Mass Effect 2 Discussion

[Krookie]

Is anybody aggressively managing their Jerk/Sap status? My "playing it by ear but avoiding neutral options wherever reasonable" (the thinking being that both Jerk and Sap points are positives, so the only response to be avoided is the one that give you neither) has gotten me a little over halfway full on both meters, after having started with lots of Sap points and a few Jerk points from importing. This will probably hurt me later as poor meta-gaming (there have been a couple of coercion checks that I've missed so far), but I'd rather test the game out and criticize it later if meta-gaming Jerk/Sap points turns out to be important.

 

I do some renegade stuff when it seems fun, but for the bigger decisions I usually go paragon. The renegade quick time events are awesome, the paragon ones are almost always the same (taking a gun out of someones hand or something). I've pretty much maxed out the paragon meter and I'm probably 1/8 of the way up the renegade side.

 

I've had more problems deciding who to romance more than anything. I finally settled on Miranda.

[Deraldin]

Did anyone notice Tali saying "Go for the optics!", cracked me up.

I've run with Tali for most of my second playthrough after getting her ASAP. It made me smile whenever I heard it. Maybe I should go buy that space hamster...

 

I was over 25 hours into the game before I discovered that Shepard's cabin has its own bathroom.

 

Maybe the missions for Tali and Jacob will provide more balance. (Jack and Zaeed, less so.)

What? Shep's room has it's own bathroom?! How did I not notice that? I've put over 50 hours into the game across two runs so far and hadn't noticed it.

 

As for the second part,

No shooting unarmed civilians in either one. Tali's loyalty mission is by far my favourite one.

 

 

I just finished my second game. First time through was as a soldier, second time I went sentinel. Both on hardcore. I'm not sure if I want to move up to Insanity. Hardcore feels about right. Enemies don't seem to have huge amounts of health and use their abilities fairly well. Stepping out of cover will get you killed if you aren't quick.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Deraldin

[Nightshape]

Legion was a shock. I didn't expect a NPC from that faction at all. Genuinely enjoied that whole experience.

[Pop]

Is anybody aggressively managing their Jerk/Sap status? My "playing it by ear but avoiding neutral options wherever reasonable" (the thinking being that both Jerk and Sap points are positives, so the only response to be avoided is the one that give you neither) has gotten me a little over halfway full on both meters, after having started with lots of Sap points and a few Jerk points from importing. This will probably hurt me later as poor meta-gaming (there have been a couple of coercion checks that I've missed so far), but I'd rather test the game out and criticize it later if meta-gaming Jerk/Sap points turns out to be important.

Considering your number of alignment points double as your power meter for alignment actions (whose outcomes tend to be far more desirable than not) I just went full-bore for Paragon most of the time unless something really needed the angry response.

 

For one of your remaining loyalty missions your par/ren scores will be very, very important.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Pop

[GreasyDogMeat]

Just beat the game at 45 hours 40 minutes. Wow... what an awesome game! I can't wait for ME 3 now. I ended up losing Zaeed. Have no idea what choices lead to that.

 

This must be a first for a Bioware game... you can keep playing after beating the game and talk to the crew and finish up any remaining missions... nice!

[Hell Kitty]

For the first question:

Things will change depending on when you go check out the dead Reaper. I don't think I can say any more than that without getting too spoilery.

 

Spoil me. I've just boarded the

dead reaper

after doing all loyalty missions, and I've explored available part of the galaxy. What would be different had I done that mission straight away?

[GreasyDogMeat]

For the first question:

Things will change depending on when you go check out the dead Reaper. I don't think I can say any more than that without getting too spoilery.

 

Spoil me. I've just boarded the

dead reaper

after doing all loyalty missions, and I've explored available part of the galaxy. What would be different had I done that mission straight away?

Things went pretty good for me and I held off that mission until I had done absolutely everything. From what I heard, the part where you want to be quick is

when you lose your crew and are told to go through the relay. If you hold off and do another mission before going through the relay they die. I can confirm that minor things like visiting a planet to purchase an upgrade is not counted as taking your time. I went to pick up one last upgrade I finally had the creds for and I managed to rescue the crew.

 

[Deraldin]

For the first question:

Things will change depending on when you go check out the dead Reaper. I don't think I can say any more than that without getting too spoilery.

 

Spoil me. I've just boarded the

dead reaper

after doing all loyalty missions, and I've explored available part of the galaxy. What would be different had I done that mission straight away?

Things went pretty good for me and I held off that mission until I had done absolutely everything. From what I heard, the part where you want to be quick is

when you lose your crew and are told to go through the relay. If you hold off and do another mission before going through the relay they die. I can confirm that minor things like visiting a planet to purchase an upgrade is not counted as taking your time. I went to pick up one last upgrade I finally had the creds for and I managed to rescue the crew.

 

 

 

From what I heard, you get one squad member mission or two N7 missions. Allows you to finish up Legion's loyalty mission before hitting up Omega-4 for the end game. If you do more than that, a good chunk of your crew will end up dying in the collector base. It's right after the first section when you see them in the pods. Instead of the nameless (not really) Horizon colony person melting, it'll be Kelly. After you finish the base and get back to your ship, most of the Cereberus crew will be gone. I'm not sure if it's possible to have the entire crew die before you can save them.

 

[Chrisimo]

For the first question:

Things will change depending on when you go check out the dead Reaper. I don't think I can say any more than that without getting too spoilery.

 

Spoil me. I've just boarded the

dead reaper

after doing all loyalty missions, and I've explored available part of the galaxy. What would be different had I done that mission straight away?

Things went pretty good for me and I held off that mission until I had done absolutely everything. From what I heard, the part where you want to be quick is

when you lose your crew and are told to go through the relay. If you hold off and do another mission before going through the relay they die. I can confirm that minor things like visiting a planet to purchase an upgrade is not counted as taking your time. I went to pick up one last upgrade I finally had the creds for and I managed to rescue the crew.

 

 

 

From what I heard, you get one squad member mission or two N7 missions. Allows you to finish up Legion's loyalty mission before hitting up Omega-4 for the end game. If you do more than that, a good chunk of your crew will end up dying in the collector base. It's right after the first section when you see them in the pods. Instead of the nameless (not really) Horizon colony person melting, it'll be Kelly. After you finish the base and get back to your ship, most of the Cereberus crew will be gone. I'm not sure if it's possible to have the entire crew die before you can save them.

 

 

 

You can do two squad missions. So make sure you do Tali's quest and bring Legion with you onto the flotilla

 

[HoonDing]

Is that Zaeed dude worth having around? It's the only DLC that I haven't managed to get working yet.

[jaguars4ever]

Is that Zaeed dude worth having around? It's the only DLC that I haven't managed to get working yet.

Defo.

 

Not only do you pick up a totally kick-ass Flamethrower, but his loyalty mission itself is intense.

[Pop]

He's also straight out of a Guy Ritchie film, so be aware.

[Pop]

By which I mean to say, he is a rude guvna

[Nepenthe]

I think there was a comic feat. Liara released detailing her exploits

post-Normandyblowedup

. The explanation might be there.

 

I believe it's an ongoing series that should exactly do that - explain the changes in Liara's character.

 

There are a lot of bits and pieces in this game that fondly remind me of Deus Ex - the only thing I can place my finger on right now are the emails and the way they add to the background.

 

Managed to save everybody the first time around. Loyalty quests done with everybody, all NPCs, all Normandy upgrades apart from the medclinic - and picking the right people for the right roles in the end...

[jaguars4ever]

There are a lot of bits and pieces in this game that fondly remind me of Deus Ex - the only thing I can place my finger on right now are the emails and the way they add to the background.

+Cyberpunk atmosphere & music

+Hacking/Bypassing & Emails

-Stripped down combat mechanics ala Deux Ex --> Invisible War

[Nepenthe]

-Stripped down combat mechanics ala Deux Ex --> Invisible War

 

Stripped down combat mechanics? WTF? Apart from not having any weapon skills, the combat mechanics have been anything but stripped down from ME1, and I certainly wouldn't compare them to that abortion they passed off as a sequel to (another) one of the best games ever made.

 

Sure, ME2 is a bit rock-paper-scissors as somebody already mentioned, but when you compare it to ME1's "point at the target with the Spectre Master Gear Weapon and hold button down until it's dead" combat "mechanics", it's like a bazillion new layers have been added instead of stripping something down.

Well, the Kelly and Miranda romance ending/"highlights" might count as stripping down, but even that would be stretching it.

 

 

You obviously need to give Invisible War a spin if you're imagining similarities!

[HoonDing]

Sure, ME2 is a bit rock-paper-scissors as somebody already mentioned, but when you compare it to ME1's "point at the target with the Spectre Master Gear Weapon and hold button down until it's dead" combat "mechanics", it's like a bazillion new layers have been added instead of stripping something down.

Well, the Kelly and Miranda romance ending/"highlights" might count as stripping down, but even that would be stretching it.

ME1 combat to me was more like "toggle Immunity/Barrier, run in & try to hit the enemies that are scurrying all over the place like a bunch of 9-year olds after too much sugar".

[Tagaziel]

Just finished the game and I must say, it's a perfect improvement on ME2. Apart from the inventory and upgrade problems - I really liked ME1's system, where you have tens of guns (mostly colour variations on four or five models, but still nice) and upgrade slots for ammo. I loved my single-shot sniper boomstick.

 

The story and writing are great too, especially when loyalty missions are concerned. My personal favourite is Tali's mission, followed by Jacob's, which is pretty much Heart of Darkness IN SPACE.

[Oner]

followed by Jacob's, which is pretty much Heart of Darkness IN SPACE.

His dog got kidnapped and he wants to save him?

[Nepenthe]

ME1 combat to me was more like "toggle Immunity/Barrier, run in & try to hit the enemies that are scurrying all over the place like a bunch of 9-year olds after too much sugar".

 

You said it better.

[jaguars4ever]

-Stripped down combat mechanics ala Deux Ex --> Invisible War

 

Stripped down combat mechanics? WTF? Apart from not having any weapon skills, the combat mechanics have been anything but stripped down from ME1, and I certainly wouldn't compare them to that abortion they passed off as a sequel to (another) one of the best games ever made.

 

Sure, ME2 is a bit rock-paper-scissors as somebody already mentioned, but when you compare it to ME1's "point at the target with the Spectre Master Gear Weapon and hold button down until it's dead" combat "mechanics", it's like a bazillion new layers have been added instead of stripping something down.

Well, the Kelly and Miranda romance ending/"highlights" might count as stripping down, but even that would be stretching it.

 

 

You obviously need to give Invisible War a spin if you're imagining similarities!

For clarification: By combat mechanics I am referring to the blood splattering, groin crunching, head smashing aspect of the gameplay, since the totality of ME

[Nepenthe]

I was going to say something along the lines of "we'll just have to agree to disagree" until I saw your final comment. Now I won't deign you, or any of your comments, with an actual reply.

[Tagaziel]

followed by Jacob's, which is pretty much Heart of Darkness IN SPACE.

His dog got kidnapped and he wants to save him?

 

Oh dear M'atra... Has the gaming collective decayed so far that gamers don't read classic novellas?

[jaguars4ever]

I was going to say something along the lines of "we'll just have to agree to disagree" until I saw your final comment. Now I won't deign you, or any of your comments, with an actual reply.

Aw, c'mon. You know you want to. It's nothing personal, but you're a vorcha. A creature who could be feared when toughened up. And you're not gonna toughen up unless you get smacked around. You should be thanking me.

[Oner]

Has the gaming collective decayed so far that gamers don't read classic novellas?

No, yes, and learn to spot a joke.