Mass Effect 2 *spoilers around pg 29/30*

[Morat20]

Weird, I was on Mass Effect 2 last night (Xbox, though) and I didn't see the new appereance pack. Is it an older download? Maybe my son DL'd it on his account or something.

[Surlyboi]

Not available for the xbox yet. I went looking as soon as I saw it here too.

[Morat20]

The Gunship fight on Stolen memory is kicking my ass on Hardcore. For some reason I have the arc projector -- which is always just a bit of a pain to use. AWesome when it's used right, most of the time it just fizzles.

[Ingmar]

Alternate Appearance Pack 2 is Feb. 8th.

[Rasix]

Nice feature of importing a ME2 character for another run, no redoing your selection on the Collector's ship.  I was hoping they'd at least let me snag one of the weapons.

[Sjofn]

My main sadface about importing a ME2 character is my renegade/paragon gets reset to zero, which gives me a lot less freedom to dick around, seems like. I've been playing with ME1 imports, some of whom had big buffs to their scores, so I had a lot more freedom RP-wise. I'll probably just dick around anyway, if I lose some people I lose 'em! And they'll hopefully not be anyone I like.

Also, I started an insanity run on my PigShep infiltrator. Kasumi's loyalty mission is a GIANT PAIN IN THE ASS. I spent like two hours getting through this one section because Kasumi is an idiot that likes to stand in the open getting shot by a YMIR even though I told her to get her pert ass behind some boxes. And then I was partway through the gunship battle when the game crashed. The game almost never crashes for me! So I took that as a sign to not play on insanity any more that day. And you know what? Hardcore feels a lot easier after playing on insanity! 

[Rasix]

I wanted to play a good fem-shep, but it looks like all of the decisions they make for you if you don't have a ME1 save are the decisions my bad femshep made.    After much playing and consideration, I think fem-shep just works better as Sheppard.  GAH, I don't want to play ME1 again (xbox so no way to just snag a save)   

[Morat20]

Stolen Memories was a lot of "Kasumi, get your ass behind the crates. KASUMI. ASS BEHIND CRATES. *unity* GET YOUR FUCKING..ah, forget it. I'll hide here and slowly kill this thing with warp and a pistol."

[Sjofn]

I wanted to play a good fem-shep, but it looks like all of the decisions they make for you if you don't have a ME1 save are the decisions my bad femshep made.    After much playing and consideration, I think fem-shep just works better as Sheppard.  GAH, I don't want to play ME1 again (xbox so no way to just snag a save)   

You could always do a paragon runthrough and pretend LadyShep had a CHANGE of HEART. Death gave her a new perspective! But yeah, if you wanted the council alive and stuff, it's sort of a bummer. I wish they'd add the thing they did for the PS3 to the other versions, it let you pick the major decisions. Plus you get to hear the Shepards refer to Kaidan, who is their age I believe, as a "good kid."

Stolen Memories was a lot of "Kasumi, get your ass behind the crates. KASUMI. ASS BEHIND CRATES. *unity* GET YOUR FUCKING..ah, forget it. I'll hide here and slowly kill this thing with warp and a pistol."

YES EXACTLY. It was driving me fucking crazy. At least I've learned new places to flee to that cuts down on the amount of fire we take. I didn't need to even care until a couple of hardcore fights, but it is coming up almost every fight I do on insanity. Not sure if my infiltrator will actually finish, I might try it on something else instead.

[Morat20]

YES EXACTLY. It was driving me fucking crazy. At least I've learned new places to flee to that cuts down on the amount of fire we take. I didn't need to even care until a couple of hardcore fights, but it is coming up almost every fight I do on insanity. Not sure if my infiltrator will actually finish, I might try it on something else instead.

I just started hardcore, and suddenly stuff like "What heavy weapon I carry" is important. I'm playing Sentinel (that's the tech armor one, right?) and the first levels suck -- Freedom's Progress with those stupid dogs having armor blows.

That's why I did Kasumi's loyality mission right after snagging Moridin. I needed the Locust. I'm having to keep Miranda in the party for the bonuses, and defintely spending a lot more time telling people where to go and to get down.

[Sjofn]

Yeah, my hardcore run has been on a soldier. I've been having Miranda stick around mostly, although for Horizon I think my winning combination after trying it like four times was Mordin and Grunt with me running around like an idiot trying to get the scions to only explode me while hoping Grunt and Mordin could handle any husks I didn't arc projector in the face. Sometimes Miranda just dies way too fast, dang it. Me + Thane + Miranda seems like a pretty good combination now that I'm in the home stretch, though. I settled on barrier for my extra power and it's helped me a ton.

Hardcore is about my ideal difficulty, I think. It's hard and I need to care and ammo matters a lot but not SO MUCH I'm going to hate my life if the rest of my team eats it. Insanity is too much work, even though a sadistic part of me likes the challenge ... I think I'm only going to do it on that difficulty once for the achievement, though. :P

[Shrike]

Hardcore probably is the most fun overall. Insanity is well named and it weren't for the achievement, I wouldn't touch it with anyone's controller. It is simply batshit insane.

Once you start geting some crew in the paddock, I like to run mostly with Grunt (tough guy) and Tali (drones and general principles). I like Garrus if I need a long rifle, but frankly as much as I like him, he's a weak link--in both games. Miranda is kinda handy for the buffs, but I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time slapping unity on her. Samara is damned good once she gets reave--not so much before.

[Sjofn]

See, I think Tali is a lot more situational than Garrus by about a mile. I think she's a cute with a little sister vibe, mind you, but definitely not someone I would have in the team on general principles (although I do always take her on Legion's loyalty mission on general principles, it's something I think she would kill me for not letting her see). The drone is nice but usually I'd rather have multiple people able to take down various defenses, and she can't do any of them. This is further compounded by my "bleh, mages!" reaction to the biotic classes. 

I usually try to mix it up, though, with one big exception. Jacob always, always, always gets left on the ship. I feel bad for him. He has some terrible lines, LadyShep's voice acting as at her worst when speaking with him, he's afflicted with the same "so well adjusted he's usually boring" problem Kaidan has, his model is sort of weird looking, and he is totally unexciting as a teammate. I like his voice actor and his loyalty mission, though.

Maybe I will MAKE myself use him ALWAYS in my final Super Paragon LadyShep playthrough. We'll be totally bland as a TEAM.

[Morat20]

I'm not sure I'm up for an Insanity playthrough -- Hardcore is working me hard (I tend to die at least twice in a mission).

Of course, I'm also trying to get through Halo: Reach on Legendary Solo (I am an achievement whore) which has led to repeated cussing. I am bad at first person shooters.

Apparently I like to hate my fun.

[Shrike]

Well, Tali is pure death on shields. She can't do anything to barriers particularly, but shields are hers. Also, explosive drones are good on anything. Big distraction (control) and a big explosion, which is never a bad thing. A soldier Shepard can handle about anything else. Third slot is up for grabs, though certain teammates are better for certain things. Some are marginal period: Jacob, Kasumi, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) Thane, I find to be borderline useless. All good for escorting groggy crewmembers back to the Normandy, but other than that...here, sit on this bench.

The one thing I did prefer in some ways in the original game was the bigger variety of powers on each character. On my paragon soldier run I was fortunate enough to obtain a Colossus X quarian armor (think that was it; the black with red highlights one that had truly ridiculous stats). After that, the combination of Tali and Liara pretty much locked down and massacred about any mob of NPCs you'd care to see. So much so that soldier Shepard was inclined to just kick back in the Mako with a fifth of Laphroig and a copy of Fornax and let the girls handle things.

[Fabricated]

I recently replayed ME1 and when I got my first high-explosive round mod I decided to be goofy and shove it and the best rail extensions I could find into a spectre sniper rifle. I used it exclusively for the rest of the game. Overheat every single shot, but very very little could take more than 1-2 shots. Also the disintegrating ragdolls fly so hard they glitch out, usually in a hilarious manner.

[tmp]

Hardcore is about my ideal difficulty, I think.

Yeah, same for me. There's enough of risk i may actually wind up dead if i fuck up, but at the same time enemies don't have health bars large enough to make me fall asleep half through the fight from boredom. And at the same time there's enough leeway to allow some moving around and across the field rather than spend all the time hidden behind cover. Positioning the squad members becomes quite important too, if just because it cuts down the amount of time they spend waving their asses above crates. All in all, about the max amount of fun i can get out of the shooter parts.

[Rasix]

Damn, Lair of the Shadow Broker was one impressive bit of DLC.  Had a lot of fun with it, even if the outdoor ship area was a bit longer than it needed to be.  Rather intense though, felt like I need a break when I was done with it.  Events took an.. unexpected turn towards the end.  I thought I was accidentally going to be unfaithful to badonkadonk Ash.

[UnSub]

I recently replayed ME1 and when I got my first high-explosive round mod I decided to be goofy and shove it and the best rail extensions I could find into a spectre sniper rifle. I used it exclusively for the rest of the game. Overheat every single shot, but very very little could take more than 1-2 shots. Also the disintegrating ragdolls fly so hard they glitch out, usually in a hilarious manner.

I used a similar technique, but with a shotgun. After putting some mobs into walls so that I couldn't actually kill them, I stopped it.

[Sjofn]

Damn, Lair of the Shadow Broker was one impressive bit of DLC.  Had a lot of fun with it, even if the outdoor ship area was a bit longer than it needed to be.  Rather intense though, felt like I need a break when I was done with it.  Events took an.. unexpected turn towards the end.  I thought I was accidentally going to be unfaithful to badonkadonk Ash.

Yeah I dunno if it was on purpose or not, but my non-Liara romance playthrough of that felt like she still wanted to get into my pants.

[Morat20]

I used a similar technique, but with a shotgun. After putting some mobs into walls so that I couldn't actually kill them, I stopped it.

I've been watching a 'Let's Play' of ME2, and I must say I missed a lot of fun with the charge+shotgun to the face Vanguard.

[Sjofn]

Oh my God LadyShep I hate the way you talk to Jacob arghghghghghghgh

I want my BY THE BOOK RAAR PARAGON LadyShep to get with him because they are, like, perfect for each other but sweet Jesus above, her voice acting is terrible in these scenes. I think I hate it even more than the Leer Cam for Miranda.  It is REALLY bad when your romantic voice acting is so terrible, I prefer MANSHEP's romance voice. Because he is also terrible.

It makes me wonder if either of them have ever been attracted to another human being in their lives.

[LK]

Military person all Shepard's life, having reached second in command of an Alliance starship at a relativrly young age, no attachments, expertly trained? Probably not. Might exppain why Shepard immediately pursued a romantic love interest upon obtaining autonomy.

[Sjofn]

I mean the actors. They are so stilted, so terrible. The other military people they hit on do not have this problem, so I doubt very much it was intentional.


EDIT: Let's put it this way: I feel the same cringy discomfort during those scenes that I felt during the so-called love scenes between Padme and Anakin.

[caladein]

I never went down Jacob's romance tree much more than a bit of flirting at the beginning so I will have to find videos.  I thought the Garrus one was alright, although that was mostly carried by Garrus being more than a bit awkward the whole time.

[Sjofn]

I'm doing the Thane one on my renegade LadyShep, but I only juuuust started it, so I don't know if that one will also make me recoil from the Awkward, although things got off to a promising start (from an awkward standpoint) with the romance opening paraphrase being "I want you, Thane." It comes up right after he tells you all about his dead wife. Totally classy, LadyShep! At least what she actually says isn't as sleazy. Although ... I almost wish it was, because that would be firmly in so-bad-it-is-good territory for me.

Garrus being awkward at least makes sense, what with the man not even having lips. Garrus is stuck in the Friend Zone forever with me, though. He's my bro, period.

[Rasix]

They all seem about as appealing as Kaiden from the first.  Might as well give Grunt as an option.  Femshep shall stay not-quite-sure-this-qualifies-as-lesbian-shep.

[Sjofn]

At least I like Kaidan's voice. His Carthy, Carthy voice. Yeah, you heard me! But yeah, I think on the whole the romances are very bleh. I wouldn't mind Grunt, actually, I could close my eyes and pretend it's Gorim. 

I liked Dragon Age's a lot more, I guess. 

[Jeff Kelly]

I couldn't resist the urge to indulge myself on all the DLC mission content.

Lair of the shadow broker is awesome, more of the original game should have been like that mission pack. I liked the Kasumi mission, Zaeed's was entirely too short and even my paragon Shepard contemplated letting him burn to death for being such a douche.

Firewalker just replaces annoying Mako battles with annoying flying tank battles and Overlord reinforces that being Paragon seems to mean that you forfeit any edge humanity might have against the Reaper.

Also Liara obviously gets jealous of other women even though I never went on any dates with them. I never got to first base with Jack, yet she get's called a bald-headed hussy ;-). Either the Bioware folks have wholly different views on dating or 'taking an interest in somebody that hides in freight storage' is considered something that you do exclusively and have to break up to do it with somebody else. Right now even Tali is more interested in calibrating the ships engines than talking to me. My manshep doesn't have a way with the ladies obviously.

Instead of the Zaeed or Firewalker DLCs they should have released a "Punch the Illusive Man in the groin" mission pack. I would have paid serious money for that privilege alone.

[Sjofn]

Jack's paragon romance is infuriating because you really do seem to just be trying to be her friend, then she suddenly gets all YOU NEED TO MAKE A CHOICE I WON'T BE JERKED AROUND if you're romancing someone else (and those two are much more obvious about being romanced). And it's like ... what? I seriously just want to be your friend, bitch! And the only way to get off that track is to be the biggest asshole imaginable.  

I can get maybe thinking that she would fall for a dude who is honestly just being nice to her, it happens all the time. I can definitely get her going into the fuck you you dickfaced asshole mode when you turn her down on it, people with wounded pride do that all the time. But I do NOT get why I have to accuse her of refusing to be normal in the most douchey way possible. If I was a renegade, sure, that choice makes sense, but my wussy paragon nice guy would never in a million years say that. But he also wouldn't pity fuck someone so monumentally fucked up in the head.


EDIT: Also! I like Zaeed, in spite of him being a giant asshole in his loyalty mission. He has some of my favorite flavor lines in other people's missions. 

[Mosesandstick]

I remember at the end of the game, I was trying to get Kelly to do a little dance with me. But she only does that if you aren't romancing anyone else, and I was wondering who the hell was I romancing? Jack 

That really confused me, when the hell did I ever try to romance Jack? I was just being nice to her 

[Jeff Kelly]

Doesn't help that the woman doing her voice work is really good. The way Jack sits there with her knees drawn to her body and the way she says Hey (or is it Hi?) like a sad little ten year old girl breaks my heart a little every time I go down there. Kudos to the actress.

[LK]

I solved the Jack problem by being FemShep. 

[Shrike]

Courtney Taylor does do a helluva job as Jack. Problem with Jack is--as is mentioned repeatedly--that she's nearly impossible to deal with. As a borderline humorless, hardcore badass, I just don't see Shepard really putting up with her mind games. My tack was to just treat her in as professional manner as possible and ignore her the rest of the time. Lead from the front, as it were. She can either get with the program or sulk in the hold and get left behind. No time for it; collector ass needs to be kicked.

Interestingly enough, I pretty much followed the same mindset with EDI. Just treat her as part of the crew and drive on. I did this on both renegade and paragon playthroughs. Legion's constant kvetching about the shipboard AI was starting to get on my nerves a bit at the end and in the DLC, but in the SB's files, EDI herself seems to make an effort to set him/it straight. ME3 will probably get very interesting on this particular front.

[Mosesandstick]

I thought Jack was a very well done character. I didn't like her in-game because she's more than a bit crazy, but interesting and believable (though I'm not sure you should take my word on that, my experience with tatooed half-naked bald women is pretty limited at this point).

What does Legion say about EDI? Don't think I ever read much of that.