Mass Effect 2: Enrichment Through Save Editor?

[ClanCrusher]

Despite the two-dimensional and oft-times laughable nature of moral choice systems, I've always enjoyed them, from being a devout follower of the light side in KOTOR to practicing the "Way of the Open Palm" in Jade Empire, even playing the "Hero" in Infamous. Despite this, the major problem I've had with moral choice systems is simply the fact that once you choose a path, you're pretty much stuck to it for the rest of the game. Case in point, KOTOR, where one wrong decision would destroy all the bonuses you have worked up for yourself by dedicating yourself to a particular path.

This changed (at least partly) with Mass Effect 2. Instead of having the basic +/- system of the moral choice games of the past, it operated on a +/+ system, where a person could be a jerk some of the time and a decent guy the rest, or the other way around. However, as Yahtzee said, this comes with its own drawbacks, since after a time you're just doing things to arbitrarily get dickhead points or good guy points to unlock charm and intimidate options.

The other thing that really irked me about moral choice systems is that playing the arbitrarily "evil" side really made me feel like an asshole. I remember one scene in KOTOR with fondness where a woman wanted help selling a hunting trophy. After doing so, you could either give her the money (for neutral), pay her a little extra (for good guy points) or you could keep the money, and then kill her. Seriously, why?

Mass Effect 2 changed this for me again. The renegade was no longer just some arbitrary asshole who killed kittens and drowned puppies. The renegade was a man of action who preferred to let his gun do the talking, expecting everyone to fall into line behind him, or get out of the way. For the first time in ages, I actually enjoyed playing the "other side" of a moral choice game. However, I couldn't do both, and there were still several things I didn't want to do as a renegade. Balance seemed impossible.

And then, I discovered the save editor. Afterwords, my Mass Effect world exploded. There were two things I took advantage of. The first, was to give myself a countably infinite amount of resources so I didn't have to take time pointlessly scanning planets for minerals I've already found before in my previous games. The second, was to give myself full "Renegade" and "Paragon" points.

The freedom was exhilarating. I could be an jerk in some scenarios, but a great, likable guy in others. I could impress the Krogan with my Renegade like tendencies (and funny as hell dialogue), yet peacefully resolve conflicts with my crew. I could shout down the admiralty board on the Quarian fleet, yet talk down down to the reporter with a well placed thought out, politically correct rebuttal. I could be intimidating, yet charismatic at the same time.

There are usually only three major complaints that I consistently hear about Mass Effect 2. The first, is the resource mining. The second, is the lack of choice in role-playing. And the third is the lack of vehicle section (despite the Mako being the most horrible vehicle since the feces powered helicopter).

The DLC firewalker pack has already solved the last problem (and it's a great vehicle as well) while use of the save editor has solved the first two problems. I rarely cheat or exploit bugs in video games (at least not since they started making them more user friendly anyways), but when cheating can actually enrich gameplay experience, then I'm all for it. Use of the save editor has literally made Mass Effect 2 a near perfect game, in my honest opinion (and before you ask, yes I played through the game honestly twice before I used the save editor).

So what's your opinion on the matter? Is cheating okay when it can actually enrich game-play experience?

 

[Dunstann]

Fuck resource mining on fourth playthrough. Yes it's okay to cheat if it avoids something that breaks the flow of the game and stops you from painting walls with the brains of aliens.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

360 gamer here, so no option for me to edit saves. I agree though that the paragon/renegade options are quite flawed.

But they did patch the planet scanning, it's a lot less annoying now.

 

[TPiddy]

I never encumber myself with playing a certain character on my first playthrough, in any game with a moral choice system. I just do what I want to. Sometimes that's the good thing, sometimes that's the bad. In the end my character didn't suffer for it, it wasn't more difficult to beat the game with a mish-mash of paragon and renegade points, in fact, that was the playthrough on which I saved every crew member.

Playthroughs 2 and 3 were done to the extremes, one completely paragon, one completely renegade. People in my parties died both times, though that was more by design then by my choices, as I didn't want 3 save files with an entire crew.

I always advocate the 'do what you feel like' playthrough as your first playthrough. It allows you to experience the game differently than you would if you were trying to accomplish a specific character build.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Isn't the whole point of cheating is to "enrich gameplay experience"? Some people do it to make the game a little bit easier, some people do it to make the game weirder, some people do it to do things in game they wouldn't be able to without cheats, and some people do it to just straight up win. They all did it to enrich their gameplay experience though.

As for your whole problem with some of the aspects of the moral system, I don't really see why they are problems. You don't like playing as the "bad" choice because it makes you feel like and asshole. Well, I hate to break it to you but that's the whole point of the "bad" side. The "good" side is selfless and altruistic. It may not make things easier but you can sleep with a clean concience, so to speak. The "bad" side is all about taking the easy route, even if that route leads through other people. It may make things easier, but the whole point is to keep that nagging thought in your head that says: "Yeah, you may be the most powerful, but at what cost? AT WHAT COST?"

 

[Wes1180]

I think cheating is perfectly fine when done to enrich gameplay.
On Mass Effect 2 for the 360 I had enough points for both the renegade and paragon options when dealing with problems with the crew, needless to say I was quite pleased. I believe that when it comes to moral choice systems it should not be simple black and white but more black, white and several shades of grey. Also in Mass Effect I have came across many examples where the renegade and paragon options seem to me as if they are the wrong way round.