Hello everyone! Thank you all for the amazing support and views this video has received over the last month. It's a big blessing. That being said, nobody is perfect-- there were a few lore inaccuracies many of you pointed out during the video, and I just wanted to make note of them here for future viewers: 1) Aresh is not an ex-Cerberus scientist, but indeed one of the children Cerberus experimented on at the Pragia facility (and actually had it worse than Jack). The trauma that haunts Aresh and the dilemma of "repeating the past" is still relevant, as is the lesson Jack must learn by confronting her trauma. 2) Thane was an assassin for the Drell government, and not necessarily the multitude of elites that I implied he worked for during the video. Nonetheless, his hands are still stained with the blood of countless lives (especially his wife's murderers), and he still feels the need to atone for that. 3) Morinth is not Samara's last living daughter, as made apparent by Mass Effect 3. She does mention having other daughters in 2, this just went very over my head for some reason.
Jacob: Sounds like a suicide mission, I volunteer. Miranda: You're not trained for that, Shepard if Jacob goes in the vent he will die! Shepard: Jacob you're going in the vent.
I liked Jacob. I just wish he was more useful as a squadmate, but he wasn't. I wish there were more Bro moments between him and John Shepard. Two Alliance Officers, talking shop, life, etc... In fact, this highlights that IMHO, the most underused part of the ship and stations were the places where some of the crew and Shepard could sit and talk. They did do this a little bit, but it would have been awesome to have a DLC that expanded on that. Allowed more sit down conversations at bars, restaurants, lounge areas, hospital waiting areas, crew's lounge on the Normandy, etc... Would have been great to add a short walk through a small part of the Admiral's ship, to sit and talk with him in his quarters, or officer's mess. Same for Anderson in ME2. If he's Counselor, you sit in that office, and have one conversation. If he's not the Counselor, you sit in his other office, and have a different conversation.
"It's so much easier to see the world in Black and White. Gray...I don't know what to do with gray."-Garrus Vakarian. Another excellent video, covering my favorite game of all time!
Martin Sheen, Lance Henriksen, and Keith David could have given standard "holywood star in a video game" performance yet they gave some of the best performance in their lifes and it says a lot
Martin certainly gives a performance that is far higher in quality compared to the average celebrity role in a video game. But to suggest it is one of his best is frankly insulting to the numerous stellar performances he has made. West Wing alone has multiple hours of awe inspiring acting. There is not enough emotional nuance in the Illusive man to come close to that, even if the role is thematically interesting. It is akin to saying Alfred Molinas greatest performance was his performance as the Children's theater critic in the Funny or Die youtube video.
@@IMajst3RI My oppinion is as much an oppinion as claiming the London National theatre makes better productions than the 4th grade in the local elementary school, that Mass Effect 2 is a better game than Goat Simulator or that Mcdonalds does not cook the best meat. Ultimately it is subjective, but everyone with any actual knowledge about the craft will find anyone disagreeing with that oppinion utterly ignorant of the craft in question.
In the case of Martin Sheen, the Illusive Man is his sole role as voice actor in a video game and it's just perfect. Every bit of dialogue and emotion is done very well
Is there any. ,,XXXXX 😍😍😍😍😍😍💝💘💗💖💕💚💛💜💓💙❤💋👄👄👄💋💙💓💘💗💜💟💞💕💖💗💘💝💓💜💛💚👄💋❤💙 rated. Parts in it. Y know what a mean. ,,,,,,,,grin grin nudge nudge wink wink say no MORRRREEEE. ,,,,,, i mean. ,,,,,,,S,,,😍 X parts. , 😀😀😀😀😀😍😍😍😍
IMO the Mass Effect franchise has the best lore and world building for an original IP in all of gaming. It's such a massive epic space opera where the stakes affect entire galaxies... But at the same time makes you care so much about singular characters. It's a true unicorn of story telling.
@@LAGator-qu7tc Cyberpunk isn't an original IP. The others I agree with. Had they not said "Space Opera" I would have gone on a rant and listed about 1800 games that share all the other characteristics. Lol. If we are going with the best world-building for an original IP (Without Space Opera) I think there are multiple games that could easily compete (And potentially win) that title. ME is an amazing trilogy and one of my favorite games/series of all time but there are other games that are on equal footing IMO.
thats what makes what ea did so messed up. they improved so much from 1 to 2 and 3 was gonna be an absolute masterpiece but they rushed it out and ea also put some important story elements as DLC. I dont think anyone would of minded if it took another year for the game to come out if we got what bioware truly envisioned as the end of the classic trilogy. what we got even today after playing ME:LE ME3 feels like a college paper you've been procrastinating on and try to finish in the library before class starts in 4 hours. dont get me wrong it's still a good game but I really think it could of been incredible and one of the greatest ever.
This fact makes me incredibly sad with how they handled ME3 (not just the ending but the game itself as a sequel), and the franchise going forward. It still bewilders mw why they abandoned this franchise for Anthem, which also got abandoned. This franchise literally had and still probably has, Star Wars level potential and the original team behind the trilogy understood this. It's not among the greatest of RPGs, but I agree the storytelling and world they've built is phenomenal.
I'm from Malaysia, a country in which racial tensions will always be constant and when I was young, I was a complete racist. It wasn't until i played Mass Effect 2 that I changed my view on a lot of things. People has struggles and want to redeem themselves for their regrets that they had. An inheritance from one another no matter how much they try to break through and will remain. Mass effect taught me more about people are same but different. A different race or species, but have the trials like everyone. I learned empathy and compassion, hearing each of my squadmates stories helping people and understanding a cry for help. A great series and one that i revisit for time to time. I am glad to have met this game, if not how much would I be if this game never came to my life.
@@Assassino275Yeah man. Seriously this game helped me more than a lot. Learn to be empathetic and compassionate towards people and giving a hand to people who needs help but giving them the push rather than doing everything for them.
TIMmy: Hey Shep I brought you back from the dead go on this suicide mission. Oh and make sure to give Cerberus the edge we need against the Reapers Shepard: *Sends Data to Alliance, Gets Miranda to quit, Makes Liara the Shadow Broker, Gets everyone out alive, tells TIMmy to piss off and takes the Normandy SR2 and turns self in* TIMmy: Well f$#k time to use the small bits of reaper tech and turn people into husks, Marauders, Banchees and Canables
Holy shit man. Mass Effect 2 is one of my favorite games of all time and I’ve played it dozens of times. But you’ve given me some insight on underlying themes in the the game that completely went over my head. Specifically the idea of redemption. I think you’ve changed how I’ll do play throughs in the future.
@@ArTorrPresents just so you know, i think i can speak for most of us when i say hes right, its inspiring the way you word it and the way you put this together, well done would be an understatement, looking forward to see your future content
Fr bro like mass effect 1 was good but then Like I didn't like 2 at first but at the end I actually miss my old crew even though I can still play it but there's nothing to do in it plus I finished 3 and now I'm doing andromeda
That DLC is the first & only true love letter to the fans I have ever seen. And while the story is a bit cheesy it's still plausible & the DLC is not about the story & everything about getting to know your companions even better & spending quality time with them.
ME2 will always be my favorite of the trilogy…and the lynchpin to why 1-3 are my favorite games of all time. Mass Effect has such a lovely, lived-in world. I doubt I’ll ever find a game that I care about so deeply…invest my thoughts in so thoroughly…
@@yaro42 Oh trust me, I love Witcher 2 and 3...I love RD1 and 2...but Mass Effect will always be the trilogy that reminds me that games can invest me in a universe like no other.
What I appreciate about the “hollywood” cast is they took in people that took it seriously. That’s not something you typically get when a hollywood actor voices a character.
Ah yes, the “Suicide Mission”, the single greatest final mission of any game ever. We have accepted that claim. Great work with both of your vids so far! It really captures what makes my fav game franchise of all time so damn beautiful, despite some of the minor… and major flaws. It was interesting that you did not mention the Arrival DLC in the vid (at least, I don’t remember you talking about it). I bet you are saving that for ME3’s vid. Looking forward to your vid on that!
Suicide mission is great but the fact that many partners could die meant bioware seriously simplified the partners in me3. Most of the returning cast from 2 has basically no role to play, and that's terrible.
Thank you! I’ll die on the hill that they shot their load on mass effect 2 (for the middling phase, plot hole ridden collector “threat”) and left themselves screwed for mass effect 3.
“Suicide Mission” is arguably the greatest *COMPLETE* final mission. The road to hell that is “Mission: Earth” is right there in my opinion right up until you make the run to the beam Edit: “Priority: Earth”
@The Geekfather what should have happened is your choices lock in which one Shepard chooses. Like, Instead of us being able to choose the ending, Shepard makes the choice for us.
Since your last video of ME1 I’ve gone through the whole ME Legendary Edition and oh my god was this adventure magnificent. Thank you for getting me into this 🙏🏻
The voice casting in Mass Effect 2,was incredible,I'm my little room on my laptop in Nigeria, seeing planets n galaxies having familiar names was surreal n crazy and wonderful to see, a perfect game in my opinion.
When you started talking about the small actions that make small but meaningful differences I recalled one of the most disappointing things I've ever read from a player and self-proclaimed fan: that they didn't care about consequences that you can't see. This was in respect to the infamous "three-coloured endings", and it hurt me on a deeper level because it's clear these stories don't mean as much to some people as they do to me. I don't care that I help someone - or an entire race, for that matter - and that I don't get to see the aftermath. I did something, I chose something, and that decision will ripple through the ages. When I play Mass Effect my choices matter, even when I don't see those NPCs ever again, even if I die, even if the game ends, my decisions _always_ mattered. And I think about them, I think about how what I chose dictated the future for the galaxy. Same thing as in real life: you build something so it can last well beyond your own life. Its value goes beyond your own existence. Other people are here too, and if your presence changed something, that something can redefine everything that comes after. Otherwise, why play? Why do anything that's not just self-serving during your lifetime? Empathy rewards us with other people's happiness, and punishes us with other people's sorrows. It's what being human is all about.
RU-vid recommendations have finally graced me with an actually excellent suggestion. I have always loved Mass Effect 2 but this video has put into words half-baked thoughts that have been rattling around for some time. Amazing work and I can't wait for the Mass Effect 3 video, that's gonna be... one hell of a ride.
A fantastic, well written, fantastically edited video as always, an absolute pleasure to watch, probably more than once. But... Aresh was not a cerberus scientist, he's one of the other kids they experimented on.
I just looked this up in disbelief and you are 100% correct. I am dumbfounded at how I missed that all the way to now. Thank you for pointing that out. And thank you for watching the video!
12:43 I can't be the only one who stared at that far-off city on Beckenstein on Kasumi's stolen memory mission. I set up a separate save file so I can revisit at will. I know you're attending the party of a criminal syndicate boss, but it allows the player a *brief measure* of _peace_ that's rarely experienced in high-octane action RPG's. And I'm absolutely in love with it.
Thank you for perfectly summing up why Mass Effect 2 is my all time favourite game. The graphics are dated, the level design often claustrophobic, and the character, gear, and ability customization far more restrictive than ME3 and especially ME:A. But, the emotional roller coaster ride can't be topped, from having the bitter taste of defeat thrown in your face right at the start with not only losing the Normandy but also your life, to the newfound hope of Shepard's resurrection like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, to taking all that pain and anger and uncertainty and regret and distrust of your teammates' past and forging that into unity, to that final triumphant victory over the collecters. Nothing can top it. Also apologies if I missed it, I was playing this in the background, but I'd also like to talk about Shepard. In the first game You start as a nobody, perhaps not to humanity but to the larger galaxy, and it's achieving spectre status that in large part defines you. It gives you tools, it gives you training, it gives you a ship, and it gives you authority. It makes you feel like a superhero. As you said, ME2 deemphasizes spectre status. You can choose to keep the title, but it has little consequence. With Shepard rebirth, it's no longer needed. Shepard makes the SR2 his/her own, inspires a team to join up, overcomes even greater odds and ultimately finds a way, and none of it was because of some title. Shepard has grown beyond spectre status, and the fight with Tela Vasir perfectly captures that. What Shepard accomplishes in ME2 and 3 has nothing to do with being a spectre or an alliance commander, and everything to do with who Shepard is. Great breakdown of a legendary game.
I feel like me2 had just enough gear and options. I never find myself missing the grenades, or the weapon attachments, or the combat rolling, or the omni blade. ME2 was honestly as close to a perfect game as I've ever played, it had just enough of everything and didn't overstay its welcome in any way, my only nitpick with the entire game is the awkward "shuttle mission" that's used to trigger the Collector assault on the Normandy. They should've just said TIM wants a debrief with the whole squad while Joker and EDI test the IFF, so he called them to the base you go to after you escape the medical facility at the beginning of the game.
I spent last December playing the ME trilogy for the first time. ME2 is one of the best gaming experiences I've had. The story is so stupidly simple, "get your team together," its literally the story thats always reduced to montage in other mediums but its my favourite part of this whole series. Earning their trust, talking to each teammate after each mission just to see how the different characters feel about certain things, kicking myself in the final mission if someone died...what an adventure Mass Effect is
Some corrections- Morinth is Samara's oldest daughter but not her last living one and Aresh isn't a former Cerberus researcher. He was one of the test subjects alongside Jack in the biotics program
The alien companions in this series are more than just more interesting and “more human than human.” It’s like they’re real life entities. I can’t not think there’s a Garrus, Tali, or Wrex somewhere out there.
I just found your channel out of sheer luck and I'm loving everything you've been making so far. I'm looking forward to your Mass Effect 3 video and to watching more of your wonderful content!
As someone who has played well over 300 hours in Mass Effect 2 alone, this video essay was so wonderful to watch. Thank you. and thank you for giving each squad member some light. Not everyone loved every one, but each one had their moments to shine. You're right, they're not perfect, but I always loved that. I loved that they were not perfect, made them feel more human. and fucking finally we got to romance Garrus. xD I worked hard for that headbutt. +1 Subscriber and like.
really great in depth analysis. Mass Effect 2'w weakness is its' apparent lack of focus on the grander story, yet what really carries it through is the individual character stories and the well thought out combat. To this day it remains one of my favorite games of all time
@@kronozord8346 This is some of the reasons why ME2 is my least favourite of all the 4 ME games. It has it's moments but it's disjointed. Overall it just feels like a job to do and not a journey. They butchered Mass Effect with their reinvention.
@@dorottyapapp I played through the Legendary Edition trilogy recently and there's always a point early in ME2, where I check out on the story side because it's not going anywhere in terms of the overall story. Then, the lack of interaction between squadmates and the mission complete screens doesn't help add to the experience.
@@yairwayyikkana8542 Omg, those mission complete screens with TIM and a bunch of data are so immersion braking, than they just teleport Shep back, another box is checked, I hate it. And yes, there are too many squadmates in ME2, less is more. In my 1st playthrough by the time I setup ME3 I forgot about half of them.
I always feel like I'm in the minority that Mass Effect 2, while a good game, is a terrible sequel. In terms of story, you go nowhere. At the end of ME2 you are at the same place you are at at the end of ME1. "The Reapers are coming and I'm going to stop them". The main plot is a joke, the Terminus systems are wasted with no new Terminus exclusive races or political factions, and Cerberus is too dumb to live. The story is terrible and its only the excellent character work that makes people think otherwise.
I was always annoyed ME2 stripped away so many "RPG aspects" from ME1... As a 3rd person cover shooter, it was great (for it's time), but it always lacked the layers of depth and decision making of ME1 (many quests having 5 or 6 different ways to resolve them, etc). That said, the entire CONCEPT of ME2 was brilliant. Building a team of badasses while you work for a shady organization, all to attempt a "suicide mission" where you can ACTUALLY DIE if you do it incorrectly, that's insane! Retcon or not, Cerberus made a compelling main bad guy. ME2 is also the most "cyberpunky" of the trilogy by far (both visually and thematically). Truly one of the smartest premises in VG history.
I’ve felt like even though you have less ways to resolve something they meant something more than in ME1. I always felt the choices would only impact there momentarily.
ME2 was the first in a long line of extreme plot contrivance which utterly undermines the story. The resurrection plot has so many issues which utterly shatters the suspension of disbelief there are whole videos on the long list of problems. And easy fix would have been instead to just have Shepard in an escape pod that put him in stasis with a damaged beacon so everyone simply thought he died. The other issue is it doesn't really work as the 2nd part in a Trilogy because it doesn't advance the story, it's just a bunch of side quest. The Trilogy is suppose to be about the Reapers. The first game was about discovering the threat exist and stopping their opening move to take the Citadel as he was the tip of the spear. The second game should have been what the first game hinted at during the end about going out and finding information on the Reapers and how to beat them. But instead we simply get a "save the colonies" mission in which you just destroy some Reaper servants while learning nothing about the Reapers. It's a DLC where you learn that the Reapers are closer than you thought but even that does nothing. You can got straight from ME1 to The Arrival DLC to blow up the system to "delay" the Reapers and then right into ME3 for all it does for the main Reaper plot. And this poor direction followed by the idiotic reasoning of the Reapers and the Multi-Colored ended only highlight what was already there, that they didn't have a solid plan how to layout the trilogy. Sure there are rumors of another reason motivated the Reapers that was changed at the last minute but even then it wouldn't get around the needed Deus Ex Machina way to beat the Reapers which is never hinted at and just suddenly appears in ME3. If such a device existed ME2 should have been about finding the plans for it rather than it showing up out of no where, and I won't even go into all the plot holes such a device creates though because it also undermines the series themes since you don't need to bring the galaxy together just build this machine. ME2 I feel gets a past by a lot of people because tight mechanics and the focus on a collection of side stories that are character driven with a lot of really good characters. Which is pretty much what this video focuses on. This issue was highlighted in the outrage that was ME3 ending. Everyone wanted to know what happen to their companions because most people had tuned out of the Reaper threat which had become background noise at that point and players were more interested in the moral choices their companions had to wrestle with. The sad thing is we are left with decent/good games which could have been great. Shepard getting stuck in stasis escape pod for years would have survived the same purpose and instead have him get rescued by Cerberus from whatever. And instead of coming back from the dead setting him back to zero simply explain that his Stasis pod was damage and while it kept him alive his muscles and such have atrophy as if he was bedridden for years, aka stasis sickness. Him being gone for years could leave him in the same position and forced to work with the underground elements of the galaxy as they have to go to remote areas to find more about the Reapers. Heck he could come to conflict with Council by having info that vital info is through a closed gate which opening is against Council Law which is what originally triggered the First Contact War. Further making people seeing humans as reckless where Shepard knows the risk need to be taken to get the information needed to defeat the Reapers. But that's just one example. There are SO MANY different ways they could have played out the story but ME2 should have felt like the second part of a trilogy with tease of what needs to be done next. Just like how ME1 ended on Shepard heading out to go find out more about the Reapers which made us want to go on that adventure with him. Instead ME2 just ends on more of a Final note of you beat the collectors then tell the Elusive man to shove it, if you playing Paragon. Or you let Curberus have the Collector Station. Either way just like with the start of ME2 you don't really feel the weight of any of the previous game when you start ME3 as you are pretty much back in the Alliance. Sadly the Bioware "Magic" has worn off. Both in DA and ME series they have shown they don't really know how to carry on and over aching story across multiple games and instead choose to just burn it all down so they can start fresh. Just look at ME:Andromeda. They said they were worried about making one ending cannon, well in ME2 you can DIE at the end yet ME3 still happens so if you got that ending it's obviously not cannon ending. They have some great writers that can make solid character driven side stories which they then bundle as a collection of short stories together as a game which is enough to draw people in. But when they lose those solid character stories all that is left is a horrible plots full of holes and contrivance.
All in all you make many good points. I happen to sit on the other side of the fence though, and wish that BioWare had kept things more in line with the original Mass Effect. I feel that the entire Collector plot line did nothing at all to advance the "main" storyline of dealing with the imminent Reaper invasion. The Collectors were just Reaper puppets - stopping them was of little to no consequence. Don't even get me started on that laughably lame termi-proto-thingy. Reinventing the characters from ME1 had many consequences - it painted us into a corner for ME3. Don't get me wrong here, I really enjoyed ME2. I just wish that the Dev leads and writers had a clear and concise idea for the arc of the entire trilogy from the beginning. I hate the arc that Mac Walters chose - and feel like Drew would have done a far better job with the storyline.
I hear you, and I see this take from time to time. While I don't agree with every aspect of the argument, I will agree that ME2 is the most isolated of the trilogy, and the consequences of stopping the Collectors isn't entirely felt in 3. I appreciate the perspective nonetheless!
Me too!! I hope in an alternative reality, I got to play mass effect 2 and 3 but they kept the same team from the original and kept things the same. I felt like I was alone on liking the mechanics in the original better. Them forcing you down hallways is another thing that turned me off. The original was very open, landing and exploring planets, to just scanning and shooting a probe :(
@@DC-ml6cv Unfortunately, the exploration was really bad in the first game, which one of the things people complained about. I can see why they decided to remove it.
Yeah Mass Effect 2 would be a very different beast if it was its own game. It did very little in service to the trilogy begun in the first installment.
@@jmass4207 Places like Ilos, the Citadel, Noveria: Port Hanshan in Mass Effect One set the stage for me. ME2 could not stand on its own - it is out of context. I had already had so much fun running around with Liara, Wrex, Garrus, Tali'Zorah and Ashley (Kaidan always dies) that I cannot see Mass Effect without them. ME2 was a great game, but did not have a great story.
I know Karpyshyn's original plan involved the Geth rebuilding Shepard (and also giving us more time with Legion) which, frankly, I find a far more interesting choice story-wise than Cerberus, even just down to the distrust Shepard faces from the Council, former allies, everything. Shame we never got that, or the hinted Dark Energy plotline and it's proposed endings (Unite Galaxy to solve Threat/Sacrifice Humanity to Reapers to solve threat/Destroy Reapers and we all might die anyway) which gave a far more interesting reason for the Reaper's existence, the Human Reaper specifically, and Harbinger's words about the Reapers actually bringing salvation at the end of _Arrival_.
I really hope that at some point in my life I get to relive an experience like what I had with mass effect 2. Nothing has ever topped the story for me. I live in hope
Wow. A throwaway line in the games, delivered by one of the most stoic, unemotional (outside of his own scenes) characters hit me harder than almost anything in the whole video. “You are Urdnot Grunt. Welcome”
It also brilliantly broke the trilogy's back by focusing on daddy issues instead of the Reaper threat and preparing the galaxy to face them. All of ME3's story problems and the Star Brat stem from ME2 doing nothing to advance the overall plot. Having 12 squadmates who ALL can die, and most of them contributing to next to nothing in the grand scheme of things, made it even harder for ME3 to come up with a decent conclusion.
On point. ME2 is unenjoyably disjointed. The story about the collectors would've been great as a DLC but nothing more. The number of squadmates are too much, half of them would've been enough. Also Shepard is their Commander not their au pair. They are on a mission and most of them are professionals so they should be able to put their private problems aside.
The story writing and the voice acting, the art design with bold color palettes, the cutscene compositions having Scorsese quality, the choices affecting gameplay. It’s all so incredible and sublime.
I feel it was a step down from ME1 due to Karpyshyn being 'replaced' by Walters. The sophomoric sexual humor was noticeable as was the Daddy issue backstory over used. Not a bad game by any means but I think it is over rated. The opening sequence and Suicide mission is what most people who love it talk about, ignoring the jumbled stuff in between. The codex seemed to be redundant. Seems many of the missed opportunities of 2 led to the disappointment of 3
I just played ME2 for the first time and was absolutely blown away. I love the companions and their stories. I’m rarely someone who cries over games, but I was moved to tears many times (particularly when Tali and I discovered her father’s body). I’m so excited to play ME3 so then I can go back and start over again and experience everything from this game that I missed or messed up. I absolutely love a good story, and mass effect absolutely delivered.
Isn't it amazing that Mass Effect 2 is way superior to modern science fiction games like Starfield?!? Imagine what Starfield would've been had Hudson and his team had been behind it.
I get that this is an unpopular opinion, but I can not for the life of me understand why ME2 is held to such high esteem. I personally loved the first game, had high hopes for the second, and it was among the biggest sequel disappointments of my life. Sure, the shooting mechanics and graphics were better, but if those are the most important things to you in an RPG, I don't know what to say. If you manage to get past the completely bonkers premise (only the space nazi corporation believes the literal savior of the galaxy), you get to play the character of a hero, who chooses to do the bidding of the obviously bad guys for no real reason. You have to waddle through the whole game before the game allows you to say the "fuck you" that Shepard should obviously have said in the very beginning. The couple good companions in the game are the ones from the first game, the rest you don't really care whether they live or die. The enemies are boring, conveniently human-sized, generic bugmen instead of the actually scary reapers. Oh, right, the actually scary reapers also get completely ruined by the laughably corny "human" reaper final boss. The suicide mission is probably the most overhyped quest in games history - it's so obvious who the right picks for the jobs are, it's basically just a quest where you can knowingly murder your whole team without repercussions if you want to. The first game's "choose who dies" was in my opinion a way more remarkable event than this "everyone lives unless you make them do really dumb things", even if it only involved the most blandest of crewmembers. I guess it's nice that the developers gave the players an in-game way to permanently dispose of the new not-so-great forced additions to the crew? I did love what they did with Garrus in ME2. He wasn't anything special in ME1, but grew to be one of the greatest companions during this game. Still, that's not enough to save this game from competing from the title of the worst game in the series with ME:A.
No doubt ME1 had some great elements, and the story was great. Even the characters/companions were pretty good...and this is part of why ME2 excelled. It took the emotion you have for your companions, and elevated it to new heights. I mean seriously, didn't you get goosebumps when Archangel turned out to be Garrus? I know I did. How about running into Tali? Wasn't that an epic feeling? How about seeing Wrex on his throne, if you didn't kill him? What about Joker revealing the SR2? That whole scene was amazing, but the best part was seeing him walk down the ramp towards you. Ah yes! A friendly face! Finally! I also had LotSB, so I got to see Liara on my first play through. She was my LI, so yes that was special. But the other companions were amazing. And I bought both DLC companions. Their loyalty missions were awesome. The point here is that what people love, is the fact that the companions stopped feeling like characters in a game, and started feeling like real friends. It may be weird, but we started to actually care about them. They became important to us. Casey Hudson admitted that they had underestimated this, especially the connection we felt to our own Shepard. Had they known, would they have included the ability to get a total victory, like you could get in ME2? Maybe not, but that's why they included the hint that Shepard lives in Destruction with high fleet strength. This connection felt powerful when visiting the Normandy crash site. So what I am getting at here, is that the game built on the connections you started to form in ME1, and then put those on steroids. This was aided by a couple of things. First, ME2 has more non-repetitive content, due to all of the recruiting and loyalty missions. 20 full missions in all...8 recruiting and 12 loyalty missions. I wish we had better recruiting missions for the two DLC companions. But both are little more than meetings, and a short back and forth conversation. This would have given us 22 full blown companion missions. That's a lot of content. Contrast that with Andromeda, for instance. Back to ME2, Jacob and Miranda didn't need to be recruited. And the diversity of the companions is breathtaking. Two Cerberus Agents. A Justicar. A ruthless Mercenary. An Assassin. A tank bred Krogan. Two companions from ME1, Garrus and Tali. A Master Thief. A mentally suspect convicted super biotic. A Salarian scientist who had involvement with the Genophage. A super Geth. I mean holy moly...this has to be the coolest "dirty dozen" ever assembled in a game. The DLC overall, is so amazing, that people insist it should have been part of the main game. A foolish notion...but I now see that as a litmus test fro great DLC. If most of the community whine and moan that it should have been included in the main game, then it's amazing DLC, and I want it. Now...the ending. It was nothing short of amazing. First and foremost, due to the ability to have a total victory, total defeat, and everything in between. And your choices determine the outcome...no choosing red, blue or green lasers. The connection this game gave me to the characters, makes me enjoy ME2 more than I should have. In fact, other than the ending seemingly making me choose between Shepard living, or the Geth and Edi living, it's not horrible, but it does feel hopeless to me, and that was not enjoyable. I worked so hard to save both the Geth and Quarians, and yet I can't save them, unless I force everyone to become half synthetic and half Organic. But I still enjoy playing much of the game...even if sometimes I just don't feel up to the ending, and stop the play through once He goes up the beam to the Citadel. I don't think anyone would argue that ME2 wouldn't have been even better with some of the RPG elements that ME1 had. My perfect ME4 would be the crafting of MEA, with much of the elements of ME2. Add in ME3's combat with the jump jets of MEA. Some might say, "MEA combat?" No...a big no. Yes the jump jets were great, but I hated that you couldn't control your teammates. And I do NOT want every single tech and biotic power available to me. That destroyed not only classes, but also destroyed any desire I had to replay the game. Most of my play throughs in ME:OT, were sparked by my desire to try different classes. Last but not least, I want Paragon and Renegade back. I know many people didn't like it, but I think this is just one reason MEA felt bland by comparison. There were so many instances in MEA where Paragon/Renegade interrupts were called for. The last time an Alien tried to kill me, I got to punch him in the gut. Peebee literally launches you on a suicide mission...a reckless decision. Lures you into the escape pod, and gives you no choice. I would have liked to do more than give her the disappointed dad talk. And remember the Angaran woman who controlled the water? She had been screwed over by Milky Way people. But she made good for herself, and took it too far. I hate that my only option is to screw her, or screw my people. I wanted the ability to convince her to continue to run the water...just the water, and be happy with that, with a modest profit. This is where Paragon/Renegade choices were amazing...and yes you had to earn them. They did make sense. If you are practiced in a particular way of dealing with people, you are going to be better at it. Should they loosen it up a bit? Allow more crossover? Sure...but not too much or it gets diminished. Maybe those choices could be triggered in a different way. But I want them back. They made the game better.
@@leroyrussell8766 i want paragon and renegade interupts back but I dont want the build up like in ME2 of you having to go full paragon or full renegade, I want to be able to roleplay the options. So using the reputation system from ME3 would be best.
@@TheRedAzuki I can agree with that. Maybe actually borrow a page from ME1. Allow more freedom to choose either Paragon or Renegade, but also work in some missions that you have to do depending on whether you were Paragon, Renegade, or Paragade. Or in some way, make your choices have consequences. Like if you use a Renegade interrupt on a specific leader, he backs down, but due to his perceived weakness, it causes him to be killed and replaced by somebody who will not back down to you in a future encounter...even an encounter in the next game. Image if you had to do either a Paragon or Renegade interrupt on Wrex, on the Citadel, in ME1, and other Krogan saw him. So he doesn't become the Clan Leader or Urdnot in ME2. Instead you find him getting into trouble...maybe even having to fight him on some mission, because he's leading a small group trying to regain his reputation by killing you. At the same time, a mission could punish you a bit if you use Paragon. A future conversation could require a Renegade choice but it has no effect because this Leader believes you to be weak...so you have to fight him to get him to accept your proposal.
I find it interesting how the middle third of this essay is centred around Shepard’s impact on the world if you are a paragon. The fact that you could create a completely different essay just discussing the narrative of this game if you play renegade says so much about how beautifully written this game is.
What made this game special was the deep space operative theme along with the harrowingly beautiful loyalty quests. This,combined with good graphics, a good story, and a good soundtrack made this title something special.
I will never forget the first time I had the convos with Thane. I have depersonalization disorder and a few other things, so when he said the things about being dead, and seeing your body as a vessel, I felt I had found a kindred spirit in that character. He's my favorite among all of the characters.
So many content creators seem to act as if BroShep doesn't exist. I commend you for splitting time between the two. It shows that you don't have an agenda, and don't deny the greater part of your fan base. You earned a subscription from me. Keep up the great work. This is literally the best analysis of ME2 I have ever seen.
"We DID IT!" "Quite the view." "Yeah. Best seats in the house." "God. Feels like years since I just...sat down." "We earned it." "You did good, son. You did good. I'm...proud of you..." "Thank you, sir. Anderson?"
Thane Krios, a weapon of crime lords? Er, no. He was a weapon for the Hanar government.That is the exact opposite of being a criminal assassin; he's the Hanar/Drell equivalent of a CIA assassin killing bad guys for Uncle Sam. He was trained by them to be a killer at the age of six, because his race literally owe their lives to the Hanar. After his wife died, he went solo, killing the people who were responsible for it, and he would just assassinate corrupt figures pro bono. No one paid him to kill Nassana Dantius; she was just a corrupt but powerful figure, and Krios decided to off her as an act of charity.
I absolutely love how character-driven Mass Effect 2 is, more than any other game in the trilogy. Your breakdown of the Mass Effect series is probably one of the best I've ever seen.
I never got the sense of a futility of choice during my playthroughs, but rather a challenge to overcome. I didn't expect to fix my companions in a single conversation or even a single act. It was always going to take time. And it was time well spent.
Mass Effect 2 is an absolutely terrible sequel. The entire premise is contrived as hell and destroys the setting from ME1, all in the name of making you work for Cerberus who themselves were retconned from their previous portrayal in ME1 and aren't even interesting in the slightest. The plot point of Shepard having to work for them operates on braindead circular logic: the Council and Alliance can't help you because you're working with Cerberus, so you have to work with Cerberus because they can't help you. The Illusive Man is a disaster of a character whose motivations make no sense, he operates solely on the rule of cool and is saved entirely by the cool camera angles, Martin Sheen's performance and the fact that the dialogue wheel gives Shepard the mentality of a toddler whenever you engage with him. The Collectors are boring and forgettable antagonists who are barely even present, Shepard's plan to stop them from building a single Reaper is completely meaningless as he gains no new knowledge to help prevent the Reaper invasion, and it doesn't matter anyway because the Reapers are shown to be right on our doorstep at the end of the game. The human-Reaper space terminator would've taken several more years to complete as stated by the game itself, so wouldn't the invasion have already begun by then? What exactly was the point of this story? What was the point of stripping Shepard of his Spectre rank and his Cipher, retconning the Council into not believing him when they clearly did at the end of the first game, and making him work for the space nazis? Was anything interesting or meaningful added as a continuation of the plot set up in ME1? The answer is the characters, who people absolutely love, and who are the only saving grace of this game. The widespread hatred of The Last Jedi and the complete adoration for Mass Effect 2 when both do exactly the same plotwise just goes to show that all you need is loveable characters and people will make any excuses to overlook a nonsensical, abysmal narrative.
Mass Effect 2: Derails the plot line, removes multiple features, commits multiple acts of character assassination, dumbs down the gameplay, downgrades the weapons, and has scummy DLC practices. Gamers: YAAAS BIOWARE! MASS EFFECT 2 IS THE BESTEST EVAR! Mass Effect 3: Has to clean up the mess ME2 made while wrapping up the trilogy. Gamers: NUUUU BIOWARE! WHY YOU DO DIS?! Me: (Laughing like Max Cady while smoking a cigar in a movie theater.)
I love this video. This guy gets it. Also super relatable when he's talking about companions being a check on a list. When I first played me2 a lot of the characters were exactly that to me until I got to know them better. Now i love every single one of them for their own reasons. Even javik... Lol. And me2 will always be my favorite out of all games.
The whole ME2 is just checking boxes. And it just got worse for me from the second playthrough because it didn't even had the element of surprise anymore.
One of the most complete and insightful reviews I have ever watched Very professionally executed with rare professionalism and impartiality that is extremely rare on RU-vid I want to see the same done to Mass Effect 3 Well done
Mass Effect 2 is my favorite installment of the series. Your essay truly does it justice. You showed the game's beauty, it's flaws and told me details even I never knew about. Keep up the good work.
What a fantastic video. Your punchline of introducing how important the paragon/renegade interrupt was so well done. I reflexively went for my interrupt key when it popped up. Subbed!
Mass Effect has always been my absolute favorite franchise and this video essay PERFECTLY encapsulated it. No story has made me cry like it, cheer and shout, and despair as this franchise does. Best story in gaming imo. Full stop. Incredible video.
41:25 I love how Reflections plays here once the “cry for help” pops up even though the song starts at 41:10. Jack Wall outdid himself on Reflections but the OST as a whole.
I’m currently in a full trilogy play- and I was reminded of why I’ve played ME2 more times than any other entry in the series. I love it so freaking much. I love all the characters. I’m obsessed with the team.
@@claytonweaver7335 Not sure what happened to your other reply, but I just disagree. You said: _Ive watched other 'ME1 is the best' videos. I'm okay with that opinion but I generally consider the 'me2 is just an action game' or 'me2 is a side quest' to be in the bad game opinion._ I think saying that ME2 is a masterpiece in every way, which most would say, is just the most pedestrian braindead take someone can possibly make. ME1 and ME3 does way more important things like story and gameplay much better, and even the characters aren't just a bunch of emotional basket cases. ME2 is insufferable from all the drama on repeat playthroughs. I would take James or Kaidan over Miranda or Jack any day. The only redeeming quality of ME2 is the continuation of the geth/quarian and genophage stories from ME1, nothing else. And yes, ME2 is just an action game, and the story is as irrelevant as the new characters it introduces, aside from of course those associated with the stories I mentioned (Legion and Mordin, basically).
@@UsernameGeri I deleted the comment because I figured it wouldn't lead anywhere productive. ME1 and ME2 are two different styles of games. I actually dont think any game to this date has done ME1's style better than ME1 and I dont think any game has done ME2's style better than ME2. There has been a trend on youtube to re-evalute 7th gen games that were overrated at launch and they've given them fair critiques. I wouldn't put the Mass Effect trilogy in with those other games. 'ME2 is just an action game' is not even worth debating.
Mass Effect 2 is the textbook example of how not to write a sequel. It failed to explore the plot threads set up by ME1, abandoned the horror elements that made the ME universe so interesting, refused to develop the Reapers in any meaningful way, and concluded with a suicide mission that made it impossible for the ME3 developers to fully utilize any of the ME2 companions in their story. It also criminally misused Vigil’s Theme: the franchise’s best soundtrack. ME2’s popularity is proof that most people prefer mindless action and the “rule of cool” over tight storytelling.
easily one of the most brilliant games ever crafted in terms of narrative, story and characters development, even after all these years it still impresses like the first time and makes you feel as if you really had to step in the shoes of a man entrusted with the task to save life...
i love how the missions felt more like favors to your friends then just mmo fetch quest. i would do anything to help tali or grunt. i can only kill so many pigs in WOW
Kepral Syndrome isn''t due to them living with the Hanar. Infact the Hanar saved them from extinction They have it cause of the Humid weather on Kahje their homeplanet which affects there lungs.
@@MrGamingPsycho Thats literally what I just said...the Hanar themselves tho are not why the Drell are affected.The Hanar saved their species from extinction so the Drell feel obligated and owe them there lives so they stay on the planet and serve them via the Compact.
The line I originally had in the script there was 'exposure to the humid Hanar homeworld', but I shortened it to 'living among the Hanar' because it was shorter/sounded better, and assumed anyone who had played ME2 would understand that I don't literally mean the Hanar gave them Kepral's Syndrome.
This was so damn good. So good. The editing in this essay is some of the best I've seen on this site. This was a beautiful retrospective, and allowed me to relive all that I loved about the game when I played it almost 10 years ago. With the legendary edition now out, I can play it again with all your critique in mind. Thank you for all your hard work and effort you placed into this.
Mass Effect 2 was always my favorite. Not because I could romance Tali or Garrus (Always wanted to in ME1), but because of it's character driven story. And that finally. Every time I replay it, I'm stressing out wondering what I did wrong this go around, and just hoping they all survive.
I had just so happened to return to the series with the Legendary Edition for the first time since the time of ME3's release. I've been a big fan of your other works, so your timing couldn't have been more perfect. I'd forgotten how much heart this series had until replaying it the last few weeks.
Absolutely! Jack's quests broke my heart. I know people say he's dull, but Jacob's loyalty mission with his awful father, Bill Cosby, was next level writing. ME2 was a true gift.
I'm sorry - I couldn't watch your video to the end. The more I watched the more I remembered why I despise Mass Effect 2 for incredibly lazy writing sometimes, for stupidest deal of Shepard (WHY?!) and their ZERO thought about THEIR OWN DEATH and so on and so on.
That is thanks to Drew getting pushed out by hacks like Mac Walters, Patrick Weekes and his wife. The ideological writing with no plot elements with Daddy and men issues were all them and Cookie Evermam and they also tried to be girl power but then over sexulized the women and dialogue making it hypocritical at the same time and a glorified side mission/dating sim game. They even ignored most of the Codex after Drew left. Take a look at what the Weekes have written...it is all hot garbage and shows why KOTOR which Drew went onto and why BioWare games after ME2 tanked and are deemed trash.
Man I never even thought of two is dark. I just always kind of took it on the chin. I mean you're supposed to be shepherd, the singular Galactic badass. Roll with the punches. These people are funding me, and they haven't made me do anything that I'd lose sleep over, so roll with it until something changes.
The first time I did the suicide mission I was aware of who to send in the vent and who to place to hold the line, but I was surprised by the deaths I got for not upgrading my ship!! What a trip
I have never heard of you before this popped up in my feed. And what a video. I teared up at multiple points. It went from something I had on in the background to something I was giving my full attention to very quickly. Beautifully done.
Never understood how ME2 could be considered better than the first one. It was not infuriatingly rage inducing like the original end of the third game, but just seems like filler to bridge the other 2 games: too much running around recruiting and pandering to the new squad members' loyalty missions. Both reanimating Shepard and the "suicide mission" also seemed contrived. Making survival dependent on picking the right person for each task in the final mission makes perfect sense, but having their survival based on "loyalty" just seems like a contrived device to force the player to do all the loyalty missions. (Sometimes I think Bioware actively tries to punish the buyers of their games.) I would rate the first game best by a large margin, then 2, and originally 3 was a complete disaster and a big middle finger from Bioware to the players who were loyal to them for hundreds of hours of gameplay. I did play the Legendary Edition with all the DLC and the extended cut ending and found it much easier to accept the ending(s). (I originally played all 3 games without any DLC, and the third game was much better with the "From Ashes" day one DLC, which should have been included in the base game.)
Yeah I'm one of the people who wanted a true sequel to Mass Effect, and Mass Effect 2 was not that. What should have been all about unifying the galaxy against the Reaper threat, was replaced with the Illusive man vs the Collectors. People blame Mass Effect 3 for ruining the trilogy. I say Mass Effect 2 destroyed everything the first game set up, while 3 was left with the impossible task of cleaning up 2s mess while wrapping up the trilogy. Mass Effect 2 was always the bad one.
I didn’t care too much about the characters my first playthrough and I was callous with them, didn’t care about them or their story or complete their missions. Then at the end…. You know what happened. Shepherd and joker made it. I realized despite my earlier callousness I did care, I regretted what happened, how I treated them. I played through again with empathy, as full paragon more the most part. I got far more out of my 2nd play than I ever could have in my first. I understood the galaxy in a way I never had before.
I had played Mass Effect 2 & 3 before, 2 times each and absolutely loved them but, when the legendary edition came out I played the first game for the very first time and after finishing it 100% I was dumbfounded how much more freedom and choice it has in combat and character building than 2 and 3 has, I even started mass effect w with an imported save but soon stopped playing, before I played the first game the universal skill cooldown, lack of loot, lack of skills etc didn't bother me at all but after playing the the first I couldn't finish it.. I still love 2 & 3 but now 1 is my favorite of the three.. Morinth isn't Samara's last living daughter, we meet her another daughter in the ardath yakshi monastery in mass effect 3, at least I thought we did..
Think Mass effect 2 is honestly what set Mass effect 3 to fail, progressing only side stories, but ignoring the reaper storyline, i mean at the end of Mass effect 2 shepard has not actually learned or achived anything relavent in a war for galaxys survival and thus that part is done whitin second mission of 3 which sets tone of deus ex story telling where nothing established in Lore or story really has meaning and abandoning ambiguety of 2 by making cerberaus a clishe tertiary bad faction whit villain moustaches and evil laugh. Sucesses of searies are whitin krogan and geth quarian storylines which shows bioware shoulda always done smaller scale story, cause bigger picture of war for survival means nothing when its solved by deus ex machinas and eavry choice favoring paragon choices (that never have practical downsides) reducing it to same old good waves magic wand and previously godlike evil croaks whit ease and thats ultimatly not bad thing, simply Mass effect 2 made promices of more that childlike writing room in bioware could never deliver and thus they could only dissapoint in the end.
Interesting that you chose to use the word "ret-cons" over an image of Wrex on his throne on Tuchanka... As Wrex mentions in ME1, he was a tribal Chieftan back in the day, and tried to rebuild Krogan society after the Rebellions. Shepard also nudges him to consider trying again during conversations. And if he survives Virmire, he's obviously set up in the first game to be inspired by Shepard's leadership. So Wrex returning to Tuchanka to unite the clans and rebuild their society is built into his character, thus cannot be considered a "ret-con" of that character in ME2.
This was wonderful - looking forward to your thoughts on ME3. You have such a knack for stepping back and pulling the threads of the theme of a work together, balancing critique and your obvious love of the source material. Your channel really is a breath of fresh air.
Replaying legendary edition and just refalling in love with the universe, story and depth. This game feels like a well told interactive book with action. This video captures the essence of its appeal.
Mass Effect 2 was PEAK BioWare, if it wasn’t for the writing team, it would be a shell of it’s former glory… And it is, it hasn’t been for the better since, it makes you wonder why they can’t just reinvent when they made the Mass Effect 3 conclusion and the broken mess of Andromeda. You’d think they realized what made Mass Effect 2 special, but no, it wasn’t even that, but rather even Mass Effect 2 ending, which was the best part known as the Suicide Mission, where everything is on the line and even your teammates there peak. A true strength of BioWare all along, rather than the shallow reliance on decisions rather than the fate of your team. They’ve could’ve made your entire living teammates in Mass Effect 3 save you, regardless of voided decisions.
Hello ArTorr, Will you make KOTOR I & II at some point ? I must confess that I'm hoping for it as I was for the last season of TCW. You do good for the universe, thanks for your love for Star Wars, it kinda reignited mine.
@@ArTorrPresents omg!! I’m excited to hear you’re thinking of tackling KOTOR. I cannot wait for your thoughts on it! You’re one of my all time favourite video essayists, especially about SW.
It's technically well made, but the story is incoherent garbage. It's like the writers were having a stroke while coming up with half the shit that happens.
