Dragon Age: Inquisition Pre-Release Thread

[Andyman Messiah]

Yeah, it's not exploration if everything interesting on the map is pre-marked.

Except it's not, and Andyman is making shit up because it's glue time.

What isn't pre-marked? Minerals aren't. Some of the other collection items aren't but most of the things you can find on the maps are.

1. There's no exploration. Every planet is a square map filled with random mountains. What you call exploration is 60% made up of finding all the brightly colored rocks that give you money, 39% question marks that are for the most time already placed on your map

Mountains are not random. It is neither our fault not Bioware's if you can't read a topography map and see the patterns. The primary reason I actually had fun with the Mako was from figuring out that the maps were not random bullshit for the most part and then figuring out how to get from A to B to C to D with a minimum fuss. Speaking of which - every single planet had at the very least one location that gave you quest items or money and items (ie not "easter eggs") and that was not on the map. Some had 3 or 4. Therefore exploration. Now I'm not gonna argue the quality, because no one ever did; we're arguing whether it exists. It does and you're wrong.

When I'm right I'm never wrong, Sceptic.

First of all, fuck your entire topography map defense. Why are you even going on about that shit? Why does it matter? I never said anything about having trouble with the terrain or the retarded mountains. I object to the quality put into the environments, which is zero. Everything is slapped together and has a color filter applied to it. You're delusional if you seriously believe you've figured out a rhyme and reason to any of it.

Now I'll tell you what you I told MicoSelva, if you like this shit then that's fine. I don't really give a flying fuck. I'm just baffled that there are people who think it's a good way to waste time.

2. Mako vs Hammerhead. End this crap. If your only argument for the Mako is "the Hammerhead is shit" then fucking leave. That is not how arguments work. The Mako must stand alone.

Hypocrite. You're the one who keeps bringing comparisons and who keeps claiming "Mako is shit" with the only argument being "because it's shit". And actually the argument IS ENTIRELY ABOUT COMPARISON since the whole point is that ME1>ME2, and therefore about how everything in ME2 is shittier (case in point, Mako>Hammerhead, planet exploration > scanning, etc).

Now you're telling me you can't come up with a single reason why the Mako is a better vehicle. Meanwhile I can give you these reasons why it sucks, and without comparing to the Hammerhead:

1. Controls like ass. No matter how you want to defend it the Mako is a tank and mobility isn't its strongest side. This is bad considering how (surprisingly) badly armored it is.
2. Camera is shit. This has mostly to do with mountain climbing but the camera WILL spin around like a crazy mofo on the normal rocky road terrain as well. People who diss NWN2's camera should give ME1's mako a try. Seriously.
3. The boost jump is nearly useless. All I ever used it for was fucking around and jumping over enemy rockets but what is its actual purpose, exactly? It doesn't make the thing go faster and the jump isn't actually much of a jump.
4. Gets boring quickly. When you've landed on one planet and driven around for a while, you really shouldn't need to experience it all over again just because the other planet has a different color filter.
5. We couldn't afford a shuttle? I literally yelled the first time I landed on a planet in ME. In retrospect I definitely should have devoted three pages of my review to fucking hate the mako but I couldn't be bothered to ever want to do that shit again. Can somebody tell me why, in ME1, a CAR is the apparent preferred method of landing on a planet's surface? I'm not even going to listen. It's retarded. I've bitched about this countless times. How do you even pick the fucking thing up again? Somebody once told me this, I'm sorry but I don't care, fuck off. I have no idea who thought the Mako was a good idea. It's the most retarded thing I've seen in a BioWare game, or any game for that matter.

Let's not forget that the Mako wasn't retired because of the Hammerhead, the ACTUAL replacement for it was a SHUTTLE, a pure TRANSPORT SHIP. Because taking a shuttle to a planet's surface rather than being dropped in a car is just so much less stupid. Thank you, Mass Effect 2.

And now I'm going to compare the Mako to the Hammerhead, just to tease you, Septic tank.

The hammerhead on the other hand is flexible, fast and can traverse tough terrains with ease without slowing down. It can actually avoid enemy fire because of its mobility whereas the mako is better off standing still and boost-jumping over the enemy rockets. What don't the Hammerhead do better? A little bit less firepower, says people. Bullshit, says I.
One thing that I love about ME2 is that they actually took the time to create unique environments for EVERY sidequest. This goes for the Hammerhead also, and not just unique environments. They also created some simple jumping puzzles that played well in favor of the Hammerhead's abilities. Nothing groundbreaking, but clearly some thought was put into the game.

Also pro-tip: the Hammerhead sucks but at least it could FLY (well, hover), thus making it 100% more useful to have than a retarded tank that can only SLIGHTLY LIFT from the ground every five seconds.

It hovers at always exactly the same distance from the ground, and if you try to walk through lava it has a lovely sinking feeling. It could have invisible wheels for all I care and it would behave EXACTLY THE SAME. That's not flying, and it's not even hovering. That's YOUR IMMERSION. Hypocrite.

Not really. By immersion I referred to people's idea of exploring in Mass Effect 1. That is, if you are immersed by empty, rough terrain through various color filters then fuck off and the goat that rode you.

The Hammerhead isn't flying but it is mobile and its boost jump is greatly improved. Is it not actually hovering? I don't remember. It hardly matters though. Mobility, right next to fuck you I'm right.

3. "ME1 is the better game because it could have been great!" Go the fuck away. You're not arguing that Mass Effect 1 COULD have been a good game, you're trying to argue that Mass Effect 1 IS a good game.

Actually no, we're arguing that ME1>ME2.

Alrighty then. Proceed.

4. The story? It sucks, get over it. ME2's story is so simple anyway that it's stupid to compare it to 1 or 3. Pro-tip: simple story beats pretentious story.

Lol. ME1's story was typical simple space opera. ME2 went all GRIMDARK pretentious. Hence once again ME1>ME2. BY YOUR OWN LOGIC.

What does grimdark have to do with any of it? And how is ME2 pretentious? Are you forgetting how it actively removed most of the retarded Reaper bullshit that ME1 spewed? How it was a simple story of the best space soldier putting together a badass dirty dozen to fight evil aliens? Maybe grimdark but it sure wasn't pretentious. But ME1 tried to pull all kinds of bullshit. My first reaction to Sovereign was "yeah no". No fucking way was any of that going to end in anything but stupid. Apparently you fell for it, though? I feel sorry for you.

It speaks for how bad this series really is when all arguments why the first was of course better then the rest seemm to sound like "it hinted at something good. thre promise! of exploration..." and so on.

Well yeah. At least the first had hints of something that maybe could be good. The second one took away those hints and we're left with nothing but the garbage. It's also why the story gets more and more retarded with every iteration. It's not that ME1's story was good, it's that ME2's was complete full retard, and that ME3 managed to top even that (without even going into the ending). Besides you have to admit talking about ME1 vs ME2 beats BG vs Fallout

It had hints that were never going to be anything but hints! Mass Effect 2 tried to do the series a favor by ignoring most of the premise of "immensely powerful machine race kills the Mass Effect universe (or rather hits the reset button) every 50,000 years for reasons that are too complex for anyone to understand" and trying to move the series in a direction of "the galaxy is a bad place, are you a bad enough dude to save it?"

 

[Akratus]

Mass Effect 2 is literal fan fiction. A retarded "emotional" opening scene to start it off > wanking off to 1 dimensional sexualized characters > A retarded "epic" ending with the dumbest reveal in RPG's made up until that point.

I didn't think Bioware could stoop lower, untill ME3 released of course.

Andy, the difference is that the hints in ME1 were better than

And now we're talking about Mass Effect in the dragon age thread, and about gay/transexual rights in the Mass Effect thread. Figures.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Mass Effect 2 is literal fan fiction.

It's an official product so no, it is not "literally fan fiction". You can however argue, if you want, that it has many "fan fictiony" qualities.

A retarded "emotional" opening scene to start it off

What, did you see tears? I sure didn't. Shepard's death and resurrection show wasn't made to be emotional. It was mainly a plot device used to explain why your level 60 Warmachine has to begin at level 6. It also serves to introduce the bad guys right from the start and establishes a clear and present threat, something I think Mass Effect 1 failed to do. Saren's just some asshole who shoots a guy in the back and then has weird tantrums on his spaceship for no, as far as we know, real reason. He comes off more as a joke. Make sure you play with subtitles turned on. "Rarh Argh Rarh!" You will never find finer dialogue. You see, Saren is supposed to be a charismatic villain and instantly makes him bad because he has to talk a lot.

Funny you should mention emotional scenes by the way. Mass Effect 1 has plenty of those, all with horrible, overly dramatic written dialogue. Every big scene is played up for maximum violins and tear-shed. Mass Effect 2, though? Almost nothing. As much as Mac Walters and the new guys gets shit on I think he was instrumental in keeping original writer Drew Karphyshyn's diarrhea in check and making sure the script was a bit more no-nonsense and natural. That said, Mass Effect 3 proved that Walters also needed Karphyshyn. I hope they will work together in the future. Or at least have a 69 and then kill themselves.

wanking off to 1 dimensional sexualized characters

Depends on what you mean by sexualized. I suppose Jack, Miranda and Samara fits the bill because they show their tits and ass a bit? I dunno about the others. Zaeed's definitely got an entire arm showing. That's gotta be lewd as fuck at least in some backwards chickenshit country.

Complaining about 1-dimensional BioWare characters is retarded. You've had plenty of time to complain about them and you choose Mass Effect 2 to do it? Whatever.

A retarded "epic" ending with the dumbest reveal in RPG's made up until that point.

The reveal that the Reapers are coming wasn't a reveal because we already knew about it. It's setting up for the last chapter and Shepard's inevitable un-winnable final battle for the universe's continued existence. Like a good part two ought to do.

I didn't think Bioware could stoop lower, untill ME3 released of course.

You're trying too hard.

Andy, the difference is that the hints in ME1 were better than

I'm assuming your post fucked up somehow. Let me tell you right away that you're wrong. You're retarded if you ever think HINTS of POSSIBLE greatness is a good thing. It's not. Hints suck. You either deliver or shut the fuck up, and Mass Effect 1 was never going to deliver. The moment Sovereign started speaking is the moment they wrote themselves into a corner.

And now we're talking about Mass Effect in the dragon age thread, and about gay/transexual rights in the Mass Effect thread. Figures.

Yeah? Well then go tell DarkUnderlord you want to be a volunteer mod or something. Don't bother me.

 

[DalekFlay]

If I wrote off games for being set in tired old Tolkien-esque fantasy worlds then 90% of the entire genre would be lost.

Not defending DA, just sayin'.

 

[DraQ]

If I wrote off games for being set in tired old Tolkien-esque fantasy worlds then 90% of the entire genre would be lost.

90% of genre but nothing of value.

 

[Akratus]

Mass Effect 2 is literal fan fiction.

It's an official product so no, it is not "literally fan fiction". You can however argue, if you want, that it has many "fan fictiony" qualities.

A retarded "emotional" opening scene to start it off

What, did you see tears? I sure didn't. Shepard's death and resurrection show wasn't made to be emotional. It was mainly a plot device used to explain why your level 60 Warmachine has to begin at level 6. It also serves to introduce the bad guys right from the start and establishes a clear and present threat, something I think Mass Effect 1 failed to do. Saren's just some asshole who shoots a guy in the back and then has weird tantrums on his spaceship for no, as far as we know, real reason. He comes off more as a joke. Make sure you play with subtitles turned on. "Rarh Argh Rarh!" You will never find finer dialogue. You see, Saren is supposed to be a charismatic villain and instantly makes him bad because he has to talk a lot.

Funny you should mention emotional scenes by the way. Mass Effect 1 has plenty of those, all with horrible, overly dramatic written dialogue. Every big scene is played up for maximum violins and tear-shed. Mass Effect 2, though? Almost nothing. As much as Mac Walters and the new guys gets shit on I think he was instrumental in keeping original writer Drew Karphyshyn's diarrhea in check and making sure the script was a bit more no-nonsense and natural. That said, Mass Effect 3 proved that Walters also needed Karphyshyn. I hope they will work together in the future. Or at least have a 69 and then kill themselves.

wanking off to 1 dimensional sexualized characters

Depends on what you mean by sexualized. I suppose Jack, Miranda and Samara fits the bill because they show their tits and ass a bit? I dunno about the others. Zaeed's definitely got an entire arm showing. That's gotta be lewd as fuck at least in some backwards chickenshit country.

Complaining about 1-dimensional BioWare characters is retarded. You've had plenty of time to complain about them and you choose Mass Effect 2 to do it? Whatever.

A retarded "epic" ending with the dumbest reveal in RPG's made up until that point.

The reveal that the Reapers are coming wasn't a reveal because we already knew about it. It's setting up for the last chapter and Shepard's inevitable un-winnable final battle for the universe's continued existence. Like a good part two ought to do.

I didn't think Bioware could stoop lower, untill ME3 released of course.

You're trying too hard.

Andy, the difference is that the hints in ME1 were better than

I'm assuming your post fucked up somehow. Let me tell you right away that you're wrong. You're retarded if you ever think HINTS of POSSIBLE greatness is a good thing. It's not. Hints suck. You either deliver or shut the fuck up, and Mass Effect 1 was never going to deliver. The moment Sovereign started speaking is the moment they wrote themselves into a corner.

And now we're talking about Mass Effect in the dragon age thread, and about gay/transexual rights in the Mass Effect thread. Figures.

Yeah? Well then go tell DarkUnderlord you want to be a volunteer mod or something. Don't bother me.

Well, here we go.

First of all, yes, I used the wrong term. It's not literally fan fiction. Doesn't make it any better.

Also, a scene does not need tears to be emotional. What I was getting at was that they used a hackneyed scene to try to trick people into thinking that the story has a heart. Shepard dies, it's of no consequence. The Collector's and their ship are introduced, and you can forget about those guys, they're not important. They're just geth replacements. They're there to show up in action scenes.

I have not said Mass Effect 1 was that much better, I do think it is better, but it also suffers from similar issues. But much less.

Do you also really believe that the moment they had the villain say evil things, they wrote themselves into a corner? They never wrote themselves into a corner in this game, Shepard states at the end of the game that he'll go and prepare for/try to defeat the reapers, and the second game could have expanded upon that to evolve the overarching story. So what happened in ME2? Shepard died, gets resurrected, JOINS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, meets a bunch of people, recruits them for his team, then defeats a geth replacement bad guy force. Nothing of consequence happened. The heatclip retcon, the reaper made of human milkshakes, the "5 minutes of screen time" bad guy, the complete lack of any development in a central or overarching plot, the fact that it's just about defeating the reaper allied forces all over again, the fact that a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION HAS A LOGO IT PUTS ON EVERYTHING IT OWNS, all of these things must tell you, that the bioware writers simply lost their shit in ME2 and might as well have been fans making bad fan fiction. Hell I've seen fan fiction that was better than this.

How is stating my genuine opinion trying too hard? ME3 sucked ass even more, because it was built ontop of the horrendous base that is ME2.

I'm sorry, but how can you seriously believe that a retro scifi action rpg is worse than a gears of war dating sim?

 

[Infinitron]

Have mercy on Andyman Messiah, Mass Effect 1's inventory system snuck into his room at night and touched his private parts when he was a child

 

[Mangoose]

I'm sorry, but how can you seriously believe that a retro scifi action rpg is worse than a gears of war dating sim?

Oh jesus fuck, like ME1 wasn't also cover system popamole bullshit with enough romance to annoy any normal person. Comparing the two games is like comparing a game that's 70% fail with a game that's 71% fail. Oh wow, ME1's general plot was a lot better than ME2's, MAN that means it is such a better game than ME2 even though the better story did jack shit make ME1's core gameplay better than ME2's.

 

[DraQ]

Have mercy on Andyman Messiah, Mass Effect 1's inventory system snuck into his room at night and touched his private parts when he was a child

Touched? If only he'd been so lucky...

horsecastration.gif

 

[Zeriel]

Oh jesus fuck, like ME1 wasn't also cover system popamole bullshit with enough romance to annoy any normal person. Comparing the two games is like comparing a game that's 70% fail with a game that's 71% fail. Oh wow, ME1's general plot was a lot better than ME2's, MAN that means it is such a better game than ME2 even though the better story did jack shit make ME1's core gameplay better than ME2's.

ME1 wasn't really a cover shooter. It didn't have easy-stick cover with big, gigantic pointing arrows, cover was used in basically the same way as old shooters: you got behind it when you were out of health/reloading. You could very well play through the game standing in the open, blowing shit up, by cycling all your RPG abilities that recharged shields/reduced damage taken/slowed down time. Sure, that was dumb in its own way, but it's not a cover shooter.

Also, everything Akratus said.

 

[Mangoose]

ME1 wasn't really a cover shooter. It didn't have easy-stick cover with big, gigantic pointing arrows, cover was used in basically the same way as old shooters: you got behind it when you were out of health/reloading.

Bullshit. There is at least one chest-high wall (usually an obvious rectangle) in each 'encounter.' Watch an LP and see for yourself.

And there are no arrows for cover in ME3. Again, I'm verifying with an LP right fucking now. Well, outside of telling you - while you're in cover - that you can roll into another cover. Big woop.

Jesus, the way you guys spin your memory to support your argument is retarded. If anything, my own memory tells me that ME2 actually tightened up shooter controls and made it easier move around while shooting. The negative of ME2 (and probably ME3, haven't played) is that the maps in ME1 were more open (though still linear. and yes with sufficient rectangular cover) and ME2 was mostly corridors.

Of course now you're gonna say, "But Mangoose there was LESS cover in ME1." To which I again refer you to

comparing 70% fail with a game that's 71% fail

You could very well play through the game standing in the open, blowing shit up, by cycling all your RPG abilities that recharged shields/reduced damage taken/slowed down time. Sure, that was dumb in its own way, but it's not a cover shooter.

See, here you are criticizing the wrong thing again, though at least here you are closer to the mark. The biotic and tech-only could do that, but the other three classes pretty much played as a cover shooter. What happened was that ME2 made tweaks to the abilities, most importantly IIRC putting abilities on the same cooldown, which meant that all the characters had to rely more on gunplay.

It's just that if you think the gunplay in ME1 is any less of a cover shooter than ME2, you need to stop relying on your faulty memory.

 

[Zeriel]

The class abilities I was talking about were all located in the soldier trees. i.e, the shootery-gunny-this-should-be-an-FPS class. You're one to talk about faulty memory. Bottom line, ME1 was way more about class mechanics than cover-shooting mechanics.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Well, here we go.

YOU RAIIIISEE MEEEE UUUUUP

First of all, yes, I used the wrong term. It's not literally fan fiction. Doesn't make it any better.

SO I CAN STAAAND ON MOUNTAIIIIINSSS

Also, a scene does not need tears to be emotional. What I was getting at was that they used a hackneyed scene to try to trick people into thinking that the story has a heart. Shepard dies, it's of no consequence. The Collector's and their ship are introduced, and you can forget about those guys, they're not important. They're just geth replacements. They're there to show up in action scenes.

I have not said Mass Effect 1 was that much better, I do think it is better, but it also suffers from similar issues. But much less.

In Mass Effect 1 even the first meeting with the council is retarded emotional.

Asari Councillor: "This meeting is over."
*sad music begins to play, Anderson and Shepard walks off, Udina is left standing alone on the platform, his head sunken down into the floor. Everything is lost.*

Or how about the colony guy on Feros who gets into a fucking monologue about how a brain parasite wants it to attack Shepard but he's not going to let it.
Colony guy on Feros: "These people trusted me. I was supposed to be their leader but it gets into your brain, you can't understand the pain, it wants me to stop you, but I'm strong, I won't let it! I won't let it!!
*shoots himself in the head*

Meanwhile Mass Effect 2, all your party members can die and the game does nothing to force a tear out of you, because the theme of the game is that everyone is expendable. We all must be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to complete the mission. When Garrus dies the game only stops for a five second long scene tops, where Shepard acknowledges the death of a party member. But then, on to the next thing. And incidentally the bits that ARE actually supposed to be emotional, like reuniting Miranda with her sister, are not over-exaggerated at all. The writers were clearly experienced enough that they didn't need to go on long tangents to make sure the point is hammered into your head properly. If there's an emotional scene, the player will get it.

Are there overly dramatic bits in ME2? Sure. But they don't hold a candle to Mass Effect 1.

Do you also really believe that the moment they had the villain say evil things, they wrote themselves into a corner? They never wrote themselves into a corner in this game, Shepard states at the end of the game that he'll go and prepare for/try to defeat the reapers, and the second game could have expanded upon that to evolve the overarching story. So what happened in ME2? Shepard died, gets resurrected, JOINS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, meets a bunch of people, recruits them for his team, then defeats a geth replacement bad guy force. Nothing of consequence happened. The heatclip retcon, the reaper made of human milkshakes, the "5 minutes of screen time" bad guy, the complete lack of any development in a central or overarching plot, the fact that it's just about defeating the reaper allied forces all over again, the fact that a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION HAS A LOGO IT PUTS ON EVERYTHING IT OWNS, all of these things must tell you, that the bioware writers simply lost their shit in ME2 and might as well have been fans making bad fan fiction. Hell I've seen fan fiction that was better than this.

First of all, you're assuming that BioWare actually planned out ahead for the Reapers and everything about them; their goals, motivation, what created them, etc. The moment they introduced Sovereign, a representative of a machine squid god race whose only purpose is to kill all advanced life in the galaxy every 50,000 years because of some mysterious reason is the moment I go, nope, this isn't going to end well.

Second of all, Saren was a laughable villain and I wholly consider him a predecessor to Kai Leng in that he shows up, you shoot the shit out of him and he still wins because a cutscene says so. Furthermore, he's also an extension on the Feros guy. He kills himself for the exact same reason, saying almost the exact same things.

Shepard: "You're strong! You can fight this!"
Saren: "No, Shepard! It's too late for me. I can't stop this! Sovereign is too powerful!"
Shepard: "No, you can!"
Saren: "Goodbye, Shepard."
*Saren shoots himself, falls through a glass window in slow-motion as a wailing choir of women sings*

Now, people's general beef with ME2 seems to be that it did almost nothing to advance the Reaper plot. This is actually one of the things I enjoyed the most. Just ignore all of that retarded bullshit and focus more on building the universe and establishing things. Because you know, Mass Effect 1 was extremely limited in how it introduced its world to the player beyond shitty lore entries that nobody had patience to sit through. Now you actually go to the Krogan homeworld! Now you actually see the galaxy! You see how there are things in the galaxy other than the lurking threat of space Cthulhu. But if it makes you and all the other children feel better, how about we just call it Mass Effect: Gaiden or something? Y'know, I don't really give a fuck. I actually wouldn't mind if we kept the good game separated from the shitty ones.

How is stating my genuine opinion trying too hard? ME3 sucked ass even more, because it was built ontop of the horrendous base that is ME2.

You must be underage. Go away and take Infinitron with you.

I'm sorry, but how can you seriously believe that a retro scifi action rpg is worse than a gears of war dating sim?

1. Just because ME2 has more romance options doesn't make it any more dating sim than any other BioWare game that has romances.
2. Mass Effect 1 is not an RPG. Mass Effect 2 is not an RPG. You upgrade your shit and then shoot stuff. The prerequisites for the genre has been seriously diluted over time by people like you who think putting points into different weapons makes a game a RPG.

edit: Fuck you.

edit2: Also DraQ Infinitron I realize you two have some sort of mental illness that requires you to post in every thread even when you have nothing to write but retarded forces memes but please keep it down.

 

[DalekFlay]

Hey maybe all three are kind of shit in different ways and who gives a fuck OH DRAGON AGE.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Hey maybe all three are kind of shit in different ways and who gives a fuck OH DRAGON AGE.

Fuck your Dragon Age! But yes, for the sake of discussing your favorite games I'll agree that all Mass Effect games are shitty games. Specifically,

Mass Effect 1: shit shit
Mass Effect 2: good shit
Mass Effect 3: fun shit

 

[DalekFlay]

Mass Effect 1: shit shit
Mass Effect 2: good shit
Mass Effect 3: fun shit

I would say:

Mass Effect: Good story and mood music, everything else is shit.
Mass Effect 2: Interesting characters and visuals, everything else is shit.
Mass Effect 3: Pretty decent pop-a-mole, everything else is shit.

You can find golden corn nuggets in the shit that is Mass Effect, but since this is the Dragon Age thread I will toss out there that no matter how many flaws Dragon Age: Origins has it is a better game than the best bits of all three Mass Effects combined.

 

[DarthBehemoth]

Well for me, ME1 definitely was the best game of the trilogy. Not it terms of gameplay (ie shit) but in terms of story and atmosphere, it was not GRIMDARK and EMO ENGAGING like ME2/ME3. It had a certain sense of wonder and the world was so detailed. In that sense, Bioware pretty much nailed the '70's sci-fi vibe' they were aiming for with the first game. Too bad they abandoned it for the sequel. ME2 felt more like ME1 + Michael Bay + drugs ...

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Fair enough, I say! Now how about that Dragon Age game, huh?

Is there, I dunno, anything to talk about? Think we covered most of the trailer?

 

[DarthBehemoth]

The trailer... Oh god, don't get me started on that thing...
I mean, what did it show? Aside from the usual unimportant epic speech? Yeah, it showed Morrigan got a new haircut. Get over it.
When they start showing actual gameplay footage, only then can we determine the epic levels of derp that will become DA3

 

[Andyman Messiah]

But that was gameplay footage! It was a movie rendered entirely in the game engine they are using!

 

[DarthBehemoth]

And like all other teaser trailers it showed nothing that will be included in the retail game (aside from that Morrigian model perhaps)

 

[Akratus]

Well, here we go.

YOU RAIIIISEE MEEEE UUUUUP

First of all, yes, I used the wrong term. It's not literally fan fiction. Doesn't make it any better.

SO I CAN STAAAND ON MOUNTAIIIIINSSS

Also, a scene does not need tears to be emotional. What I was getting at was that they used a hackneyed scene to try to trick people into thinking that the story has a heart. Shepard dies, it's of no consequence. The Collector's and their ship are introduced, and you can forget about those guys, they're not important. They're just geth replacements. They're there to show up in action scenes.

I have not said Mass Effect 1 was that much better, I do think it is better, but it also suffers from similar issues. But much less.

In Mass Effect 1 even the first meeting with the council is retarded emotional.

Asari Councillor: "This meeting is over."
*sad music begins to play, Anderson and Shepard walks off, Udina is left standing alone on the platform, his head sunken down into the floor. Everything is lost.*

Or how about the colony guy on Feros who gets into a fucking monologue about how a brain parasite wants it to attack Shepard but he's not going to let it.
Colony guy on Feros: "These people trusted me. I was supposed to be their leader but it gets into your brain, you can't understand the pain, it wants me to stop you, but I'm strong, I won't let it! I won't let it!!
*shoots himself in the head*

Meanwhile Mass Effect 2, all your party members can die and the game does nothing to force a tear out of you, because the theme of the game is that everyone is expendable. We all must be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to complete the mission. When Garrus dies the game only stops for a five second long scene tops, where Shepard acknowledges the death of a party member. But then, on to the next thing. And incidentally the bits that ARE actually supposed to be emotional, like reuniting Miranda with her sister, are not over-exaggerated at all. The writers were clearly experienced enough that they didn't need to go on long tangents to make sure the point is hammered into your head properly. If there's an emotional scene, the player will get it.

Are there overly dramatic bits in ME2? Sure. But they don't hold a candle to Mass Effect 1.

Do you also really believe that the moment they had the villain say evil things, they wrote themselves into a corner? They never wrote themselves into a corner in this game, Shepard states at the end of the game that he'll go and prepare for/try to defeat the reapers, and the second game could have expanded upon that to evolve the overarching story. So what happened in ME2? Shepard died, gets resurrected, JOINS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, meets a bunch of people, recruits them for his team, then defeats a geth replacement bad guy force. Nothing of consequence happened. The heatclip retcon, the reaper made of human milkshakes, the "5 minutes of screen time" bad guy, the complete lack of any development in a central or overarching plot, the fact that it's just about defeating the reaper allied forces all over again, the fact that a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION HAS A LOGO IT PUTS ON EVERYTHING IT OWNS, all of these things must tell you, that the bioware writers simply lost their shit in ME2 and might as well have been fans making bad fan fiction. Hell I've seen fan fiction that was better than this.

First of all, you're assuming that BioWare actually planned out ahead for the Reapers and everything about them; their goals, motivation, what created them, etc. The moment they introduced Sovereign, a representative of a machine squid god race whose only purpose is to kill all advanced life in the galaxy every 50,000 years because of some mysterious reason is the moment I go, nope, this isn't going to end well.

Second of all, Saren was a laughable villain and I wholly consider him a predecessor to Kai Leng in that he shows up, you shoot the shit out of him and he still wins because a cutscene says so. Furthermore, he's also an extension on the Feros guy. He kills himself for the exact same reason, saying almost the exact same things.

Shepard: "You're strong! You can fight this!"
Saren: "No, Shepard! It's too late for me. I can't stop this! Sovereign is too powerful!"
Shepard: "No, you can!"
Saren: "Goodbye, Shepard."
*Saren shoots himself, falls through a glass window in slow-motion as a wailing choir of women sings*

Now, people's general beef with ME2 seems to be that it did almost nothing to advance the Reaper plot. This is actually one of the things I enjoyed the most. Just ignore all of that retarded bullshit and focus more on building the universe and establishing things. Because you know, Mass Effect 1 was extremely limited in how it introduced its world to the player beyond shitty lore entries that nobody had patience to sit through. Now you actually go to the Krogan homeworld! Now you actually see the galaxy! You see how there are things in the galaxy other than the lurking threat of space Cthulhu. But if it makes you and all the other children feel better, how about we just call it Mass Effect: Gaiden or something? Y'know, I don't really give a fuck. I actually wouldn't mind if we kept the good game separated from the shitty ones.

How is stating my genuine opinion trying too hard? ME3 sucked ass even more, because it was built ontop of the horrendous base that is ME2.

You must be underage. Go away and take Infinitron with you.

I'm sorry, but how can you seriously believe that a retro scifi action rpg is worse than a gears of war dating sim?

1. Just because ME2 has more romance options doesn't make it any more dating sim than any other BioWare game that has romances.
2. Mass Effect 1 is not an RPG. Mass Effect 2 is not an RPG. You upgrade your shit and then shoot stuff. The prerequisites for the genre has been seriously diluted over time by people like you who think putting points into different weapons makes a game a RPG.

edit: Fuck you.

edit2: Also DraQ Infinitron I realize you two have some sort of mental illness that requires you to post in every thread even when you have nothing to write but retarded forces memes but please keep it down.

So you think Mass Effect 2 is better because it just throws in random places, characters, etc rather than developing a plot? No Madam, fuck you. I don't care enough about your opinion or my opinion on this mess of a franchise to continue discussing your delusions about me and my opinions of Mass Effect 1 and 2. Now that we're both done we can continue with what we were doing, you wasting time in a dragon age thread, and me ignoring said thread.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Aww, it thinks it's an intelligent life form.

And like all other teaser trailers it showed nothing that will be included in the retail game (aside from that Morrigian model perhaps)

Well, that remains to be seen.

 

[Psquit]

Soo the burning legion is invading the world.

 

[Mangoose]

The class abilities I was talking about were all located in the soldier trees. i.e, the shootery-gunny-this-should-be-an-FPS class. You're one to talk about faulty memory. Bottom line, ME1 was way more about class mechanics than cover-shooting mechanics.

Nope. You see, I'm not relying on my memory. I'm spending the time to look at videos and articles.

Talents Edit


Class: Soldier
Pistols
Shotguns Unlocked at Pistols 4
Assault Rifles
Sniper Rifles Unlocked at Assault Rifles 7
Combat Armor
First Aid Unlocked at Combat Armor 6
Assault Training
Fitness Unlocked at Assault Training 5

And for the Assault Rifle

Talent RanksEdit

Level 1: Overkill
Level 2: Increases damage by 5%. Increases accuracy by 10%.
Level 3: Increases damage by 8%. Increases accuracy by 14%.
Level 4: Increases damage by 10%. Increases accuracy by 17%.
Level 5: Increases damage by 12%. Increases accuracy by 20%. Unlocks Shotguns (Krogan Battlemaster).
Level 6: Increases damage by 14%. Increases accuracy by 22%. Unlocks Sniper Rifles (Turian Agent).
Level 7: Increases damage by 16%. Increases accuracy by 24%. Unlocks Sniper Rifles (Soldier).
Level 8: Advanced Overkill
Level 9: Increases damage by 18%. Increases accuracy by 26%.
Level 10: Increases damage by 19%. Increases accuracy by 28%.
Level 11: Increases damage by 20%. Increases accuracy by 30%.
Level 12: Master Overkill

And all Overkill does is give you a buff to your accuracy and overheating.

Now, the Combat Armor tree does give you one active ability to use, Shield Boost, but guess how long the cooldown on that is? 45 seconds.