I think Mass Effect 2 was a masterwork game. Well done to Bioware for a top quality game that has raised the bar for RPGs. As with any game though there are some edges that could see some refinement, so here are a few suggestions for ME3 or even the ME2 expansion:
1. Diversify the on-foot gameplay missions
Most quests in ME2 that dont involve fighting your way from one side of a map to the other are fetch quests or "pick the right conversation option with a character". It would be great for ME3 if one could have a wider variety of mission types. For example, the mission where one had to sneak around with Thane to finish his loyalty mission - it felt a bit "basic" in the sense that the engine wasnt quite refined enough to pull it off (perhaps one could add a semi-stealth section too - where there are guards and you need to sneak past them or incapacitate them) but adding another mission "type" like this was great. Likewise the Samara loyalty mission where you had to a catch a certain someone's attention by doing any number of different things in Afterlife. It was a great idea but could be fleshed out more.
2. More weapon variety (standard weapons, not heavy or "novelty" weapons)
There are only a handful of weapons for each weapon type (pistol, SMG, etc) and in each class, there are clear orders of progression in the guns in each of these classes. In other words, once you have a Carnifex there is no reason to use a Predator. Likewise the Tempest is significantly better than the Shuriken and for all intents and purposes replaces it completely. As other posters have mentioned, having guns with different trade offs in each gun class would be cool. Obviously one would want to get more powerful weapons as you progress, but you can increase the total count of guns in each class and also have a number of them that are very similar in terms of raw "damage dealing power" but have different characteristics to differentiate them. Perhaps around 5 guns per class (each with unique gun models, animations, etc) would be right - there is a "starter weapon" then a mix of 2 or 3 "mid-range" guns, and then one or two top-end specialist guns (like the Widow). Some have smaller clips and higher accuracy, others have a better zoom feature and less recoil, some are better against armor and others against shields, etc. Thus it is not a given that every player will be using the Tempest as his SMG, the Eviscarator as his shotgun, and the Carnifex as his pistol - there are a number of viable early, mid-game and late-game choices in each class.
3. Wider and less linear upgrades for weapons and armor
Mentioned before by other posters. The weapon upgrade system has a certain elegance about it, but it is very linear. There's a clear order of progression again as opposed to actual choice in what you'd like to upgrade. Coonsider different slots on a weapon and perhaps a few choices for each slot (like a barrel modification, a magazine modification, and a mass effect generator modification).
Likewise with armor. Trade-offs are great as it gives choice. Will I upgrade the base damage of my SMG by adding the X mass effect generator, or will I upgrade its armor piercing ability? I realize we're now moving back towards ME1 and thus back to clutter potentially, but surely there must be some manner of sweet spot in between that does not result in a purely linear progression for each weapon.
Perhaps the answer is even having branching research options? So instead of you always getting SMG shield piercing, you can choose between shield piercing or an accuracy upgrade and if you pick the one you lose the other and cannot choose it, expect for much later in the game when some manner of funnel was reached.
4. Spaceship RPG aspects can be fleshed out
All the rooms in the ship and EDI etc is awesome, but it looks like Bioware ran out of time to properly implement the ship as an upgradeable resource in the game with its own "stats". Excluding the mods like extra probes and fuel (necessary but slightly "yawn") you can add armor, shields, etc to it, but it only makes a difference in one or two scenes and even then it is not clear that it was the armor / shield that saved you. Add more scenes where spaceship performance is relevant (like anti-air guns firing at the Normandy as Shepard and team are dropped off on an asteroid base, or combat with other ships)
5. N7 missions
Most of the N7 missions felt a bit short. In fact, some could be done in 5min! 30min or even an hour plus for some of the N7 missions would make the world feel much larger. Adding in character interactions here too (with the conversation wheel) and some paragon / renegade choices would also make it feel less "tacked on".
6. Party member special abilities
I've looked at the Kasumi DLC video and although it isnt out yet, the video footage of her stealth melee kill looks awesome. Unique powers like this really make the characters stand out and feel less cookie cutter. I'm sure if Bioware ponders on this a bit they could dream up much more "epic" powers for each of the squad members as opposed to giving them skills that the PC alreay has (Tali, Legion and the Engineer having combat drone and AI hacking?) or skills that just feel "meh"
7. Armor
Let us toggle the helmet
As with many other players, I bought the collectors edition of your game for the armor sets but I did not use any armor other than the N7 armor, due to you hiding the character's face in dialogue sections. This is an RPG and you've pioneered the digital acting, then you end up hiding the main character's face behind a helmet? Its like a movie with the main character's face covered for half of it. Like in Dragon Age, have cutscenes or any conversation with other characters remove the helmet automatically. That system worked perfectly for me!
8. Let powers affect enemies with defenses, but in a reduced fashion
If you play Hardcore or above, the game is much more fun as I found it too easy on Veteran in my first play through with an infiltrator (perhaps that class is OP?). But now, on HC, even the basic enemies have defenses, and many of my party member abilities are all but useless now. Samara has throw and pull, but by the time I've depleted the defenses the enemy is so close to being killed that I dont really need to use her powers to do so. Likewise with Mordin Cryo Freeze and Tali's AI hacking.
How's about having a power always have an effect on an enemy, even if their defenses are up, but if so the power has a drastically reduced impact or duration? So pull will still raise an enemy out from cover, but only does so for 2 or 3 seconds as opposed to 7 or 9. Likewise Cryo Freeze still freezes them, but only for a short while. Throw still makes them land on their backside, but with much less damage. This way powers will be useful all the time as opposed to you having to use a limited subset of them.
Modifié par LawRecordings, 22 mars 2010 - 09:57 .
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. But, Soldier will still kick more ass 
