Mass effect 2 Launch and impressions (the REAL One)

[Gratch]

Question about romancing Miranda:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I've got her to the point where she says she's very interested, and will come and find me when "things quiet down", but I've gotten that same response every time I talk to her for about the last 5-6 hours.  Is there something different I'm supposed to do to...um...seal the deal?

[jersoc]

Question about romancing Miranda:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I've got her to the point where she says she's very interested, and will come and find me when "things quiet down", but I've gotten that same response every time I talk to her for about the last 5-6 hours.  Is there something different I'm supposed to do to...um...seal the deal?

it's like ME1. before the final mission

[Nonnahob]

Question about romancing Miranda:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I've got her to the point where she says she's very interested, and will come and find me when "things quiet down", but I've gotten that same response every time I talk to her for about the last 5-6 hours.  Is there something different I'm supposed to do to...um...seal the deal?

Spoiler for Hiden:

Yeah, just keep playing. She'll approach you. Nothing you need to do.

[skystride]

Can someone give me a subtle hint if there is another possible LI with a hotter female?

Miranda - face is too fat and has bad teeth
<name deleted> - needs more hair
helmet head - obvious reasons

Am I missing someone who can be recruited soon?  Almost out of dossiers.

Yes I'm very superficial, probably explains why I don't have a girlfriend in RL 

[jersoc]

if you think of miranda as yvonne it helps a lot. also get the black suit for her.

there's kelly, but that doesn't count for the acheesemint.
also

Spoiler for Hiden:

morinth or whatever her name is, but you die

[denoginizer]

Can someone give me a subtle hint if there is another possible LI with a hotter female?
Miranda - face is too fat and has bad teeth

Just put her in the alternate uniform and put a bag over her head.

Personally I've had a thing for her since the beginning.  I think it's the accent.

[coopasonic]

if you think of miranda as yvonne it helps a lot. also get the black suit for her.

Yes, please. It's a shame she's straight (Miranda that is).

[The Grue]

I'm going after helmet head.  That accent is awesome and masks are hawt.

[Barrakketh]

I went with Miranda, since to my Shepard it was the obvious choice. I can't stand Jack. If it was a personality contest though, Tali wins by a mile. She would be my choice, except for the whole being an alien species that has serious health issues. And yeah, her accent is adorable.



 

[Eightball]

I'm going after helmet head.  That accent is awesome and masks are hawt.

Grue <3's claw feet!

[CeeKay]

I'm going after helmet head.  That accent is awesome and masks are hawt.

Grue <3's claw feet!

don't forget the 3 fingered hands!

I do find some of the voice cast choices weird, using big names for bit parts, like with the Quarians:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Adam Baldwin and Claudia Black.  I'm figuring Claudia Black will have a bigger role in ME3.  and then there was Paul Hogan and Michael Dorn with bit parts too.

[Kevin Grey]

Re: Claudia Black- it's possible that Bioware already had her in the studio doing Dragon Age so they got her to do a small part for ME2. 

[jersoc]

I'm going after helmet head.  That accent is awesome and masks are hawt.

I <3 tali, one of my favorite characters. Too bad she wouldn't lock suits with my femshep.

[The Grue]

I'm going after helmet head.  That accent is awesome and masks are hawt.

I <3 tali, one of my favorite characters. Too bad she wouldn't lock suits with my femshep.

Oh...I have femshep...is it not possible?  She seems to be hinting towards locking with me.

[WorkingMike]

Jersoc's post mirrors my own opinions perfectly. I was kinda pissed that they just removed the Mako entirely, as opposed to fixing it. It felt less like I was exploring the galaxy and more like I was a dock worker sorting bins of product or something with the whole scanning bit.

Anyone else get crazy eye from the insanely small text? Granted I'm on an SDTV via composite, but it was still wicked small(much as Dead Rising was). I got a couple of serious headaches after playing for a decent stretch.

All that nothwithstanding, it was a solid experience. Nobody does cinematic games quite like Bioware.

[rickfc]

Finished last night (well, early this morning, anyway).  What an amazing game.  Definitely one of the most thrilling final missions EVER.

Here is how things played out:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Love Interest
Miranda

Final Mission

• Garrus led the other team both times I was presented with the choice.
• Legion went in the shaft
• My team consisted of Miranda and Grunt
• Samarra lead my team with the biotic force-field
• After the final fight, only Mordin died.  I'm guessing this is because I didn't really talk to him that much before I started the suicide mission

Overall, a solid 9.5/10.  I was going to stop playing last night after I got it on with my LI, but the suicide mission just got going and I had a really hard time stopping.  I haven't stayed up until the wee morning hours playing a game in years, and I ended up doing that twice with this game.

Mass Effect 2 is definitely getting a second playthrough as soon as I do some other post-game missions and exploration.

A very nice touch is how you can summon your LI to your quarters to cuddle on the couch or the bed.  It helps convey a deeper connection between the two characters than in the first game.

28+ hours.

Question about a post-game mission:

Spoiler for Hiden:

How do I find the Normandy wreckage mission?  Legion made mention of it when going on about how the Geth were looking for Shepard for those two years that he was dead.  I can't get him to talk anymore now.   

[TiLT]

Question about a post-game mission:

Spoiler for Hiden:

How do I find the Normandy wreckage mission?  Legion made mention of it when going on about how the Geth were looking for Shepard for those two years that he was dead.  I can't get him to talk anymore now.   

It's not a post-game mission. It's a DLC mission that should be included with all versions of the game. You'll have its location in your journal if you have it installed.

[naednek]

I'm liking the game, but not nearly as much as Dragon Age.  I hate hate hate the planet scanning, and really miss the character interaction.

[CeeKay]

finished up the last 2 available loyalty missions last night: Thane and Samara.

Spoiler for Hiden:

they were pretty cool with no combat in them.  Samara's presented an interesting choice, can't wait to see how that goes on my renegade play through.

Saeed's was deeper than I expected too.

[Gratch]

I'm liking the game, but not nearly as much as Dragon Age.  I hate hate hate the planet scanning, and really miss the character interaction.

I'm liking ME2 more than Dragon Age, ,mostly because the 'Ye Olde Fantasy World' setting in DA started to feel a little stale.  But that's like saying I like the Lambroghini over the Ferrarri.

Totally agree on the planet scanning though.  So incredibly tedious, especially when you get towards the end of all the side missions and that's all you have left to do.  I spent about 2 hours doing nothing but scanning planets looking for anomalies last night.  Booooooooooring.

[KePoW]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

[CeeKay]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

I wonder how hard the game would be without some of the weapon/armor upgrades you can research.  I just wish there was a way to convert one resource into another; I have a metric megafuckton of palladium and nothing to use it for.

[coopasonic]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

Sure, ship upgrades are optional if you don't mind losing half your teammates at the end.

[Razgon]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

Sure, ship upgrades are optional if you don't mind losing half your teammates at the end.

ehm - thanks??

[Gratch]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

Sure, ship upgrades are optional if you don't mind losing half your teammates at the end.

This.  I'm also trying to get the higher level abilities/damage mods/etc, and the only way to get them is spending a ton of minerals.  Which in turn requires a ton of boring planet scanning.

[jztemple2]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

Sure, ship upgrades are optional if you don't mind losing half your teammates at the end.

Isn't that what they are there for? 

[KePoW]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

Sure, ship upgrades are optional if you don't mind losing half your teammates at the end.

This.  I'm also trying to get the higher level abilities/damage mods/etc, and the only way to get them is spending a ton of minerals.  Which in turn requires a ton of boring planet scanning.

To answer Ceekay's question just up above, I did literally ZERO weapon/armor upgrades and I had no problems beating the game on Normal.

I did do all the ship upgrades, because someone told me they were required to beat the game... but in reality that wasn't necessary either.

[KePoW]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

Sure, ship upgrades are optional if you don't mind losing half your teammates at the end.

That's just a story thing, it doesn't actually affect your ability to beat the game.

[naednek]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

uh maybe so I can upgrade and research?  Without the resources, you can't.

[naednek]

thanks coop for the spoiler.  Guess I'll have to wait on visiting this thread in March/April when I finally beat it.

[CeeKay]

thanks coop for the spoiler.  Guess I'll have to wait on visiting this thread in March/April when I finally beat it.

just to warn you you might want to skip viewing the achievements in Shepards quarters.

speaking of achievements, I'm disappointed they don't give you a bonus anymore like they did in ME1.

[Gratch]

To answer Ceekay's question just up above, I did literally ZERO weapon/armor upgrades and I had no problems beating the game on Normal.

Glad it worked for you, but I'm a remedial FPS'er and need all the help I can get. 

[KePoW]

Again, I ask why are people doing something they hate when it's completely optional?

I've finished the game once already, and from what I can tell even the ship upgrades are optional.

uh maybe so I can upgrade and research?  Without the resources, you can't.

I must have a different definition of "optional" than other people.

I consider something to be totally optional if you don't need to do it to beat the base game.  Sure it might make things easier, but you can still technically beat the game without scanning.  I would only consider it necessary if for example you needed to do it as part of a mandatory story mission to advance.

I think scanning is totally boring too, but it didn't bother me cause I just didn't do it after the first couple times to try.

[leo8877]

While upgrading is technically optional, I can't see playing any game without upgrading your gear...especially an RPG.

[KePoW]

While upgrading is technically optional, I can't see playing any game without upgrading your gear...especially an RPG.

You can find different upgraded guns in ME2 without doing the scanning upgrades.  So I did upgrade some of my gear, just not through scanning.

[Sarkus]

I must have a different definition of "optional" than other people.

I consider something to be totally optional if you don't need to do it to beat the base game.  Sure it might make things easier, but you can still technically beat the game without scanning.  I would only consider it necessary if for example you needed to do it as part of a mandatory story mission to advance.

Spoiler for Hiden:

By that definition then most of the loyalty missions are optional as well, if not all.  You might as well just get all the characters and go to the ending section.  I think you can also "win" the game even if Shepard dies.  In fact, there is a vid on YouTube that shows a conclusion in which Joker is the only survivor - all the crew, Shepard, and the companions end up dead.

[jersoc]

I'm going after helmet head.  That accent is awesome and masks are hawt.

I <3 tali, one of my favorite characters. Too bad she wouldn't lock suits with my femshep.

Oh...I have femshep...is it not possible?  She seems to be hinting towards locking with me.

nope, not possible. she'll tell you about it but that's about it.

[jersoc]

thanks coop for the spoiler.  Guess I'll have to wait on visiting this thread in March/April when I finally beat it.

uh...how is that a spoiler? it's a well known fact for many, many months and one of the loading screens tell you.

[KePoW]

I must have a different definition of "optional" than other people.

I consider something to be totally optional if you don't need to do it to beat the base game.  Sure it might make things easier, but you can still technically beat the game without scanning.  I would only consider it necessary if for example you needed to do it as part of a mandatory story mission to advance.

Spoiler for Hiden:

By that definition then most of the loyalty missions are optional as well, if not all.  You might as well just get all the characters and go to the ending section.  I think you can also "win" the game even if Shepard dies.  In fact, there is a vid on YouTube that shows a conclusion in which Joker is the only survivor - all the crew, Shepard, and the companions end up dead.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Loyalty missions *are* optional... why would anyone consider otherwise?  I did like two of them before beating the game my first time.

Scanning aggravated the hell out of me, so why would I bother doing it?  I play games to have fun, not get frustrated.

[Razgon]

So - completed the game, at a glorious 34 hours...man . this is one great game! Especially the end is...wow! 

I was at the edge of the seat several times, and yelled out several times, in joy and anger!

best game ever! Its a cinematic experience to be sure, and some may say its less of a game for it, but for me, its more of a game.

some spoilers re the ending

Spoiler for Hiden:

I had one team member die after miranda's biotic barrier - is there any way to avoid that? I'm thinking taking the Justicar instead, but why? Also, I decided NOT to save the station for research...does the fact that I see thousands of what appears to be reaver ships afterwards have anything to do with that, or is that just a portent of things to come?

Also, there was some cryptic remarks at the end that makes me wait anxiously for the 3rd game!

re that:

Spoiler for Hiden:

We are your salvation through destruction? What is up with that? I'm thinking they mean we will destroy ourselves if allowed to continue? And what about the thing Harbinger said about more powerfull beings?

GIVE ME MASS EFFECT 3 NOW!

thanks, GOTY, I had a great time