Mass Effect 2 Hype

[Zombie Fred]

parties, based on what they enjoyed in the original and expected/wanted in the sequel.
So... You want a GOW with 3 options? Thats now why ME became so popular. Excluding the obvious appeal of characters, Mass Effect was a successful amalgam of RPG/action. Not RPG with action elements, not action with RPG elements, but a solid mixture of both.

There's a whole fan base that love this series for different things; role playing, exploration, combat, or just the universe itself. Everything there is still in the sequel. But I already explained that some of these key areas have been presented differently. Mass Effect 2 is still both blend of role playing and together. Below answer related to the RPG side of things. Do I want this to be a Gears of war 3? God no. Stop putting words into my mouth because I mentioned the combat animation/flexibility for the environment to be alike with Gears 2 as an example

It had a *MASSIVE* effect on the gameplay. Not only was the character specifically taylorable for personal preferences, the fact that you had to make choices while you leveled up (leaving some areas neglected as you pursued other strenghts), Mass Effect 2 basically means youre going to upgrade most of your character by the first run-through. Furthermore, with no looting and no statistics, theres no RPG. And while expanding those concepts would have worked, so too would streamlining them.
"Streamlining" nowadays is the same as "making it easier for the common gamer". So, were ditching the expansive customizations in order for people to be able to shoot some shit up. One of the greatest strenghts of ME was customization and options. Take that away, and youre basically ending up with just a shooter.

This game is still an RPG than a standard shooting game however. The "role playing" mechanics are much more expansive than with the first (side quests, interaction, where you explore in the universe, your choices and what you do to affect the universe as you continue further), the biggest mechanic in my opinion that what defines the term of a role playing game, while both stat and items still play a role in this game. Outside that you still have your leveling system and abilities/rank system that you do over course, and that you can only max potentially 3 out of 4 of those talents at the start, as the level cap is 30. I believe you might earn extra talents through the course of the game like the first so that level of choice on what you wish to spend on to help affect you in combat/other is still there.

Customization in this has open up to your own personal taste on what you would wish to alter and wear on your given Armour (from colour to what parts) and what weapon load you to use overtime, as you build up your portfolio when you explore the universe. The customization may not have the freedom as the first game but it still however exists and still has a nice impact as your go through the game. Sadly I know it feels like we're repeating ourselves in this topic regard but I think we see the "inventory" system in a different light. I think we've just best to leave it to the case of respecting each others opinion on the matter.

If you truly wish to degrade that this has gone to a pure "shooter" then I have to disagree

IMO, Mass Effect's RPG aspect was never about the small amount of loot,(getting a green armor with +10% this or that) or whatever
Actually, thats exactly what it was about, as it was a pillar for the
customizations. You get more stuff and in turn you customize your loadout with it (and your teammates loadouts). The expansive stat system in all of the gear ensured that those options got carried on to the combat, directly.

And this still exists in Mass Effect 2 but not significantly compared to the first) when you can customize your Armour, stats (further perks are given as you go further on) and both stats and weapons, with selected ammo types, that help you in this area. The only difference is how your inventory system is presented in your hub (Armour and weapons customization, etc) outside your class's abilities.

Now youre just playing with words. You didnt shape a thing. The only thing you did shape, was your character and your companions.

Not at all. The overall aspect is that your decisions have changed the universe in the sequel; whether you saved the council or not (and then selecting who to be in charge), these impact several areas around you by how other species and a few minor changes around this, from what I have played so far. And these are only a few changes compared to what does in the game. From what has been said, over 100 decisions made in ME can carry over into ME2. Things big and small will be different based on what you did in ME.

People from ME will recognize you in ME2 and will love you or hate you depending how you treated them in ME and other things will be different depending what you chose to do. It by no means ruins the game, but if you can import a save its definitely worth it and will make the game and galaxy more personal. Some of the little changes can be from a steam of cameos from past choices, added conversation notes on your own past, to even talk from the radio about what has happened since the attack on the citadel (and a few choices before then). All of this combined gives you a grasp on how some of the things have shifted, from your actions, and even further on what you do in Mass Effect 2.

I guess it's got to be a agree to disagree with the experience for Mass Effect 2 as it seems it's one of those "like it or hate it" areas when it comes to what we think I don't wish for both of us to continue to repeat what has already been said now so when it comes to boil our opinions down to it. I would say play through the entire game - exploring the worlds around you and do as many side quests as you can, while finding your blue prints for weapons and also building up your Armour, to see for yourself. This is a such a big game compared to many others, and definitley out of the scale and is true in many forms of a role playing game, with heavily blended shooter mechanics that can actually make it work like a shooter alone if they wished. Looks like our own taste in this game are completely different when it comes to it (RPG, combat, characters and story, etc), even if I do think that many of the mechanics have improved over the first, and your own respected opinion to this matter too. With the first game having the much more freedom when it comes to the loot and inventory aspect. Reviews for this game and overall initial impressions from other fan/gamers (via neogaf and a few others) seem to be loving this. I do think this will be a big contender for RPG of the year, without a doubt.

This ensures for some creepy Shepard!

[A-J]

hey guys .. how's about we all actually play through the game once before diving so deep into heated debates ?

[Zombie Fred]

hey guys .. how's about we all actually play through the game once before diving so deep into heated debates ?

As you can see above, it's been ended with a both agree to disagree with the aspects of Mass Effect 2, from our own opinions. Plus it's rather civil I'd say, and nothing that is going out of hand or a "heated discussion" at all. Just two heads butting each other on what we think, like we always do, and the matter that it's on topic shouldn't be a problem no?

EDIT: Nice interview with Mark Meer, the voice actor for male Shepard, over here at RPG Site for anyone who has an interest in the voice cast for Mass Effect, or Bioware in general.

[Member_of_STARS]

As you can see above, it's been ended with a both agree to disagree with the aspects of Mass Effect 2

Wait, wait, wait. You take the last word and write a long rebuttal, then claim "its been ended with an agreement to disagree by both"? Seriously?

[Zombie Fred]

Wait, wait, wait. You take the last word and write a long rebuttal, then claim "its been ended with an agreement to disagree by both"? Seriously?

Well if we're both repeating ourselves on what we think about the game then it's just got to be a case of agree to disagree, while I finished replying to your answers on your reply back respectfully. I don't wish to take the last word at all, I don't even get why you take that as a offense, but you can by all means reply back to my answer if you don't feel comfortable how it ended

[Carnivol]

So, guys, just a general heads up here;


Until the game is officially shipped and out on store shelves - I'd appreciate it that anyone who wants to talk about their experiences with the game post evidence of their purchase (pic of self + game, receipt w/blanked out personal details, pic of game discs + note w/username, whatever...). Failing to do so will result in a formal warning/reminder.


Just as we did with Degeneration (and preferably with any other retail product) we will not tolerate openly admitted piracy. We'll probably be making something like a new sticky or announcement in a not too distant future to remind everyone of where we draw the lines on various subject. But just throwing a general heads up in here first. (Yeah yeah. Game is out in a couple of days in most regions of the world. Bla bla bla)

[Member_of_STARS]

Ka-ching!

[Carnivol]

Since these posts dropped at the same time (copy pasta time):


So, guys, just a general heads up here;


Until the game is officially shipped and out on store shelves - I'd appreciate it that anyone who wants to talk about their experiences with the game post evidence of their purchase (pic of self + game, receipt w/blanked out personal details, pic of game discs + note w/username, whatever...). Failing to do so will result in a formal warning/reminder.


Just as we did with Degeneration (and preferably with any other retail product) we will not tolerate openly admitted piracy. We'll probably be making something like a new sticky or announcement in a not too distant future to remind everyone of where we draw the lines on various subject. But just throwing a general heads up in here first. (Yeah yeah. Game is out in a couple of days in most regions of the world. Bla bla bla)

[The Dude]

Glad I skipped all that mess then.
Think i'll avoid this topic till my order arrives on wednesday.

[Member_of_STARS]

Glad I skipped all that mess then.
Think i'll avoid this topic till my order arrives on wednesday.

No spoilers were dropped and the heated conversation was about whether ME2 has been downgraded or not. Gameplay only.

[Carnivol]

Completely understood, but considering theres a number of people who already got their game without going through other channels, with just a couple of days until release, I honestly dont see the issue, except for enforcing an active and all-encompassing zero tolerance policy, which I can understand aswell. In any case, I give my permission to delete my posts, if it comes to that.

One thing, though- a movie cant be compared to a game. As youve noticed, the discussion here gives out no spoilers, which Degen discussion potentially could.

-Know you've already edited this out while I was typing this-

The issue is that we have a tad bit wonky rules on the subject of piracy and I guess they can be a bit hard to keep track of amongst users. We embrace mods, demos, prototypes of canned or long since released games, etc... but at the same time we frown upon such things as pirating of retail products and especially pre-launch bootlegging. And let's not mention how wonky and conflicting our own (the staff's) views and opinions are on subjects such as scans of various prints (subjects such as fair use, foreign media, translations, transcripts and full scans)

We've only really got Degeneration as a recent sample of previous execution of a zero tolerance on the piracy front (with people downloading it weeks in advance, blabbering about how they fortunately didn't waste money on it and stuff, getting a 1 month instaban.). The spoiler side of the issue has turned out to be better handled by just splitting things into temporary sub-forums (possibly permanent/returning ones) for specific RE games (something we probably wont be doing with non-site covered titles). Not to mention how common sense via the use of self-censoring [ spoiler] [ /spoiler] tags saves people a lot of unwanted spoilers (but, boy, do those buttons look tempting to click at times... just like highlighting darkened text)

Glad I skipped all that mess then.
Think i'll avoid this topic till my order arrives on wednesday.

Got the C.E. box heading my way soon, but probably not even touching the game until I'm done replaying the first one on my 360 to build a character I wanna import. So probably not seeing me much in this thread.

[Zombie Fred]

Until the game is officially shipped and out on store shelves - I'd appreciate it that anyone who wants to talk about their experiences with the game post evidence of their purchase (pic of self + game, receipt w/blanked out personal details, pic of game discs + note w/username, whatever...). Failing to do so will result in a formal warning/reminder.

Done.

[Zombie Fred]

Sorry for the double post but I think this interview with Bioware, from Gamasutra going into the technical and design areas for the sequel is an interesting read on some the regards to the changes that have been discussed.

Click here

[Mr_Zombie]

Zombie Fred, because I see you're playing PC version of ME2, can you confirm whether or not there is an "Identity Code" for your Shepard's look on Squad screen in PC version? Because on NeoGAF someone posted this two screens:
Spoiler:

show spoiler

where you can clearly see the Code above Shepard's name, but I dunno whether this is X360 or PC version. Yet I've also seen this screenshot on a certain message board:
Spoiler:

show spoiler

which is clearly the PC version, and as you can see, there's no Identity Code :/

I'm asking, because I would really like to finally be able to copy my original Shepard's look, and ME1 didn't allowed me to do that. :/ So I hope that at least ME2 will (and I'm gonna play the PC version).

[Zombie Fred]

Zombie, sadly it doesn't seem to show the identity code, even if you're imported your ME1 Shepard into the game (and even on the stat information at the start). Perhaps it could be in a different area but I didn't seem to see anything in the options menu or other areas, I could be wrong. Let me double check for you.

UPDATE: It looks like it doesn't appear on the PC version. Only when you go to custom face if you start a new Shepard, or change your face at the start (you can still keep your face from the first game if you like) you can get the code. But that means having to start again to get a similar look and having to save the that down for next time. Unlucky man. However, if you're thinking of doing another "clone" Shepard of yourself. You have the option to select your character in the import again and give him a different class if you wish.