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[AlbertoAquilani]

 Just finished the game this morning, after 41 hours (that includes quite a few breaks, I'd call it 40 or so hours overall).

Instead of generalising it, I thought I'd put my impressions in a pros and con list:

Pros:
+ Arguably the best part of the game for me are the cities, the hubs, they're vibrant and seem to take the best parts of the Citadel from the first one, pinched in some better pacing. Omega, Illium, Citadel (even though it's smaller than the first unfortunately) and to lesser degree Tuchanka, felt like living breathing cities. The immersion and atmosphere was fantastic in each of them. I do wish we got to see more of the Citadel though but that's just a small complaint. I must have spent so much time exploring these areas and I thought the mission design was done the best at these places, where you'd take transport or an elevator to take on missions with your crew.

The exploration, the mission design of these places are very well done. I certainly hope there will be even more cities in Mass Effect 3 or even in Downloadable Content. Hell I'd even like to get some more DLC for places like Illium and Omega. I feel like I have unfinished business at those places.

+ The dialogue system. Being able to go around and speak to various people, with variables depending on the conversation. I felt like I could have approached conversations so many ways. Also, due to the Renegade / Paragon system in this one, I thought the conversation system was even better. One complaint though, is that maybe I'll select one option on the left side of the conversation wheel and then it'll end the conversation.

+ VA / Character Acting -- incredible. Gives me very high hopes for the next one, they've definitely set the bar with this. I really can't find any faults with both the VA and character acting. Mass Effect feels like a Uwe Boll film in comparison. The emotions on the characters faces and in the VA really added to the scenes, especially in the more touching comments. There are really a couple of scenes that were incredible well acted. One that has stuck with me was a scene earlier in Korlus.

+ Art direction. Almost every place in the game was brimming in visual quality. It felt like I was in a very high quality sci-fi movie, and you can see the fusion of inspiration that the artists. It really added to the immersion of the game. There were a couple of disappointments but I won't say which due to obvious spoilers.

+ Interrupt system. Great, implemented very well and it had the perfect amount. It's particularly funny in certain scenes.

+ Loyalty missions. I hope this aspect stays for the next game, the character interaction, the moral choices you made in them and most of them featured some really surprising (and good) scenes. For the most part they didn't feel like just shooter level romps that a couple of missions in the game felt like. Personally, my favourites were Thane, Miranda, Tali, Samara, Mordin, Jacob and Subject Zero. They were all incredibly well done and one of my favourite parts of the game.

+ The ME 1 cameos. I can't say too much but they were very well done. I just hope they have larger parts in the next game along with my current ME 2 crew of course.

+ There was a lot to do, a lot of places to visit with different art styles. I liked the concept of the N7 missions, and there quite a lot to do. They aren't perfect, as incredible as the art style was, a lot of them felt too tropical, there wasn't as much variety as there was in the first, and they felt light in content. It must have took me at the most 10 minutes to do each one. On the other hand, I'm not too bothered about the lack of Mako, most of it just felt like filler while the N7 missions really cut out that filler. The best one to me was the Normandy Crash Site, especially in terms of art style and atmosphere. If in the future, they are on par with this, I'll be happy -- but to be honest, I wouldn't mind if they instead beefed up side quests in the cities / hubs and cut the N7 mission stuff. It's just my opinion.

+ Characters. Among the best characters I've interacted in a videogame. Even tops the first one. The marketing does not do them justice, they're all vulnerable and very interesting characters.

+ Humour / Easter Eggs / Carry over. This game has so many, the amount of references to the first one I've seen, funny advertisements, news system, conversations and the humour in general really add to the game. Once again, it adds to the immersion of the experience.

+ Shops and upgrade system. I like the upgrade system, people may think otherwise, but I thought it was very in-depth. I also liked the way the shops were done this time and were a lot more easier to navigate. The only complaint I have of the upgrade system is that it could be a bit beefier and perhaps tie in with a characters level progression. In terms of loot, I wasn't unhappy it was gone. It really didn't bother me since most of the loot in the game to me was useless.

+ Normandy SR-2. I spent plenty of time, talking to my crew, feeding my fish, listening to music, customizing things and researching. It was very well done. The e-mail system was a nice touch.

+ The combat. I've left this till last, because it was a given. It's leaps and bounds a better combat system than the first, and it just feels much better. I know the shooting is now not tied to your level progression but I think it's for the better. One complaint is that some shooting sections really drag on, it's like Bioware are really proud of the system and just wanted to show it off even more.

+ Story, there will probably be a few complaints about this, but the recruitment is the main part of the game, thus the characters are. The characters are the essence of the game this time around. Overall, I'd say I enjoyed the first game's story more though. Also I didn't mind that there was no particular villain in this one.

Cons:
- Straight up shooting missions. I didn't like these (the final mission not included, I really liked it). I'll make two examples, Purgatory and Korlus. Two recruitment missions. They really didn't have much balance, all they required to do was going from point a to b and obliterate anything in your path which then end with a boss fight. I hope there are less of these in the next one. It was nice to be able to make use of the combat but these sections felt like overkill for a Mass Effect game. They didn't really have much depth to them.

- Scanning: Mind-numbing, and boring. There seriously better be an easier way to get resources in the next installment. Earlier in the game it was really frustrating and potentially ruining the game for me.

- The mission complete screen. I didn't like it. It just didn't feel right.

- The role-playing to combat sections didn't seem seamless enough. In the first, you would just take out your gun and the combat would start. But in this, it makes it very clear that it's a combat section and it feels a bit different. I just wish it was as seamless in the first one.

- While the game was, for the most part, well polished. I couldn't help but notice a few bugs.

Neutral:
-/+ For the most part, I loved the music, but it didn't feel as good or as atmospheric as the first. At times, in favour for a more orchestral soundtrack. I think this was a mistake. I'd come back to the Normandy, feeling nice about the music I heard but then I'd put the sound system on then something from Mass Effect 1 would play to downplay that. However, the music in the clubs were great choices.

-/+ Armour customisation. It was well done, but it's a shame you couldn't buy more armours in the game or perhaps salvage some. Whilst being able to upgrade and customise our current N7 armour.

Overall: I loved the game, it's on par with the first which holds a special place for me. Which is the biggest compliment I can give it and it further proves why it's my favourite series right now. Both stellar games, with obvious flaws but nothing is perfect. It's these amazing features that make the series so special. The emotion, character interaction, acting, production value, art direction, combat are at their peak in Mass Effect 2. They only need to make a few improvements for the third game. They've built up something special, let's hope they give it a dignified and excellent ending in Mass Effect 3. For the meantime, I'll enjoy any DLC that may come and I'll replay it soon to see some other choices.

It's a great game, it's deeper than you might think. While it may not be deep for a hardcore RPG fan, but the stats / loot has for the most part never what made the series or the first one great. It's the immersion, the sense of wonder and mystery (in the locales, story and villains), the characters, your journey. I felt sad at the end, because I knew it was over, and because of what happened in the final mission. Anyway, congrats to Bioware on a brilliant game, it's not perfect, things need to be improved but there are things you done incredibly well in this one, there's less for you to improve in Mass Effect 3.

Note: Please don't put co-op, or multi-player features in a Mass Effect game (this trilogy at least) and focus on the single-player in the third and concentrate on a quality experience that matches the first two.