Mass Effect > everything.

[luciazephyr]

foxfirefey suggested I join up here when I got a little squeeful about Mass Effect 2 in my journal.

Can we talk about how goddamn amazing the world-building in ME2 is? I know ME is the only series I've ever played where I cared enough about the game world to sit and read through some of the in-game encyclopedia. The universe BioWare created is so vibrant and rich.

I mean, there's history. Like, really important history that genuinely colors the game. The Batarians are almost universally brusque to you. Why? It's not just racism against humans; it's lingering resentment over humanity's colonization of the Skyllian Verge, which the Batarians were trying to get a foothold in. The Council ignored the Batarians claims to the region and let humans go in. Race tensions lead to the Skyllian Blitz battle between humans and Batarians.

All of that just to explain why Batarians are a bit shirty with you. It barely has an effect on gameplay, but BioWare set up all that background anyway.

And that's just one thing they did! Anyone else pour over the Codex entries on the various races to see their different social structures? If you're aware of the turian promotion system, the fact that Saren went batshit crazy evil is colored completely differently. Who promoted him? Did anyone get punished for what he did? Is that maybe why the turian Councilmember is a dick to you?


I'm in the middle of playthrough and I'm shocked all over again about how much work BioWare put into this series. Amazing stuff.

Anyone else head-over-heels for Mass Effect too?


(Tangentially related, one of the BioWare dudes confirmed there's going to be a trailer for ME3 with FemShep. YAY JENNIFER HALE.)

Comments

[cavocorax]

Re: hitting on Garrus - DONEANDONE! He's easily my favourite of the romantic choices.

And I imagine I'm half-way through Portal 2. I'm on Chapter 4 or 5. I've seen Wheatley but haven't met up with him yet. (Also I need Wheatley icon, note to self. :D)

And yes - I think I have all of the crew now!

[luciazephyr]

God Garrus is awesome and snarky and genuinely funny. Makes me disappointed in Thane. Way to be obviously engineered for female players, Thane. 8|

Oh. Um. No, you have a lotta plot twists to go in P2. DON'T LET ANYONE SPOIL YOU, IT WILL BE AWESOME.

You have all but one, I think. Otherwise you'd be doing the final mission.

[cavocorax]

Oh - I might be missing Legion? I can't remember atm because it's been a few months since I had solid gametime. My bf went and beat the game so I've had some spoilers, but luckily he did the final few hours of the game while I was at work so I don't know the details on how it all goes down.

I really want to see how I complete the game and who I can manage to save. (He lost a few characters and was pretty unhappy about that).

SPOILERS IN THIS COMMENT I'M SERIOUS GALS

[luciazephyr]

Okay, here's a tip: When you go to get the Reaper IFF, that kicks off the endgame. If you want the best ending, you can only do one or two missions after getting the IFF, and one of those needs to be Legion's loyalty mission.

Basically, before getting the IFF, make sure you've finished all your crew member's loyalty missions. If you don't they will likely die in the suicide mission.


Also, there is only one way to make sure Mordin survives to the ending. This may not make sense now, but remember it for the final mission: Have Mordin accompany the crew. Otherwise he's a goner.

Re: SPOILERS IN THIS COMMENT I'M SERIOUS GALS

[cavocorax]

EEEEK! :D
Ok, thank you so much! I'll make sure I tidy everything up before I go do that one.