Mass Effects

Hey,

So I'm playing my way through Mass Effect 2. I'm not quite sure how far along I am. I'm mostly just playing to get through the main plot and I'm brushing off all the side stuff where possible, but I'm noticing a bunch of stuff.

1.) I wish I could turn off the transition cut-scenes or skip cut scenes. Especially the "we're landing on a planet/docking at a station" bits.

2.) I continue to opt for the "good" choices, especially during interviews/interrogations. It's only bitten me in the ass once (where I let a bad guy go), but it does result in some very odd behavior where I seem to be all for giving people second chances except when I don't. Oh and while the position on the response wheel indicates generally what kind of tone you'll use, sometimes it's maddeningly vague. Given the response, you think you're advocating for one course of action when really you do something else.

3.) In that vein, all the crew members I pick up to be on my team have a special "loyalty mission" where I help them resolve some problem and then they're super loyal to me and get benefits. Pretty much all of them involve family in one way or another. It's a parent or a child and they're in danger or need help or whatever. It's like I'm not so much a super-soldier as I am a family counselor with an assault rifle.

4.) They let you bring your character along from Mass Effect 1, but then they go out of their way to close off access to everyone and everything from the first game. Despite saving the galaxy, the galactic council brushes you off like a panhandler. There are supposed in-game reasons for this, but it's all pretty weak. There's also the old "starting at the bottom" issue that all RPGs have, but it's especially irritating in this game since you used to be Captain McBadAss and now you're stuck building up again (and you have to rebuild your team). Just sloppy.

5.) Finally, this game is weirdly sexual. I'm playing a male protagonist and women are just flinging themselves at me -- especially the personal assistant on-board my ship. She doesn't actually go on any missions, she just cues me in on unread emails and actual team members who need me to fix something for them. She's really a psychologist there to help me gauge the ship's mood, but she is relentless in hitting on me...when she's not thinking about making out with the most recent alien I've recruited. Just creepy. And there's a fair amount of side dialog you hear when moving through starports where people/aliens are discussing sex or hitting on each other. I'm not even talking about the blue-skinned female sex aliens, it's pretty much everyone.

Mercifully, there's only been one mission where rape has played any factor and anyone with childhood abuse has been of the "dubious medical experiments" type so...yay?

This game just doesn't seem to know what it wants to do. While I like the idea that my character could fall in love with someone and have a romance, the limitations of a game mean I can't actively pursue anyone I choose (especially not a same-sex partner), but the game tries to make it seem like I have options and....don't I have a larger mission on my mind? Y'know, saving the galaxy, again? It's just kind of a mess.

Despite all this, I think I've gotten everyone's personal problems sorted out and they're all super-loyal to me so now I'm going to drill down and see if I can't just get through the rest of the main mission. Oh, and at some point if I don't get the chance to stick it to the human-supremacy group I'm working for (they brought me back from the dead and it's one reason why no one wants to deal with me and I've got clear evidence that they've lied to me and done terrible things), I'm going to be really ticked.

later
Tom

Mass Effects

Hey,

So I'm playing my way through Mass Effect 2. I'm not quite sure how far along I am. I'm mostly just playing to get through the main plot and I'm brushing off all the side stuff where possible, but I'm noticing a bunch of stuff.

1.) I wish I could turn off the transition cut-scenes or skip cut scenes. Especially the "we're landing on a planet/docking at a station" bits.

2.) I continue to opt for the "good" choices, especially during interviews/interrogations. It's only bitten me in the ass once (where I let a bad guy go), but it does result in some very odd behavior where I seem to be all for giving people second chances except when I don't. Oh and while the position on the response wheel indicates generally what kind of tone you'll use, sometimes it's maddeningly vague. Given the response, you think you're advocating for one course of action when really you do something else.

3.) In that vein, all the crew members I pick up to be on my team have a special "loyalty mission" where I help them resolve some problem and then they're super loyal to me and get benefits. Pretty much all of them involve family in one way or another. It's a parent or a child and they're in danger or need help or whatever. It's like I'm not so much a super-soldier as I am a family counselor with an assault rifle.

4.) They let you bring your character along from Mass Effect 1, but then they go out of their way to close off access to everyone and everything from the first game. Despite saving the galaxy, the galactic council brushes you off like a panhandler. There are supposed in-game reasons for this, but it's all pretty weak. There's also the old "starting at the bottom" issue that all RPGs have, but it's especially irritating in this game since you used to be Captain McBadAss and now you're stuck building up again (and you have to rebuild your team). Just sloppy.

5.) Finally, this game is weirdly sexual. I'm playing a male protagonist and women are just flinging themselves at me -- especially the personal assistant on-board my ship. She doesn't actually go on any missions, she just cues me in on unread emails and actual team members who need me to fix something for them. She's really a psychologist there to help me gauge the ship's mood, but she is relentless in hitting on me...when she's not thinking about making out with the most recent alien I've recruited. Just creepy. And there's a fair amount of side dialog you hear when moving through starports where people/aliens are discussing sex or hitting on each other. I'm not even talking about the blue-skinned female sex aliens, it's pretty much everyone.

Mercifully, there's only been one mission where rape has played any factor and anyone with childhood abuse has been of the "dubious medical experiments" type so...yay?

This game just doesn't seem to know what it wants to do. While I like the idea that my character could fall in love with someone and have a romance, the limitations of a game mean I can't actively pursue anyone I choose (especially not a same-sex partner), but the game tries to make it seem like I have options and....don't I have a larger mission on my mind? Y'know, saving the galaxy, again? It's just kind of a mess.

Despite all this, I think I've gotten everyone's personal problems sorted out and they're all super-loyal to me so now I'm going to drill down and see if I can't just get through the rest of the main mission. Oh, and at some point if I don't get the chance to stick it to the human-supremacy group I'm working for (they brought me back from the dead and it's one reason why no one wants to deal with me and I've got clear evidence that they've lied to me and done terrible things), I'm going to be really ticked.

later
Tom