Rumination Analysis on Mass Effect 2

[@QueenPlutia821]

I'm commander shepherd, and this is my favorite store on the citadel.

[@thac0twenty377]

Ironically as gaming shifted away from nerds to jocks and microtransactions cane into favor, our character began performing commercials. .

[@cr-nd8qh]

The chitadel

[@universe0022]

Ah, yes, "Mass effect 2 rumination remake" We have dismissed this claim.

[@xenon8117]

“You’re hair looks good, and your waist is, very supportive.”

[@Torus2112]

Regarding Mordin's morality, he's a great example of a utilitarian in the proper sense of the word. Utilitarians base their moral reasoning on the principle of "doing the greatest good for the greatest number" of people. To a utilitarian holding general principles such as "killing is bad" is a hindrance to moral reasoning since no two situations are going to be exactly the same, so in order to be optimally moral one needs to make judgments on a case by case basis. "Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients; sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps."

[@jaffarebellion292]

My favorite interrupt is by far hugging Tali. I can never bring myself not to do it. That said, I can never bring myself not to romance her either. She's just too adorable, and seeing her in that much pain almost physically hurts. The writers and voice actor outdid themselves with her character.

[@johnryan9647]

mine was kicking the merc out the window

[@RoderikSQ]

Solution to the ammo for the guns with infinite ammo problem: 1. Leave overheating mechanic from me1 as is 2 add thermoclips as instant cooling thing to solve the overheat 3. Profit

[@wolfsruhm]

Sooo The ME1 way?

[@nonenone5387]

So there is a questline that spans the entire trilogy, Conrad Verner, that has a line of dialog with that exact suggestion.

[@momqabt]

Or keep the thermo clip thing and make it irrelevant - like in ME:A if you have a sufficient build and/or gear. 72+6 shots for a black widow anyone?

[@jimbob3332]

Some cut content in the game implies that was the plan.

[@Superunknown190]

They could've added more primitive weapons, like the Krogan weaponry, if they really wanted to add weapons with traditional ammunition.

[@CrossLoader]

Rewatching Lore's Ruminations has been getting me through these rough times, I really appreciate this man's work even though I'm more of a casual fan. Thank you Lore.

[@AndreasNicklasson]

Mordin didn't CREATE the genophage! He's not THAT old. He was part of a team that modified it to compensate for the krogan adapting to it.

[@TheLethalIntrospectionCrew]

Great catch!

[@labdG]

My favorite interrupt of ME2: The Blood Pack krogan in Mordin's mission who has a whole speach about how they will cure the genofage and take over the galaxy. I just love that you can wait and listen as for as long or short and you want and interrept at any time before he finnishes. I prefer to listen all the way and interrupt just before the end, just to be a smug A-hole. xD And the actual interrupt is amazing! Shepard: "You talk too much." BAM! Krogan: "See, the human can't even hit a single target!" EXPLOSION and the krogan dies, screaming and burning to a crisp. It's badass, really funny, brutal and it even offers som more options for player expression because it lets you choose if and when you do it. 10/101!

[@subsume7904]

Damn.. 10/101 that's harsh

[@jonathangonzalez1271]

Sad that this was the last great role of Robin Sachs. Zaeed left a goddamn mark.

[@adelbertschulz8049]

"Rage is a hell of an anesthetic!"

[@gnomesaiyan1680]

My favorite interrupt of all time has to go to Miranda's Loyalty mission. You land and confront the merc with the tech armor. You then get the chance to brutally snap the merc's neck. Then iirc, Miranda shoots the overhead crate loose, and all hell breaks loose. What makes it truly great is the look on this random Salarian merc's face when this happens. He just has this look that says "I really should have reassessed my life choices YESTERday..."

[@thesunisup_]

Terrific analysis, really liked it, thank you! The one thing I can’t agree on though is that Garrus is not a good leader. Sidonis’ betrayal was not his fault. Even in Garrus’ profile on the Shadow Broker’s ship it is written that Garrus can be an excellent leader but his skill is overshadowed by Shepard so as long as Garrus follows Shepard he can’t grow as a leader himself

[@skywriter9532]

I played Mass Effect 1 and 2 when I was like 12. So needless to say the series had a massive effect on my thought process, how I view stories and many other things. Love these ruminations!

[@maverickay5807]

Im an outsider looking in who has played the trilogy but not kept up with the fan base, and i was shocked to see the hate for 2. The second game was my favorite.

[@highvoltage7797]

No 2 is most people’s favourite it’s just that they simplified the RPG elements and the change in the ammo system.

[@zacharyreichert5035]

Main story is absolute trash in 2 and 3. Completely falls off the rails. Everything else is so good that you can ignore it, and that's really saying something. I still love the whole series, but 1 is the only game where the whole narrative actually holds together.

[@mihajlocvijetic1868]

@@zacharyreichert5035 yeah it like:"Sorry human colonies being abducted by the collectors but first I gotta solve a few daddy issues with my crew before I can help you."

[@dewaynegray6400]

@@zacharyreichert5035 I agree as I have stated this one felt like some side quest that could be ignored. Because even in the third one most of your crew mates are just assets if they survived.

[@wonderfullgamernmb1]

The thing about ME trilogy is that every ME game has a different feel and tone to it, in the same vein as the Dragon Age franchise. The thing about ME 2, unlike ME 1, is that the game has no plot. There is an overall story of stoping the Collectors and doing loyalty and recruitment missions, but without an immediate plot. While I prefer ME 1, I think that ME 2 is a better game with amazing writing and outstanding characterization of Shepards crew with one of the best endings in gaming history that takes into account every crucial decision made throughout the game. The game overall, also, feels like a procedural show, in the vein of Star Trek where every episode is its own story and plot which is comparable to loyalty and recruitment missions.

[@AncientGamer63]

Punching the reporter and kicking the merc out the window on Illium were 2 of my favorites!

[@Hruljina]

Ignore the companion missions. What are the story missions? The first one, the collector ship and IFF and suicide mission. There is no story to ME2.

[@swordfish1390]

This is specifically the reason why I consider ME2 to be the weakest game in the trilogy. Nothing happens in it, the game is literally just one giant side quest, and it’s overall filler.

[@RoyalFusilier]

It's worse than that IMO; there's not just 'no story', they actively kill off the running story continuing from ME1. They blast your ship, kill you, scatter your crew, sever your connection to the Alliance and the Council. All that, and for what? A bunch of good side-things that didn't require it.

[@UsernameGeri]

15:02 I'm not sure what you mean there, you seem to acknowledge that the plot is about the collectors, but then say that it's also about preparing for the reapers and figuring out how they work, which I don't think is done in ME2 at all. The only thing you could argue is that we get that IFF thing, but other than that, we learn nothing substantial about the reapers. We only learn what's already obvious, they plan to destroy us, or enslave us like they did the Protheans. Funny thing is, I do believe that ME2 should've been solely about preparing for the reapers, instead we got bogged down in this collector nonsense, which is ultimately inconsequential.

[@thorntonwager6750]

While I totally understand your point of view, this game’s purpose was to flesh out amazing characters, bring you up to speed on the state of the galaxy and just simply be a good damn game. ME2 is a love letter to Empire Strikes Back and that movie didn’t necessarily move the plot forward in the Star Wars trilogy in any large way.

[@xenon8117]

“So don’t, ah, ingest.”

[@robd9413]

In some of the lore, Illusive Man is seen in a heroic or at least anti-hero light during first encounter. He isn't in ME1, but Cerberus itself - and by extension him - is a clear villian organisation. In ME2, he is more hero again (if you buy the whole didn't know about Jack's 'school' bit) with the saving the colonists from the collectors angle. But then he's back to villain for ME3 - working with Lawson to slaughter the refugees at Haven just to see how indoctrination works is a biggie. That was where Joker had a character break for me - he knew what Cerberus did in ME1 (if you did the side stuff), but was willing to work with them in ME2 because they gave him back the sky (to use a Firefly reference). He knew what they were like. Shepherd was literal built by them and shoved into the plot by them, but Joker had a choice. Given what he saw in ME1 that must have been a seriously good sales pitch. With regard to good people in Cerberus, I think one of the videos in ME3 - possibly during the final Cerberus raid - says they deliberately stocked the Normandy SR2 with the positive side to make Cerberus look better and keep Shepherd on team or something like that.

[@gameygeemer4142]

Pretty late, but I always figured that Joker joined Cerberus for the same ultimate reason that Liara gives Cerberus your body even though she knows what they're like as well. He blames your death on himself, and for a pretty good reason. He wants to be able to fly the Normandy again sure, but he also wants to make sure that when you come back you have the best damn pilot in the galaxy in order to make up for letting you down

[@GooseTheObsidianPaladin]

Best interrupt has got to be the 80s one liner "How bout goodbye"

[@christineherrmann205]

Lore: "If you're a Sentinel, and you're properly built, you're probably wondering 'what's this cover thing you're talking about?' " Me, always playing a Sentinel: (still laughing)

[@JessieGender1]

Garrus is my husband, both in the game and I’m my heart.

[@maurovaz6081]

Wrex also has almost thousand years, if not more, of life and experience on Grunt is not a fair comparison.

[@jasonreiyn9311]

Minor quibble which has probably been mentioned. It's Seth Green not Seth McFarland who plays Joker. He was Oz in Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv show and runs Robot Chicken.

[@BigBlueVibes]

I was quite literally just scrolling through the comments to check if anyone else noticed. Good catch!

[@videogenics86]

My favorite interrupt is headbutting Wreave, that is just awesome. I also like the kid in Omega, after you break his gun how he complains it cost him 20 credits. I always thought the writers missed out by not having Shepard make a crack about having fish worth 5 times that. Of course it goes to show just how out of his element that kid is that he thinks a 20 credit pos gun makes him a badass.

[@forestcampbell8962]

I don't know exactly why but i always thought it would be interesting if Shepard tossed 20 credits on the ground after hearing that. Kind of a "20 credits is irrelevant to me" vibe.

[@DarkStar1406]

Thank you for covering what is still one of my favorite games of all time. Its a shame they never made a sequel to it!

[@mihajlocvijetic1868]

I am still hoping for a complete mass effect 3 remake coming with this rumored remake/remaster.But considering it's EA it will probably just be a graphics overhaul.

[@forestcampbell8962]

Indeed.

[@JoeNeutrino]

I'm going to go and watch your original Mass Effect 3 rumination from 2012 and there's nothing you can do to stop me.

[@ricknoort299]

I love the Ilusive Man both as a character and as a villain.

[@ricknoort299]

I really like the idea that The Ilusive Man is what Shepard could become if he chooses the path or Renegade. Just like Anderson is what Shepard could become if he chooses the path of Paragon.

[@TheRPGChick]

I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite rumination analysis on KZbin.

[@Nemesisv53]

I’m commander Shepard and this is my second, third and fourth favorite store in the citadel.

[@jwatts56]

I think you have to keep in mind the gaming space and experience of bioware at the time of release of ME1 and ME2. When it comes to concepts like shooter RPGs, cover shooters. Not just having choices made matter but the "coloring" (P and R) be impactful

[@wenlocke]

The funny one about Morinth is, while she's evil, there's a certain about of karmic correction for you siding with her. If you try and romance her, she'll go with it, but she does the Ardat-Yakshi thing to you, and you die (Death by Snoo-Snoo!)

[@WhimsicalShark]

I befriended jack in ME2. Spent a lot of time chatting with her. Then saw her in ME3 with that hot hairstyle. Damn I friend zoned myself!

[@GenericUsername-qp1ww]

best RPG ever made. I do kinda wish there were some dialogue options that could open up with Illusive Man, Jacob and Miranda where a sole survivor/Akuze background Shepard who did the related quest in ME1 where u meet the only surviving member of Sheps squad, Toombs Arrival was an awesome DLC. Any DLC where we can wipe out a fuck tonne of batarian scum is great...take a wild guess what fate Balak had in my playthru in ME1 :-)

[@infernaloz6486]

you forgot the essential interrupt :the headbutt.

[@GooseTheObsidianPaladin]

The illusive man reminds me a lot of handsome Jack from borderlands. He really thinks he is the hero of the story

[@Crimsonterminator100]

46:04 TvTropes calls it cutscene power to the max

[@Fangs1978]

I'm commander shepherd, and this is my favorite video on the KZbin.

[@VlogsWLawson]

Regarding the Heretic mission I think that's one of the most interesting choices in the game because there isn't really a right answer and the companions treat it that way. I never quite got the Garrus line about it being how AI solve religious disputes until recently but it's fascinating to think of the process of constant rewrite from two different sides to try and build concensus. It's almost the equivalent of war really, you try and tear down the existing power structure in order to institute a preferable system. It's a very nuanced question. Which is why it bugged the hell out of me that choosing to destroy the station basically locks you out of a peace treaty in 3. Because it seems to think your motivation is "we don't want Heretics to be stronger" when you could make an argument that destroying the station is more respectful to them. Finding out that I was locked out of the treaty as somebody who loved Legion and romanced Tali? I'm not gonna lie folks, that wasn't exactly a great night!

[@mihajlocvijetic1868]

You can still be able to make peace even if you destroyed them.There are a number of factors and most of them must be checked in order to make it.I forgot them because I played that game like 5 years ago but you can look it up online.

[@doomrider56]

Long Ruminations are what i live for

[@bekirkl4658]

You are the perfect guy to chill in the background while playing games, you fill the empty gaps in games with very interesting analyses to listen to

[@ryanelliott71698]

Now the main issue with the interrupts is there’s no text (even a few words) of what your going to do.

[@mercurydylan899]

This is an excellent video. So far. 20 minutes in. But I love me some Mass Effect 2. It’s amazing how different 1 and 2 are while both also being so unified in my mind of what Mass Effect means. Idk. Hard to explain.

[@wanabeguitarguy]

Ahh back to the beginning. You are amazing Arch/Lore. I disagree with alot of what you say but I Iove hearing your thoughts. Keep on keeping on. I can't wait to watch this one.

[@michaelbenson5677]

I disagree about the Illusive Man being admirable for refusing anesthesia when installing the Reaper implants. It reminded me of Denethor's conceit of always wearing a suit of mail under his robes in RotK - he fancies himself a warrior and makes meaningless sacrifices to sate his ego while everything that he does that is actually impactful makes everything worse. TIM is the same in my view - I think his sacrifice is just there to convince himself that he's doing a noble thing when he is actually acting selfishly. Also, it's not efficient at all: I guarantee that an invasive surgery will be harder to carry out if the subject is conscious and flinching from pain.

[@marvelouschester4104]

I’ve seen a fair amount of hate towards it but personally I feel adding ammo really helped with the pace of gameplay. It feels better to slap in a clip than to wait for the cool down. And that it forces you to switch to another weapon when you run out adds to a more frantic feeling in a fight. It also made it so ammo really mattered more and you actually need to be better with your shots. Lastly, although simple, enemies do drop ammo in fights and it has been the deciding factor in whether I run out. It’s obviously not as advanced as Doom, but it’s something.

[@Sarkkoth]

Yeah I remember going through all of ME 1 with only needing to use one gun on my main character. Sure I wasn't playing on the hardest difficulty but still.

[@L4NkYb]

I am pure Krogan. You should be in awe.

[@Spawnfreak]

You're Steve Blum, nothing more.

[@Ralndrath]

I'm proud to say on my first playthrough of ME 2 back when it 1st came out I made it through without a single casualty (except for that poor redhead woman as I was too slow) I just chose who I felt to be the most logical candidates to do the things.

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Damn this Took me Back to 2011... Mass Effect 2 might be the GREATEST Character/persona study in the entire Videogame history. It even influenced my real Life for months cause the values Mass Effect 2 tells through it's characters is so powerful that the Eternal list of the ME Trilogy which is ME2>>ME1>>>>ME3 should NEVER be questioned! Damn... I Miss those days... Commander Shepard, Samara, Garrus, Liara, Tali, Wrex, Jack, illusive Man and even Morrinth! I Miss ALL of them and more. Also nice StarCraft references 👍

[@labdG]

I've never thought of this before now, but what if we learned in the final mission that the collector base was still filled with thousands of living humans. Would be a bit hard to justify blowing it up then. I almost wish the game went there and had us deal with that problem somehow.

[@jaffarebellion292]

The radiation pulse that kills the Collectors would kill the colonists anyway. Hard as it is to accept, those colonists are screwed no matter what.

[@jonnynaruto4]

when you said siding with Morinth was not Renegade, at first I was like " what you mean by that ? she is murdering psychopath", but then you said siding with her is straight up Evil and I was like " OHHHHHHH!!! now I get you". so yea you are bang on, siding with Morinth is just plane Evil and not Renegade at all, as Renegade should be about being a Bad-ass, not Evil.

[@postapocalypse0763]

35:25 I hate the camera more than her outfit

[@almostfaceman]

Fun to watch/listen to as always. You really love these games and put a lot of thought into them and it shows. With regards to ME2, I agree it's a fun game and I probably agree with 90% of your assessment. I don't agree, however, that ME2 progressed the main plot or story sufficiently and it is a HUGE detraction, especially because it sets up a crammed deus ex/war story in ME3 which was easily avoidable if they had made some progress in working together to defeat the Reapers in ME2. The first game sets up some plainly telegraphed/foreshadowed exploits or weaknesses for Shep to investigate and even Arrival hints on how the Reapers could have been defeated "conventionally". More research into the Reapers could have quite easily been in part investigating and exploiting the mouse trap - the Relays - and making the Reapers move around at "slow" light speed could have been a tactic that made it plausible to defeat them without using Space Magic, Magic Genie Ghost, The Talking 3 Button Computer Console Out of Nowhere. Plus, a developed plot focusing on investigating the Reapers could have been a much less "staged" loyalty progression for our host of interesting companions. Instead of so cleanly segmented "loyalty" missions things could have moved more like Dragon Age where companions approve/disapprove based on how the protag achieves their objectives. I find this much more "organic", moves the story along more as a story than a game... and yes I'm aware that Dragon Age had to some extent "loyalty" missions but it relied on them much less heavily than ME2. ME2 also completely wastes Spectre status, which was the James Bond avenue into all the facets of the universe/setting where we could mingle with the legitimate, corrupt, seedy, common societies and peoples of the universe and instead shoe-horns us into Cerberus - which by the way is plainly in opposition to one of Shep's possible backgrounds - in one background Cerberus sacrifices Shep's crew to Thresher Maws and there's no plausible way Shep would work with them after that. The Alliance can be played as derpy but Spectre status lets us ignore that since we have The Council and even if they're derpy they recognize in ME1 that their Spectre's are sources that can be used to prove that they're derpy. The Illusive Man could have been kept as an interesting foil for the protag, we didn't have to implausibly work for them especially with Spectre status so readily available. Staying a Spectre would have also dodged the first hint that they were starting to move to completely implausible Space Magic with Shep's Resurrection. I probably would have shocked the audience at the beginning (if we really need a shock) with indoctrinated Cerberus killing off a character we care about, kinda like we lost either Kaidan or Ash in ME1. That would have retained the lore plausibility of the universe while still providing an interesting hook into investigating the Reapers - investigating indoctrination - something which is looked at but never dug into by anyone except Cerberus in ME3 and that was just a shock value story punch, it didn't provide us any useful data about defeating the Reapers.

[@uscdave1124]

Cover based shooter? Bro, do you even Vanguard? I don't stop for a damn thing during battles in Mass Effect 2. I charge/shotgun blast Geth like a goddamn Space Marine on coke.

[@brandonscott7524]

WHOS LIKE US?!

[@migamaos3953]

Vanguard completely unviable on insanity tho

[@oldmangimp2468]

Samara is a very calm, cultured, beautiful, and well spoken... ...Judge Dredd. . I AM THE LAW!

[@capcomman1]

Yes!!!! The updated version I was waiting on this! Mass Effect 2 is the best one in the series in my opinion.

[@Superunknown190]

Also, am I mistaken that they retconned Joker? I swear his disease only applied to his legs in ME1. But in ME 2 & 3, it's all of his bones that are brittle.

[@pocketheart1450]

I don't have time to watch the whole video right now, i'm on my way to bed, but I did watch the first bit and I must say, I think in many ways, Mass Effect 2 is the best of the trilogy. It's certainly my favorite.

[@Superunknown190]

IMO, ME2 should've done one of two things with Shepard's death. Call it what it is, he/she dies and you play a new character with a new perspective. Or, you find out the REAL reason why IL brought you back, and it's important to the story. I've heard good arguments that Shepard coming back from the dead serves no purpose. He/she could've been in a coma and the story wouldn't have changed.

[@mudcrabmenace8534]

Would’ve been better if it was the ending of ME 1

[@noneofmany]

The Illusive Man's "pragmatism trumps his idealism". That's the best summation of the character I can think of. Well done.

[@noneofmany]

Also agree with the (SC1) Arcturus Mengsk comparison.

[@djgamer5546]

Recently I've come up with a three-axis alignment system and Illusive Man slots into it exceptionally well. My system consists of more specific definitions of the two traditional alignments plus a third. Law and Chaos define how lose or tight your personal code of conduct is, Good and Evil define how you behave with regard to the well-being of others and Altruism and Selfishness determine the overall motivation behind your actions. There can be a little cross-over and conflicts between the individual alignments but that's kind of the point. Illusive Man would slot into Altruistic Neutral Evil in my opinion. His intentions are to help people (or mankind at least), he doesn't necessarily have a strict code of conduct or honor but he sees some value in rules and organization, and he's perfectly willing to allow people to suffer and die for what he considers to be the "greater good". Under my definition, Jacob is a bit more Altruistic Neutral Good since Chaos refers specifically to one's internal code of behavior and not their feelings on "the system". Kasumi, though, totally Selfish Chaotic Good. Not going to go into detail about all the characters since that would take awhile. I'll just say that Jack starts out more neutral to Altruism and turns over the course of the game if you treat her correctly. Also, Shepard is Altruistic regardless of Renegade or Paragon status unless they decide to side with Morinth in which case they are TOTALLY EVIL!! :p

[@poejjafers]

Really enjoyed the video! I can't wait until your ME3 rumination

[@tyrentherisen]

So, TIM... The reason I enjoy him is that he can act as a foil to so many other characters for so many different reasons - basically he's the block by which we can measure the level of depth and conviction in almost any other major character in the games. He's a character that you love to hate, and then he challenges that throughout the game - and then in ME3 his own convictions deteriorate because of the Reapers. And as for the good side of Cerberus - I would argue that Miranda and Jacob really do make up the highest ranks of the good people in Cerberus, which while it works for a bit to show the good side of Cerberus, you then have the Collector Ship mission AND Project Overlord - oh, AND Jack's loyalty mission - which show the moral cracks in Cerberus AND, because they are part of your team, can ultimately culminate in them leaving Cerberus entirely in the end, because they are more loyal to Shep than TIM by the end.

[@jesuscarrillo7952]

Are the Collectors really the subplot of ME 2? Stopping colony abductions is the literal plot of the game. It's why Cerberus revives us. It's why we recruit our squad. It's why we're in the Terminus Systems to begin with. The Collectors are the literal "why" of ME 2. That doesn't count as a subplot...that's THE plot And that's why some fans, myself included, feel ME 2 has a weak plot/story.

[@AllisterH]

Just found your channel and liked what I've seen so far....A couple of points in this video I disagree with.... 1. The weapon system. The weapons of ME1 are VERY bad in terms of design. In terms of visual for example, there's only colour/palette swaps between the various specific types of guns (i.e. a "Hurricane" shotgun looks exactly like a "Firestorm" shotgun) Throw in that the big difference was very granular (accuracy, shots before overheat and damage) and the weapons tended to feel very samey. Mass Effect 2 weapon system, while not being as granular as ME1, was way better both visually AND in terms of game effects - There's a clear difference in not only the visual between say the "Katana" shotgun (which used the ME1 model) and say the "Eviscerator" shotgun 2. I disagree with the idea that because the reapers are overpowering it makes no sense that they try and use indoctrination. To me, it made perfect sense - Climbing one set of stairs is not anything to fret about for most people, yet most people will wait on the elevator just because it is "easier" - sure, it may take longer but unless the elevator is broken, most people won't take the stairs. 3. The uplifting of the krogan/The genophage - I'm not sure I agree with the idea that the uplifting was the wrong thing to do - If the krogans had NOT ben utilized, there's a very good chance that the rachni would've won . Even if you ignore the future Reaper subplot, the rachni of this time are not going to spare the planetbound krogans or any other race for that matter.

[@rahilmohan4494]

The RPG system in ME1 was pretty barebones already so I believe that streamlining it was the right choice considering the limited development time they had. The loot system as you mentioned was also pretty pathetic with the only path to progression being a numerically more damaging weapon. If we only consider the DLC weapons in ME2, they are more fun than the entire arsenal of the first game.

[@dex4740]

I remembered trying to out damage krogan regeneration (in ME1 on high difficulty) without overheating when first seeing the ME2 ammo system. Being able to burst out more damage without being forced into a significant pause in damage dealing due to overheat was a welcome change in my eyes even if it seemed odd lorewise.

[@leante79]

I agree. 1 - they were still finding their way and 3 - were decline began.

[@leante79]

And Andromeda is a crash site.

[@RoyalFusilier]

ME2 introduced many of the cracks that would grow into fault lines and swallow ME3 whole. Cerberus breaks everything, and given this is the game you're forced into working with them... I wish in years past I'd discovered Shamus Young's retrospective on the series, it formulates a lot of the vague feelings and unsettling impressions I had in a way I simply didn't have the words for. While they nailed side-content, Mass Effect is an alleged trilogy, and we didn't just 'not advance the story'; ME2 broke it.

[@dimkol3341]

Thank you for your rumination, you reminded me why ME2 is my top 3 favourite game of all times.

[@lolboy546]

ME2 made vanguard fun

[@LezCharming]

Great rumination! The thing about Paragon/Renegade is it's somewhat about the social optics of heroism. Renegade doesn't give an f about that. That's not inherently evil, but it can be. There are purposefully designed options where not caring about optics becomes Nhilism. There's a point out there where things look bad because they are. Similarly,there are Paragon options exclusively about politics and media.

[@DidierWierdsma6335]

Just sent tali in too the tubes too have here unlock the door. Let garrus lead the first fire team. And when you get too the normandy survivor's let mordin lead them all back too the normandy. That is how i got the perfect ending with everyone alive and off course you need all the upgrades for the ship and all off their loyalty's. Great video btw👍

[@marnieansar4070]

Mass Effect 2 is the jewel in the crown

[@KnowOne1701]

I see what Jerry Doyle has been doing after Babylon 5.

[@jimbostunna]

we love a 5am rumination

[@bensinger6637]

Bless you lorerunner! You are really covering some great works lately. I love that you take the time to go back and revise your opinions.

[@cioplasmmajic8327]

My favorite way to play ME2 is as a soldier, using only melee, a sniper rifle, and spammed adrenaline rush.

[@christopher2684]

I cant help but feel like the illusive man was fighting off the effects of indoctrination, and in between stages of clarity he makes great choices, Like bringing back Shepard.

[@boru1982]

Enjoyed the analysis. Might be too many and almost flippant references to the adjective 'evil' in there but there were also, let's say, more mature points that counteracted this. A bit more dramatic than the original rumination but I think you had a different, I suppose, non-commercial style before the channel's rehash a handful of years ago.

[@BigPapaKaiser]

The one thing I didn't like about ME2 is the hardest difficulty. They didn't make it hard, they made it tedious, because EVERY enemy has shield, armour or biotics, so a 90% portion of the fun powers don't work on them until the shields/armour/biotics are depleted first. So you just brought the squadmates with Overload, Burn or whatever you needed for the area. ME3 made hardest difficulty waaaaaaaaay more fun :D

[@marg5404]

I'll just stand back and let Legion deal with things. Perfect. ME2 has great extra call back scenarios like running into Shiala (from Feros) on Ilium who is trying to sort out the terrible medical scan contracts. I build as much paragon as I can in ME just to deal with such situations.

[@cr-nd8qh]

I just started me 3 the ai is definitely improved

[@ashleymcmillan3379]

Illusive Man and Nick Fury (MCU) have a lot in common, but I'd think that intergalactically Fury would be more "In the Game" where as Illusive plays "Outside the game"

[@Geomanb]

I loved this game so much. And yes I prefer 2 - I think it is the best of the series in all regards.

[@nick20nite]

Did soldier on insanity isfun. And if your quick tactics and cover work

[@Eudaimonist]

I personally didn't like how ME2 dumbed down some of the RPG game mechanics elements of ME1, such as simplifying the inventory. I liked the plethora of rifles one could find in ME1, for instance. And I liked the Maco, even if not on extreme mountain planets. However, ME2 ruled in terms of characterization and character subplots.

[@thedoomofsodan5163]

Everytime I think about booting ME2 up, the goal of the Collectors comes to mind that they cannot achive : as EDI points out in one of the main missions, the Collectors would need to assault earth to get enough humans to build their Reaper. And we know they only have one ship. And from the Codex we know that there are several fleets stationed in the solar system. So they have no chance. Kinda pathetic. That and the ammo retcon hinder me most playing again

[@labdG]

Sorry for spamming with comments. I just have so many different things I want to say. Pushing the merc out of the window in Thane's recruitment mission is really fun... but (and it is a big but in my opninion) if you don't push him you can threaten to push him (or convince him the paragon way) and get some more information out of him. I really like that fact because it gives you the option to do the kinda dum thing and don't care cause it's fun, or you can do the smart thing and just threaten him to gain something from it. Even if you don't care about sparing his life, the smart renagade uses the opportunity to gain something. But of course you need high enough paragon or renagade to persuade him. A similar thing is the option to punch the reporter. People love it and think it's so satisfying, but it's not when she very clearly uses it to make Shepard look like a dum A-hole. She basically wins if you punch her.

[@MistahJay7]

Shadow Broker DLC is by far the best part of the entire Trilogy lol shame on them for making Liara DLC in the 2nd game tho. Still pisses me off

[@LandBark]

Quite good Rumination, nice to hear another (and updated) material about ME2. (THE MOST SUPERIOR MASS EFFECT GAME!) I was thinking about making a comment under ME1 Rumination but I am so lukewarm about that game that I simply have nothing to talk about. I like ME2 much more, especially after ME3 failure and I returned much often to second game than the first or third. Unfortunately while some games age like a fine wine, Mass Effect trilogy has gotten some mold after all these years. Game is still great but I lost the need to reinstall, better to see some videos on youtube for scenes we all like to return to. Although there are the most popular choices there and overload of female shepards :P Sadly, the game changedmany things in its gameplay, dumbing it down in the end. Ammuniton is the prime example, something that was unique in ME1 became just standard FPS mechanic. I think thermal clips should be used as item that would instantly cool your weapon, so you wouldn't have to wait. No stats was also sad, maybe simplify the system but getting rid of it completly? That was so not rpg...reminds me of Fallout done by Bethesda hacks. Let's also not forget about Arrival DLC, locking important plot points behind the DLC? Javik wasn't the first. ME2 in its design crossed a few lines. Let's start from the beginning. Bioware yet again failed in our tutorial mission (after reaching a peak of failure in Kotor1) and the prelude. Killing our protagonist at the start is quite nice but...are we really going to die and stay dead? We should have died at the end of ME1, getting a bleak ending would be very Fallout 1 thing to do and it would build a suspense what's next? Later this idea of escaping the space station and Wilson being a traitor without a deeper reason, pretty weak. I would like it more If there was a catastrophic failure and as ordered Miranda needed to clean up the mess and get rid of people who knew too much...leaving the Shepard and Taylor because....reasons! At least it's not as bad as Kotor1. I do agree that main plot in ME2 is not the best (while sidemission are the best), not to mention pretty badly paced. Get the required amount of companions and we get another plot mission. DLC characters broke the flow of the game even more. I think It would be better If you could recruit the after some plot mission (e.x Horizon) and their recruitment wouldn't count in the game progression. I am suprised you didn't mention the idiotic plot contrivance before the endgame. We need to test the thing so Shepard, take everyone on some mission that doesn't do anything because you only take two other people on a mission while leaving the rest on the ship...yeah, very forced. I feel quitce sad about the choices and them not really changing the game that much, the worst is our choice of the Shepard's past...meaningless overall. I think the only choices that matters in all three games is about killing Wrex, the biggest and the most impactful choice. You talked about Renegade/Paragon system plus interruptions. I am still a good guy, right...? In some ways I find the dialogue better without interruptions, like talking to a reporter. While I romanced Tali, not hugging her gave some pretty interesting dialogue (I will talk about her quest later). The bigger problem I have with this system is that some renegade choices makes us a horrible person. I remember that in interview with creators of the Outer Worlds, they didn't put the romace here because it's hard to do. I find it hard to believe that anyone would romance Shepard after everything s/h e's done (letting people die in Zaeed mission, kicking a person out of the window, forcing someone to drink poison or killing Taylor's father). Follow? Okay, romance? Not really. Game is hurt by not having companion Friendship and Rivalry bars (like in DA2, sadly the world had to endure its existence), Renegade/Paragon system would by complemented by our companions deeper reaction to our choices or interactions. That system would extend the development time and EA wants games to be spewed out... Let's talk about our companions, because they are the meat and potatoes and green peas of ME2...plus their missions. Tali was my main girl and romance option (after banging and leaving Ashley behind). Years after finishing ME2 I think her loyalty mission is the worst, I have a bone to pick with this mission. We can finish it (and not fail) by either letting Tali get exiled or getting a mistrial (having a trial in the game is a trope). Sadly finishing the mission a with success leaves me questioning, why the admirals and general public don't learn about Rael'Zorah actions in later time? Tali not being innocent, okay but what really happened on the Alarei? Given time they would piece together that Rael was the one. I think getting Tali exiled is the only logical choice, If we want to protect Tali's father legacy...and we didn't saw Tali destroying the evidence. Garrus had okay mission but we had section of shooting between important points just like LA Noire. I never got into truly liking Garrus, never seen him appealing for my taste, he is just okay. Legion came a bit too late, I think we should've got his body with Tali. That would bring more conflict with both Quarians and Tali and its loyalty mission had a weird choice, I would rather picked the option of not deciding at all. Jacob is pretty much ME2 Kaiden, his loyalty mission made him interesting, I really liked talking with his father and learning how twisted he has become (music in the background also made this dialogue great). Miranda, was okay but I expected more of her in ME3...what a shame it didn't happen. Thane, hard for me to understand why he became another female romance option and why some people would romance him at all (then again, some want to romance Sten from DA1, weird). Female Shepard got pretty screwed with both Taylor and Thane in ME3. Jack that takes no flak, another companion like Miranda that didn't got justice in ME3...that game was a failure. On the other hand Mordin got justice in ME3, my man! Don't have much to say about Zaeed and Kasumi, only our Thief DLC was pretty weak (reverse Garrus structure, fight at the end) and sadly Zaeed suffered from some recton in ME3. Samara, I really don't find the choice between her and Morinth as having any point unless you are a very self destructing person. On the other hand, she had pretty good material in ME3. The last companion is Liara and her DLC, the creators of the game really liked the canon Shepard/Liara romance. If you don't romance her, it is pretty ham-fisted dlc, I wish there was one dlc for every romance instead of his important plot points Arrival DLC. About Cerberus, that's another pretty weak concept, are humans really the only race that thought of having a secret powerful organization? Do only we have a right to have our own section 31 (STAR TREK REFERENCE). I expected Asari, Salarians and Turians to have one since they had such a big headstart in galactic politics and empire creations. ME3 was even more obnoxious with how Cerberus is powerful...sadly. Illusive Man, is pretty much a personification of Cerberus and carries its faults. Suicide mission, ending was pretty bad when fighting with a big boss. I do find it weird how getting loyalty missions done change the outcome, finish Mordin quest or a stray bullet is going to K.O him. ME2 was a great game but didn't stand the test of time, the multiple playthroughs and the dumpsterfire that was ME3...and I can't wait for Rumination on that game. Peace and out!

[@MrDEMarq]

The Black Hole Gun was the greats thing for me in this game...too bad it never made it pass this game.

[@Matthew075]

The only part I hate about Par/Ren options is that you should be able to choose one of them all the time... instead of having to commit to a path. It's not realistic.

[@10Tabris01]

Concerning the ammo: In ME1, weapons would radiate off heat to the environment. That's all good if you have something you could radiate to, e.g. an atmosphere, but since vacuum is a really good isolator this becomes a problem if you fight in a setting without atmosphere. The heat sinks provide a means to dump heat somewhere which then can be expelled from the weapon thus making heat management in vacuum easier

[@Ravix0fFourHorn]

Mass Effect 1 was the best, i will never understand the change in direction for this sequel.

[@krovarus1911]

Mass Effect 2 would be by far my favorite if not for how much EA fucked with it. I have lost access to the Cerberus network three times and had all of the dlcs deleted from my account twice since buying the game. This was mostly just an annoyance back when origin had all of the dlc and Cerberus network available for free but for whatever reason they are now charging for them all again.

[@LibJumper]

I thought it was interesting you said the ammo system made soldiers suck, because I found them, or more specifically their Adrenaline Rush ability, the only way to play a sniper-based class. I've only gone through as a Vanguard on lower difficulties where the advantage of range didn't matter as much. But i'm also not very good at shooters and would love more pointers on gameplay styles from chat.

[@vilhelmthomsen1941]

The George Lucas term (you were mentioning) he calls: ".. the well used future" opposed to the "clean look" of most sci fi movies that went before Star Wars. By the way - in ME1 I exited the mako each time I met a Thresher Mav - somebody told me you got more exp that way - whether that be realistic or not.

[@livnatkris]

I don't remember the guy Garrus wants to kill was so willing to die, in fact he tried really hard to get away from being punished. But I really loved this insight! great vid like always! Can't wait for part 3 :D

[@mihokspawn]

@24:55 Seth Green should not be confused with Seth McFarlen, I like them both and I make the same mistake often.

[@Seracen]

I generally feel like ME2 was the best of the trilogy, with one major flaw. Yes, the gameplay elements improved; but more importantly, there were better ramifications for the varied choices. Moreover, the characterization was amazing. Yes, we lost exploration, but I was willing to deal with that, due to the focused storytelling that still lasted just as long. However, the crucial flaw in ME2 was that the story didn't do enough to set up ME3. So, in that, it feels like wasted time. Honestly, they should have just done a 4th entry, if ME3 wasn't enough to set up the series ending. Granted, I don't think anything could have made that garbage acceptable. Moreover, Bioware started to slip in quality by then, so I shudder to think what a true ME4 would have entailed

[@Pelican07.23]

Everything in me2 outside of the reapers was payoff due to me2 setup. Me1 didn't set up anything outside of the reapers.