Played through Mass Effect: Legendary Edition on Xbox Series X

Fantastic. One of my favourite games.

Totally a "B-Plot" in the overall Mass Effect trilogy arch but what a fantastic one. With a superb suite of supporting characters an excellent opening and one of the best final missions in gaming.

Look forward to my next replay in a few years :)

Thanks to the PS Plus deal of this month, I got the chance to get into the Mass Effect series.
First of all, I tried playing the first game prior to the sequel but I couldn't get into the game because of the slow pacing and clunky gameplay. Fortunately for me, Mass Effect: Genesis, a short comic book that re-caps the story of the first game and let's you make some important decisions, was featured in Mass Effect 2. So, with Mass Effect 2 having the option to carry over your decisions from the first game, and the story being very simple, I didn't have any problems with getting into the game.
Now, "simple" story doesn't mean it's bad; it's actually a good story, but mostly because of its exceptional world-building and very likable, well-written and diverse characters; probably the biggest highlight of the game.
Another highlight of the game though, is the amount of unique dialogue options and impactful decisions it has, especially during the climax towards the end of the story that still gives me goosebumps.
Also, everything related around the gameplay and the audio design in Mass Effect 2 is significantly improved over the first game, making it a much more fun experience overall.
However, If I had to name one thing that slightly disappointed me in the game, is the toned down RPG gameplay elements; playing Mass Effect 2 feels more like playing a basic third person shooter game instead of playing an RPG game.

Pros:
+ Good narrative
+ Fantastic world-building
+ Compelling characters
+ Meaningful dialogue options
+ Enjoyable gameplay

Cons:
- Underwhelming RPG gameplay elements

Narrative: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Content: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Music: 8/10
Graphics/Audio: ?/10

Final Rating: 9.5/10
- Outstanding -
Mass Effect 2 isn't only a mass improvement - pun intended - over the first game in almost every way, but it's an epic Sci-Fi journey in every sense of the word, a masterful RPG and an utterly brilliant videogame experience even to this day.

Do I recommend it?:
Definitely! It's easy to get into the game even for newcomers.

Terra meter: 82%

Story/narrative - 4.5/5
Gameplay - - 4/5
Sound/music - 4/5
General presentation - 4/5
Overall enjoyment - 4/5

I am relatively liberal with five-star ratings, but in this case, Mass Effect 2 earns it as a contender for my favorite game of all time. Oftentimes the middle entry of a trilogy is the "weird" one to varying levels of success - ME2 expertly walks that tightrope. It understands that as a middle entry, its role is not to set the story's stakes or to draw together a conclusion. Instead, ME2 focuses on fleshing out the world, introducing factions and characters with well-developed, complementary and/or contradictory agendas. Also, Martin Sheen kicks an immense amount of ass.

Improves on some aspects while also declining in some of the core qualities of the first game. I thought the characters and their stories were interesting. The main story, on the other hand, was pretty boring and not nearly as well written as in ME1, and the antagonist was sooo much better and more complex in the first game. The DLCs were fantastic and the suicide mission was a blast, a really tense moment that I will probably never forget. Overall I think I liked it a bit more than ME1 but unfortunately the story wasn't as good. Still a fantastic game.

This is a game that everyone seems to love a whole lot but I have never really understood why. The original Mass Effect had a lot of interesting ideas and RPG elements whereas this one jettisons a lot of that and just presents a relatively straight forward action game with some dating mechanics.

Also think the story is pretty lackluster. Basically nothing of consequence happens. Lots of character building happens, but none of it is terribly interesting. I think if they had combined Mass Effect 2 and 3 together and simply made all the character stuff in 2 the sidequest segments in 3, it'd be a better game.

I like sub-cinemax level sex scenes as much as the next guy and I will always love Tali Zorah vas Nornandy, but I just don't get why this game has the legendary status that it foes.

Prettier but not entirely better. Mass Effect 2 continues the series’ penchant for billion dollar box office flavored storytelling, a trait that can be polarizing for an audience with a more nuanced taste. What sets it apart from ME1 is its shift towards a more people-focused narrative, which I found immensely more appealing compared to the event-driven approach of its predecessor. In ME2, the depth of the loyalty missions adds layers to each character's backstory, making the journey feel more personal and rewarding. While there are elements that feel like steps backward, the streamlined weapon system, for instance, lacks the punch of its predecessor while the overall combat experience remains intense. However, the suicide mission really won me back in the end, delivering one of the most dramatic endings in the trilogy.