Just finished my first playthrough and will now be going back through this thread to read everyone else’s thoughts. I waited unitil the game was $20 new and then had my wife get it (and Assassin’s Creed II) for Christmas. Got it the day after thanksgiving and poured 40 hours into it. Already raring to go again. Did not get any of the “mission” DLC, but I did get the Incisor, especialy after I passed on th super-scope sniper rifle (not my brightest moment - will get it when I get my Infiltrator Insanity run).
Anyhoo, I played mostly Paragon Infiltrator (wound up 100/20 Paragon to Renegade), an import of my first-run character (who was only level 44 or so coming in), the only conscious decision I made that was NOT Paragon was making sure I completed Zaeed’s loyalty mission. I hated letting the plant blow, but the mission was ultimately bigger than that. I felt like I made good decisions about how to proceed at the end (Garrus led fire team 1, Tali in the vents, Jack holding up the biotic sphere, Mordin leading the second fire team, Jacob goes back with the crew), but Mordin bit it. Now I see he is “most squishy.” I suppose I’ll just have to save him the next time around. Or let my wife do it on her playthrough.
I was furious trying to figure out what happened and when I looked online I find out that Mordin almost always dies unless you send him back with the survivors or take him with you. I love this game, easily one of the best I’ve ever played, but that’s a huge flaw. When I painstakingly do EVERYTHING I can to ugprade the Normandy (I got every upgrade except heavy pistol, which I could not find to save my life), I expect to be rewarded. I made Mordin the leader because he’s ex-Salarian Special Forces. And as an Infiltrator, I didn’t want to take him with me. I took Tali to the end because I felt very loyal to her (though more like a sister and less like a MIRANDA IYKWIM), but she was more of a liability at the end of the game than an asset. At least Miranda was chucking some Collectors around.
What a fantastic game. So much to talk about. Digging into the Hive Mind’s discussion now. Will boot up my Renegade Soldier (level 51) later. I think I saved my post-game over my last manual save so I can’t just re-load the last run, but I figure it’s no big deal. Much like ME1, I anticipate I’ll be replaying this game with some regularity (I apparently replay ME every fall without fail, or so my game saves tell me).
What a briliant game. I have less time for games these days, but man, BioWare just makes games that I can’t pass up. What an amazing studio.
And Daisuke, your eally made me think about how I play BioWare gamse. I usually do a light-side run of their games, then a dark-side, then something kind of in the middle. I rarely consider doing it MY way, though I would undoubtedly be something of a Paragon anyways. Still, in my run, there were times when I desperately wanted to pull the right trigger to make a Renegade decision, but I didn’t because I was trying to be ultra-Paragon.
Now I had a great time and I don’t regret my actions, but I wonder if I should start aMass Effect 1 and 2 run just being myself completely. Instead of just playing a character, play myself, top to bottom. Not just big decisios but little ones, including things like class and honest conversations.
I think I might do that even before my dark ME2 run. To try to be myself more than an archetype. I admit you’ve inspired me to try something in a game that I’ve never tried before.
Have to say am finding insane pretty tough but doable (even if I have to reload a fair bit)
If you did see her on Horizon, it was Kaiden who died.
