Mass effect 2 Launch and impressions (the REAL One)

[CeeKay]

I grabbed the DLC but was busy causing chaos in Panua.

[hepcat]

Good lord, i'm 20 hours into the game and they keep adding quests.  I'm probably going to finish this one sometime around May of 2017. 

...but in all seriousness, this game gets my vote for biggest bang for the buck in video games from the last couple of years.

[CeeKay]

Dragon Age would get my vote for that one. Almost 80 hours in one playthrough without finishing everything and not even touching the Return to Ostagar DLC that I'd have to pay for.  I imagine my next playthrough or three will be just as long.

[rickfc]

So I'm in my second playthrough, and after Legion's loyalty mission, I had to break up the Tali/Legion argument.  Instead of using the paragon choice to appease both of them, I told Tali to back off.  I then checked the team status, and she's no longer listed as loyal.  I haven't tried talking to her again since, so I don't know if I can patch things up with her.

It seems pretty fucked up that a character would flop loyalty like that after you complete their loyalty mission in the first place.  Oh well, I don't care if she dies.  She's annoying.

[Boudreaux]

So I'm in my second playthrough, and after Legion's loyalty mission, I had to break up the Tali/Legion argument.  Instead of using the paragon choice to appease both of them, I told Tali to back off.  I then checked the team status, and she's no longer listed as loyal.  I haven't tried talking to her again since, so I don't know if I can patch things up with her.

It seems pretty fucked up that a character would flop loyalty like that after you complete their loyalty mission in the first place.  Oh well, I don't care if she dies.  She's annoying.

The same thing happens with Jack and Miranda.  After you complete both of their loyalty missions, you'll get a call from Joker about a "disagreement", which you have to go break up.  Whichever one of them you side with will remain loyal, the other will not.  I don't know if there's a way to regain their loyalty.  I sided with Miranda, and anytime after that I tried to talk to Jack, she basically told me to fuck off.

[CeeKay]

So I'm in my second playthrough, and after Legion's loyalty mission, I had to break up the Tali/Legion argument.  Instead of using the paragon choice to appease both of them, I told Tali to back off.  I then checked the team status, and she's no longer listed as loyal.  I haven't tried talking to her again since, so I don't know if I can patch things up with her.

It seems pretty fucked up that a character would flop loyalty like that after you complete their loyalty mission in the first place.  Oh well, I don't care if she dies.  She's annoying.

The same thing happens with Jack and Miranda.  After you complete both of their loyalty missions, you'll get a call from Joker about a "disagreement", which you have to go break up.  Whichever one of them you side with will remain loyal, the other will not.  I don't know if there's a way to regain their loyalty.  I sided with Miranda, and anytime after that I tried to talk to Jack, she basically told me to fuck off.

somehow I managed to keep both of them loyal, but then again I don't think it got to the point where they were fighting.

[Destructor]

As with ME1, your most powerful 'skill' is having a maxed out Paragon/Renegade meter ASAP. It allows you to 'get a second chance' or influence a lot of universe actions.

AFAIK, you must use your Paragon/Renegade skill to keep both teammates loyal to Shepard once those fights start. You might be able to get around it if you've already made 'moves' towards one of said teammates (in other words, get them to meet you in bed), but without the skill, you've lost their loyalty.

[rickfc]

So I'm in my second playthrough, and after Legion's loyalty mission, I had to break up the Tali/Legion argument.  Instead of using the paragon choice to appease both of them, I told Tali to back off.  I then checked the team status, and she's no longer listed as loyal.  I haven't tried talking to her again since, so I don't know if I can patch things up with her.

It seems pretty fucked up that a character would flop loyalty like that after you complete their loyalty mission in the first place.  Oh well, I don't care if she dies.  She's annoying.

The same thing happens with Jack and Miranda.  After you complete both of their loyalty missions, you'll get a call from Joker about a "disagreement", which you have to go break up.  Whichever one of them you side with will remain loyal, the other will not.  I don't know if there's a way to regain their loyalty.  I sided with Miranda, and anytime after that I tried to talk to Jack, she basically told me to fuck off.

somehow I managed to keep both of them loyal, but then again I don't think it got to the point where they were fighting.

Their fight happens immediately after Jack's loyalty mission.  If both stayed loyal, then you probably chose the paragon or renegade option and sided with neither.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

You can also regain their loyalty by talking to the person you dissed. If you have a high enough paragon/renegade score, you'll have an option that regains their loyalty.

[rickfc]

You can also regain their loyalty by talking to the person you dissed. If you have a high enough paragon/renegade score, you'll have an option that regains their loyalty.

I might just try to save the bitch then.   

[CeeKay]

fired up to try the Firewalker DLC.  I was on the PC version, and looks they screwed up the tutorial for the vehicle.  it was telling me to hit the right mouse button to scan an area and left alt to jump, but the keys were set by default to X and E respectively.  of course in the control section X is marked as mine, and I assumed it was talking about the exploding kind.

other than that the first mission with it was pretty dull, fly around, do some jumping and scanning with no enemies.  the vehicle controls OK, and since it hovers there's no danger from falling that I've seen so far.

[Razgon]

So, as I thought...pretty dull all around?

[CeeKay]

So, as I thought...pretty dull all around?

I only did the first mission, there's more, but I felt the call of Panau again.

[Turtle]

The first mission is just a tutorial mission, it's supposed to be dull since you're just jumping around with your shiny new hovertank.

The hammerhead is anything but dull.  It's a fast, nimble hovertank that's pretty much everything you wished the Mako was, albiet with much less armor.

No planetary exploration with it though, you go through more hand crafted missions built for the hammerhead instead of heightmapped terrain.

It's actually a nice addition to the game, I just wish they'd had time to do more with it in the main game.

[Razgon]

The first mission is just a tutorial mission, it's supposed to be dull since you're just jumping around with your shiny new hovertank.

The hammerhead is anything but dull.  It's a fast, nimble hovertank that's pretty much everything you wished the Mako was, albiet with much less armor.

No planetary exploration with it though, you go through more hand crafted missions built for the hammerhead instead of heightmapped terrain.

It's actually a nice addition to the game, I just wish they'd had time to do more with it in the main game.

but its just shoot'em up, right? OR is there actual missions in there, that adds to the story? Thats what I'm trying to get at. I guess I could try it out myself, but I'm saving my second playthrough for when we get a few more DLC missions you see, and as I mentioned earlier, the videos just looked like a shooter game was added to the game.

I liked the mako, gave me a sense of planetary exploration, and a sense of realism :-)

[CeeKay]

The first mission is just a tutorial mission, it's supposed to be dull since you're just jumping around with your shiny new hovertank.

the tutorial portion of ME2 wasn't dull at all, there's no reason they had to make this one dull.  it's not like it's rocket science to use the Hammerhead and they could have easily dropped in some enemies for target practice.

[TiLT]

I'm amazed that you can't save at all during missions with the Hammerhead. I can't believe game designers as professional as the ones at Bioware keep making serious mistakes when it comes to how they handle saving. Mass Effect 1 was horrible at this too.

[CeeKay]

I'm amazed that you can't save at all during missions with the Hammerhead. I can't believe game designers as professional as the ones at Bioware keep making serious mistakes when it comes to how they handle saving. Mass Effect 1 was horrible at this too.

in ME1 you couldn't save while standing in an elevator shaft or when the game was in combat mode.  for some reason combat mode wouldn't end properly when in the Mako, so exiting and getting one of your squad to say 'all clear' (which would usually happen right away) would unlock the save option.  limited, but not horrible; I'd hate to hit save just before I got shot and killed by a rocket launching enemy I didn't pay attention to 

of course this doesn't excuse no save available at all.

[CeeKay]

trailer for Kasumi, which is due next week.

[Ridah]

Anyone planning to pick up the Katsumi - Stolen Memory DLC? I thought I would be all over it but I'm hesitant to spend money on it.

[CeeKay]

Anyone planning to pick up the Katsumi - Stolen Memory DLC? I thought I would be all over it but I'm hesitant to spend money on it.

I'm going to get it eventually once I clear out a few other games.

[Nonnahob]

I downloaded it last night. Xbox live was paralyzingly slow, so I played some Assassins Creed while I waited. By the time it finished downloading it was after 1, so I just crashed. I'll post some impressions once I play it tonight.

[Gratch]

Anyone planning to pick up the Katsumi - Stolen Memory DLC? I thought I would be all over it but I'm hesitant to spend money on it.

After playing through the entire game twice, I've pretty much had my fill of ME2.   Not feeling much need to grab any of this DLC.

[Nonnahob]

This actually hit at the perfect time for me, I only had Tali's loyalty mission left to do as of last night. So I'll do this one new DLC and if more comes, I'm probably the same way in that I won't play again. This is my second playthrough, it's plenty for me at this point.

[TiLT]

I picked this up and played through it just now. It's a good mission with a decent amount of variety and some cool moments. Definitely worth adding to the game. Perhaps not worth going back to it again for if you're not feeling motivated, but the mission didn't disappoint.

[Turtle]

Does Kasumi have more dialog than Zaeed while on the ship?  You know, like actual conversation trees?

[TiLT]

Does Kasumi have more dialog than Zaeed while on the ship?  You know, like actual conversation trees?

You get to speak with her a few times during her recruitment and loyalty mission, but she has no dialogue trees on board the ship. She has quite a few things to say anyway though, and will even comment on recent events with other crewmembers. For example:

Spoiler for Romance spoiler. Safe to click if you know the options available:

My romance was with Tali. Kasumi told me that she had spoken to her and that Tali was completely in love with me and that I was all she ever talked about. "Treat her well." was her final advice. It was actually quite satisfying to hear.

[CeeKay]

here's a video review of the Kasumi DLC.

[Nonnahob]

If you're going back to JUST play this DLC, I wouldn't do it. It was a fairly fun mission, but it wasn't anything groundbreaking or too surprising from what you've already seen in the game. It just hit at the perfect time for me to finish my second playthrough. It was pretty fun, but TBH I had more fun with the firewalker tank than Kasumi's mission. PLUS, I wish I could have picked her as a romance option. She rocks 

[Barrakketh]

I thought it was a little pricey for the length of the mission, but it is a good mission. She also brings stealth to your squad, since she will blink in and out, backstabbing away pretty much non-stop. At one point in her mission I just crouched behind cover and flung a few shots out while she cleaned house. It also rounds out the party to a full "dirty dozen" plus Shepard. Since I have been playing through as a Sentinel, the new SMG was very much appreciated as well. It is quite accurate and has a long range. It eats ammo though.

Oh, and the voice actress does a terrific job as well. I like Kasumi almost as much as Tali.

[TiLT]

One thing most people forget when it comes to new party members for Mass Effect 2 is that they also participate in dialogue throughout the entire game. I picked Kasumi up for my second playthrough yesterday and brought her along with me for the mission to get the Krogan crewmember. She had several lines of dialogue during the mission that fit in just as well as any other party member's comments would have.

She's also incredibly fun to bring along. I absolutely love her sneak attack power. If I'm attacked by a group of enemies and they have a heavy weapons guy, I like to hide behind cover while sending her out to kill him. She'll pop up behind him, kill him in one blow, and just as everyone turns their weapons toward her she'll disappear and I'll fire at will. When fully upgraded you can choose to reduce the recharge time of her sneak attack by 80% if she kills her target (and she usually does unless they're heavily shielded and armored), so you can send her out quite often.

[Teggy]

Ok, I don't want to read any more than the first couple of pages of this thread to avoid being spoiled - where can I view all of these plastic ship models I have been buying? I don't see them in my cabin. There was one in Zaeed's room but I thought I had more.

[Gratch]

Ok, I don't want to read any more than the first couple of pages of this thread to avoid being spoiled - where can I view all of these plastic ship models I have been buying? I don't see them in my cabin. There was one in Zaeed's room but I thought I had more.

All mine were in my cabin.

[CeeKay]

Ok, I don't want to read any more than the first couple of pages of this thread to avoid being spoiled - where can I view all of these plastic ship models I have been buying? I don't see them in my cabin. There was one in Zaeed's room but I thought I had more.

All mine were in my cabin.

yeah, they should be displayed in that wall that divides your desk space from your living space.

[Teggy]

Ok, I don't want to read any more than the first couple of pages of this thread to avoid being spoiled - where can I view all of these plastic ship models I have been buying? I don't see them in my cabin. There was one in Zaeed's room but I thought I had more.

All mine were in my cabin.

Maybe I am just not looking in the right place? Are they on a shelf or something?
EDIT: thanks CeeKay, I'll take a look there.

Really enjoying the game so far. Played about 6.5 hours. Tons of action right off the bat compared to the slow Citadel sections at the start of ME1. Took me a while to figure out the health system changes from the first game (they explain it a bit in the manual, but a tutorial would have been nice), and unless I just haven't gotten to it yet, there wasn't a probing tutorial. I decided to go look at the

Spoiler for Hiden:

Normandy wreckage

first, so maybe I just did things out of the expected order.

Love the interrupts and that I have more paragon/renegade conversation options right away. Love that you can vault over low barriers ala Gears. Love all the references/run-ins with characters from the first game. Love the benefits you can get from exploration

Spoiler for Hiden:

(like rewiring the battle droid - reminded me of KOTOR).

Love that I was rewarded by reading the pretty mediocre Mass Effect Ascension novel by already hearing several references

Spoiler for Hiden:

the part where you initially meet Tali is a case in particular where having read the book gives you a better understanding of why she doesn't trust Cerberus.

Love that I can tell my teammates exactly where to go - this actually worked really well during the part where you

Spoiler for Hiden:

have to rush to close the shutters.

I also like how you can pick up missions by just walking around and overhearing conversations, rather than standing in the elevator like the first game. However, I do wish they had adjusted the sound or put subtitles on some of the PA announcements. When I was in the club there would sometimes be new bulletins, but they would be hard to hear with all the other noise.

And oh yeah, since I use a lot of renegade actions, I need to save up for the scar reduction surgery. Lady Shepherd needs to look her best

Oh, and one other thing - I was really glad I didn't have to train on the sniper rifle again. I know they kind of had the right to do that based on they way most video games work, but I spent a lot of time leveling that thing up in ME1 so I could look down the scope without it bouncing around. Wouldn't really make sense to make me do that again, and sure enough, I didn't.

Really looking forward to continuing on.

[Nonnahob]

Ok, I don't want to read any more than the first couple of pages of this thread to avoid being spoiled - where can I view all of these plastic ship models I have been buying? I don't see them in my cabin. There was one in Zaeed's room but I thought I had more.

All mine were in my cabin.

Maybe I am just not looking in the right place? Are they on a shelf or something?
EDIT: thanks CeeKay, I'll take a look there.

Really enjoying the game so far. Played about 6.5 hours. Tons of action right off the bat compared to the slow Citadel sections at the start of ME1. Took me a while to figure out the health system changes from the first game (they explain it a bit in the manual, but a tutorial would have been nice), and unless I just haven't gotten to it yet, there wasn't a probing tutorial. I decided to go look at the

Spoiler for Hiden:

Normandy wreckage

first, so maybe I just did things out of the expected order.

Love the interrupts and that I have more paragon/renegade conversation options right away. Love that you can vault over low barriers ala Gears. Love all the references/run-ins with characters from the first game. Love the benefits you can get from exploration

Spoiler for Hiden:

(like rewiring the battle droid - reminded me of KOTOR).

Love that I was rewarded by reading the pretty mediocre Mass Effect Ascension novel by already hearing several references

Spoiler for Hiden:

the part where you initially meet Tali is a case in particular where having read the book gives you a better understanding of why she doesn't trust Cerberus.

Love that I can tell my teammates exactly where to go - this actually worked really well during the part where you

Spoiler for Hiden:

have to rush to close the shutters.

I also like how you can pick up missions by just walking around and overhearing conversations, rather than standing in the elevator like the first game. However, I do wish they had adjusted the sound or put subtitles on some of the PA announcements. When I was in the club there would sometimes be new bulletins, but they would be hard to hear with all the other noise.

And oh yeah, since I use a lot of renegade actions, I need to save up for the scar reduction surgery. Lady Shepherd needs to look her best

Oh, and one other thing - I was really glad I didn't have to train on the sniper rifle again. I know they kind of had the right to do that based on they way most video games work, but I spent a lot of time leveling that thing up in ME1 so I could look down the scope without it bouncing around. Wouldn't really make sense to make me do that again, and sure enough, I didn't.

Really looking forward to continuing on.

Save up for the surgery? I assume you mean for the med-bay upgrade, which is 50k platinum or palladium (can't remember which). Either way, it's a 15 minute thing to gather that much of it... so you shouldn't be too pressed to take care of it.

Also, just kind of a tip having been through this twice now. In order to really do everything I wanted in the game (in terms of how things end up), go all paragon or all renegade. It was kind of annoying to me that for certain choices to be available I had to be a saint the entire game, or a prick the entire game. You don't get middle ground.

[Teggy]

Save up for the surgery? I assume you mean for the med-bay upgrade, which is 50k platinum or palladium (can't remember which). Either way, it's a 15 minute thing to gather that much of it... so you shouldn't be too pressed to take care of it.

Also, just kind of a tip having been through this twice now. In order to really do everything I wanted in the game (in terms of how things end up), go all paragon or all renegade. It was kind of annoying to me that for certain choices to be available I had to be a saint the entire game, or a prick the entire game. You don't get middle ground.

50k seems like a lot at the moment, but I have only probed the crash site planet, so I don't have a good idea of how long it takes to accumulate. If its quick, that all the better.

My Shepard is pretty renegade-ey, although I didn't get full renegade in the first game. She's basically a pain-in-the-ass, but will occasionally do something that I think fits in her character that winds up getting paragon points. For example

Spoiler for Hiden:

when she was signing up for the mercs, I had her tell the young guy to get lost. I think that got some paragon points, but I thought that's what she would do, so be it. My Shepard is also big on doing your job right, so when she ran into the C-Sec officer who was going to drum up charges on a Quarian, she gave him a dressing down. Again, paragon points, but within the character. Now, it probably wasn't within her character to go looking after some guy's credit chit, but XP is XP. The one time I wish I could have changed my decision was when during the plague mission. First, I helped out the sick Batarian. Then, when I found the scientist's helper, I let the Batarians go. That was out of character. After "Bring Down the Sky", my Shepard hates, really hates Batarians. She should have shot them on sight (and had the proper response to the one at the entrance to the club).

But anyway, what I'm basically saying is that I have Shepard act like I think she would act and don't worry too much about the points. The great thing about the game is that the story can play out a lot of ways. If I want to go back later and have him/her play out like Captain Planet, I can.

[Teggy]

Well, I found the first real bad part of the game, which I think I had heard about, which is the resource gathering. This was their solution to the Mako hunts? Did they playtest it? Talk about a buzzkill.

I also added some sort of upgrade that was supposed to make the probing faster, but I haven't seen any difference. Does it get less obnoxious as they game goes on? I did it for longer than 15 minutes and I only have around 15K platinum. These scars aren't going to heal themselves!

[Turtle]

I think they underestimated how much people would use the mining.

Their idea was that players would mine as needed, instead of constantly going around and depleting as many planets as they could.  Either way, it wasn't a good design.

[Nonnahob]

I think they underestimated how much people would use the mining.

Their idea was that players would mine as needed, instead of constantly going around and depleting as many planets as they could.  Either way, it wasn't a good design.

Horrid design.

Teggy, the best way to do it is to scroll around tapping the LB (or whatever is scan). Just keep tapping the button as you can quickly around the planet. When you hit something that makes the meter blip, stop to search a sec and scoop those minerals. Then continue scanning. I wouldn't bother mining anything other than "rich" and those I'd only mine til "moderate". Past that point I felt like was a waste of time (moreso than mining in and of itself)