17th October 2010, 9:51 PM
I've been playing Mass Effect 2 a bit off and on recently [after the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC was released]. I really love this game, I could probably play it all the way through several times and not get bored. Combat is definitely improved, after it dropped the pretense of being utilizing RPG combat and embraced the action side of things.
I'd like to see a party-based, top-down RPG set in the Mass Effect universe, but that's never going to happen. It's just one of those wishful thoughts. Still, the combat in ME2 is fun and it works, so I won't complain overly there.
Basically, the world and characters and scope and presentation and choice are some of the best that the genre has to offer. I can't think of too many that do this side of the game much better. And that's why slots in at #2.
Now, the reason it doesn't get #1 or a 10/10 rating is because it's just a bit too rigid. Most of the sidequests involve doing something for your party members, they've got something in their past that they need help resolving and only Commander Shepard can help. You do the quest and everybody's happy. All of them play out in much the same way. It also lacks the element of exploration that I really like in RPGs, pretty much every planet you visit is a A-to-B line with only minimal branching. This plays into the series having a fast-pace and bigger emphasis on action than a lot of other RPGs. These are mostly just minor things, enough to keep the game from a perfect rating but certainly not enough to stop it from being one of the best RPGs ever.
I'd like to see a party-based, top-down RPG set in the Mass Effect universe, but that's never going to happen. It's just one of those wishful thoughts. Still, the combat in ME2 is fun and it works, so I won't complain overly there.
Basically, the world and characters and scope and presentation and choice are some of the best that the genre has to offer. I can't think of too many that do this side of the game much better. And that's why slots in at #2.
Now, the reason it doesn't get #1 or a 10/10 rating is because it's just a bit too rigid. Most of the sidequests involve doing something for your party members, they've got something in their past that they need help resolving and only Commander Shepard can help. You do the quest and everybody's happy. All of them play out in much the same way. It also lacks the element of exploration that I really like in RPGs, pretty much every planet you visit is a A-to-B line with only minimal branching. This plays into the series having a fast-pace and bigger emphasis on action than a lot of other RPGs. These are mostly just minor things, enough to keep the game from a perfect rating but certainly not enough to stop it from being one of the best RPGs ever.
Sometimes you get the scorpion.