Mass Effect 2 Discussion - Fight for the Lost

[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah those are tough. I got them on my 2nd playthrough as a renegade as I was an adept that time vs a soldier the first time.

The incinerate took the longest. What I did was keep Mordin with me, find people with armor, shoot them until the armor was almost gone, then pull up the power wheel and have Mordin use his incinerate to finish the armor off.

The barrier one was the easiest, just shoot people to weaken their barriers, then use warp to finish it off.

The specialist one you need to use the powers in pretty quick succession to get credit for a combo. So for instance hit them with a singularity then right after use another squadmates warp or other power to get it to register.

It can be done in one playthrough, but it's easier if you focus on it right from the start. Especially if playing on normal difficulty since there aren't as many enemies with armor and barrier as on higher difficulties.

The other slightly annoying one is the beat down one for meleeing staggered enemies. But the key is to just focus on that with husks as there are lots of them and it's easy to pop a couple rounds in them when they run at you then finish them with a melee attack.

In all, I did two playthroughs on Normal and got all the achievements sans the one for beating the game on insanity of course.[/QUOTE]

The incinerate and warp achievements are easy because if you manually instruct a teammate to do it, it counts. In addition, if you have those powers maxed out, they will almost always take down armor/barriers in one shot, even if it wasn't pre-weakened with gunfire.

Also, the game counts your progress even if you die and reload, so when you find a group of armored or barriered enemies, get them then die or reload and get them again until you get the points.

The brawler achievement was the last one i got. I got most of the points for that in Garrus' recruitment on my 2nd playthrough. When the enemies started invading his base i rushed them and was able to knock back/kill 3-5 each rush before they killed me. The checkpoint was right when they start coming in so I just repeated until I finished.
 
[quote name='crzyjoeguy']just finished this game up yesterday, i really enjoyed it. i thought the game play mechanics were greatly improved and made it easier to play. but i did not like how they made the game very linear and almost too easy to figure out. but overall it was a great game. i just need to gain 3 more levels and then im done with all the achievements except for one. once it gets cheaper ill get it again and go back for the "hard mode" achievement. or w/e they call it. i think i finished around 30ish hours with getting every achievement (except lvl. 30 [need 3 more lvl's] and the hard mode achievement)[/QUOTE]

Start up a game on insanity now and you'll get your level 30 in no time with the +25% exp. bonus.
 
Yeah, doesn't even have to be on insanity if you're not wanting to go for that achievement. You'll get it fast on any difficulty.

Also, if you haven't done the DLC missions those will get you up as well-but only two levels. Thankfully I was at level 28 with my main paragon playthrough and leveled up once on the Firewalker missions, then again on the Kasumi one, so that main playthrough is now at level 30 to import into ME3.

My renegade playthrough got to level 30 in the main game with the 25% bonus.
 
I'm done with all the Loyalty Missions for now
Although I need Legion's, I think that's pretty much given to you
. So for now I'm just going to go and finish up some extra achievements I'm missing while doing the remaining Assignments. I'm at level 22 currently, but with a level 36 import I'm surprised it's that low after doing everything besides the Assignments. I still need...

Paramour (I'm pretty sure I've done what's necessary to get it)
Brawler (12 to go)
Warp Specialist (5 to go)
Incineration Specialist (6 to go)
Agent (3 to go on this one)
Weapon Specialist (I need one more upgrade, but I don't know if I should buy it or not)

I'm also at Full Paragon already. Maybe I should start being Renegade about stuff when I have the chance now.
 
Well, I got to level 28 on my playthrough with an imported level 50 character. Importing below level 50 doesn't give you any experience bonuses etc. IIRC.

You should be able to knock out those achievements in the end game, even without doing the reloading suggested above.

I'd buy the upgrade to get the achievement. No real worries about wasting upgrades if you're playing on normal the game is easy anyway. And if you've done enough mining you should have way more minerals than you need anyway, and if not can always mine more if you want other upgrades.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Well, I got to level 28 on my playthrough with an imported level 50 character. Importing below level 50 doesn't give you any experience bonuses etc. IIRC.

You should be able to knock out those achievements in the end game, even without doing the reloading suggested above.

I'd buy the upgrade to get the achievement. No real worries about wasting upgrades if you're playing on normal the game is easy anyway. And if you've done enough mining you should have way more minerals than you need anyway, and if not can always mine more if you want other upgrades.[/QUOTE]Was that with or without the Firewalker and Kasumi DLC?
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Was that with or without the Firewalker and Kasumi DLC?[/QUOTE]

Without as it wasn't out at the time.

As I posted above, I've since gotten that playthrough up to level 30 with the Firewalker and Kasumi DLC. Which I was very happy about as that's my main playthrough from ME1 and the main one I want to import into ME3.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Without as it wasn't out at the time.

As I posted above, I've since gotten that playthrough up to level 30 with the Firewalker and Kasumi DLC. Which I was very happy about as that's my main playthrough from ME1 and the main one I want to import into ME3.[/QUOTE]Good to hear that you made it up to level 30 with the added DLC. I was hoping it would bridge the gap to 30. We'll see if that works out for me as well.

The ME1 character I brought into ME2 was going to be the "main" character I'd bring into ME3 as well. The Renegade femShep I was going to start up sometime after finishing ME1 would be brought into ME2 and the same way as a "backup" ME3 import.
 
Yeah I never did a renegade shephard in ME1.

I decided not to go back and do one and just made a femShep Adept and did a renegade playthrough of ME2 and will import that into ME3.

ME2 seems to assume an renegade playthrough of ME1 when you start up a new one anyway, i.e.
the council is dead, wrex is dead, you don't run into characters from sidequests who you'd have helped in the paragon path in ME1 etc.)

So in short, just replay ME1 if you want to experience that game on the renegade path. But if you just want to have a renegade import into ME2, it's not worth it. It doesn't change much from starting a new character, and with the 25% exp bonus for doing a 2nd playthrough you'll hit level 30 in one playthrough even without any import bonuses.
 
Finally starting my Insanity run after finishing FFXIII (big "meh") and playing the DLC on my Canon Shepard.

So I'm going Sentinel this time around and I'm wondering what the best bonus power would be?
Armor-Piercing Ammo
Barrier
Slam
Fortification
Geth Shield Boost
Energy Drain
Reave
Neural Shock
Shredder Ammo
Warp Ammo
Inferno Grenade
Flashbang Grenade
 
I personally favour ammo for any "powers-based" class like the Sentinel, but... my Sentinel was Veteran. The only class I did Insanity with was my Soldier.
 
I think I'm done with everything. I haven't done a good portion of the Anomaly Missions, but I don't think doing them all is going to help in any significant fashion. I mean by getting
Legion and making him Loyal, that's 2 levels right there before the final mission(s?)
so I figure after beating the final boss I'll beat at level 27 or 28.

I'll probably miss out on Incineration Specalist (I'm at 22 or 23 currently). I'll see if I can teach my Shepard Mordin's ability for that before I go into the point of no return. How long does the final part of the game take anyway?
 
I chose Reave for my Insanity Sentinel... I actually started the game with Warp Ammo but then respec'd once I realized I was taking Grunt on every mission anyway with his (squad) incineration ammo.

Reave is nice because it's an "instant hit" power so you don't have to worry about travel time when you fire it off
 
The reason that I say choose Reave or Flashbang Grenade is because of how vulnerable it leaves the target once you use it. Flashbang Grenade has a much larger radius and it affects organics and synthetics the same, knocking them down and disabling their weaponry for the duration of the power. Reave does affect both organics and synthetics, but it's primarily an ability to be used against organics. The fact that it instantly hits the enemy makes it a good alternative to Flashbang Grenade - as long as you're not putting points into the Sentinel's Warp ability (no need to double-dip).

Basically...

Plan A: Put the necessary points into Warp and then go for Flashbang Grenade.

Plan B: Put no points into Warp and choose Reave as your bonus ability and max it out (the way I do in my Insanity builds post :cool:)

Plan C: Put points into Warp and just choose an Ammo power for your bonus ability (there is only one choice in that department - AP Ammo).
 
Well, I did
Jacob's loyalty mission
last night, and leveled up to 17. Also
unlocked Thane's loyalty missions, so have all of them available save Legion's for obvious reasons
.

In comparison to
Miranda's loyalty mission
, it was a bit of a letdown from the combat perspective and story perspective. It was good overall, just not as good in comparison. Not sure which one to do next, since I think
my Paragon score isn't maxed out yet, so I should avoid Jack's loyalty mission, though it's close, so
there should be some other ones I do before the others. Any suggestions? I have two clusters of them with
Grunt and Mordin on Tuchanka, as well as Kasumi and Thane on The Citadel
.
 
I beat it this morning (29 hours, 27 minutes). Overall I thought the game was consistently good, which made it great. Although I do have a few problems with it; some big, some small

#1 - Scanning; it sucks, especially since it's essentially required to get everyone out alive
#2 - The main story (I'm spoilering this part)
I felt it's essentially the plot of the original Blues Brothers movie. You get brought back, get the crew back together to go on a life altering mission. Sure the character missions built up their background, but it's not the single thread bringing everything together
#3 - The final part of the game.
There are some okay ideas here, but I felt the execution wasn't there and some parts were forced just so you had to use every character. I didn't really see the point in the final boss either; it just felt forced.

I'd give the game an 8.5.
 
I can't exactly go into one of my signature wall-o'-text posts for now, but I can definitely say I strongly disagree with #2. Also, to clarify #3 a bit, I'll refer you to a post I've made numerous times in this thread:

About the ending:
I know a lot of people think the Human Reaper Embryo at the end of the game didn't make too much sense and/or seemed kind of awkward, so I'll try to make some sense out of it (from what I understand):

With the fall of Sovereign at the end of Mass Effect 1, the Reapers plan to unlock the Citadel and pave the way for galaxy-wide destruction was halted. The Collector's, who've been compiling research for the Reapers on all of the Citadel races since their transformation from being Prothean, were ordered to start gathering human test subjects. The reason why the Reapers wanted human was because after the destruction of Sovereign, it was clear that the humans were the strongest race in the galaxy - something that the Reapers consistently look for to gain their advantage. All that sets into motion the story of ME2. The reason why, at the end of the game, the Reaper prototype looks human (or like a Terminator :cool:) is because the Reapers take on the form of whatever species is predominately used in their construction. Humans were the strongest in the galaxy and mostly used in the embryo's construction, thus the Human-like appearance. When you look at it this way (the correct way) the Human-Reaper embryo at the end of ME2 really does make an awful lot of sense.
 
I'd pretty much agree with your take Broly, though each of those didn't bother me as much and I'd give it a 9.5. It's one of may be 3 games I've played through more than once right after beating it.

But I did think the main story was very thin compared to the first game, since it was mostly character missions. I just hope those character stay in the party for ME3. It's kind of a waste to build them up if we can only have a couple in our party in the sequel (like we did with ME1 characters in ME2).

The end boss didn't bother me. A bit cheesy (regardless of what the more diehard fans say), but nothing that lessened my enjoyment of the game.
 
But how could they make a third game using the squad you assemble in ME2? For obvious reasons, they can't make any guarantees about the player keeping any specific character alive. Hell, there's four characters that they can't guarantee you've ever actually had in your squad.
Kasumi/Zaaed (DLC), Grunt (never open the tube), Legion (never activate)

There's dozens, if not hundreds of different combinations people could be entering ME3 with. They could retcon certain things using the Lazarus system, but then that kinda kills part of the ME2 ending. I can't think of any good, non-resource intensive ways to handle this.

Then again, if they don't, then this game will have had a worthless narrative.
 
[quote name='Salamando3000']But how could they make a third game using the squad you assemble in ME2? For obvious reasons, they can't make any guarantees about the player keeping any specific character alive. Hell, there's four characters that they can't guarantee you've ever actually had in your squad.
Kasumi/Zaaed (DLC), Grunt (never open the tube), Legion (never activate)

There's dozens, if not hundreds of different combinations people could be entering ME3 with. They could retcon certain things using the Lazarus system, but then that kinda kills part of the ME2 ending. I can't think of any good, non-resource intensive ways to handle this.

Then again, if they don't, then this game will have had a worthless narrative.[/QUOTE]


They just have to have the option to have any characters who survived be in your party for it to be worthwhile. They don't have to have a set squad of x-number of people you can get like the first game.

Make a bunch of characters from ME1 & 2 who are alive on the imported save available for players to pick and choose from. Or let them get them all and just have empty slots of characters died.

It's not that hard for them to deal with.

And they can do whatever with the default save. Based on ME1 and the ME2 new game default we know that Ashley is gone for a female Shephard and Kaiden for a Male Shepard, and Wrex is dead. So those 2 won't be available in a ME3 new game. Then they can make whatever assumptions with the ME2 characters.
 
They'll just need to record dialogue for all (or most, it wouldn't be unexpected for a couple of the ME2 people to pull a Liara and quit the squad for story reasons) of the potential squad members, and if that squadmate is dead in your particular playthrough, oh well, that dialogue goes unused. Same thing they've already done for various characters in the ME universe already, just on a larger scale. It's no more outrageous than recording every one of the main character's possible lines twice for male and female Shepards. And not really very different from players who simply fail to recruit Liara, Wrex, Garrus, Grunt, Legion, etc. in ME1 and ME2. Extensive dialogue for optional characters is not some radical new idea here.

They can throw in a couple of new or returning ME1 squadmates to throw a bone to people who only came out of ME2 with a few squadmates still alive.

Bioware already knew that there would be a Mass Effect 3 and almost certainly mapped out the basic story arc of both games during ME2's development. There is no way they would have made building this specific squad the entire thrust of ME2's plot if it wasn't going to carry over into ME3.
 
Although I love every single squadmate in ME1 and ME2 (aside from Kaidan's dumbass/ashes), I'd trade at least half of them for the chance to have a full-fledged Kasumi in ME3 - though it'll never happen.
 
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[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']Although I love every single squadmate in ME1 and ME2 (aside from Kaiden's dumbass/ashes), I'd trade at least half of them for the chance to have a full-fledged Kasumi in ME3 - though it'll never happen.[/QUOTE]So, which ones would you trade? :D
 
Honestly, of the ME1/ME2 squad members, the only ones I really want to see return as playable are Garrus, Tali, and Liara. Mordin too, I guess, but the guy's a fuckin' grampa; I gotta give him a break. Haven't used Kasumi yet, though.

I'd be totally cool with Grunt heading back to Tuchanka, Samara going off and being a Jedi somewhere else, Jack ceasing to serve as a constant reminder of that shitty sequel to Pitch Black, etc.

...

I'd miss Legion a bit, though. Cute little bugger. Someone at Bioware was a fan of Half-Life.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']So, which ones would you trade? :D[/QUOTE]The ones that would make the cut (not get traded):

Tali - ...c'mon now :cool:
Garrus - right hand man
Liara - the only reason you're still alive
Wrex - he pointed a gun at me in ME1...we all know the rule
Ashley - bitched me out in ME2; needs to die
:twoguns:Kaidan :wall:
Legion - best/most important squadmate on the ship
Thane - the definition of badass
Miranda - this*
Samara - those*
Mordin - too old; needs to take it easy and retire
Jack - not my canon LI; angry women are a dime-a-dozen
Jacob - great guy (and abs) but is always in the background...leave him there
Grunt - needs to be with the Urdnot clan on Tuchanka
Zaeed - when he fixes his face then we'll talk

* = joking aside, I really like both characters a lot
 
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[quote name='Arikado']Get the fuck outta here.[/QUOTE]One way or another, his ass is dead by the end of ME3. You know it, I know it...the only person who doesn't know it is Wrex. No one points a gun at Shepard.
 
I think if Zaeed had more interactions than the canned dialogue, he'd be more interesting.

Wrex had some great interactions with Shepard, gun in the face included, so you can't dump him completely. Grunt fills in nicely in that role, if you rolled the clock back on Wrex and fed his brain non-stop Krogan philosophy.

I'd agree with your highlighted options, X, though Jack has some potential now that she's not been shit on all her life with her time on the Normandy, and I think she'd turn into a much more three-dimensional character.

Samara and Thane are some of the coolest characters in ME2, mainly because you look at both of them and you know they're not quite on the same plane of existence as you are. They're higher up in a lot of ways than the rest of us.

Miranda is a great character because she's made a lot out of being screwed by her circumstances and working the best out of it that she can. I think had she not linked up with Cerberus, she'd be a much darker person than she is.

I know we have to move Liara into ME3, there's plenty of story to be told with her from ME1 into ME2 and from ME2 into ME3.

Tali and Garrus, goes without saying that they'd have to come into ME3. Too much history with those two.
 
I can't seriously describe any of the squadmates (besides Kaidan) in just a sentence, but it's safe to say that I'd like a potential fully interactable Kasumi more than the crossed out names. Everyone aboard the Normandy SR2 definitely deserves a seat at the table, though.
 
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[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']I can't exactly go into one of my signature wall-o'-text posts for now, but I can definitely say I strongly disagree with #2. Also, to clarify #3 a bit, I'll refer you to a post I've made numerous times in this thread:

About the ending:
I know a lot of people think the Human Reaper Embryo at the end of the game didn't make too much sense and/or seemed kind of awkward, so I'll try to make some sense out of it (from what I understand):

With the fall of Sovereign at the end of Mass Effect 1, the Reapers plan to unlock the Citadel and pave the way for galaxy-wide destruction was halted. The Collector's, who've been compiling research for the Reapers on all of the Citadel races since their transformation from being Prothean, were ordered to start gathering human test subjects. The reason why the Reapers wanted human was because after the destruction of Sovereign, it was clear that the humans were the strongest race in the galaxy - something that the Reapers consistently look for to gain their advantage. All that sets into motion the story of ME2. The reason why, at the end of the game, the Reaper prototype looks human (or like a Terminator :cool:) is because the Reapers take on the form of whatever species is predominately used in their construction. Humans were the strongest in the galaxy and mostly used in the embryo's construction, thus the Human-like appearance. When you look at it this way (the correct way) the Human-Reaper embryo at the end of ME2 really does make an awful lot of sense.
[/QUOTE]

I'll give you the
fact that the final boss looked like a bloody Terminator. It was definitely the first thought that came to mind, despite looking incredibly stupid. Honestly, if they were making an artificial Reaper, they could make it look like whatever they wanted, right? Why'd they have to go make it look like a human? That part to me makes no damn sense at all. Sure, using humans for fuel I can get, but the whole appearance thing I'm not buying. Also, I'm pretty sure the whole 'Harbinger's coming line was pulled directly out of ME1 with Reapers instead. Or at least it was incredibly similar.

I started an Insane run so I can get to level 30. Will I try to beat Insane mode? HELL NO!

Another question I have.
Is it possible to have Morinth join your squad? It seemed like it was.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Another question I have.
Is it possible to have Morinth join your squad? It seemed like it was.
[/QUOTE]

Yep. You need either a near perfect paragon or renegade score. Then,
Whenever Morinth tries to seduce you, you have to use paragon/renegade options to resist three times. Once you do, Samara will still come in to fight, but mid-fight you have the option of helping either Samara or Morinth, with the side you help killing the other side. Morinth dresses up as Samara for missions, using the same skillset, but her loyalty move is Dominate...which is essentially AI Hacking that works on humanoids
 
Of both ME1 and ME2, what were your favorite love interests? I'm doing a paragon (I'm can't do a renegade) femshep in ME1. It seems like the female shepard's choices aren't quite as good. Liara is the more interesting one for ME1. Considering I've always left Kaiden with the bomb, there's not going to be a romance there.

I'm not sure about ME2. Jacob was never very interesting. I don't have much of an opinion on Thane since I used him about as much as Jacob. Garrus was one of my main party members, but his scene was a little awkward. I'm thinking my female Shepard is staying single for ME3.

My male shepards were faithful to Liara and went with Tali.
 
I did Liara in the first game, switched to Tali currently in ME2. But you can switch back and forth. I went with Miranda first, then broke it off and went with Tali. Also had the casual encounter with Jack.

My Female shephard I only played in ME2 and didn't do a love interest. Took some wrong conversation paths I guess--would have gone with Garrus.
 
Regarding Love Interests:

My canon Paragon Shepard:
ME1 - single; though Liara was very tempting.
ME2 - TALI'ZORAH VAS NORMANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

My main Renegade Shepard:
ME1 - Ashley as LI
ME2 - *clears throat* TALI'ZORAH VAS NORMANDYYYYYY!!!!!!

For ME3, my canon Shepard will still have Tali at his side. Main Renegade Shepard gets to deal with Ashley vs. Tali.

I will also have multiple saves where I have a Paragon and a Renegade Shepard with each love interest (and single). For instance:
Paragon Shepard (1) - Liara as LI
Renegade Shepard (1) - Liara as LI
Paragon Shepard (2) - Ashley as LI
Renegade Shepard (2) - Ashley as LI
Canon Paragon Shepard - single
Renegade Shepard (3) - single
...and so on


Yeah, I'm kind of crazy...:cool:
 
[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']Regarding Love Interests:

My canon Paragon Shepard:
ME1 - single; though Liara was very tempting.
ME2 - TALI'ZORAH VAS NORMANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

My main Renegade Shepard:
ME1 - Ashley as LI
ME2 - *clears throat* TALI'ZORAH VAS NORMANDYYYYYY!!!!!!

For ME3, my canon Shepard will still have Tali at his side. Main Renegade Shepard gets to deal with Ashley vs. Tali.

I will also have multiple saves where I have a Paragon and a Renegade Shepard with each love interest (and single). For instance:
Paragon Shepard (1) - Liara as LI
Renegade Shepard (1) - Liara as LI
Paragon Shepard (2) - Ashley as LI
Renegade Shepard (2) - Ashley as LI
Canon Paragon Shepard - single
Renegade Shepard (3) - single
...and so on


Yeah, I'm kind of crazy...:cool:[/QUOTE]
Wow, you've really played a lot of ME. I'm on my 4th ME1 and have 2 playthroughs of ME2. I'm hoping I can get through my current ME1 fem shepard with only one playthrough, since I have both DLC. I think I'll have had enough Mass Effect for a while once I can get my female shepard through ME2.
 
I went and watched the "bad" ending on youtube for curiosity's sake. I wonder
what the canon will be? If ME3 is Joker as the main character if you don't import...that'd be odd.
 
I've really tried to understand Jacob's presence in the game. It's hard enough to justify most of the characters when they are so many of them, but Jacob's role in the squad as one of three humans--and obviously the tertiary one--seems nearly baffling to me. (If you include DLC, Jacob is arguably the least important human among five! Zaeed and Kasumi may not get true conversation wheels, but Jacob's wheel rarely updates anyway.) Do we need that many playable humans? What does Jacob offer to the story or the team dynamic? If anything, he only appears to be a lesser clone of Shepard who mirrors his/her background and echoes his/her thoughts! The only justification I can give to Jacob's presence is the fact that pro-human Cerberus is running the show, and would surround Shepard with as many human operatives as possible. (And what the hell, we can acknowledge the fact that Jacob is black, too. But is that enough of a distinguishing feature to make him unique from Shepard and Miranda? Racial distinction between humans is never an issue in Mass Effect, though it may be an issue to players who desire to see a black face among the crowd.)

I suppose there's an argument that exists that some players may want to espouse the pro-human sentiment of Cerberus and thus desire the availability of an all-human squad. But then I kind of doubt that anybody who plays Mass Effect and engages in this particular brand of science fiction actually agrees with such an ethos, especially when the game itself seems to mark it with Renegade status. Basically, we're in this to experience alien cultures, and that's a good thing! With such a great diversity of species and personalities in the squad, I wonder what sort of player might consistently choose Jacob.

Jacob fans, speak up!
 
[quote name='rapsodist']I've really tried to understand Jacob's presence in the game. It's hard enough to justify most of the characters when they are so many of them, but Jacob's role in the squad as one of three humans--and obviously the tertiary one--seems nearly baffling to me. (If you include DLC, Jacob is arguably the least important human among five! Zaeed and Kasumi may not get true conversation wheels, but Jacob's wheel rarely updates anyway.) Do we need that many playable humans? What does Jacob offer to the story or the team dynamic? If anything, he only appears to be a lesser clone of Shepard who mirrors his/her background and echoes his/her thoughts! The only justification I can give to Jacob's presence is the fact that pro-human Cerberus is running the show, and would surround Shepard with as many human operatives as possible. (And what the hell, we can acknowledge the fact that Jacob is black, too. But is that enough of a distinguishing feature to make him unique from Shepard and Miranda? Racial distinction between humans is never an issue in Mass Effect, though it may be an issue to players who desire to see a black face among the crowd.)

I suppose there's an argument that exists that some players may want to espouse the pro-human sentiment of Cerberus and thus desire the availability of an all-human squad. But then I kind of doubt that anybody who plays Mass Effect and engages in this particular brand of science fiction actually agrees with such an ethos, especially when the game itself seems to mark it with Renegade status. Basically, we're in this to experience alien cultures, and that's a good thing! With such a great diversity of species and personalities in the squad, I wonder what sort of player might consistently choose Jacob.

Jacob fans, speak up![/QUOTE]Beat to it, but I have to say it anyways...

the priiiiiize!



...also, the infamous bro-hug.
 
[quote name='rapsodist']I've really tried to understand Jacob's presence in the game. It's hard enough to justify most of the characters when they are so many of them, but Jacob's role in the squad as one of three humans--and obviously the tertiary one--seems nearly baffling to me. (If you include DLC, Jacob is arguably the least important human among five! Zaeed and Kasumi may not get true conversation wheels, but Jacob's wheel rarely updates anyway.) Do we need that many playable humans? What does Jacob offer to the story or the team dynamic? If anything, he only appears to be a lesser clone of Shepard who mirrors his/her background and echoes his/her thoughts! The only justification I can give to Jacob's presence is the fact that pro-human Cerberus is running the show, and would surround Shepard with as many human operatives as possible. (And what the hell, we can acknowledge the fact that Jacob is black, too. But is that enough of a distinguishing feature to make him unique from Shepard and Miranda? Racial distinction between humans is never an issue in Mass Effect, though it may be an issue to players who desire to see a black face among the crowd.)

I suppose there's an argument that exists that some players may want to espouse the pro-human sentiment of Cerberus and thus desire the availability of an all-human squad. But then I kind of doubt that anybody who plays Mass Effect and engages in this particular brand of science fiction actually agrees with such an ethos, especially when the game itself seems to mark it with Renegade status. Basically, we're in this to experience alien cultures, and that's a good thing! With such a great diversity of species and personalities in the squad, I wonder what sort of player might consistently choose Jacob.

Jacob fans, speak up![/QUOTE]

Jacob, at least to me, kinda falls in the category that BioWare just seems to put at least one character in. A generic no-frills character that for the most part doesn't really seem all that special. Kaidan was another example, I think KotOR had one and so did the sequel.

I think for their general existence, they're just there because they're "human," they are not so much an interesting archetype and feature any sort of frills or anything like that, but they are characters that just follows a leader, do what they say and does so without much question. They are characters that are typically boring and don't stand out. They're also both male characters.

The trick is that if you want to really see these characters in a whole different light and find some sort of interesting aspect to them, try playing the game as Female Shepard and pursue a romance with both of them. When I started playing Mass Effect, I wanted to play Female Shepard from the beginning because I like the voice actor (she does Naomi from MGS4, Samus from Metroid Prime). After playing through ME1 and 2, even though you're a guy playing a chick and you're relating more with this guy character, you kinda draw some agreements and similarities with what Kaidan and Jacob experienced in their military work and what you kinda see and experience in life.

That and you also get to see free Female Shepard booty.

Those characters aren't for everyone though. I do find them to be fairly down to Earth and understandable, compared to the rest who do fit in the world that is Mass Effect.
 
Favorite love interests:

Paragon male: Ashley, Jack
Renegade female: Liara, no one

As for Cerberus' agenda, I personally find it more satisfying to play Shepard as a bit of a human supremacist (even as a Paragon). I think it adds an interesting dimension to the story as opposed to the everybody-put-aside-our-differences-and-sing-kumbaya angle which I find a little trite.

That said, I do like to deck the reporter when she makes some snide insinuations about Turians. Gotta defend my main man Garrus!
 
Well, just did Tali's loyalty mission last night. Another one that was extremely well done, with the combat and the non-combat elements, on par with the Miranda loyalty mission. Right at the end
when you see Tali's father dead and you see her just nearly collapse inside about that and seeing that her dad was so completely out there in trying to deal with the geth, it was some amazing acting. That, and that Shepard was there to be her rock and bring her back, wow. :cry:

In comparison to Jacob's loyalty mission
where he did some unspeakable things to everyone else around him, all pretty much for self-gain, you really despised him for what he did, especially Jacob. No real pity there for what happened. With Tali's father going loopy in his work to fight the geth, getting everyone killed on the ship and the marines in there to save him, you do have to feel some pity for him because he was trying to do something for the greater good. Both of them were horribly misguided, though Jacob's father was completely wrong in what he thought was the "greater good". Tali's father did have a much greater good in mind, though it went horribly wrong in its execution. They were two similar loyalty missions in that the character's father went off the deep end, though I like the one with Tali much, much more. I might have liked it differently if Jacob's father was dead, though it means more if he's alive and has to pay for his crimes. Tali's father being dead was a more poignant ending, though if he was alive, he'd either be exiled or executed and I think it would be even worse for Tali if he was alive at the end and not dead by the geth. Fitting that the geth killed him, making his mad dream be the thing that killed him.

Oh, in the love interest area, having only done one ME1 playthrough, it was Liara for me. The whole "this is my first time, I've never felt this way before, all I've known is my work" situation resonated better than Ashley's "I'm not just a soldier" situation. Maybe if I go back through on the third playthrough with a maleShep instead of the planned Renegade femShep for the 2nd time through, maybe I'll go down that road and see what happens.

For ME2, it looks like I have Miranda on the hook, though it's not a done deal yet. The "melting the ice queen and finding her feelings" seems too good not to go after. Now that Tali's loyalty mission is done, maybe it'll be time to swap over to that, or maybe Jack after hers gets done.
 
Tali's loyalty mission = best in the game.

If you don't do the Paragon interrupt towards the conclusion of that mission (Paragon Shepard or not), then you're a heartless bastard.
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To add one more positive to Jacob's character (I really do think he's one of the better humans, you just have to dig deep for him):

"We're gonna get loud and spill some drinks on the Citadel."

I'm glad to see that there's someone else on the Normandy looking to knock back some drinks with the raging alcoholic that is Shepard :cool: Jacob is the model for which Kaidan should have been made after. If it were like that, Kaidan's ashes wouldn't be blowing around in the wind back on Virmire.
 
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