I posted something over in the ME3 wishlist that would be very well suited here, but since I don't know how to link it properly I'll simply resort to the old fashioned cut/paste technique.
The changes for Mass Effect between 1 and 2 were pretty substantial, and I won't lie, I'm not happy with every single change that was made. However, I am happy with the game overall.
1. I don't like how the Thermal clips work, I think you should only have to dump it if you overheat it. I overlook that one because of a bug I'd get on my 2nd playthrough and later where my weapons would get STUCK overheated.
2. I liked some of the vehicle areas, but not the controls... it gave you an opportunity to see so much more of the planet even if you never actually went there.
3. The inventory system in the first one was admittedly a bit inconvenient at times, but I don't care for how
they did the equipment in the second either, it's all percentage adjustments to either my hp, or tech powers or some other thing. I have to as when the armor stopped actually protecting my furry butt (ugly image, but you'll live) and just became a stat booster? Those bullets they're shooting at me aren't going to deplete my ability to storm a
location until I'm dead, which makes those fancy leg-plates kinda useless. I DO however like that I have to actually go to my armory (or quarters) to change out my armor or weapons. I just wish I had more than perhaps 3 choices for any given area of armor (head, chest, etc.) Following up on a game that had such a VAST abundance of different
items, which lent the galaxy the feel of a much larger place with so many companies competing you're left with what feels like almost NOTHING for equipment. That's staggering.
4. The powers in 2... probably my biggest complaint right there. Leaves me feeling like the game was designed for a console first and tucked onto the PC as a sidenote. Or that they may have thought having.... what 8 or 9 powers
per character was overboard? Not sure on the exact count from ME1 since it's been a while since I've fired it up.
5. I have to say that in the technical department, ME2 is superior in many ways and it expands upon the story beautifully. But I didn't care for feeling cramped on mission after mission. Yeah, if you take an honest look at
the missions in ME1, they were pretty linear. But somehow they managed to maintain a feeling of being a part of a larger place, and that feeling just isn't there in ME2. I was nearly struck dumb by just how flimsy my armor in the first one looked after having played the second. Then I realized I was looking at medium armor
Overall, Mass Effect 2 was designed to be simpler. Why bother buying armor upgrades when they really don't matter? I saw only slight effects of researching weapons upgrades (likely vital in Hardcore/Insanity modes, but I have
to avoid intense stress) so a large portion of even the simplified game can be safely tucked by the wayside. Part of me just shrugs and says that's what you get for trying to make console (Xbox) gamers more comfortable with the game. But I am still able to recognize when I'm being biased, and since I do not like the Xbox at all, that's likely my
predjudiced view talking.
So I'm left wondering...
Why?
My son is 4 years old. He's fully capable of playing and beating Mass Effect 2. He can make the character run, he can make the character shoot, and that's really all you have to do if you turn on auto level-up and play a soldier. The conversations would slow him down until he realized the fastest way past them and back to the shooting. Gear
doesn't seem to matter, so why bother with it?
I know this is starting to sound like a bash ME2 post, but it isn't meant that way, I do enjoy the game. But these are questions that have bugged me ever since I started playing the game right after release. It is probably simpler to sum it up like this... They put so much work into the framework of the game, but didn't put nearly enough meat on it's bones to be worth that much effort.
ME1 had this almost overwhelming feel of you having been thrust into a galaxy far, far away (don't think
that old Bastard has trademarked that yet

) with all the depth and
complexity that came with such a journey. ME2 makes me feel like a NY
city carriage horse with those funny blinders on so that I can only see
what's right in front of me. When I step back from playing ME2 and look
at how it's built, I can almost see this great skeletal creature...
starved for content.
I think they've gotten a lot right and wrong. Equipment management right... amount available or lack of real influence of it... wrong. The vastness of the story, from the opening scene to how your friends have grown or changed... F*in RIGHT! and the sudden compression of the galaxy in upon you... wrong. Many of my complaints I would not have noticed (except the lack of equipment variety) had it not borne the name Mass Effect.
I am both hopeful and nervous about the third installment, I'm hopeful that they'll bring back some of the expansive _feel_ of the first and nervous for just how simplified ME2 has become and I do not wish to see them continue that path. Yes, ME1 needed some simplification but I feel they overdid it.
I'll shut the heck up now.
Modifié par Sevrun, 27 avril 2010 - 05:43 .