backstories
Good graphics, but in this day and age that's not saying much
An outstanding soundtrack
Very climactic and emotionally gripping ending
Very good camera work that makes for dramatic cutscenes that I actually want to watch.

Everything preceding Ilos in Mass Effect 1 (Excluding Eden Prime) was very stale and repetitive from a gameplay point of view, but the characters and story (mostly) made up for this.

Mass Effect 2 greatly improved on the gameplay portion of the game, but we seemed to have lost a fair amount of those colorful characters we enjoyed punching/threatening along the way.

But I still prefer Mass Effect 2.

 

[Kakashi on crack]

I'm not going to go into detail about why I prefer Mass Effect 1, as I've argued the point about 100 times in the last month, and time after time been attacked by ME2 fans, so I'll just put it this way: You make some good points, and you make some bad points.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

snip

OK, I'm confused. I'm not sure what the purpose of this topic is. Why should I, or anyone else for that matter, care about your opinions of Mass Effect 2? I liked it. A lot of other people like it. You don't. Are you surprised that your opinion differs from the majority? Because simple logic dictates that this is no unnatural occurrence. I mean, you can theoretically flip a coin ten times and get "heads" each one, but that doesn't mean that that coin is actually more likely to land on heads. Since the physical properties of the coin haven't changed, it is obviously still a 50-50 chance, no matter how many times it lands on "heads". This applies to your Mass Effect 2 problem as well, in that no matter how many OTHER people enjoy the game, that doesn't make it any more likely that you will enjoy it.

So I ask again, what's your point?

 

[CupboardNinja]

Yeah, I really disliked Mass Effect 2. All the aspects felt disjointed. You'd go to talk to people, walk into a room and all of a sudden it became a shooter, just randomly. The whole game was pretty much go here, talk to some people for a bit, then shoot some aliens, over and over. The dialogue was pretty boring, especially when you talked to people like Jake, who, like you said was really dull. The load screens were also pretty terrible.
And I never felt like I was in a world. On the ship, it felt like I was just in a set of rooms with a night-time wallpaper outside the windows. You'd go the places like the Citadel and it'd be just a bunch of blank rooms full of people talking. There was no sense of culture or atmosphere.

 

[Freechoice]

It wasn't perfect. End of story.

And yet the scores seemed to indicate otherwise. All in all, I think Mass Effect 2 is like Halo and Call of Duty in the same vein; they are competent in everything, but very unimaginative. They're sequels to games that pushed the envelope in something and the designers didn't have anything new to really add aside from a few novelties and touch-ups. The praise is rather undue because it doesn't do anything very interesting aside from the loyalty missions.

However, I will say that the Kasumi DLC was and is the best thing to happen to Mass Effect, evar.

 

[scorptatious]

My only hate with ME2 was that Garrus would never finish his dang calibrations!

I mean seriously he only has 2 times when he actually talks to you! the rest is Sidonis and calibrations!

To be fair, most of his character was established in the first game. Although I can agree that he could have had more lines of dialogue. The Shadow Broker DLC could've been a great opportunity for that considering Garrus and Liara both worked with Shepard in the first game.

As for what I think of ME2, I personally loved it. I liked seeing some of the results of some of the choices I've made in the first game. No matter how big or small.

I did like how the gameplay is more user friendly, even if it is a bit simplified compared to the first game. No more annoying cluttered inventory that I'll have to clean out later to make room for other stuff.

I can agree that the game could've had more RPG elements like in the last game. For example, upgrading individual stats every time you gained a level or buying different kinds of armor for you and your squadmates. And I really hope some of that comes back in ME3.

I can also partially agree about the game's story. While I didn't think ME2's main plot was nearly as bad as many people say it is, I do think it's kind of lacking compared to ME1's plot.

 

[Nifarious]

I find it hard to argue that the characters were more developed in ME1 than in ME2. Perhaps some had a crisper development arc than others, but the larger cast allows the player to customize their company. The writing in the conversations was vivid, entertaining, and much less mundane than what characters had to say in ME1. I guess I can see that some people could appreciate Ash, but everything that came out of her mouth made me just want to pistol whip her...
But without taking up every little thing, the reason why ME2 is so important is that it puts your entire party and even yourself at risk. Anyone can die, which is something very seldom seen in games which have a restart/load button. Adding a real element of risk to the play takes games to the next level. The risk is more than a potential loss of time played, like subtracting exp points for a death. You get to forge the story yourself.
And yes, the connections between ME1 and ME2 were a disappointment, but one can still hold out hope.

 

[Lorenzo Alexander]

I find it hard to argue that the characters were more developed in ME1 than in ME2. Perhaps some had a crisper development arc than others, but the larger cast allows the player to customize their company. The writing in the conversations was vivid, entertaining, and much less mundane than what characters had to say in ME1. I guess I can see that some people could appreciate Ash, but everything that came out of her mouth made me just want to pistol whip her...
But without taking up every little thing, the reason why ME2 is so important is that it puts your entire party and even yourself at risk. Anyone can die, which is something very seldom seen in games which have a restart/load button. Adding a real element of risk to the play takes games to the next level. The risk is more than a potential loss of time played, like subtracting exp points for a death. You get to forge the story yourself.
And yes, the connections between ME1 and ME2 were a disappointment, but one can still hold out hope.

Let me stop you right there.

Only at the end, you don't get points for being crazy original for killing characters when it only happens at the end. I felt far far far more risk in fire emblem where characters could really die in combat and I'd lose them forever.

Mass effect was a bunch of resource hunting and loyalty mission fiddling to guarantee a 100% survival rate. When the ending isn't skill based and just needs some stats/convos jury rigged for a perfect run, I don't feel risk I feel the printed out pages of my strategy guide.

 

[Lonan]

Please do not mistake me for a troll, this is all purely my opinion, and I don't expect everyone to accept what I say as fact. I write this article because many many reviewers and gamers keep declaring Mass Effect as the GOTY and in fact the most definitive role playing game of this generation. And I keep wondering whether everyone else played the same game I did. I look back at my experience with Mass Effect 2 and remember a deep, yet also exhausting and in some places flat out dull RPG.

I loved Mass Effect 1, and listed below are reasons why the sequel simply didn't do it for me;

CHARACTERS
Mass Effect 1 had fewer characters, but in my opinion most of them were better developed than those in Mass Effect 2 (if less 'out there') and none of them annoyed the tits off me. Many people didn't like Ashley Williams, saying she was stupid and racist, but those were part of the reasons that I liked her (not that I condone racism at all). Ash was a flawed, human character. She got angry, jealous, but also had a softer goofy side that her family bought out, and she felt true affection for Shepard throughout the game. And after her character was developed, you find out her racism towards aliens is the sort of shallow racism that dissipitates when you really get to know someone. Her and Kaiden Alenko who was also human and likeable formed a very big contrast to the two main human companions in Mass Effect 2; Jacob and Miranda.
JACOB: The main problem with Jacob is that he's dull. Really dull. It's not that he's dull coz he doesn't have a SUPER AWESOME LOL OMG HES A MURDERER backstory, like say Jack, because a good character doesn't have to have really weird stuff happen to them as long as they are humanised. Jacob wasn't. He had one emotion, a sort of cold professionalism that was only broken through once when he meets his father and gets angry. I'm fairly sure when they were working out the character ideas for ME2 they wrote next to Jacobs name 'He's Black.' There was just no depth to him, no dimensions, just that stupid handshake him and Shepard do when you exhaust all his dialogue, (that still makes me laugh).
MIRANDA: Miranda was deeper than Jacob. She had a well developed backstory, more than one emotion, it's just unfortunate that whenever she showed her emotions she pissed me off. Basically all she did was whine about how she was perfect... I know girls like that in real life, and their just as annoying in video games. Bioware could have done a better job of making Miranda conflicted without being a whiner. But instead whenever she wasn't pulling her cold tough gal 'I don't need men' act, she was complaining.

This isn't to say I didn't like all the characters in ME2, I liked how Garrus (who was probably the most cliched character in ME1) was made more unpredictable and conflicted. And yes like everyone else, I thought Thane was a badass

GAMEPLAY
I know everyones already harped on that resource collecting thing so i won't go into depth, but needless to say, it sucked.
And while the combat was refined, it seemed to replace many of the diplomatic encounters in the original game. In ME2 Most of the Planets with main missions, and all the NE7 side missions just decsended into mindless shooting galleries with little to no room for exploration or dialogue. In the original ME1 a traditional scenario would be to break into an enemy base, shoot up some bad guys, find a group of survivors, talk, help them out or ignore them or kill them etc. ME2 gets up to teh shooting bad guys, but completely omits the survivors, talking and characterisation. This really just wore the game away to its bare bones for me, and made it more reminiscent of a repeptitive third person shooter than a RPG.

TONE
This is probably the pettiest of all my complaints, but I never like it when an epic game dripping with discovery and new begginings takes a turn down the angsty highway. Surely a company as talented as Bioware can think of another tone for the game.

CHOICES
There just weren't as many to make, and none of the choices from the first game felt weighty. Ok i chose Kaiden to die! I wonder how that'll affect the game! Oh Ash just appears for five minutes calls me a dick and walks away... I wonder what happens if I choose Ash to die! Oh Kaiden just appears for five minutes calls me a dick and walks away... Hey at least I managed to save Wrex! Oh he just appears for five minutes and has almost identical dialogue to the Krogan who appears if Wrex died...
And since most of the game is just shooting, there were fewer meaningful choices to make outside of the final mission (which I did actually quite enjoy). And even then the choices I made in the final mission will only effect the 3rd game, rather than ME2

So there are my reasons that I didn't like ME2. Please comment enlightening me as to why you thought the game was an orgasmic experience of jesus proportions, or why you were underwhelmed, or engage in a healthy debate about my points
Thank you, and remember this is all my opinion

I skipped the side quests in ME1, and then ME2 came out two days later, and skipped them too. It was an orgasmic experience. It turns out that the choices in ME1 matter, but I didn't miss anything for skipping them in ME2. When I did a replay it was really boring, yes. Mass Effect 1 had all sorts of surprises if you replayed it, but not ME2. I skipped the planet scanning (or did very little) my first run through, so I was fine. Two people died for me, but I put Thane in the vents. Thought he was going to die in 6 months anyway, so it didn't matter, but then I remembered Legion. I also skipped going around talking too people, everyone except Miranda.

As for just shooting in side missions, I must agree. It turns out the side missions are important in ME1, as I went into ME2 not knowing who Cerberus was. I found myself agreeing and loving the Illusive Man the whole way through, and then I played the side missions of ME1 and thought he was a disgusting bastard.

I don't know about this angst. Could you clarify?

As for choices, I completely agree, to save programming time, they put all choices into the same cut scene. Then they slightly changed each one depending on what you're choice was. It certainly didn't make going back to make a new save file worth it.

Personally I think the amazing final mission is what made it so great for everyone. Can you really tell me you didn't get goosebumps when you saw the reapers coming?

 

[archvile93]

Wrex was the only good character in ME1, Garrus had too little screen time and had yet to become Dirty Harry in Space. Liara was depressingly boring, Kaiden was stale bread, Ashley was both an ignorant racist yet also someone who believed that everything had a place in the universe because of some God being. Not a clever dichotomy, mind you, just contradictory characterization.

I agree on gameplay, too much of ME2 was shooting gallerys and mining.

ME2 was just another game that tried this whole 'dark' trend and failed. I liked ME2, but it failed, the same way Dragon Age was not a 'dark' fantasy rpg. Changing the colour scheme and making the theme music more threatening doesn't make a more haunting atmosphere.

To be honest, I never expected much to come of the choices. The crew members that survived my ME1 play did exactly what I expected: showed up, delivered 5 minutes of dialogue and said bye.
That's what'll happen with all the crew members from ME2 in ME3, because they aren't going to bring in a voice actor to record an entire game of dialogue when there's a chance some will never hear it. I don't think all the choices I made in the last two games to drastically alter the game's outcome.

I could swear I heard that your surviving squadmates would return as squadmates in 3. I can't even remember where I heard that though, so it's not very reliable.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

snip

OK, I'm confused. I'm not sure what the purpose of this topic is. Why should I, or anyone else for that matter, care about your opinions of Mass Effect 2? I liked it. A lot of other people like it. You don't. Are you surprised that your opinion differs from the majority? Because simple logic dictates that this is no unnatural occurrence. I mean, you can theoretically flip a coin ten times and get "heads" each one, but that doesn't mean that that coin is actually more likely to land on heads. Since the physical properties of the coin haven't changed, it is obviously still a 50-50 chance, no matter how many times it lands on "heads". This applies to your Mass Effect 2 problem as well, in that no matter how many OTHER people enjoy the game, that doesn't make it any more likely that you will enjoy it.

So I ask again, what's your point?

Ahhh I remember you from a while ago, you went on a big rant similar to your post right here when I said I disliked Mass Effect.

Considering your arrogance you are either a Mass Effect fanatic or, judging from your posts everywhere you're just ignorant, plain and simple.

Hmm. Ok. First of all, I am not a "Mass Effect fanboy". In fact, if you look at my post, you'll find that nowhere do I say the OP is WRONG in his disliking of ME2. Just the opposite. My POINT was not that ME2 is some kind of perfect masterpiece(It certainly isn't, nor is the first game), it was that this topic doesn't really have any discussion value, since there's really nothing to say past "everyone's entitled to an opinion".

So unless you think that people aren't entitled to their opinions, I'm not sure where you get off calling me arrogant or ignorant. I don't think I badmouthed you or the OP, so I'm not sure why you felt the need to insult me. Maybe you've misinterpreted my tone, but I assure you, I'm not angry at the OP for disliking ME2, or you for disliking ME1. If I gave you that impression, I'm honestly sorry, albeit a bit confused.

So, to recap: The only point I've ever been trying to get across is that people are entitled to their opinions, I don't resent you or the OP for having an opinion different from mine, and frankly I'd like to know why you think I'm arrogant or ignorant.

 

[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.

 

[duchaked]

HAHAHAHAHAHA[snip]...

oh man I don't know why but the Garrus jokes just get to me (prob cuz I've encountered the situation in the game so many times)

cough

 

[MetaMop]

Shepard is very invasive, so much it's awkward and unconvincing.
Do people like this exist? A guy who strolls into your work place and says "Mind if I ask you a bunch of deeply personal questions?"
My closest friends don't just announce that they want to ask for my life story, let alone people I work with.

 

[CmdrGoob]

ME2 is a great improvement on ME1.

 

[Scout Tactical]

You're supposed to hate Miranda. I hated every second she was on screen and tried to get her killed. That's called character depth. Real people in real life are hateable. Miranda is the hateable character. I dunno why this should be a surprise for you, since you were demanding depth with Jacob. That doesn't make ME2 an inferior game.

I didn't like that I couldn't separate my use and -cling to wall- buttons as far as hotkeys went, but I got used to it. Other than that, I thought they were both pretty solid. In fact, I think ME2 shines with some really great characters. Thane, Mordin, and Legion all stuck out to me as immensely cool characters, and I ended up using Mordin most of the game, oftentimes just because I liked to hear him chime in and describe everything.

"Flammable! ...Or, not flammable? Forget which! Doesn't matter!"

 

[SovietSecrets]

So if I hated ME 1 does that mean I might like this?

Yes. I didn't like ME 1 until the end and I loved ME 2 all the way through. Awesome game.

 

[LebbyLegs]

snip

OK, I'm confused. I'm not sure what the purpose of this topic is. Why should I, or anyone else for that matter, care about your opinions of Mass Effect 2? I liked it. A lot of other people like it. You don't. Are you surprised that your opinion differs from the majority? Because simple logic dictates that this is no unnatural occurrence. I mean, you can theoretically flip a coin ten times and get "heads" each one, but that doesn't mean that that coin is actually more likely to land on heads. Since the physical properties of the coin haven't changed, it is obviously still a 50-50 chance, no matter how many times it lands on "heads". This applies to your Mass Effect 2 problem as well, in that no matter how many OTHER people enjoy the game, that doesn't make it any more likely that you will enjoy it.

So I ask again, what's your point?

I don't really have a point.
I just wanted to express my dislike for the game, and see why other people like it so much. Nothing more, nothing less