Do-Overs

[Colour Scientist]

Okay guys, I'm sure there's a small handful of people who are already bored of me saying this but I recently finished Mass Effect 2. This is a big deal for me because I've moved around a lot recently and, because of the disruption, it look me about six months to finish the bloody thing.


Anyway, as I was finishing the game;

Spoiler

I chose Samara to be the first team leader at the beginning of the Suicide Mission (Yes, I know, I suck) and I lost Tali because of this.

I was talking to my boyfriend about it and he said that I should go back and change my decision before I move on to the third instalment.

I feel like this would be cheating though. I mean, I made the decision, it makes sense to me that I would finish the series dealing with the consequences. If I started the series again, then I would make the right call but in my current game, with my current Shepard, I'd feel wrong going back to make all of the right choices (Soz, Tali).

For me, it kind of defeats the purpose of choice.


My boyfriend's super anal (ha) though.

So, the question for the thread and the people who don't want any spoilers, if you know that you probably haven't made the optimal decision in a game, do you deal with the consequences until you replay the game from the beginning or do you immediately load a previous save in order to go back and change your decision?

[sub]I would also really appreciate no spoilers for the third one. I'm really proud of the fact that I know basically nothing about the third game.

Also, you can all look forward to my "Oh my God, dat ending, you guise" thread that's about three years too late.[/sub]

 

[Daystar Clarion]

[HEADING=1]y u no listen?! i tell you do ending wrong![/HEADING]


I am super anal tho >_>

 

[Evonisia]

Usually I just stick it out to the end and start again if I'm feeling dour about major decisions I've sodded up on, but then again I usually don't play the likes of Bioware games which go on forever for many hours.

In all my playthroughs of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, I could guess which ending or what personalities I'm going to get, but I just get along with it telling myself that I'll just change things when I start the game again. The game's pretty short so that may be a detracting factor (my fastest playthrough is 3 and half hours).

The best comparison to the ME2 one I guess would be XCOM: Enemy Unknown. I know I should have invested into Titan Armour sooner, or Laser Guns or what have you, but damn it! I made my stupid decision, and I will see this playthrough err... through.

 

[Fappy]

I am fine with dealing with the consequences of my decisions when contained to one game, but with a series like Mass Effect I will always optimize my decisions so that the story unfolds the way I want for that particular character. In your specific case I would agree with Gaystar. Your experience in Mass Effect 3 will be lesser for sticking with that decision. The problem with a lot of the Suicide Mission consequences from ME2 is that when carried over to ME3 there is nothing of substance to fill the void left by a dead character (with a few exceptions). You will basically just have content/options cut from the next game.

 

[Colour Scientist]

The problem with a lot of the Suicide Mission consequences from ME2 is that when carried over to ME3 there is nothing of substance to fill the void left by a dead character (with a few exceptions). You will basically just have content/options cut from the next game.

Shut up, Fappy, I do what I want!

Why would you take his side? D:

 

[Fappy]

Why would you take his side? D:

It's just this specific issue!

It's rare that you're wrong and he's right

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

If it involves a self-contained game then I will just deal with it. What will probably happen is that I will just replay it until I get what I want, or whatever ending or solutions that I'm aiming for. The only two exceptions are the dialogue battles in Deus Ex: HR because those things can be incredibly hard and I want to get those damn things right and Catherine. The latter especially since some of the questions in the confessional booth are really weird on how they score you and it's really tricky when you're replaying it and trying to go for a different ending.

However, it's a huge ass game in a series like ME then I will have redo a whole lot until I get what I'm aiming for. I haven't played ME yet, but I know I did that with The Walking Dead with both seasons. A few times I wasn't happy with my decisions, so I just went back to an earlier saved and fixed what I needed to.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

On the first play I make decisions that I actually feel like making, regardless of it being right or wrong.
(It will however grate my mind like a cheddar cheese)

Then immediately after I play 2nd game making all "right" decisions.

 

[Casual Shinji]

My first Mass Effect 2 playthrough I completely neglected the Normandy upgrades, so by the time I got to the big climax... yeah. In that particular instance, I swallowed my pride and just reloaded.

 

[Colour Scientist]

My first Mass Effect 2 playthrough I completely neglected the Normandy upgrades, so by the time I got to the big climax... yeah. In that particular instance, I swallowed my pride and just reloaded.

Thankfully, I had done all of that!

When I was going through those scenes I was waiting for everything to go horribly wrong. XD

 

[Zhukov]

I usually achieve the optimal result on the first go with my magnificent mind, so this generally isn't an issue for me.

Although there was this one time in Telltale's Walking Dead , the first 'season'.

Towards the end of episode 2 I chose to administer the Pitchfork of Justice. Then Clementine walks in right then and there and sees you doing it.

I hit 'force quit' in record time.

 

[Maximum Bert]

There was this one time in Telltale's Walking Dead , the first 'season'.

Towards the end of episode 2 I chose to administer the pitchfork of justice. Then Clementine walks in right then and there and see you doing it. I hit 'force quit' in record time.

Really I didnt I wanted her to see it I thought Episode 2 was the best of season 1 by far but then again I never cared for Clem so I just did what I wanted and to hell with the consequences.

As for the whole should you redo thing I just think if you are happy with what you did then thats ok dont worry about it being optimal or whatever it tends to turn the game into a chore then. If you are really really worried check out a guide to see the implications of your actions personally I wouldnt sweat it to much.

I actually saved everyone on my first playthrough on my second run on insanity I made sure to kill Garrus because I have hated that guy since ME1.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I actually saved everyone on my first playthrough on my second run on insanity I made sure to kill Garrus because I have hated that guy since ME1.

Spoiler

I went for the bone Garrus option, it would have been cruel to let him die after that. XD

 

[The Wykydtron]

Oh I perform redos all the time in those sorts of games. I do it EXACTLY the way I want to and i'll reload until I do. The fact that you can't get the perfect Quarian/Geth conflict resolution with Legion dead is the one regret I had with Mass Effect. The single death I had, which was due to fucking RNG because I made the right choices i'm informed was the important one.

It's why Fire Emblem: Awakening makes me rage so much. Mission is going fine then some fuckface archer goes and onehits Cordelia from full health. 3DS is restarted before her death quote has even finished playing. I've started my Hard mode playthrough on the revive setting so I don't have to deal with this permadeath bullshit.

I don't restart my pairings though, when Chrom/Sumia pairing turns out to a load of crap and pretty subpar stat boosts I dealt with it. This is why we choose the self insert player character/Chrom every time instead! You and Chrom get to make cheesy romance together AND be broken OP together in battle.

I would usually frown on self insert romances because it feels a bit cheap to me and i'm not in the habit of writing terrible fanfiction but fuck it, i'd go gay for Chrom any day.

He's so manly...

 

[Silvanus]

I felt the same way in Mass Effect 1 and 2.

In #1, Wrex died on Virmire, and I restarted it because I didn't think the game had given me enough damn information to know that was a possibility. Hell, Ashley hadn't even expressed very much of anything before that; her murdering Wrex came out of the blue. I felt guilty restarting.

In #2, when I first started the Suicide Mission, Jack died because my ship lacked the appropriate upgrade... and I reloaded an older save again. I had thought the particular upgrade pertained to something else, like a mini-game or something, I didn't realise it would determine anything like a crew-member's life. Again, though, I felt a little like I was cheating re-loading another save.

After that, on my second run, after the mission proper had begun, Zaeed and Legion were lost (I had chosen Zaeed to lead the team, and Miranda to be my biotic shield-maker; Miranda failed to shield Legion, which made me very sad). At that point, though, I would have felt too cheaty to reload again, so I rolled with it, even though I loved Legion so very much.

...So, I understand how you feel. I felt as if I'd cheated too. Damn game just doesn't give you enough indication sometimes.

 

[Islandbuffilo]

Depends on what those consequences are, if they're too much of a hindrance and make the game unenjoyable for me then, yeah I'll go back and redo it.

 

[Breakdown]

I'd say stick with your saved game, that's like your version of the story.

The last time I played Mass Effect 2 I got everybody killed, even Shepherd. Would it be possible to start a Mass Effect 3 game on that save? I guess it would be pretty cool if you got to play as just some guy instead of Shepherd.

 

[hermes]

I stick with my saved game. I know this might lead to sub-optimal solutions, but I think its the right way to play them.
Not only it breaks the illusion of player agency (and dissipates a lot of the tension) to reload to see what changes, but I also appreciate the games that are flexible enough to keep on going instead of forcing me through a very strict path...

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

In a game that has decisions I always stick to the decision I made, optimal or not. The thing is, if everyone goes back and changes their decision then everyone will have the exact same play-through of the game, which would completely invalidate the point of having a choice to begin with. Why make choices matter then if everyone is going to play the game in the most efficient way possible? It just turns the game into a linear experience.

 

[CrystalShadow]

It depends... I'm actually anal in a different sense. I kind of always feel a bit awkward around decisions that can have actual consequences, because I kind of want to see ALL the possible consequences.

Unfortunately, the nature of the way games save and do other things often mean that to see alternate choices for various decisions you first of all have to know in advance what decisions have what consequences, and secondly, often have to replay huge chunks of games where much of it is identical, but some parts are different.

Which... Frustrates me. XD

I guess I need a gaming time machine. Where you can jump back to a specific moment and explore any alternate branches... XD

Ooh, that's an interesting idea for a game in itself really...

Uhm, sorry. Got distracted. XD