38 réponses à ce sujet

[implodinggoat]

I loved the original Mass Effect and since I've heard about a lot of the changes Bioware has made for ME2,  I've started to accept that most of them are for the best.    My only real issue is that our allies in ME2 now have a mere 4 abilities in contrast to the 8 abilities they had in ME1. 

Now losing the abilities from ME1 like first aid or the weapon abilities which have been made redundant in ME2 or some of the more useless ones like neural shock or stasis doesn't bother me; but the usefulness of my allies in ME2 seems pretty limited despite the improvements to their AI.  In particular Tech class characters like Tali or Garrus seem particularly useless since I no longer need them for unlocking and they have been stripped of Sabotage which was hands down the most useful tech ability in ME1.  Additionally from the screenshots I've seen of Jacob and Miranda's leveling up, it seems like each of them have one of their 4 talent trees occupied by a passive ability which means that they only have 3 actual powers I can activate.

On the uphand a more limited set of abilities adds an additional level of strategy and replayability since the more limited abilities of my squad makes it more important to choose the right allies for a particular mission and gives me more motivation to use all my allies rather than sticking with the same squad through the whole game.  Still it seems odd that the plot of ME2 revolves around me recruiting the biggest badasses in the galaxy and yet it apparently takes two of these badasses to fill the shoes of just one of my allies from ME1 (not to mention its weird that a more experienced Tali and Garrus have apparently become less powerful than they used to be).

So what do you guys think.  Does the strategy involved in choosing the right squad for a mission and the increased replayability granted by using different allies offset the loss of so many abilities or do you wish your squad had more abilities?

[implodinggoat]

Personally I'd like to see a happy medium between ME1 and ME2. 

With some of the ME1 abilities made redundant and some of the less useful abilities eliminated, I don't think having a full 8 abilities is necessary; but having a mere 3 activated abilities for a Sentinel class character like Miranda definitely seems far too limiting.  I feel that 4 activated abilites would be about right for my Soldier class allies like Grunt,  5 activated abilities for hybrid class characters like Garrus, and 6 for more ability oriented characters like Tali would be about right.

Modifié par implodinggoat, 22 janvier 2010 - 04:09 .

[AdamTaylor]

It's basically dumbed it down for the 360 fanbase. Not surprising really. Choice makes their heads hurt. LOL!

[KainrycKarr]

AdamTaylor wrote...

It's basically dumbed it down for the 360 fanbase. Not surprising really. Choice makes their heads hurt. LOL!

You realize ME1 was a PC Port, and was originally FOR the Xbox, right? (I'm a PC player by the way)

[The_mango55]

AdamTaylor wrote...

It's basically dumbed it down for the 360 fanbase. Not surprising really. Choice makes their heads hurt. LOL!

You realize this game was on 360 first right?

LOL!

[AdamTaylor]

You notice the LOL! at the end of my comment?

[ITSSEXYTIME]

ME1 was hardly the epitome of character development.



I don't much mind at this point, I've come to accept ME2 is a shooter and thus I will play it as such.

[implodinggoat]

I feel a tad slighted since I play on 360. I think its been dumbed down to try and appeal to more shooter fans. I enjoy shooters and I've bought a lot of them over the years; but hearing Mass Effect 2 described as a 50/50 cross between shooter and RPG makes me nervous. I feel Mass Effect should be an RPG with shooting mechanics; but the intelligent use of abilities should have a more pronounced role than it seems to have in ME2.

Modifié par implodinggoat, 22 janvier 2010 - 04:14 .

[KainrycKarr]

AdamTaylor wrote...

You notice the LOL! at the end of my comment?

Yes I did. If you were being sarcastic, you portrayed it poorly. It made you sound like another elitist trying to call console players idiots.

[KainrycKarr]

ITSSEXYTIME wrote...

ME1 was hardly the epitome of character development.

I don't much mind at this point, I've come to accept ME2 is a shooter and thus I will play it as such.

...

[GrouchoMarxist]

I like it that some of the squadmates abilities give bonus to the whole team. The Cerberus Operative skill from Miranda boosts the party's weapon damage.



Also, though the squadmates skills are diminished heavily, it looks like Shepard, with the bonus skill you can get from your squadmates is actually more customizable this time around.

[insochris]

GrouchoMarxist wrote...

I like it that some of the squadmates abilities give bonus to the whole team. The Cerberus Operative skill from Miranda boosts the party's weapon damage.

oooo! i like, i like!

[Schneidend]

ITSSEXYTIME wrote...

ME1 was hardly the epitome of character development.

I don't much mind at this point, I've come to accept ME2 is a shooter and thus I will play it as such.

ME1 was a shooter, too. The character development of ME2 is also far more complex in the choices it forces you to make. When resources are finite, choices matter. In ME1, resources weren't finite enough to make maxed builds impossible. ME2 solves this issue, since you'll only be able to max 2-3 abilities, and the evolution system means each class actually has 12 abilities before you take bonus skills into account.

[vhatever]

How do you know they only get 4 abilities?? Have you been watching the streamed videos or something?



Don't draw too many conclusions. I think the characters get more/new abilities the more they like you. That's a pretty cool change and an added RPG element.

[implodinggoat]

ITSSEXYTIME wrote...

ME1 was hardly the epitome of character development.

I don't much mind at this point, I've come to accept ME2 is a shooter and thus I will play it as such.

I'm rather skeptical that dumbing down a lot of the RPG mechanics is really going to make the game more accessible as Bioware (or perhaps EA) intends.  To me it seems that whats stopping a lot of players from picking up Mass Effect isn't its complexity its the fact that they lack the attention span to play a game with hours upon hours of dialogue.  If you just want to blow **** up in a game the RPG mechanics aren't going to bother you much in contrast to your frustration at having to wait through what you consider boring dialogue.

Either you appreciate a game who's main focus is upon story and character development or you don't.  Making the game's mechanics easier to comprehend won't change that.

[AdamTaylor]

Personally, I would love to see a greatly expanded list of skills for all characters.



Say maybe 10-12 different skills each. With you only being able to max out half of them at most.

Make the skills really mean something, other than just being something that you'll fill out by the end anyway and don't have to think about.

[implodinggoat]

vhatever wrote...

How do you know they only get 4 abilities?? Have you been watching the streamed videos or something?

Don't draw too many conclusions. I think the characters get more/new abilities the more they like you. That's a pretty cool change and an added RPG element.

The reviews I read said only 4 and I saw it for myself in the live playthrough on X fire earlier today when they showed the level up process for Shepard, Miranda and Jacob.  Additionally Miranda and Jacob each have a passive class ability which isn't activated meaning they only have 3 useable abilities.

Modifié par implodinggoat, 22 janvier 2010 - 04:26 .

[MasterMenace]

quality, not quantity ...and every time you spend a skill point, it does something



I like this better than pointless skills and too many to activate lol and spending points that don't do anything

[klusps]

Considering that Shepard starts off with six talents, I'm not surprise to see that companions only have four.

[Schneidend]

The NPC's have 4 skills each, Shepard has 6. Considering Shepard gets more squad points, anyway, and each successive level in a skill costs significantly more points, the squaddies don't really need the same amount of skills. They had fewer skills than Shepard in the first game, as well.

[ltmarcos23]

As stated above I am pretty sure I read or heard somewhere that you can unlock abilities for your squad mates by gaining loyalty. That may be the 4th grayed out power we could see in the Xfire vid. Also they may have felt that they didn't need as many powers since they got rid of the long cool downs

[jmf4]

I like the new systems. Less skills for everyone but way quicker cool down times. In Mass 1 I would just spam all of my party's powers at the beginning of a battle and then often wouldn't get a chance to use them again in that battle (except for some of the longer ones). If anything, I think the new system might even allow for more strategy than the previous one.

[AdamTaylor]

In the first, I would selectively use powers when appropriate. Making sure my party AI was set to not use them by themselves.

[AdamTaylor]

MasterMenace wrote...

quality, not quantity ...and every time you spend a skill point, it does something

I like this better than pointless skills and too many to activate lol and spending points that don't do anything

Except that you spent 1 point for the first level, 2 for the second, etc.
So really, you're spending almost the same amount of points as in the first game. You just get improvements in 4 sections, while in ME1 you got them for every point spent.

[uv23]

Yep I see this going the Dragon Age route, where loyalty brings greater/more abilities. Works for me.