Mass Effect 2 Catch All

Epilogue:

After finishing the main quest, I played through the Overlord DLC. Gah - I hated the Hammerhead sections. It was too easy to die and have to reload. However, the final mission was totally worth it. One of the best of the game.

I also played through The Arrival. I can see why it was suggested because it does set up a plot point that I think will be continued in ME 3. I didn't mind the solo nature of the missions. Overall, it was alright, and I'm glad I got it.

Sorry to pull up an old thread, but I wanted to check and see if they ever updated the PC version of this with the ability to optionally use the 360's interface and controller?

I know from googling that when it originally shipped you were stuck with the PC interface and keymapping the controller. Did they ever actually add in controller support? You know, since they had already developed it for the other two versions of the game anyway?

PS- On a related note, is there any actual standardized way to see if a PC game has native 360 controller support with an actual controller interface or if it is one where you are stuck using the PC interface and keymapping software? Thanks.

None of the ME games on PC have controller support. It does seem odd given that it originates on the 360, but I can see them cutting out everything non-essential to minimise the testing they have to do. Of all 3 games, ME2 did strike me as the most minimum effort port on the PC, just enough that everything worked, but not a bit more to make it feel good on the platform.

Thanks for the info Scratched.

Seems like an odd choice to me since they had already spent the time developing and presumably testing a controller interface for the game, but what do I know? I don't expect developers making a game exclusively for the PC to waste time and money on controller support, but for games that were cross-developed for the consoles it certainly seems like an odd omission.

Thanks again.

Just wrapped this up last night - all that's left for me is Arrival. Loved it -- such an incredibly good game. ME3, in Collector's Edition form, sits on my shelf; eBay found me a copy last week, still sealed, and I can't wait to tear into it.

Spoiler:

My crew died, but everyone in my team survived; I hesitantly allowed Cerberus to keep the Collector base -- while I distrust the Illusive Man, the threat against humanity is too great to pass up a potential advantage.

I literally completed every side mission, got every upgrade, and loved the game 80% of the time. Some of the longer corridor shootouts were a bit laborious, but by and large, this and ME1 are two of the finest RPGs I've ever played. The arc of my Shep, from pure Good Guy to a bad-ass who is willing to risk everything and break the rules for the greater good, has been the best part of the experience.

Talk about the trilogy set me up for a replay. I'm almost done with ME1 right now. Just going into Virmire, after finishing almost everything else. I don't wanna lose Wrex, so I'm making sure I have enough Paragon points.

ME2 still stands as my favorite out of the bunch, and this time around, I've decided to go all out. I just bought Kasumi, Arrival, Overlord, and Shadow Broker. They're downloading as I type this. I've played ME2 about 3 or 4 times already, but this 5th time around, will be the very first ever I play with these DLC packs. I'm excited!

Should I go even more all out, and purchase Leviathan and From Ashes for ME3? I'm kinda weary that I'll lose steam once I'm done with 2, so I don't know yet...perhaps I'll wait it out, and see if the ME2 dlc pack's engage me enough to play through 3 again...

I think the ME3 DLC is worth getting. Aside from Shadow Broker I think the ME3 stuff is actually the best of the bunch, and it's better than most of the core game.

kexx wrote:

Talk about the trilogy set me up for a replay. I'm almost done with ME1 right now. Just going into Virmire, after finishing almost everything else. I don't wanna lose Wrex, so I'm making sure I have enough Paragon points.

ME2 still stands as my favorite out of the bunch, and this time around, I've decided to go all out. I just bought Kasumi, Arrival, Overlord, and Shadow Broker. They're downloading as I type this. I've played ME2 about 3 or 4 times already, but this 5th time around, will be the very first ever I play with these DLC packs. I'm excited!

Should I go even more all out, and purchase Leviathan and From Ashes for ME3? I'm kinda weary that I'll lose steam once I'm done with 2, so I don't know yet...perhaps I'll wait it out, and see if the ME2 dlc pack's engage me enough to play through 3 again...

Definitely a good mix -- having just finished ME2, and played all of the DLC, it's a good batch. I could take or leave Firewalker, but the rest of the set is great; Arrival should be saved for post-main-game, IMO, as it plays out nicely after the major action of the Mission has wrapped up.

Just wrapped up Overlord. It was Ok. I always found navigating with the Hammerhead fun, but for some reason, I found it a bit annoying on this one. Maybe its the fact I don´t have a health bar HUD, and that threw me off a bit.

The mission in and of itself, was fun I guess. I enjoy fighting geth over any other enemy to be honest. It felt a little bit like: they enjoyed what they did for Legion´s Loyalty Mission, and kind of wanted to incorporate more of that.

At least to me. Either way, it was fun. I´m enjoying my new playthrough. I´m doing loyalty missions right now. I´m right before the Reaper IFF, so I´m taking care of other sidequests first.

Kasumi has been a great addition. I like her. As suggested, I´ll play Arrival after I´m done with the game, and I´m saving Shadow Broker for when all my characters are loyal.

Question. Having romanced Liara in ME1, can she be romanced in ME2 with this pack? I´m playing femshep, and kinda want to go with Garrus or Thane, but I´m also curious as to what happens in Broker DLC, and if I should carry this on to ME3...I´m hesitant though. I always found Liara so goddamn boring...There´s no greater love for femshep than Garrus! And Tali for broshep, but that´s another topic.

kexx wrote:

Question. Having romanced Liara in ME1, can she be romanced in ME2 with this pack? I´m playing femshep, and kinda want to go with Garrus or Thane, but I´m also curious as to what happens in Broker DLC, and if I should carry this on to ME3...I´m hesitant though. I always found Liara so goddamn boring...There´s no greater love for femshep than Garrus! And Tali for broshep, but that´s another topic.

She is up for romance in Shadow Broker. If you romanced her in ME1, there is a plot conversation where she freaks out at you if you've romanced anyone else. If not, she's a little less melodramatic. As is, I really liked the whole Shadow Broker story line. Seemed like an idea for the game that was abandoned due to time constraints and finished via DLC.

Errr, whoops.

Done with Kasumi's Loyalty Mission. Superb that one. Really fresh and different from the others, with splashes of all the good stuff. Fighting, Boss battle, snooping around. Really great one!

Ok, only 2 loyalty missions left:

Jack
Tali

I kind of want to go get the Reaper IFF so I can get Legion, to see what happens if I bring Legion on board of the Flotilla. Can I do that? Get Legion before finishing loyalty quests? Do the loyalty quests have some sort of expiration date on them?

kexx wrote:

Done with Kasumi's Loyalty Mission. Superb that one. Really fresh and different from the others, with splashes of all the good stuff. Fighting, Boss battle, snooping around. Really great one!

Ok, only 2 loyalty missions left:

Jack
Tali

I kind of want to go get the Reaper IFF so I can get Legion, to see what happens if I bring Legion on board of the Flotilla. Can I do that? Get Legion before finishing loyalty quests? Do the loyalty quests have some sort of expiration date on them?

If you take too long to go after your crew after getting the IF/F installed and tested, you can lose some ancillary characters. As much as I hate to say it, as it does make me VERY sad (LOOOOOOOVE Legion), to save everyone, you need to wait until you've done all loyalty missions to recruit Legion, you'll then immediately get his loyalty mission, which you can do, then it'll do the IF/F and you can go to the end immediately after.

Nah you only get one loyalty mission, Legion's. Unless you save Tali's to take Legion on. In that case you can do Tali's and then Legion's without losing anyone. That's the only loophole to the "1-mission after IFF or people start dying" rule.

I know cause I did it on 2 of my 4 playthroughs, and saved all the crew on all 4.

Fine! If I'm going to get Tann'ed:

Demosthenes wrote:

If you take too long to go after your crew after getting the IF/F installed and tested, you can lose some ancillary characters. As much as I hate to say it, as it does make me VERY sad (LOOOOOOOVE Legion), to save everyone, you need to wait until you've done all loyalty missions to recruit Legion, you'll then immediately get his loyalty mission, which you can do, then it'll do the IF/F and you can go to the end immediately after.

Not necessarily. There's a sort of grace period, which a Loyalty mission could easily fit in, if my memory serves. Do Jack's, get the IFF, then Tali's and Legion's, and you should be fine.

Hmm, well, I must be wrong then. Ignore that! But I could have sworn the formula was, like, remaining Loyalty missions +1 or something.

For what it's worth, I've heard Legion on Tali's mission isn't terribly significant.

Stele wrote:

Nah you only get one loyalty mission, Legion's. Unless you save Tali's to take Legion on. In that case you can do Tali's and then Legion's without losing anyone. That's the only loophole to the "1-mission after IFF or people start dying" rule.

I know cause I did it on 2 of my 4 playthroughs, and saved all the crew on all 4. ;)

Screwed it up my first playthrough. Saved Chakwas but lost Kelly. Felt bad about that and watching her gooify after the Lilith was kind of blood-chilling for a lady who only ever told me that someone else needed to talk to me.

Stele wrote:

Nah you only get one loyalty mission, Legion's. Unless you save Tali's to take Legion on. In that case you can do Tali's and then Legion's without losing anyone. That's the only loophole to the "1-mission after IFF or people start dying" rule.

I know cause I did it on 2 of my 4 playthroughs, and saved all the crew on all 4. ;)

Well you don't need Tali loyal at the end, you can still have everyone survive, so that's a legitimate thing to do.

Damn...I'm torn then. I want to take Legion everywhere and see how people react. Flotilla, Citadel, Aria, etc. Maybe I'll just do that once, then load and go about it the right way. I'd hate to lose Kelly and Chakwas for toying around.

I'm definitely doing Tali's loyalty mission. It's the reason I do it close to last. So I have enough paragon pts to convince the conclave she's innocent. She's one of my favorite characters.

I still also have Shadow Broker and Arrival left to do. I'm doing Arrival after I've finished the suicide mission. I guess I'll do:

Jack Loyalty ---> Shadow Broker ---> Tali Loyalty ---> Reaper IFF ---> Legion Loyalty ---> End Game ---> Arrival

I guess I can always youtube what Legion on the Flotilla is like. Maybe same for him on the Citadel with Anderson.

While you're youtubing, look up clips of him in earlier parts of the game. They recorded VO for that stuff but then decided to include him past the point where you can bring him on those early missions.

Well it's pretty fun to do Reaper IFF -> Tali Loyalty -> Legion loyalty -> End Game

I mean really really fun. Tali's people react to Legion in so many awesome ways.

Tali was always my favorite. I'm barely just on the sane side of Shep/Tali shippers.

Shadow Broker done. I think it was over hyped for me. While it definitely was fun, and interesting, I found it a little lackluster. Kasumi's been my favorite of the 4 I downloaded, with Overlord being in 3rd. Still have Arrival to go through.

I think once Broker is done, the information you find is what makes it fun. Reading what people download and surf online and stuff like that was interesting. Saddened to find out Miranda can't have children. Anyway, that was what I liked best. Maybe it has to do with me finding Liara such a boring character. She did nothing for me in ME1, and she still makes we want to sleep in ME2 and ME3. She's just....blah...

Next up, Tali Loyalty --> Reaper IFF --> Legion Loyalty --> End Game

I decided I can youtube all the Legion reactions. I don't want to risk not having Chakwas with me in ME3. Dr. Michel was just as boring and plain as any other NPC in the game.

EDIT: Question. Does the Shadow Broker information Dossiers on the party, keep updating? What about the Investment Opportunities? Package pickups? Video Surveillance tapes? Should I keep going into Liara's Base often, or was it a one time thing, and coming back yields nothing new?

Would be kinda boring if all that info stayed the same...

Agreed. Tali and Garrus have consistently been great characters since ME1, with amazing stories throughout. ME2 took Wrex away from us, which was a shame, but they gave us Thane, which is also an amazing character with rich depth. Him and Legion. That was just pure genius.

Agreed on the Tali love. Bioware, teaming up with the Dutch printers Cook & Becker, are making really high quality prints from the Mass Effect universe. Here is the Tali one. I want one so bad. Sadly, I do not have $325 to spend on it, and even if I did, I doubt my wife would be pleased with it.

Tali was always my fav with Legion and Wrex close second. That's why my dog is named Tali.

Alright then. Done with the game! ME2 is truly my favorite. Arrival was lame as it could get, but hey, extra credits always come in handy.

Kasumi and Shadow Broker stand out. Kasumi being my favorite I think.

I think the reason why I enjoyed ME2 more than ME3, besides the ending situation, was that everything great about ME3, is a continuation of stories and plot points that started in ME2 (in some cases, ME1).

After playing through Thane's missions and Legion's missions, I can't help but feel that ME2 did much, much more to expand the lore of the ME universe than either of its two other iterations. ME1 made an amazing set up, and ME3 concludes nicely some of the stories, but ME2 fleshed out everything we cared about.

Before ME2, everything we knew about the Krogan's, we learned through Wrex. While great, ME2 gave us Tuchanka, Mordin and his involvement in the Genophage drop. Mordin gave me context to what was going on, and I keep finding myself overwhelmed and conflicted as to how I want my Shepard to respond to Mordin's actions against/for the Krogan. This entire conflict took personality, character, body and soul, throughout ME2.

The Geth were an amazing concept, that again, not until ME2, wasn't fleshed out as grand as it truly is. The concept of how they work, think, and feel, all coming through Legion, was an amazing turn for the Geth mythos. Again, ME1 laid a couple of foundations, ME3 concluded it nicely, but the bulk of why we care about them, came in ME2.

Same with the Quarians. Everything we knew about them, came through Tali. It wasn't until ME2 that we came to meet them, see how their military works, their government, their people, their beliefs, etc. ME3 actually did the Quarians a disservice in my opinion, preaching heavily towards the Geth side. ME2 kept both sides of the conflict interesting and defensible. ME3 it's hard to argue that Quarians are assholes, because they want to annihilate the Geth even after they stop attacking.

In short (too late), I think ME2 gave us absoutely everything we ever wanted out of a ME universe game. Sure, I'll agree the main story isn't great. The Reapers were downplayed heavily, and the human reaper at the end is just dumb, but I found the Collectors, and the fact that they were Prothean, even extending the universe even MORE, to be fascinating.

Yay for ME2!! Now...onto ME3...

kexx wrote:

Agreed. Tali and Garrus have consistently been great characters since ME1, with amazing stories throughout. ME2 took Wrex away from us, which was a shame, but they gave us Thane, which is also an amazing character with rich depth. Him and Legion. That was just pure genius.

Midrib. MORDIN!

God I loved him. Such a great character.

It's hard to find a character I don't really enjoy in ME, I even enjoy how terrible I think Ashley is. Mordin is top dog, though.

kexx wrote:

Reading what people download and surf online and stuff like that was interesting. Saddened to find out Miranda can't have children.

Yeah, that was a bummer, but her IMs were hilarious. I've thought about jotting down my reactions to things that get said about Miranda. Maybe...

kexx wrote:

Stuff about the different species

It seems really simple to say that giving you a crew-member who you learn about their faction through is a good idea, but the brilliance comes through in the practice. So much of my behavior dealing with the different groups was informed by how I treated their representative squad member.

Be sure to ask Mordin to sing Gilbert and Sullivan in Arrival, if you haven't already.