Apparently, Bioware owns my soul.
I have so many things I should be posting about. Jewelry. Bread. Writing.
But no, I'm too busy playing Mass Effect 2, which first required me to actually finish Mass Effect 1, since Bioware has designed it as a trilogy, and you import your ME1 character, and all of the decisions you made and things you did in the first game shape the second. I literally had to start over (my original game was w/the default Shepard, because I didn't know you could switch genders and play a female MC. Which I did this time around.)
Anyway. Mass Effect isn't quite as awesome a RPG as Dragon Age (same company), but it isn't really fair to compare them, as ME is a completely different style of game. It's an RPG AND a shooter. I do not play shooters. But I find that placing the difficulty on casual, I am enjoying the heck out of the combat in ME2 - very surprising. They've made it much smoother and more seamless than the more cumbersome combat in ME1, or for that matter, in most RPGs. And as much as I thoroughly enjoyed the story in ME1 (which I played for something like twelve hours on Wednesday to finish), ME2 takes my breath away. It makes me laugh, makes me mad, surprises me, and brings up lots of tiny little details from my play experience w/ME1. It is, in a word, AWESOME.
And while it lacks the many, many party conversations that thrilled and amused me in Dragon Age, it has some definite gems.
Like the crew member who sings a version of "Major General" from Pirates of Penzance. HILARIOUS.
I am very early into this massive game, but I've spoiled myself for some paths my MC will NOT be taking by clicking links to youtube. For instance, there is a character that carries over from ME1, an alien sniper named Garrus. He was one of my go-to party members. He's a badass with a sniper rifle, and I tend to see things the same way he does, so we agree a lot of the time. Apparently some female gamers complained they couldn't romance him in ME1, so Bioware made him a romance option in ME2. I don't really get this. He's an awesome character, but he's, well...he's just too different, species-wise, to romance IMO. No lips. Lots of teeth and other...things. Just....no. (Now Thane, in ME2....maybe. He has lips, and a very human body. Just green skin scales and black eyes. We'll see. I haven't actually added him to my squad yet, so I don't know. But I'm not ruling him out based solely on his species, as Garrus is.)
Anyway, so I know I won't be romancing Garrus. But others have and will, and apparently there are some pretty funny bits, conversationally. For instance (remember, he's a sniper):
Shepard, teasing him: "So, when should I book the room?"
Garrus, serious: "I'd wait, if you're okay with it. Disrupt the crew as little as possible...and take that last chance to find some calm just before the storm." (all casual-like) "You know me. I always like to savor the last shot before popping the heat sink."
Shepard: ...
Garrus: "Wait. That metaphor just went somewhere horrible."
LMAO. I laughed and laughed. That was actually very in character for Garrus. :)
In any case, Bioware knows their stuff. Maybe because I ended ME1 one day, and picked up ME2 the next, but the opening sequence of game 2 gave me chills. Very well done. The combat and leveling systems are both much, much smoother/better than ME1. Of course, there are people whining on the forums. I don't get it, but to each their own, I guess. Seems to me, Bioware has outdone themselves. I can't wait to see what they do with ME3.
But no, I'm too busy playing Mass Effect 2, which first required me to actually finish Mass Effect 1, since Bioware has designed it as a trilogy, and you import your ME1 character, and all of the decisions you made and things you did in the first game shape the second. I literally had to start over (my original game was w/the default Shepard, because I didn't know you could switch genders and play a female MC. Which I did this time around.)
Anyway. Mass Effect isn't quite as awesome a RPG as Dragon Age (same company), but it isn't really fair to compare them, as ME is a completely different style of game. It's an RPG AND a shooter. I do not play shooters. But I find that placing the difficulty on casual, I am enjoying the heck out of the combat in ME2 - very surprising. They've made it much smoother and more seamless than the more cumbersome combat in ME1, or for that matter, in most RPGs. And as much as I thoroughly enjoyed the story in ME1 (which I played for something like twelve hours on Wednesday to finish), ME2 takes my breath away. It makes me laugh, makes me mad, surprises me, and brings up lots of tiny little details from my play experience w/ME1. It is, in a word, AWESOME.
And while it lacks the many, many party conversations that thrilled and amused me in Dragon Age, it has some definite gems.
Like the crew member who sings a version of "Major General" from Pirates of Penzance. HILARIOUS.
I am very early into this massive game, but I've spoiled myself for some paths my MC will NOT be taking by clicking links to youtube. For instance, there is a character that carries over from ME1, an alien sniper named Garrus. He was one of my go-to party members. He's a badass with a sniper rifle, and I tend to see things the same way he does, so we agree a lot of the time. Apparently some female gamers complained they couldn't romance him in ME1, so Bioware made him a romance option in ME2. I don't really get this. He's an awesome character, but he's, well...he's just too different, species-wise, to romance IMO. No lips. Lots of teeth and other...things. Just....no. (Now Thane, in ME2....maybe. He has lips, and a very human body. Just green skin scales and black eyes. We'll see. I haven't actually added him to my squad yet, so I don't know. But I'm not ruling him out based solely on his species, as Garrus is.)
Anyway, so I know I won't be romancing Garrus. But others have and will, and apparently there are some pretty funny bits, conversationally. For instance (remember, he's a sniper):
Shepard, teasing him: "So, when should I book the room?"
Garrus, serious: "I'd wait, if you're okay with it. Disrupt the crew as little as possible...and take that last chance to find some calm just before the storm." (all casual-like) "You know me. I always like to savor the last shot before popping the heat sink."
Shepard: ...
Garrus: "Wait. That metaphor just went somewhere horrible."
LMAO. I laughed and laughed. That was actually very in character for Garrus. :)
In any case, Bioware knows their stuff. Maybe because I ended ME1 one day, and picked up ME2 the next, but the opening sequence of game 2 gave me chills. Very well done. The combat and leveling systems are both much, much smoother/better than ME1. Of course, there are people whining on the forums. I don't get it, but to each their own, I guess. Seems to me, Bioware has outdone themselves. I can't wait to see what they do with ME3.