Doesn't make a whole lot of sense actually? Now that I'm coming with the correct context of ME1, ME2 does a lot of weird shit. Like, why am I automatically working with Cerberus, an actual terrorist organization that has done actual crimes? It's such a bizarre decision to strongarm Shephard into working with them despite how pro-cooperative and pro-alien you can be in ME1. And why would Joker work with them as well? I didn't talk to Joker much in ME1 but working with actual terrorists is such a jump for him even if the Alliance is doing their bureaucratic bullshit. Like, Cerebrus isn't just some rebel/outlaw faction that Sidesteps Democratic Insufficiency, they've literally attempted a hijacking of a Quarian ship and bombed it. I get the game is going full hard-on with this jingoist fantasy of Special Operatives Who Always Get The Job Done, but this is so far gone. It'd be like if you had a game about an American War Hero in the Iraq War, and then in the sequel you found out the War Hero is resurrected and being supplied by ISIS. Except Cerberus has far-less justification than Middle Eastern terrorism. Just a bizarre narrative decision.

I'll accept the sideswiping of working with Cerebrus--the game tries its hardest to assuage Paragon players that they're just working with Cerebrus, not actually under Cerebrus; a pretty meaningless distinction but fine, maybe there's a larger narrative point the writers want to hit and having Paragons work with Cerebrus was the best way to do that. What I don't get as readily is the wild swings in everything else that happens in the game. You have Mordin over here who's pretty unshaken by having participated in the Krogan Genophage Project, so there's that can of worms again; then over here you have Miranda who's just a pandora box of genetic modification, perfectionism, and inadequacy schemas, so there's that character arc; then you have Jack who also has her share of inadequacy schemas and as well as lot of weird codification by the writers to have her be this 'abused' or 'damaged goods' bad girl archetype; Jacob is the 'sane one', which is okay, but it feels kinda weird that they gave the black character a lack of interiority but whatever. And then you have the batshit DLC characters Zaeed and Kasumi with their own short but strangely excessive plotlines as well. Now having all this in your game is fine, my question is: what's the point?

The personal traumas at play with the characters here are fine, and they should be explored, but what's the connection between any of them? In ME1 all the lore about the Krogan Genophage, the Reapers, the Protheans, the Alliance, the Council, the romance options, squad decisions, etc. all lead to the central question of the game: how should human civilization interact with aliens? Whether we should integrate on our hands and knees, be cordial but maintain our own interest, or assert dominance is all up to the player's Shephard. And the game tries to provide evidence for and against all three different paths using both the history of the world and what happens on your quest to defeat Saren. Even small design decisions like having to buy non-Human armor for your squad can help players express how willing or unwilling they are towards accommodating aliens. Now, you can think the way Mass Effect 1 goes about these connections makes the game overall more tedious to play, or that the way the actual event-by-event plot moves is not entertaining, but there's a far more cohesive narrative in that game than in this one. There's a cohesive sense of edginess and grittiness in ME2, reinforced by the moral ambiguities, Cerberus, the 'suicide mission', setting a lot of the conflict outside the Council's jurisdiction, the more urban and oppressive combat settings versus the open plains and industrial rooms of ME1, etc. It's a coherent and understandable tonal shift, but what is this tonal shift saying? And that's probably my biggest problem with ME2--it's in many ways less tedious than ME1, but it's not saying anything compelling, which makes it a good bit more boring to me than its already rather sterile predecessor.

Let's fucking gooooo!!
This was so fucking awesome I'm still coming down from it. So much to say, all words lost to awe (and Miranda's ass)

This game started strong, with one of the best introductions to a game I've played, well, ever. The plot is set up superbly, and the changes to the core game make the whole thing feel familiar enough, but also set it aside from the first game. All in ways that feel natural and make sense. God it's maybe a perfect sequel honestly? Fuck I'm so hyped right now the adrenaline !!

While a perfect sequel, it's by no means a perfect game, let's get that outta the way, there were more glitches in the first 5-10 hours of this than in all of ME1, the most noticeable of which being characters cutting off their own sentences as if you'd hit the skip button. The combat still isn't amazing, but it's an improvement, and there are some funky animations and stuff but honestly I cared so little about all that shit because the game and its world are just so. damn. cool. Admittedly I prefer ME1's version of certain areas, but there's way too much about this game that I loved for me to shit on it.

The new locations and characters were (almost) all wins. Jacob is lame and is ruining our good name, but almost all of the other squadmates were ones I was happy talking to and enjoyed getting to know. The lack of Mako planet exploration meant no more copy+paste maps to run around on, thank God. And the levels themselves may not have been phenomenally designed across the board, but I liked em :)

Typically I juggle a few games, playing only an hour or two of each at a time, but this week it's been pretty much all ME2, all the fucken time baybeeee. I can't get enough. This review is so biased, I don't even care. Anyway I've rambled long enough, I love this game, easy 5/5, shame on teenage Jake for sleeping on it, pathetic little dweeb

Overall yes please more of this gimme.

P.S. Seriously tho Miranda did not need that much ass lmao

I have a tendency to think myself into circles about Mass Effect. While I am generally extremely confident when I don’t like something, I struggle to be confident about when I enjoy things, especially when those objects have enough clear and obvious flaws that the only immediate recourse is to explain myself with personal criticism, the logic being that if I defensively deploy past pain that others will “understand” why I come to certain conclusions without me having to really show any actual math.

A lot of my own experience with Mass Effect is rooted in that sort of personal attachment. While I would never grant an object the power of “saving my life” regardless it was a zone of comfort that I was able to shelter in now and again. More importantly, it was an exposure to a certain Kind Of Game that I had not been exposed to before. I doubt I was the only one, as the root of why Mass Effect as a series took off the way it did was due to a certain kind of gamer wanting a more narratively focused experience (it shared it’s release year with Bioshock and Uncharted, also games that appealed to console audiences). It’s actual innovation (using that term gently) was to streamline many of the mechanics already found in a litany of PC games for a cleaner experience that would be palatable to a wider audience of people. Like many mainstream hits which are designated as “Canon” classics, it’s acclaim is mostly due to efficient marketing.

Mechanically speaking if the idea is to give the player the ability to shape a narrative based on their own values and desires, it’s tempting to call it a failure and leave it at that, and I don’t think you would be wrong to do that. The morality system, beyond it’s simple and often politically noxious ideas of good/bad, doesn’t actively encourage the player to roleplay as anything besides two different characters: the good cop and the bad cop. Anything in between those shades feels not only like you have fallen between the cracks of what the writers prepared for, at times it can seem like they are actively punishing you for deviating from the path. For a series advertised around player choice the creators were maybe a bit too unimaginative with regards to the actual morality of the player, that a person who believed the rachni queen should be killed in 2007 may think differently in 2012 never crossed their mind.

Yet for all these issues, I’m not going to lie...it really does still hit. I still find myself swept up in the whole thing, not in the sense that I forget the flaws but that the flaws put the qualities that I enjoy or find moving in sharper quality. Beyond the maudlin reasons I could find to explain why a story about people finding reasons to live in the face of inevitable death would be meaningful to me, it’s also just a really strong narrative backbone. Even after all this time it’s characters have endured, because watching characters change and regress and fail and grow is still very moving, not to mention they have a voice cast that really fucking puts the work in, at times salvaging writing and character beats that just would not fly otherwise.

Beyond that it shows such strong confidence in it’s lore, the confidence of a dumbass nerd in high school who keeps telling you about the sci-fi novel he’s going to write. “Okay but what’s it about?” you ask. Of course he doesn’t understand the question, he just wants to tell you about the new alien he came up with, it’s like a glowing squid guy. And you know what? His passion makes it hard to deny that the squid sounds pretty fucking cool and you let it slide. Few years later you see him on facebook taunting covid death counts in red states for voting wrong, you block him, wonder why you were even still following him to begin with, move on with your life. Fast forward a few months, you’re getting blasted at home and remember that squid. It was a pretty fucking cool squid. Who told you about that? Don’t remember. Maybe you made it up yourself.

This whole thing has mostly been to illustrate that while Mass Effect may not be very important as a piece of art, goddamn it sure hits a lot of my own buttons. It’s surprising lack of polish makes it patently obvious in the moments where it’s a slick corporate product or a limp dicked centrist wet dream, but also reveals when they actually do land on something interesting or ambitious. Whether it’s “good or bad”, “a success or a failure”, that’s all irrelevant in the end to me, boring to be truthful because it has such a clear answer. It is probably the platonic ideal of “an amazing work of art that objectively is trash”, the epitome of White Elephant Art but like...have you ever seen an elephant though?? It’s a hell of a thing.

Obra de arte forjada por deuses. Todos os personagens são carismáticos e envolventes, fazendo o game ter uma ótima trama. Tudo foi melhorado comparado com o primeiro game (principalmente o sistema de tiro). O que mais EXPLODIU MINHA MENTE nesse jogo é que se você tem o save do primeiro jogo, ele permite você importar seu antigo personagem junto com todas as decisões críticas ou não que você fez, que irão alterar de forma sutil o seu caminho no segundo game. Resumidamente as decisões que você tomou no primeiro jogo muda a história do segundo jogo, e eu achei isso incrível.
O vilão em si tem uma motivação bem superficial, inegavelmente o enredo principal do primeiro game é melhor nesse quesito. Fora isso o jogo entrega tudo, com um final impactante e uma experiência única.

Illusive Man: does something obviously shady that endangers Shepard's crew and the mission

Shepard: "what the fuck was that, cunt?"

Illusive Man: "you fucking idiot Shepard you simply do not understand why I'm doing this, go fuck yourself, I'm good, I promise"

Shepard: "oh okay, love you, hooroo"
And then it's just that for 40 hours

Games fun tho

A little mixed on this. On one hand, I like how it (rightfully) streamlines the gunk out from the first Mass Effect. But on the other, it streamlined too much that the charm from the first game is almost gone.

The RPG mechanic are practically gutted out, and whatever remains is only there to service the action shooter gameplay. Which admittedly, while still having some clunk, is pretty good. Exploring planets or hub worlds just isn't as fun anymore, because the level-design also got simplified so everything is pretty much just linear corridors stacked on-top of each-other. Even little details from the first game, like having your party members casually talk to each-other while exploring, is removed entirely. Which sucks because it's interactive moments like that which makes Mass Effect so charming as a space romp through the galaxy.

The story is fine, I guess. If you played the first game, then this doesn't really follow up on it much in a way that matters. It's pretty much more set up and build up to fight the big bads of the franchise who you're constantly being told are coming, but haven't so far. I will say, I do admire the very side-quest driven feel of it. Where it's less so about fighting the Reapers or Collectors but getting to know more about your party members, and a little more about the galaxy.

The party members are all so much better than the first, barring some very noticeable exceptions coughs Miranda coughs Jacob coughs. While they're not "greatly" written like almost any companion from an Obsidian game, they're fun and interesting enough to hangout with. Which is more than I can say about any of Bioware's previous attempts. Although they are stll at the mercy of Bioware's lead writer, so they have their limits.

Like there's this one moment in the game where one of your party members (and the game) weirdly tries to morally justify mass genocide. Which I guess was some cute attempt by Bioware to put ""moral ambiguity"" into a franchise that clearly doesn't have the capacity for it. It's not enough that the good vs bad morality system in this game is already kinda shit.

But I think near the end of the game, where you rounded up your party to go on a Suicide Squad styled mission, is where it really began to shine. Making everything before then feel more worth it for the journey alone.

Pretty solid game. Only regret I have in the end is not letting Jacob die when I had the chance.

Played Legendary Edition

Masterpiece. Bias or not, Mass Effect 2's whole conceit of "Dirty Dozen but in space" allows for it to have some of the best character work Bioware has ever managed to do. Very rarely are the complexity of the characters the appeal in a game like this but each squadmate is so richly layered and engaging from a likability perspective that the final mission ends up packing as large of a punch as it does. It's all building to that one, singular two hour experience and it's masterful.

Helps the game is actually killer to play outside of that. The simplified RPG mechanics actually work this time around - the snappier combat and more versatile power system means that you are zipping around quicker and making more effective decisions. Combine that with a strong presentation and varied mission design and you have a complete winner. Will always be a favourite.

It's strange, looking back, how much of a relic of the late 00s/early 2010s the Mass Effect games really feel like. They come from an era where "meaningful choices" was really the big selling point in the industry, hell they partly created it. There's something magical about that old modular BioWare formula surviving long enough for the lip synching to work and the faces to look right, and they never got bigger or better than this.

The best way I've ever heard ME2 described is as if it's a full season of your favorite TV show, full of little 20-30 minute side missions, larger multi-hour main missions and little areas of focus on each of your 12 squad members. There's a mysterious, sort of nebulous main foe that you'll eventually have to deal with, but for the most part, the week to week threats are isolated and self-contained. It's really just a series about this strange, broken family unit you end up forming, with just the hint of galactic genocide backing things up to give it that extra kick. It's really hard to explain to someone raised on more immediate, visceral games like CoD or Apex or more open-ended, creative games like Minecraft just how effecting and exciting a game like this can really feel. It hits that exact sweet spot between introducing and building a fictional world and having to actually wrap up the concerns of a fictional world, to where it's just cool to hang out for a while. And despite all the violence and murder, the Mass Effect world works so well because it really does seem like you'd want to be there sometimes. It's hard to capture that feeling in any game, and when you do, it's something you have to savor every drop of .

It's been over 10 years since I played this. Replaying it on the Mass Effect Legendary Edition has been an absolute joy and it's surprising how much it held up under the scrutiny of my rose tinted glasses.

Firstly I must say the main plot to Mass Effect 2 is engaging with some stunning moments, but it doesn't quite deliver the impact of the first game overall. The majority of Mass Effect 2 is in fact made up of recruitment quests to bulk up Shepard's squad before making the final attack. Those characters you recruit are the heart of Mass Effect 2 and are what really make the game memorable, their personalities keep the game engaging and very addictive.

At the start of the game you choose what class Shepard specializes in which varies from being a tech specialist, pure combat specialist, using telepathic biotic skills or a mixture of all three. No matter which choice you make there will be other characters available that can make up for what you can't do, and against certain enemies having certain skills is important so having a balanced party is key, especially on harder difficulties. (Engineer all the way, go my drone!)

In combat Mass Effect 2 is a mixture of third person shooter with RPG abilities. Though you always progress with a party of three characters Shepard is the only player controlled character, with the other two AI controlled. Bringing up the wheel menu they can be directed to a certain location or to use specific abilities, but for the most part they handle themselves fairly well bar the odd suicide run where the AI does something unexplainable. Like a lot of third person shooters of that generation Mass Effect 2 is cover based with plenty of low lying walls, crates and door ways to hide behind when the situation gets risky or to wait for Shepard's shield to recharge. The combat is fun but feels a bit wooden in places especially in controls and aiming and although the melee attack is a huge improvement in close quarters things still feel ridiculously clumsy.

When enemies are defeated or quests are finished you are awarded experience points, when enough are gained Shepard and crew will level up getting more health and ability points to put into skills. I am a little torn about Bioware's choice here, in the first Mass Effect there was a lot of option when distributing points in stats and skills, it felt like an RPG, Mass Effect 2 feels stripped down in comparison as there are only ever about 4-5 options which are all invested in attack based abilities rather then stats or more subtle things. That isn't to say it doesn't work, it does, and outside of the stat screen you would never know the difference, it's just it feels less like a full role playing game at first, though over time I have to admit it made things smoother.

This isn't the only area that has changed as there are no longer armor to collect and equip for your crew. Having amazing armor and a billion omni-gel from melting down gear didn't quite work in the original game so Bioware have instead implemented an upgrade system where your equipment never changes, it is merely upgraded. Spread throughout the universe are various upgrades not only to weapon stats but they sometimes give added effects, not to mention health boosts, shielding, some odd new weapons and even ship upgrades available and it works. Once a weapon is upgraded any of your crew proficient in that weapon can use that type with all upgrades.

While exploring Mass Effect 2 is simultaneously brilliant and disastrous. Those upgrades need raw materials of varying types like Platinum or Iridium to use. Some of these are found in lock boxes in dungeons and towns but the majority of it is found though scanning planets which is the most tedious side questing you can do in an RPG. Seriously it's insanely awful. When traveling from star system to star system or planet to planet you actually fly the Normandy, Shepard's ship, manually on a giant space map. When going into orbit around a planet you are giving info on it and sometimes will detect anomalies like distress signals allowing you to land and explore around. It's a fun way of exploring. When there aren't these anomalies though there is only the scanning where you control a cross-hair spinning around a planet measuring for large material deposits which isn't too bad a few times but you need a fair amount of material to fully upgrade everything and it gets seriously boring quickly. The amount of probes the Normandy can hold to pick it up is also limited meaning you have to travel back and forth to buy more. I had over a million Iridium by the end of the game as I never knew I wouldn't need it, terrible....

Visually Mass Effect 2 is a huge improvement over the original game (though hilariously actually is now a downgrade in the legendary edition) and more importantly just a great looking title generally. The game has a really smooth frame rate now, decent particle effects and great art to hold it all together. Except....except some of the characters. Samara's tit top, Jack's entire design and Miranda's weird one piece costume are just ugly and objectifying nonsense. I'd like to say it's a product of the times but some games are actively worse in this regard. The audio is on par with the visuals with an epic score (My favorite track in the game)matching the space opera theme. As mentioned before the voice acting still really stands up and excels in some areas, Garrus, Tali and Mordin especially sound so unique.

Mass Effect 2 is a good 30 - 40 hours long if not longer depending on the amount of exploring you do. (I finished NG+ without side quests or much planet scanning on Insanity in less than 10) There are a ton of side missions, and depending on what edition you have a lot of DLC content, and new characters.

Overall this game is still a fantastic ride that holds up really well over 10 years later. While there are flaws here and there, the amazing characters, compelling universe and overall style of Mass Effect 2 is hard to beat.

Recommended.

+ Fantastic characters.
+ Great lore and world building
+ Large variety of things to do.
+ Space map exploration is a nice addition.

- Combat still feels wooden in certain ways.
- Planet scanning is just a waste of life.
- Some of the character designs are...questionable.

*Played via the Legendary Collection on PS4

Still the G.O.A.T in terms of the characters and interactions between your party members. I am knocking it down a point for the fact that despite the wonderfully told and written main story - including everything to do with your team and their loyalty missions, dialogue, etc. - the side content is actually really fucking boring. Scanning planets for resources sucks ass, the side missions themselves suck ass, and all of it feels very inconsequential and unnecessary.
I actually took a few months' break from the game during the Act 2 of the story because I was just so bored with doing the side content. My gaming OCD would never allow me to just shotgun main objectives without doing side missions first, however, so that soured my playthrough of the game for a little while until I had taken enough time to return to the game and complete it finally.

Mass Effect 2 is one of a handful of games where my opinions on it changes dramatically, bouncing between something I recognize as good to something I just barely enjoy. Since I played the series when I was an impressionable teen that very easily fell into word of mouth territory instead of playing something for myself, this meant I went through so many arcs, saying it's the best game, to saying it's the downfall of the series and perhaps BioWare as a whole, to saying it's aggressively decent with high highs yet abysmal lows. How did I feel about it when I replayed it yet again last year? It's pretty damn good, though it very much marked the shift of BioWare's goals and prospects of before to the new ones they formulated today, as well as building up problems and holes that practically set the third game up for failure anyway.

Unlike last time where I started with the story, I'm actually gonna talk about the combat, cause it very much shows how gigantic of a shift the sequel made after the first. Since ME2 came out after Gears Of War established itself as one of Xbox 360's killer apps and popularizing - not introducing - the cover-based system, as well as Call Of Duty finally cemented itself as not only one of gaming's biggest franchises, but one of the biggest franchises ever, BioWare decided to follow the suit of many dev studios at the time to chase that newfound shooter trend, even going as far as to sideline the RPG mechanics during initial development solely to work out and get a feel for the shooting aspect entirely. I may have enjoyed initially, but nowadays I find myself disappointed. ME1's combat was fascinating because of how varied and expansive build opportunities can be, my timeline of Soldier -> Infiltrator -> Vanguard -> Engineer -> Sentinel becoming drastically different from one another, alongside how powerful and distinct Biotic and Tech powers can be. ME2, while not completely throwing it away, doesn't feel quite as significant or impactful by comparison. Alongside the fact that individual skills were gimped in between games, making it feel less like a spreadsheet and more like a pamphlet, being compensated by one companion skill you can choose from an upgrade, the only thing separating my Sentinel run for this playthrough from my Vanguard run several years ago, is that the latter was a smidge spongier in the health pool, and they lessened how powerful Biotic and Tech powers are to a degree that, while allowing for Funny Ragdoll Moments, feel just watered down enough to be noticeable. You can lone wolf in ME1 for some parts, but in ME2 I found myself doing it more often than ever, forgoing a proper team composition.

That's just for builds though, as for the actual mechanics of the combat, it's like, fine? Very basic and rudimentary cover-based formula, sparse dynamics with how enemies can be handled differently (though in fairness, this is also a problem the trilogy has as a whole), clunky controls when it comes to movement and operating behind covers, a newly introduced global cooldown that's truthfully needless and doesn't impact much, but whatever. All of it works, and that's the best I can say about it. Also doesn't help that even on Insanity, my go-to difficulty for this trilogy, it's rather easy, and rarely in a way that keeps it engaging. In fact, I'm actually shocked there's a group of people that say ME2's Insanity option is the hardest iteration of it, cause aside from some moments - those that have played this will probably know which ones I'm referring to - I got through it just fine, even way back in my mid-teens. I will say though, I'm surprised these levels aren't typically "video gamey" for the most part, dipping its toes into the territory yet still creating an illusion that each place does feel like an area that could be lived-in. For as much shit as I give ME3, I will concede in that its combat SPECIFICALLY is very much an improvement over 2's in most regards, even if some issues still linger over.

What about the other aspects of the gameplay loop 1 established? Well, they either threw them out entirely, or streamlined the shit out of them, to mixed results. I actually don't mind planet scanning as much as others have, in fact clearing out about 2-4 sectors around the first third of game meant I rarely ever do this since, but I won't blame people for using a mod to bypass it, either One Probe or Zero Probe. Because of the new planet scan though, you'll rarely land down on a planet to do missions, only doing so when finding a sidequest or uncovering an anomaly. They range from cool to rather mundane and unremarkable, though at least some tries to do some unique stuff unlike last time, such as using several beacons as waypoints due to your map being busted, or exploring an area first before hurrying back to the shuttle once you awaken a horde of enemies. I briefly mentioned upgrades, and this aspect I actually do think is a good addition to the formula. Due to story reasons, you can upgrade your "new" ship, your squad, or even yourself with the materials you gather from planet scans or found within the levels and overworld, and it does feel like you're making a difference. Only issue though, is because of how easy it is to get every material needed for every upgrade, this aspect goes from being an aspect that looms over your thoughts and could make-or-break your Final Assault, into something that'll only ever fail if you willingly decide to not choose those upgrades. Finally, there's the Paragon/Renegade dialog stuff and it's... blech. The new Interrupt mechanic is cool, even leading to hilarious moments, but regardless the whole implementation is sloppier, never developing proper sense of roleplaying as one, the other, or even trying to mix it all up in a manner that feels believable, cause now unlockable options are done by having a specific amount of one side or the other... meaning you're gonna be forced to pick a side if you're opting to get the best shit possible. Thankfully, it seems like the team behind the remaster knew about the complaints, cause they actually seemed to have lowered the overall requirement for both spectrums, meaning you can mix-and-match whichever option you want without as much trouble.

The combat is already rather divisive, but the writing is the boiling point. There's just, such a strange disconnect and difference between the two games that despite the core team majorly being the same, it still somehow feels totally different than before. Fans, jokingly or seriously, talk about this being a filler arc, and it's not hard to see how and why, this shit breaks off yet returns to the status quo so often it feels like a centrist. You die, but then you come back via a supremely powerful operation job funded by Cerberus/The Illusive Man. You lose the Normandy cause of this, but it's OK because this same group got you a brand new one, even having Joker and Dr. Chakwas (two people who I completely forgot to mention last time despite liking both a lot) back on board. The Alliance doesn't trust you now because of your newly made ties to Cerberus, but this doesn't matter cause you go back to them and ditch Cerberus after the events of this game. The Collectors are supposed to be this new enemy faction this time around, but they practically disappear (for... somewhat justified reasons) after this game outside of OGME3's multiplayer mode. You barely learn more about what the Reapers are doing besides "they're coming to Earth" and their plan of making a Giant Human Reaper is just... what? This approach feels like it's supposed to be episodic, yet it doesn't work well for Mass Effect compared to even Dragon Age because so much of the former is tied to making All These Big Choices matter even when they really shouldn't.

As for the squad now, man the expansive roster is INCREDIBLY hit-and-miss. Everyone points to Jacob one of the worst companions in a BioWare game - as they should, holy FUCK the writing for him is atrocious and I dunno how that shit flew by - but Zaeed's a big bag of nothin, despite the concept of an incredibly aggressive, do-or-die commando archetype fitting the intent for this game to a T. Plus, the Whedonfication #girlboss mindset of most of the female companions this time is dire as hell, even reinforcing the point as to how bad and even sometimes gross the romance in this series can be. Theoretically Miranda, Jack, and even returning characters Tali and Liara should be cool, but their personalities are insipid and rarely expanded upon aside from the tropes, with the last two received such an overhaul they're practically different characters from before. There's only two exceptions from this, one I'll get to later, and Samara, who's main problem is that she lacks presence and oomph despite her arc and problem being fundamentally solid, though that outfit is uh, hmmmm, little too much. At least they got rid of the dumb ass shots Miranda suffered. Mordin's odd cause I do like him, a lot even, but his whole thing with the Genophage and BioWare's insistency to do political dilemmas despite them being bad at it drags him down, at least in this game. The characters that are good though, do feel on par, and even sometimes better than the ones in the first game, especially the returning members. EDI's straightforward yet informative approach makes for great inversion and develops some hilarious banter for Joker. Wrex and Garrus are back, the latter being a party member again, and their continuations of their arcs feel just right and make them better than ever, even if Garrus' can be downright edgy at points. Thane and Grunt are both good for similar yet different reasons, taking on the prospects of maturity and growth yet Thane having to deal with how lost and basically non-existent his familial relationship is and wanting to make up for it while there's still time, and Grunt basically needing to go through adolescence due to only having knowledge of what the process is like from the intakes he received from his tank creator. Kasumi, while still having some Weird moments, at least manage to avoid some of the bad pitfalls the other female characters unfortunately fell victim on, to the point she was actually more or less a mainstay in my party comps.

Honestly, much like with SlayerOfCis in their review, my waning yet omnipresent positivity on ME2 is still there because when it works, by god it works. The worldbuilding is still as strong as ever, doubly so since you're now within lawless territories for a majority of the time, really making the whole clusters and systems in this universe feel more alive than ever. I love exploring the nearly archaic and ludicrously messy Omega operated by Aria T'Loak, the Krogan homeworld of Tuchanka, as well as the bustling megapolis aspect of Illium, even despite the obvious downscale of the Citadel hub's size they still feel fun and cool to explore and soak in the atmosphere over, especially when you bring specific members along to hear their thoughts on something. The score this time is a downgrade unfortunately, but even still there's some great tunes and proper hits within the moments, particularly when you go deep into enemy territories. The Collectors might be super questionable, but exploring their ships will always present a feeling of dread and unease due to how they operate and the structure of what's going on. Every time I see that scene of Mordin singing, I still manage to form the goofiest smile possible. I don't even need to mention Suicide Mission, where despite having some baffling design choices like the aforementioned Human Reaper, still manages to delivery that top-form adrenaline rush of action and bombastic setpieces.

Mass Effect 2, while no longer being my favorite in the trilogy, does at least a good job at summarizing my thoughts on the series: It can and has been extremely messy, and you can very much tell the crew was scrambling to make things work during a hectic and incredibly busy devcycle, yet when all's said and done, I've made some goodass memories and partook in breathtaking moments within the medium of gaming. Though, I'm still bummed Garrus isn't available as a Bi option.

Mass Effect 2 is a great game on its own merits, but it's absolutely fantastic as a sequel in particular. It's insane just how much this game managed to improve on its predecessor in just 3 years. I seriously can't think of a single facet of Mass Effect 1 that isn't exponentially improved in Mass Effect 2. Gameplay, story, music, graphics, writing, dialogue, UI, menus, everything.

Gunplay is so much more satisfying than before, your class decisions at the beginning of the game feel like they mean more and Mass Effect 1's "reasonably interesting" side characters are taken to far more interesting places in this game, and are then joined by a cavalcade of likeable new characters to boot. (Jack is also there.)

In Mass Effect 2 you can see Bioware laying the groundwork for their future games. The "talk to your companions every time you come back to base to see if you can further your relationship with them" kinda gameplay loop is something they'd carry on even to later Dragon Age. I think the way your relationships develop with your companions feels a little bit inorganic at times because of this. It's just you spamming the same dialogue option with them until enough time has passed that they feel comfortable telling you more about themselves or asking you to take on a loyalty mission for them. It's not awful though, the dialogue is consistently charming and detailed enough and it does make sense that they'd warm up to you over time considering you're spending so much time together in such an enclosed space, I just think other games (i.e. Fallout: New Vegas) have had more authentic ways for you to develop friendships with your companions.

Really the only criticism I think I can give Mass Effect 2 aside from that is the voice acting. As far as "picking voice actors who have voices that match the character" goes, I think this game is very well cast, but to me it often feels like voice actors in this game are speeding through their lines a little bit and not lending their dialogue the dramatic gravitas needed to make big moments. There's a lot of "moments" in this game that should feel huge, but I think end up underwhelming on account of voice actors not quite being willing to fully commit. In the early game there's a lot of "whoa, Shepard...You're alive??...Well, shit. Anyway," it doesn't feel like anyone is quite as surprised as they should be, and Shepard himself (at least Male Shepard, who I played as) is perhaps the biggest offender.

Here's a man who should have screamed his lungs out at least once or twice with the amount of terrifying, death-defying situations he's been put in, and yet Shepard rarely ever so much as raises his voice throughout the game, again robbing a lot of the game's most dramatic moments of their...Drama.

Even some spotty voice acting can't put a damper on the game's finale, though, the now-infamous suicide mission. Boy howdy, what a way to go out. This final mission is so intricately designed, with so many moving parts and variables that can change the outcome and who lives and who dies that it's insane the dev team had the time to plan out and execute such a thing at the end of a game that already had such a staggering amount of content in it for its time. An astoundingly impressive finale, and even if the final boss is a bit of a letdown, I honestly welcomed it after the stress the final mission put me through. A good-ass game that holds up so well compared to its predecessor that it's honestly a bit scary.

God I forgot how good this game was.

I remember loving this game when I played it back when it released, and I think I love it even more now on a second playthrough. This was the first ever game I played where it really felt like my decisions mattered, and that they weren't just some illusion of choice. Getting to assemble your squad to save the galaxy may seem like a trope nowadays, but this game was groundbreaking in its story-telling, characterization and world-building--and it still is today. So glad I got to give this game another go in the Legendary Edition.

Mechanically, I liked it more than its predecessor -
Combat is significantly better, though still not very engaging.
Loot bloat is gone, I thought the upgrade system fits the game better. The loss of costumisation is unfortunate but its not like I chose gear based on aesthetics in ME.

Weapons being unique is a huge plus though it's disappointing their attributes weren't clear and had to be fished out of the text blurb. More often than not I just assumed the lower the weapon is on the menu, the stronger it is.

For some god forsaken reason I scanned and harvested each and every planet in this game, some of it was my lizard brain enjoying numbers getting bigger but for the most part I enjoyed hunting for the little stories hidden on them - Mass Effect builds its galaxy mostly through text.
Aside from the skinner box element, exploring the galaxy is fun, the planets are colourful and varied enough - Seeing Tuchanka's super massive sun for the first time is an experience, even from the long shot angle the game provides.

Level design is streamlined, mostly limited to corridor shooter with different skins patched on. They still haven't figured out maps here and comepletly ditched them in action zones for a compass.

The dialogue system in unchanged and I dislike it all the same - I don't think having a correct answer, and clearly marking it as well, is good game deisgn. That said my Paragon Shep spliced into Renegade quite often and it made sense, I think it's an improvment. The quicktime triggers are a nice touch.

Plot and characters.. they're fine I guess. There's not a lot going on as most of the game consist of gathering your crew and gaining their loyalty in a series of personal missions - some are better than others but they're all fairly entertaining.

Aside from that there are story beats. Characters are slightly more talkative this time but they still barely matter.

Maybe my memory is hazy but I remember every character in KotOR unlocking new conversations after every story beat - here they blow me off most of the time and the ship is so big its a chore to visit all of them. I finished the game and I'm still not sure I got all the dialogue out of them. Most of them are pretty dull anyways.

Lair of the Shadow Broker had cool interactions with Liara and let Shepperd show an actual range of emotions(!).
Afterwards you get to spy at your crews daily habbits, which is fun and should be something I could actually engage with - Tell me about your WoW character, Legion. I sometimes mispell the name of my home planet too, Grunt.

I don't think it's that great but I get why this series is so well regarded.
I enjoyed Mass Effect 2, I loved exploring the galaxy but I felt I never got a chance to really dive in.
The final game is supposed to be controversial, I'll see for myself