Mass Effect 2 [Xbox 360/PC/PS3]

[Eight Rooks]

I hugely dislike the idea people won't carry over. I appreciate it'd be a hell of a lot of work... but it really, really annoys me, to the point I'd even be tempted not to bother with the sequel. It's not whaaaambulance (it's not, it's not ) - I'm just fed up of being the galaxy's answer to James Bond. What the hell did I go through all that for, if not to actually develop a lasting connection that'd carry through to the final stage of the journey?

[Brats]

I'll be surprised if they dropped all the characters and made you start again. The ending of ME2 clearly shows that the next game will follow on without a time gap, plus they wrote Wrex into this game and he died for most players.

I suspect the nect game won't have the loyalty missions though, it's going to be more like a much more extended version of the suicide mission, using the characters from the first two games (that survived) dictate how you win the day, rather than the background development.

I can't understand why Bioware would create carefully written characters and develop their back stories if they are just going to drop them for the next game (even though some might be dead in some people's save files).

[PeteJ]

I can't say how much involvement Wrex had in the sequel ( ) but Kaiden was hardly used at all. Other returning characters from ME were used well but they survived the first game no matter what. In ME2 potentially every character can die as far as I can tell.

Perhaps the final game will have less character development to allow for this, no loyalty missions as you say. I still don't see how it'll all be possible though!

[sj33]

Liara, Ashley (or Kaidan I guess? I ditched him in the first game so...) and Wrex all had little more than cameo roles in the sequel. Garrus and Tali were the most notable 'returnees' in that they actually existed in your squad, and neither of those got that much attention in the original compared to the aforementioned.

Of course, Bioware could be going somewhere with this, especially if the third game is much less about character development (making the assumption that this has already been done in the previous games).

[C']

Eight Rooks has expressed my own personal concerns rather well. I don't think it's any coincidence that the two characters who I was most attached to in terms of story development were Garrus and Tali. Whilst for the other characters in my squad I was more "by the book" in terms of dealing with their loyalty quests, for the above-mentioned characters I gave a lot more leeway even going so far as allowing my (mostly) paragon Shepherd to allow Garrus to

->Open Spoiler<-

take the shot without any hesitation

.

I hope Brats is correct but I am concerned that even when it came to transferring my Mass Effect 1 outcomes (of which there were much fewer permutations in terms of who can live and die) Bioware were forced to relegate them to bit-parts. I hope they pull it off as when this trilogy concludes I want the likes of Garrus, Tali, Grunt and Mordin to be there with me.

[C']

Garrus and Tali were the most notable 'returnees' in that they actually existed in your squad, and neither of those got that much attention in the original compared to the aforementioned.

The most important thing about these two is that, along with Liara (who Bioware seem to have their own plans for in game 3 probably in relation to the

->Open Spoiler<-

Shadow Broker

they were characters who simply couldn't die in ME1, so having them as full-time squad members doesn't create any difficulties.

[Charlie]

After some 25 hours playtime I decided to visit the rebuilt Citadel for the first time which I expected, like the original Citadel, to be a huge maze packed with plenty to see and do. But it's not. It's tiny. And it's rubbish.

The original Citadel was steeped in a bustling cosmopolitan atmosphere and communicated the sense it was a place of power and wealth and politics. The new Citadel doesn't do any of that. It feels dull. And disappointing.

[smouty]

The Citadel was badly damaged only two years ago. They are still waiting for planning permission.

[Brats]

Everyone's assumptions that the ME2 characters won't return in any great detail in the third game seems to be based purely on the basis that 'what's the point of Bioware writing an intricate story for them when some players will never see them?'.

I don't think that's on their mind though. Most players will see the majority of characters (of those I know that have played the game, they have lost one or two characters at most) and in this game, Bioware have already done more than most in terms of writing parts of the game that some people will never see. I think they dropped Ashley and Kaiden because they were crappy characters (as was Liara tbh) and Wrex was a bit part because most players lost him.

Plus that point applies to any any massive game with optional sidequests. There are quests in Fallout 3 that a lot of players will never see (say if they blow up Megaton), but Bethesda still wrote them. I have faith that we will see continuation from the second game. I suspect that all characters will be in it in fully fleshed out roles, although if you play the game fresh, you have to 'chose' two characters that didn't make it. If you finished the second game with tham all surviving, then they are all available.

[Charlie]

The Citadel was badly damaged only two years ago. They are still waiting for planning permission.

That's another thing, how the hell did they manage to rebuild it in just 2 years? Even with super-dooper advances in construction, 2 years seems too short a time. I'd have preferred it if, during the Citadel's arrival and departure cutscenes, the Citadel appears near-fully built - kinda like the original Death Star appeared in Star Wars.

[PeteJ]

Brats, it's not that I "don't see the point", I simply think the task is too huge. Returning the characters and continuing the same depth and conflicts? I don't envy Bioware's task here.

Though I do trust them to deliver.

[Uli]

I think they dropped Ashley and Kaiden because they were crappy characters (as was Liara tbh) and Wrex was a bit part because most players lost him.

watch your tongue, Liara is still the love of my life i guess in ME2 we just took a break to reconsider our feelings. but if she wont give me another sexy time in ME3 i will definitely break up, maybe even reconsider my sexual orientation or gender

[EvilBoris]

That's another thing, how the hell did they manage to rebuild it in just 2 years? Even with super-dooper advances in construction, 2 years seems too short a time. I'd have preferred it if, during the Citadel's arrival and departure cutscenes, the Citadel appears near-fully built - kinda like the original Death Star appeared in Star Wars.

Anderson says that the keepers (the totally mysterious caretakers of the citadel) were rebuilding it themselves and that they don't know how they do it so quick or where they get their resources.

[sj33]

watch your tongue, Liara is still the love of my life i guess in ME2 we just took a break to reconsider our feelings. but if she wont give me another sexy time in ME3 i will definitely break up, maybe even reconsider my sexual orientation or gender

What are you talking about? It's all about Taali I was spitting blood when the camera changed angle when Sheppard removed her helmet visor.

On the topic of speculation, I'm sure I'm not the only one making mental links between the fact that the Elusive Man has immesurable access to information, just like the Shadow Broker... Liara return anyone?

[Eight Rooks]

As far as I understood it you're not walking round the same places in the Citadel you were before, given they're all still being repaired... but eh, perhaps I r just dum. It's easily the weakest place in the game for me, though, but still much, much better than the original. How anyone could honestly believe

The original Citadel was steeped in a bustling cosmopolitan atmosphere and communicated the sense it was a place of power and wealth and politics.

is beyond me. Nothing in the first game ever gave me the impression any of it was in any sense believable, much less real. Bloodless, lifeless, like walking around inside an encyclopedia - mildly diverting for a while, but sooner rather than later you want to go do something that actually matters.