Mass Effect 2
- Thread starter TheBrew
- Start date
Gotta be the voice of dissent here again, Ashley and Kaiden could get a little dull, so I'm not all that concerned that they didn't have much to contribute in ME2. A littel more woulda been nice, but oh well.
Liara's contribution to the game (once you've got the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC) is nearly perfect, I'd like for her to have been playable for a few missions, maybe it'll take time to fully decrypt the shadow brokers final location and she is aboard the Normandy until she and EDI finish their work on it. You have to go and finish it before you start the suicide mission or something like that.
Wrex woulda been cool to have a greater contribution to the game, even maybe return as a playable character, but I guess the chance of him getting killed by either you or Ashley on Virmire ends any chance of more than a passing cameo from him.
Garrus and Tali are exactly the right 2 to bring over from ME1 to ME2 and I hope they stay playable through ME3.
As for the ME2 Characters, I tended to believe that they put in so many characters to offset the fact that you only get to keep a third of your original team. Sorta the same tactic used on the new Normandy, there' so much more ship, so you end up liking it. (And I do)
I liked nearly all of the characters a lot and didn't want to lose any of them. he weakest among them was most definitely Jack, despite her biotics, I almost never brought her on missions, one time I did her loyalty mission last right before going for the Reaper IFF and her skills were all empty, I'd never taken here anywhere the whole game since recruiting her on the purgatory. If I had to lose a character, it'd be her, I'd give the extra game time to Legion.
Liara's contribution to the game (once you've got the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC) is nearly perfect, I'd like for her to have been playable for a few missions, maybe it'll take time to fully decrypt the shadow brokers final location and she is aboard the Normandy until she and EDI finish their work on it. You have to go and finish it before you start the suicide mission or something like that.
Wrex woulda been cool to have a greater contribution to the game, even maybe return as a playable character, but I guess the chance of him getting killed by either you or Ashley on Virmire ends any chance of more than a passing cameo from him.
Garrus and Tali are exactly the right 2 to bring over from ME1 to ME2 and I hope they stay playable through ME3.
As for the ME2 Characters, I tended to believe that they put in so many characters to offset the fact that you only get to keep a third of your original team. Sorta the same tactic used on the new Normandy, there' so much more ship, so you end up liking it. (And I do)
I liked nearly all of the characters a lot and didn't want to lose any of them. he weakest among them was most definitely Jack, despite her biotics, I almost never brought her on missions, one time I did her loyalty mission last right before going for the Reaper IFF and her skills were all empty, I'd never taken here anywhere the whole game since recruiting her on the purgatory. If I had to lose a character, it'd be her, I'd give the extra game time to Legion.
Actually, Jack's just a weak character. Not in strength, just uninteresting, steps below the rest of the characters in ME2. Her claim to fame was that she's a very powerful biotic, with a bad attitude and full body graffiti. (Sorry if my saying that offends ppl with tattoos, I'm not a fan) When Yeoman Chambers would say that Jack wanted to talk to me, I wished there was a "Tell her to make an appointment for the 2nd of Never." Option.
While I think it's true that the large crew makes it difficult to care about all of them, I think part of the reason behind that is to give everyone something they'll like. As evidenced by some posts on this page, tastes vary and not everyone will like the same group of characters. So the intent is probably not do give us a tight little crew we'll all like (because it's not possible) but give us a large crew with enough characters that just about everyone can have a group of three or four favourites.
Personally, because my "main" Shepard is a soldier I tended to stick with Tali and a biotic (usually Jack for her shockwave ability) unless I know there's not going to be any mechs, in which case I'd either run with two biotics or pick Garrus or Grunt. Which is pretty much what I did in ME1 which was have either Tali and Liara or Ashley and Liara for the most part. Now while those were all tactical decisions, I really came to like Ash, Tali and Liara jst by virtue of having them around.
One thing I did miss in ME2 though is the way characters would often interact with each other when just wandering around. Aside from one little bit between Garrus and Tali on the citadel, in ME2 all the interactions were through Shepard.
Personally, because my "main" Shepard is a soldier I tended to stick with Tali and a biotic (usually Jack for her shockwave ability) unless I know there's not going to be any mechs, in which case I'd either run with two biotics or pick Garrus or Grunt. Which is pretty much what I did in ME1 which was have either Tali and Liara or Ashley and Liara for the most part. Now while those were all tactical decisions, I really came to like Ash, Tali and Liara jst by virtue of having them around.
One thing I did miss in ME2 though is the way characters would often interact with each other when just wandering around. Aside from one little bit between Garrus and Tali on the citadel, in ME2 all the interactions were through Shepard.
As someone who's never played ME1 (I only have a PS3, PS2 and PSP) I've actually been really enjoying the story and the characters. While there is definitely alot more side stories and character missions than plot missions I've been finding most of that stuff just as interesting as the main plotline. So far the only character I've really not liked so far as been Jack, I just didn't find her back-story very interesting. So far my favorites have been Miranda, Jacob, Gharrus, and Mordin.
JD, if you have a computer capable of playing it, the first Mass Effect is really cheap and well worth the investment. (I, on the other hand, have only this laptop so I borrowed my friend's 360. But yeah.)
Oh, and yeah. ME2's cast is very obviously designed so that everyone finds someone to like. The cast is so varied that it'd be a challenge to find someone who really digs every last one of them. Myself personally, I dislike Jack. But my girlfriend thinks she's just gravy. See what I mean?
As for the 'Kaidan and Ashley are boring' thing, I've seen that pop up enough times to know that it's a bit of a consensus. That said, there's a huge following for them that is requesting they reappear (well, depending on... you know) in the last bridging DLC between 2 and 3, if not rejoining you in 3. So they have their incredibly vocal fanbase just the same.
Mass Effect as a series is becoming a lot like other genre icons; there's a rabid following for each and every character and various members of those followings will never shut up about said character. :P
As for the 'Kaidan and Ashley are boring' thing, I've seen that pop up enough times to know that it's a bit of a consensus. That said, there's a huge following for them that is requesting they reappear (well, depending on... you know) in the last bridging DLC between 2 and 3, if not rejoining you in 3. So they have their incredibly vocal fanbase just the same.
Mass Effect as a series is becoming a lot like other genre icons; there's a rabid following for each and every character and various members of those followings will never shut up about said character. :P
I can understand the Ashley fans. But I have to wonder just how many Kaiden fans are really Carth fans.
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/128/index/5663354
You can ask them yourself if you want to, but they seem pretty dedicated...
You can ask them yourself if you want to, but they seem pretty dedicated...
Saquist
Commodore
Alot of these games loose what ever moral acceptableness they have in the second version and ME2 was no different. Jack running around half naked. Miranda was just a GI centerfold and of course no game is a sucess without the introduction of numerous profanities and F bombs.
Morally I had to avoid Jack just to keep from being assailed with curses of all type.
They did battlefield bad company the same way. Just ruins the game.
Morally I had to avoid Jack just to keep from being assailed with curses of all type.
They did battlefield bad company the same way. Just ruins the game.
When all is said and done, it's fiction, and fiction doesn't need to be "morally acceptable".
Moral acceptableness? 
I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. Firstly, leaving aside for a second that both those terms are highly subjective and the obvious hypocrisy that says it's fine for a game to have you run around killing everything that moves, just so long as nobody is dressed indecently or says a naughty word; there was WAY more skin on display in the first game than the second. Secondly, Jack was the product of an unimaginably abusive background and you expect her to trot around in a red and white checked gingham dress, yelping "gosh darn-it" every time a crazed merc tries to blow her head clean off? It may be "morally acceptable" but it's also bloody stupid.
Incidentally, I should point out that I noticed about as many conspicuous close-ups on Jacob's arse as Miranda's, so at least they're catering for all tastes.
I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. Firstly, leaving aside for a second that both those terms are highly subjective and the obvious hypocrisy that says it's fine for a game to have you run around killing everything that moves, just so long as nobody is dressed indecently or says a naughty word; there was WAY more skin on display in the first game than the second. Secondly, Jack was the product of an unimaginably abusive background and you expect her to trot around in a red and white checked gingham dress, yelping "gosh darn-it" every time a crazed merc tries to blow her head clean off? It may be "morally acceptable" but it's also bloody stupid.
Incidentally, I should point out that I noticed about as many conspicuous close-ups on Jacob's arse as Miranda's, so at least they're catering for all tastes.
Ah yes, in a game that rewards you for shooting people in the face, it's the swearing and sexuality that's truly objectionable. 
Swearing is crude, but not immoral. For something to be immoral it has to have negative consequences and swearing by itself does not. Sure, saying "I fucking hate you, cunt-smear" is immoral but that's because that's verbal abuse. Saying "Shit, I lost my fucking wallet" isn't immoral, it's just crude.
Swearing is crude, but not immoral. For something to be immoral it has to have negative consequences and swearing by itself does not. Sure, saying "I fucking hate you, cunt-smear" is immoral but that's because that's verbal abuse. Saying "Shit, I lost my fucking wallet" isn't immoral, it's just crude.
You know, allow me to play devil's advocate here for a second; it's a rare day across several message boards that I find myself saying this but Saquist has a bit of a point. They definitely amped up the sex-o-meter in ME2.
That said, it wasn't a drastic change. Sure, Miranda's ass steals the camera sometimes. Sure, Jack is half-naked (but really, that's a tattoo style if ever there were one; if it were a guy without his shirt on [and I can make this comparison because the tattoos cover up Jack's breasts] then no one would be saying anything). The asari are just are slutted-out as they were in ME1, though, and if you haven't had the, er, 'pleasure' of reading Mass Effect: Revelations then you'll never know the traumatizing horror of what they did to Liara's design. She's fine in ME2.
Besides, I took slight issue to Ashley's 'pretty pink armor set' in ME1 to begin with.
Anyway, the profanity doesn't ruin the game. Not for me, anyway. Not for a lot of people. Far be it; you're in the Terminus Systems, grunge and all that. You're in an area of space where things aren't as okay as they were in the first game, and things were rarely 'okay' in the first game for that matter. I'm of the opinion that it's pretty standard-issue to bump into a couple of people who can't keep their mouths washed.
You mean Redemption, I believe - Revelation was the first Captain Anderson novel, with no Liara present.
Ah, yes. Thanks for the correction.
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