Zero Punctuation: Mass Effect 2

[Doug]

Good writing? So did you miss the humongous plot holes and failed characterization of the Reapers?

How do you characterize the Reapers? They're just a rip from Cthulu anyway. Advanced and ancient to the point of unknowabillity sort of rules out characterization.

Indeedie. Sadly, some people seem to think "Plot holes and failed characterisation" is what to call it when they don't like a story.

 

[MB202]

This the first ZP episode that made me laugh in a long while, particularly the part about Dirty Harry and Captain Picard.

Also, has anyone heard of the anime/manga One Piece? Well in one of the recent chapters/episodes, there WERE wolves that shot lasers from their mouthes!

 

[Doug]

Good writing? So did you miss the humongous plot holes and failed characterization of the Reapers?

I keep hearing about these "humongous plot holes," but I have yet to hear one decent example. Anything you want to know about the story or subsequent character stories between ME1 and ME2 is available in the game if you bother to ask the correct questions/choose the right dialogue options.

Agreed - Or the few times someone has said what they think is a plot hole, its been explainable within 2 minutes to them. Not that they ever believe it. You'd think people would be a tad more open minded in a universe full of FTL drives and 'Element zero', but apparently not, heh.

 

[Axolotl]

Anyway, clarification of communication aside, I'm curious as to which current RPG has writing and character development that exceeds that of this game or Dragon Age Origins. Yes, some of BioWare's constructs tend to be a bit on the formulaic side, but if a formula works you don't necessarily need to reinvent it every time you head into your design meeting.

There's not much current gen stuff admittidly but Troika and Black Isle games put Bioware to shame espcially Planescape and Bloodlines.

The key problem I have with Bioware's dialog is that not only does the player have little control over a conversation but everything is hideously verbose. I'm reminded of second rate fantasy novels that dom their best to emulate LotR but just fall short, and given where Bioware started I strongly suspect that those sort of books are the root of Bioware's style.

 

[Chaos Theory]

hu i though hed like the combat

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I kinda like the Mako parts in the first one, am yet to play Mass Effect 2 but I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

 

[Chaos Theory]

Good writing? So did you miss the humongous plot holes and failed characterization of the Reapers?

/facepalam play the game before commenting

 

[David Bray]

Yes you are the saviour of the universe. Of games that is.

Mass Effect 2 is a total beauty that rarely comes around. I truly fell for the Tali romance (probably because she didn't have off-putting, badly decided reaction faces) i found the story gripping, the gameplay great and the upgrades a breath of fresh air.

THEN the mining hit. Oh, the mining. Who though this would be a good idea for gamers, a legion of people whose definition largely stems from the constant stimulation argument.

In Mass Effect 3 they need to bring back planetary exploring but not make it shit. Is that so hard? KotOR did it (kind of). Its simple. You land on an interesting and varied alien world and have fun. You now have the interesting and varied down and even a bit of the fun but not the MASS Effect. It's more Empty Effect which at least has the boon of alliteration.

 

[ian528]

There's not much current gen stuff admittidly but Troika and Black Isle games put Bioware to shame espcially Planescape and Bloodlines.

The key problem I have with Bioware's dialog is that not only does the player have little control over a conversation but everything is hideously verbose. I'm reminded of second rate fantasy novels that dom their best to emulate LotR but just fall short, and given where Bioware started I strongly suspect that those sort of books are the root of Bioware's style.

Planescape I will give you and Black Isle died of mismanagement and poor followups.

But Troika? I had Arcanum and Bloodlines. Both were very flawed pieces that failed to catch on because they had issues that were serious enough to kill being able to really play the game. The writing was okay but if it had been seriously that good it would have caught on. They were ahead of their time considering that the settings were Steampunk and Vampires.

 

[tobytobetobe]

bAHAHAHAHAHa ROLFCOPTER!!!! i thought it was just me that hated the bloody vehicles in the first one but glad yahtzee agrees we think alike but that was his funniest video me thinks very amusing

 

[Nurb]

Yes, the scanning and probing for resources is IMMEDIATELY tedious.

I'm the captian! What do I have this big crew for if I have to sit at the console myself and drag a scanner over a planet?

I should be captain Kirk 'probing' alien hotties while the red-shirts probe the planets!

Why can't I set up mining facilities or something? It's like I'm playing a game of a galactic hero playing EVE between missions

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Good writing? So did you miss the humongous plot holes and failed characterization of the Reapers?

I keep hearing about these "humongous plot holes," but I have yet to hear one decent example. Anything you want to know about the story or subsequent character stories between ME1 and ME2 is available in the game if you bother to ask the correct questions/choose the right dialogue options.

I haven't quite finished the first game (I know I'm a bit late but I'm finally playing it) but I've just left Virmire and you talk to Soverign in that part, I got the gist of the Reapers there, so it would make sense if they don't exposit about them in the second game.

 

[ManiacRaccoon]

Great review as always. Can anyone tell me how the resources effect the end of the game without spoilers or is it tied into the plot? I didn't finish the game when I rented it but I got to the "suicide mission," and I've been trying to figure out why 3 characters died right away despite me completing everyone's side missions that made them "loyal." If it spoils things nevermind, I'll find out next time I play.

Also Yahtzee must've gotten lucky as far as the ally AIs, because they still cause problems for me. They still perform better than in ME1, meaning they only shoot me in the back occasionally and use their powers at times that make more sense, but I still ran into some major spots of trouble. Occasionally the AI characters will retreat back to your position if they are in trouble and in front of you, but if they are about to die and you are too and the biotic Turtle monster enemy is smart enough to walk around the tiny box you are now both hiding behind it just kills you both, thanks a bunch Jack. Ordering them to use powers from cover can get annoying if they start targeting the wall you are sitting on because you bumped the control stick down to aim at guys on the field below you. And in one instance I actually cleared an entire floor before realizing that both my allies were still stuck around the corner of the bottom of the stairs I entered the room from, so clearly they hadn't been helping me much but it was still annoying knowing they could've been there to divide the enemy's attention, and maybe fire the occasional bullet or power that the menu will tell me is useless against that specific enemy, not that the AI cares.

 

[RTR]

Nice Monty Python reference

 

[yanipheonu]

WOAH! Epic burn at the beginning. 0_o

Yeah, Bioware needs to really work on their facial animations.

 

[AceDiamond]

I never really get why Yahtzee complains about games being too easy when there are multiple difficulty settings.

He should try not issuing commands to the AI on Insanity and see how far he gets...

Someone may have already said this but I'm fucked if I'm reading 191 posts after a 12 hour shift to find out but...

He's only got a few days to review the game, I'm fairly confident that 'easy' is a setting that will allow him to cut a swathe through the story fastest to cover as much game as possible.

In that case he shouldn't say "the game is too easy" if all he's able to do to stay on track is play on easy. I perfectly understand that he's on a schedule and thus needs to compromise difficulty levels in order to play through a game but at the same time if he does that he can't really turn around and say "too easy" because of it. Of course it's going to be too easy, you were playing on easy.

Then again maybe I just suck because I died a good number of times on Normal difficulty.

 

[Raithnor]

I want to know who Yahtzee sexed! I hope it's Tali.

Spoiler

From what Yahtzee described that was the Miranda ending. Although why she felt the need to screw in the engine room is beyond me.

 

[pepitko]

Good vid as always, he seemed to like this one. Good writing is also a big ++ in my book, I love a good story in games.

 

[aPod]

I never really get why Yahtzee complains about games being too easy when there are multiple difficulty settings.

He should try not issuing commands to the AI on Insanity and see how far he gets...

Someone may have already said this but I'm fucked if I'm reading 191 posts after a 12 hour shift to find out but...

He's only got a few days to review the game, I'm fairly confident that 'easy' is a setting that will allow him to cut a swathe through the story fastest to cover as much game as possible.

In that case he shouldn't say "the game is too easy" if all he's able to do to stay on track is play on easy. I perfectly understand that he's on a schedule and thus needs to compromise difficulty levels in order to play through a game but at the same time if he does that he can't really turn around and say "too easy" because of it. Of course it's going to be too easy, you were playing on easy.

Then again maybe I just suck because I died a good number of times on Normal difficulty.

Its Yahtzee's game, he can play it however he wants. You should know that, yahtzee is an entertainer and the main reason he rants is because its more entertaining. He's criticism should be taken with a grain of salt because he has stretched small gameplay flaws in games he actually likes because, well talking about how good a game is BORING.

Anyways, i loved the review. Though we really dont need a square mile of bland terrain do we? I thought we got past this.