Mass Effect 2

[Philkilla]

I just started over as an Adept again...trying to go the Niceguy Paragon route instead of I'll kill all of you fucktards who look at me funny route (which is admittedly very entertaining)

The most unfortunate thing is I never played the first Mass Effect, I just knew what to expect with Bioware after playing knights of the old republic (insert geeky star wars stab)

[Chris]

Dude, stop right now and play ME1 first. Seriously. It's every bit as awesome as ME2, and you're REALLY fucking yourself out of a BIG part of the second one if you skip the first.

[Chris]

Just finished ME2 btw. What a fucking awesome game, but you really, really, really have to play the first one or you'll be screwing yourself out of a good deal of what makes these games - the unbeatable story.

10/10 on ME1 from me, 9.5/10 for ME2.

ME2 spoilers, ho!

Spoiler

My crew lived, but Jack died on the suicide mission, I was just a sliver off of max paragon, but couldn't get her loyal to me again after I sided with Miranda. (I did her loyalty mission) Didn't really give a shit anyway, didn't like the character so I won't miss her in ME3. My team for it:

Vents - Tali
First Leader: Garrus
My Team: Grunt and Thane
Biotic: Samara
Leader 2: Garrus again
Escort: Jacob
My team for the finale: Garrus and Thane (figured I'd better leave Grunt to "hold the line!" )

I had all ship/armor/weapon upgrades other than Legion's sniper rifle. Ending was awesome, just a little too easy on Normal, but who cares. Still loved it.

Did the romance thing with Thane (I played a female). No boobies, just cool Thane-ness talking about seeing deserts and his past and stuff. Him and Garrus are my favorite chars, but I liked everyone a bunch other than Jack.

How cool is Legion? "There was... A hole."

I'm going to do a ME1->ME2 playthrough as an adept after I zip through Bioshock 2, but may just start it this weekend because I'm still not entirely Shepard-ed out after 52 hours of ME1 and 35 hours of ME2. That's 3 ME1 playthroughs and one entire ME2 playthrough (did every mission).

Fucking awesome games.

[Josh]

I played an Adept through both games. Adepts in ME1 with maxed Singularity are just broken, assuming you can survive the long cooldowns.

In ME2, Lift is nasty as hell, but the ability to Warp people around corners (and Warp does a fuckload of damage) is incredibly handy. Very different playstyle from the 'run and gun' classes.

Spoiler

I had everyone survive the final mission... and having maxed Paragon early I was able to keep Zaeed and Jack loyal to me despite the arguments. Same with Tali and Legion. Legion is fucking awesome, I wish you got him earlier in the game.

My team:
Vents: Tali
Leader: Miranda
Sidekicks: Mordin and Garrus

Return crew to ship: Mordin
Biotic barrier: Jack
Leader 2: Jacob (got shot, but didn't die)
Sidekicks: Grunt and Legion

Final Battle: Miranda and Grunt

The only tough part was the lack of ammo towards the end, but with myself (an Adept) and Miranda around we never even really ran low. The Reaper larva was a joke, Warp from myself and Miranda autotargeted the eyes and my Collector Beam did the rest.

However, that bit at the end where your character is sliding to catch your teammate was actually my female Shepard and Grunt, so I ended up catching a 500+lb krogan in body armor with one hand, then pulling him up easily

I ended up romancing Garrus, which was cool; if I play through again though, I'm probably going to stay faithful to my ME1 romance just so I can see what the difference is if you don't screw anyone in ME3.

I'm probably gonna try to go through again on Insanity just for the hell of it. I was only ever really challenged once, the first time you fight the Promethean, and I bet I could destroy him pretty easily now that I have the system a little better under control. We'll see.

Also, I'm glad you saw the light! I remember you talking to me a few weeks back in the chat about how you just weren't able to get into the first game. What triggered the conversion?

[Naren]

Originally Posted by Josh

Also, I'm glad you saw the light! I remember you talking to me a few weeks back in the chat about how you just weren't able to get into the first game. What triggered the conversion?

In the Mass Effect thread, I was wondering if I was dreaming or out my mind with Chris' comments about ME1 boring him and him not getting what it was about. Now he's gone 180 degrees to loving the game. I want to know what the point was that triggered the conversion too.

Personally I was in love with ME1 from the very first few seconds and never got bored. It reminded me of a revamping of the Wing Commander 3 and Wing Commander 4 conversation options.

[Vince]

I loved ME1 but I found the combat and pacing in ME2 to be quite a bit better. Plus the graphics are marginally better, especially the shadows, and I just found the conversations and Paragon/Renegade moments to be really great.

I loved ME, but ME2 just blew my mind. Bioware has made 3 of the best games of all time IMO, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Mass Effect 2.

[Chris]

Yeah, I didn't like ME1 at first, probably because I'd run through so many plain old shooters and was let down by the first mission. I picked it back up and the story sucked me in.

Downloading the Normandy CS and Zaeed DLC's right now. I'm level 27 and I did everything (even bought the strategy guide) so 30 + None Left achievement should be cake in PT2.

[Philkilla]

Zaeed's pretty cool. Seems like the SAS type honestly..

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Philkilla

Zaeed's pretty cool. Seems like the SAS type honestly..

Dammit man, stop fucking playing ME2 and finish the first one!

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Vince

I loved ME1 but I found the combat and pacing in ME2 to be quite a bit better. Plus the graphics are marginally better, especially the shadows, and I just found the conversations and Paragon/Renegade moments to be really great.

I loved ME, but ME2 just blew my mind. Bioware has made 3 of the best games of all time IMO, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Mass Effect 2.

Spoilers:

Spoiler

ME1, imo, had a better "villain" so to speak, and some of the plot aspects were a bit better. Chasing Saren, seeing him the first time when he takes off, the fight at the end, and the realization that Sovereign is an actual Reaper. That, plus going back into Citadel (via the fucking ace entrance with the Mako ) and seeing it all busted up were, imo, some of the best environments in the game.

In ME2, there were some thing I expected/hoped for that didn't turn up. I mean, where was Harbinger? Why was the human reaper .000000% the size of Sovereign? I get (and like) the plot aspect of Reapers taking the form of whatever they use to create their machines, but why go with a human form the size of the end boss in ME2 when Sovereign was a fucking giant spaceship that (at the end of ME1) was badass enough to just hit the gas and plow headlong through half of the alliance fleet?

The ending of ME1 with Sovereign blowing up and raining debris down was much more theatrical than the robo-Reaper falling down too. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ME2 story/ending as well (both gave me chills with a bigass grin on my face while they were unfolding) but to me ME1 seemed a lot more put together. Plus, the final Saren fight, while not terribly tough even on the first playthrough, was a LOT harder than the human Reaper. I basically ducked behind a box and unloaded on it with the particle beam while ignoring my team, who didn't die anyway.

I really can't wait for the next one.

And though I already said it I'll say it again, oh man would I LOVE to see them make a movie out of these. ME plot > Star Wars.