KalosKagathos
Learned
And... It's good. Yeah, I can't believe this either, being a veteran Bio hater and everything, but there you go. Anyway, a quick overview. Some spoilers are there, but nothing major.
Loved:
1. Party members. Best BioWare party yet, mostly because they finally ditched the old character archetypes they've been recycling since KotOR and finally wrote someone different. By "different" I don't mean "original", mind you: most of them are still cliches, just cliches that Bio hasn't done to death yet, which is a step up. My favorite is the salarian scientist who has tons of character development during his personal quest.
2. Plot structure. The story is about gathering a team and building up trust, not flying around the galaxy and repelling alien invaders. In fact, Collectors, the baddies of this game, are the least commonly fought enemy type. Most of the time you'll be shooting mercs.
3. Cerberus, and its integration into the story. I was very sceptical when it was revealed that you'd be working for them, given that the first game portrayed them entirely unsympathetically, but they're well executed. You always get dialogue options to say that you're working with them, not for them, and only because they're the only organization willing to allocate resources to dealing with the Collectors threat. At the very end you can sever the ties with them entirely and cut off the transmition from the Illusive Man once the job is done.
4. Combat. Most enemies have additional defences on top of their health bar: armor, shields, biotic barriers, or several of the above. Tech characters are good at disabling shields, biotics can warp armor and barriers, soldiers deal great damage to exposed underbelly and are good at finishing targets off. Tech and biotic characters can also immobilize enemies who lost shields/armor/barrier to make the job of soldiers easier. It's straightforward, but surprisingly fun.
5. Open mockery of the sillier parts of the first game. Spectres in particular are constantly made fun of: at one point you can hear an advertising of a movie about the first hanar spectre, who's got a lover in every port and a gun in every tentacle. "Enkindle this", indeed. Then there's the slowly moving elevator in Miranda's personal quest.
6. Moral choices. It's always nice to see some RPG-like features in an action game.
Hated:
1. Mini-games. They don't add anything to the game and only waste your time, probing planets much more so than the other two. At least they aren't as abysmally bad as the frogger from the first game, but there's still no reason for them to be there.
2. Decisions carrying over from the first game. As expected, nothing more than hype. Most of them yield nothing but an e-mail retelling your actions in Mass Effect 1, occasionally you meet characters from Mass Effect 1 and they retell you your actions in person. My memory is fine, thank you. Only two "old" characters gave me quests: Conrad and the cop chick from Noveria, and I doubt they change much depending on your treatment of these characters. Speaking of Conrad, the game can't even retell you your actions right sometimes: he said I threatened him with a gun, which I didn't. I wasn't even able to, as my Intimidation skill wasn't high enough. While we're at it, Garrus turns into a vigilante even if you persuade him to re-join C-Sec.
Not sure how I feel about:
1. Grunt, the krogan party member. Hold on there, I know what you're thing: "A krogan? I bet he's a walking library of war stories, a shameless Canderous clone." Not quite. He's genetically engineered, the genetic material used in his creation is as perfect as it gets, and the memories of the greatest battles in krogan history were implanted within him. His problem? He's literally days old. His mind knows what it means to be an ultimate krogan, but Grunt himself doesn't *know* it. :dakkon: He's also a bit insecure about being created perfect: krogan heroes had to earn the hero status. The problem with his character development? All of his doubts go away when he joins a clan. That's it. A krogan with a clan is a happy krogan. Talk about wasted potential.
TLDR: best BioWare game yet, and one of the best action/adventure games I've ever played.
In before skyway.
Loved:
1. Party members. Best BioWare party yet, mostly because they finally ditched the old character archetypes they've been recycling since KotOR and finally wrote someone different. By "different" I don't mean "original", mind you: most of them are still cliches, just cliches that Bio hasn't done to death yet, which is a step up. My favorite is the salarian scientist who has tons of character development during his personal quest.
2. Plot structure. The story is about gathering a team and building up trust, not flying around the galaxy and repelling alien invaders. In fact, Collectors, the baddies of this game, are the least commonly fought enemy type. Most of the time you'll be shooting mercs.
3. Cerberus, and its integration into the story. I was very sceptical when it was revealed that you'd be working for them, given that the first game portrayed them entirely unsympathetically, but they're well executed. You always get dialogue options to say that you're working with them, not for them, and only because they're the only organization willing to allocate resources to dealing with the Collectors threat. At the very end you can sever the ties with them entirely and cut off the transmition from the Illusive Man once the job is done.
4. Combat. Most enemies have additional defences on top of their health bar: armor, shields, biotic barriers, or several of the above. Tech characters are good at disabling shields, biotics can warp armor and barriers, soldiers deal great damage to exposed underbelly and are good at finishing targets off. Tech and biotic characters can also immobilize enemies who lost shields/armor/barrier to make the job of soldiers easier. It's straightforward, but surprisingly fun.
5. Open mockery of the sillier parts of the first game. Spectres in particular are constantly made fun of: at one point you can hear an advertising of a movie about the first hanar spectre, who's got a lover in every port and a gun in every tentacle. "Enkindle this", indeed. Then there's the slowly moving elevator in Miranda's personal quest.
6. Moral choices. It's always nice to see some RPG-like features in an action game.
Hated:
1. Mini-games. They don't add anything to the game and only waste your time, probing planets much more so than the other two. At least they aren't as abysmally bad as the frogger from the first game, but there's still no reason for them to be there.
2. Decisions carrying over from the first game. As expected, nothing more than hype. Most of them yield nothing but an e-mail retelling your actions in Mass Effect 1, occasionally you meet characters from Mass Effect 1 and they retell you your actions in person. My memory is fine, thank you. Only two "old" characters gave me quests: Conrad and the cop chick from Noveria, and I doubt they change much depending on your treatment of these characters. Speaking of Conrad, the game can't even retell you your actions right sometimes: he said I threatened him with a gun, which I didn't. I wasn't even able to, as my Intimidation skill wasn't high enough. While we're at it, Garrus turns into a vigilante even if you persuade him to re-join C-Sec.
Not sure how I feel about:
1. Grunt, the krogan party member. Hold on there, I know what you're thing: "A krogan? I bet he's a walking library of war stories, a shameless Canderous clone." Not quite. He's genetically engineered, the genetic material used in his creation is as perfect as it gets, and the memories of the greatest battles in krogan history were implanted within him. His problem? He's literally days old. His mind knows what it means to be an ultimate krogan, but Grunt himself doesn't *know* it. :dakkon: He's also a bit insecure about being created perfect: krogan heroes had to earn the hero status. The problem with his character development? All of his doubts go away when he joins a clan. That's it. A krogan with a clan is a happy krogan. Talk about wasted potential.
TLDR: best BioWare game yet, and one of the best action/adventure games I've ever played.
In before skyway.
