Based on a flurry of activity both on Twitter and on the Bioware social site, I thought it'd be fun to get a Mass Effect 2 discussion going over here, both for actual discussion, as well as for our podcast this weekend, so we can take some of the best lines/comments and quote you guys when doing our Mass Effect 2 podcast.
Off the cuff, I've not played a lot yet. I'm still finishing my 'perfect' ME1 playthrough (I'm on Virmire now, so I'm close), but I did load my first PC saved character, ported him in, and poked around a bit (all the way to right after I first meet with the Illusive Man.)
So, what do you guys think so far? There's been some criticism of the game being too much of a shooter and not enough of an RPG. What say you?
What do you love? What do you hate? What are unsure of?
As I said, I'm not that far in, but I'll comment here later when I've had a little more stick time with it. Off the cuff, though, I am a little put off by how shooter-y is at times. I don't think I like needing ammo, but again, I don't know yet. As far as the narrative goes, I'm hooked, and it's EARLY. Can't wait to actually finish my 'real' character in ME1.
So, share your thoughts, get some discussion going, and we'll keep this going all week!
-Blaine
Posts
Dragon Age Day 2023
5 months ago
I was hoping this was going to be a narrative vs. gameplay discussion. And I guess it still can be since Mass Effect is sort of the melting point. Maybe a little bit of defining is in order, such as how would you define terms like narrative, storytelling, gameplay, etc..?
ReplyDeleteI know what ya mean, but I really wanted to narrow the discussion a bit, and have it be something relevant to what we're podcasting about this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm most interested in is how Mass Effect 2's mechanics and gameplay changes affect its standing as an 'RPG.' There are people over at the social site tearing their hair out and screaming and crying about Mass Effect 2 not being an RPG. I've only played a bit, but I can already see that this isn't true for me. I am playing the role of Shepard, as an RPG requires. I'm making his decisions, dressing him like a fucking doll, and controlling his mood as he speaks. I'm also allocating points as he levels up. Yup, that's an RPG. Yup.
Gameplay is such a loose, catch-all term. I think a lot of times people mean 'mechanics,' which is the how the user controls the character in the game.
'Narrative' and 'story' are nearly synonymous, but a narrative is a specific kind of story, mainly referring to a linear progression.
'Storytelling' is how the story is told.
'nuff said.
How do you come down on the debate of how 'RPG-ish' Mass Effect 2 is?
To me, ME2 is the new RPG. The hybrid of Role-Playing and Shooter. On one hand, Borderlands received a lot of accolades for blending the two genres, but it doesn't touch ME2. Whereas Borderlands thrived in creating an awesome co-op experience, ME2 is a Sc-Fi story of epic proportions. The games took the same idea and went in completely different directions. Boderlands is a great buddy shoot'em up and ME2 is an RPG - for all the reasons you already mentioned - with very strong mechanics.
ReplyDeleteI will admit there is a part early in the game that kind of threw me. Without any spoilers, Bioware has implemented a very abrupt way to end sequences that keeps the game's pace moving along, but breaks that seamless illusion the first game had.
Maybe after I listen to the next podcast and know where everyone is at I can be less vague. I'm really only about an hour in myself.
One thing I wanted to ask; based on the first hour of ME2, did anyone else get a Dead Space vibe at all?
ReplyDeleteDead Space vibe, check.
ReplyDeleteI dislike the way missions end. It would've been much better to have that pop up on your personal terminal.
I didn't play Borderlands, but I understand that I missed out, since I've been told that the only way to play it is co-op, and no one's playing it anymore. Oh well.
I just got my ship last night, and seriously spent an hour just poking around and talking to people (love me some Kelly, btw.)
I really, really like it now a lot more than I thought I did when I was about 15 minutes in. At first, I was a bit upset about how different some things were, but told myself to go fuck off and die and then kept playing, and fell in love.
Bear in mind, I didn't finish my 'perfect' ME1 game until last night, so I had only dabbled a bit with another, lesser save. After finishing ME1 last night, I dove right into ME2 and played for about three hours.
It rocks.
My three biggest gripes with ME2:
ReplyDelete1)The way missions end (just like you mentioned).
2)No toggle option for the helmet - this feels like a huge regression over something so simple.
3)No customizable armor for the squamates.