OK, so during the Giant Bomb game of the year discussions, the guys went into detail about why Mass Effect 2 was the game of the year.  It sounded amazing.  Now, I was a fan of the first game, but skipped the second because I knew that EA would drop the price on it to ridiculous lows, and I was right, I was able to get the PC version at Best Buy for 10 bucks.  Now I knew that price was no indicator of quality.  I knew the game had been streamlined and what I was looking forward to was the better shooting.  So while the first game had problems, elevators, loading times, graphics pop in, it was a great game.  I played through it 5 times. 
But that stuff was on the 360.  I got the PC version of Mass Effect 2, and was a little disappointed that I could not import my character.  Yes I blew Wrex away each time I could.  I could not get past that he pulled a gun on me.  Though disappointed because I let Kaidan die each time.  I am space racist and Ashley was my lover.  But whatever, as long as I could have my lady shepard and be renegade, it would all be cool. 
Yes, the fiction is awesome and the dialog options are still as good as ever.  But this game is so action oriented and it just feels like, go to this planet, blast these guys until you get to the person you are looking for.  I like the added hacking mini games.  Think the reloading is a pretty good idea.  But... wow, they took out so much from the first game. 
I can't get new armor?  Where the hell are the new weapons?  The weapons upgrades?  The skills upgrades?  As soon as I saw, mission accomplished, I was like, awww crap.  This is not an RPG as much as it is a action game with speech and RPG elements similar to GTA.  I am super disappointed.  I was hoping for a cleaner and smoother ME1, not this stripped down stuff.  Yes I can see that this game is good, it just not what I wanted.  And it is the reason I have told my brother to steer away from Dragon Age 2, and am wary of ME3.  I am not saying it is a bad game, it is just not what it should have been.  Mass Effect 1, but less jank.

Well skill upgrades are there just not as many. As for weapon upgrades they are also there. As for new armor you must of been the only person who enjoyed the mess of an inventory system that was mass effect 1

Oh you kidder.

I disagree. I think that most of the streamlining (not stripping down) is for the best, and that the game is pretty awesome overall.  
 
And the combat's fun. I didn't mind there being a ton of it because aside from a few spots, I was having fun.  

" I disagree. I think that most of the streamlining (not stripping down) is for the best, and that the game is pretty awesome overall.   And the combat's fun. I didn't mind there being a ton of it because aside from a few spots, I was having fun.   "

You can love it,you can hate it, the cold hard truth of the matter is that Mass Effect is more action than it is RPG,much more action.
It has great cinematics and cutscenes, the combat is better and there are some interesting characters but thats about it.

You do get new weapons, you can upgrade them and your skills. Would it really have made that much a difference if there was just a little pop up saying "Objective Complete" instead of the full screen? Really? As for not being able to import your save, that's really just your own fault for buying the game for a different platform. Mass Effect 2 is dirt cheap on any platform these days.

" @MooseyMcMan said:

" I disagree. I think that most of the streamlining (not stripping down) is for the best, and that the game is pretty awesome overall.   And the combat's fun. I didn't mind there being a ton of it because aside from a few spots, I was having fun.   "

Who did not love popping adrenalin and filling a guy with fire bullets?  "

" @The_Laughing_Man said:

" @MooseyMcMan said:

" I disagree. I think that most of the streamlining (not stripping down) is for the best, and that the game is pretty awesome overall.   And the combat's fun. I didn't mind there being a ton of it because aside from a few spots, I was having fun.   "

Who did not love popping adrenalin and filling a guy with fire bullets?  "

This. "

Agreed. 
 
Mass Effect 1 was an RPG, Mass Effect 2 is a talky shooter

Same thoughts exactly. 
 
ME2 ran better, looked prettier... But they just took out everything that needed tweaking and called it streamlining.  
 
I think they did the same thing with DA2... Taking out stuff instead of improving them. 
 
Kinda lazy of them.

I was more dissapointed by the annoying characters and terrible dialogue.
 
Mass Effect 1 may have been more of an RPG, but it wasn't necessarily a good one.

well thats fair enough, i loved the first one but felt the powers where less than perfect and i was happy they rectified my issue with ME1  but i was less than happy about the inventory stuff. i still prefer 2 over 1 though.

Bioware's idea of fixing the jank in the first game for the second was straight up making the second game into a third person shooter. So yeah, I was a bit disappointed as well.

Indubitably. Mass Effect 2 was a good game, but it wasn't exactly better than the first. It replaced the issues of the original with even more issues.

I kind of agree.
 
Without it's great characters and stories, ME2 is nothing but a mediocre shooter with boring level design (I mean schematically ... it's always a linear path with the occasial room on the side and when you see cover, enemies will spawn).

I thought the same thing when I first played. "Wait, where's my armor? Where are all my weapons? Where's my old crew?" I was pretty disappointed.
 
Now it's my favorite game. Ever. And I really, really mean that.

I don't think it has more combat than the first game. ME1 had _a lot_ of combat.  
I recommend playing one of the more advanced classes, like adept, on a high difficulty. That makes the combat very rewarding.

In mass effect 1 I would just end up with an inventory loaded up with shit I had to gel, and it made me spend too much time (hours) sitting around gelling things or going through EVERY single item to compare and contrast stats and vanity to find the 'perfect' stuff I wanted. None of that stuff matters, give me a great looking suit and cool weapons and stop giving me that crap stuff that looks the same but is 1 point higher in whatever, that's what Mass effect 2 allowed. You get into the story faster, easier and harder and that's what we are all here for, unless you have some weird need to compare tooltips for hours to get your jollies off. In that case there are a lot of games out there for you, but unless your a robot you should still be able to really enjoy the ride that ME2 and DA2 both provide while missing your item collecting/comparing obsession.

I can feel what yer saying but I thought inventory and itemization was so poorly done in the first that it was hard to miss it being gone in the second.
 
(...this better not be bumping some ol' April Fool's shit either)

" I can feel what yer saying but I thought inventory and itemization was so poorly done in the first that it was hard to miss it being gone in the second.  (...this better not be bumping some ol' April Fool's shit either) "

Why would you possibly think you could import your save from the 360 to your PC?

You can get new armor from the shops, I played the game twice and only found out the third time in.  Aside from that, ME2 is a really stripped down RPG that's more dialogue and shooting.  People really liked it though.

Well, the RPG is there in the form of... You know, role playing, but yeah, the traditional RPG elements are pretty thin.

Everything about the gameplay in ME1 is trash. If a "true" RPG means crappy shooting, clunky inventory, awful menus, shit vehicles, repetitive environments, and shoddy technical performance, then I do not want to play a "true" RPG. I have serious trouble understanding why anyone could prefer ME1 to ME2. 

While I wouldn't want every RPG or even Bioware to do it, I felt the changes really streamlined what they were going for in Mass Effect.  Cutting off a lot of the fat really presented with with what was basically an interactive action movie and I could focus on the parts the Bioware does well.  I wasn't slogging through page after page of useless inventory, fighting with the combat system, having to really pick and choose what I upgraded on each character etc. I was rolling through firefights, blasting away fools and giving out squad commands on the fly, and focusing on the story and making my mark in it.  I personally enjoyed them making a shooter with RPG mechanics, they needed to focus on one or the other and i think with this particular franchise they made the right choice. Of course this is only my opinion but I will say after playing through one again coming back to two was such a relief. Everything just felt effortless in a way i could appreciate and i got to the real meat and potatoes of the game, namely the epic space odyssey unfurling before me and learning all about the people who inhabit it. Honestly I could play games in that universe forever...we need more sci-fi! Mass Effect 2 is definitely one of my personal favorite games of all time and i am happy with the way it came out.

Yeah. I really missed the RPG-ness of the first game in ME2. While it was a good shooter and the characters were well done, I wasn't looking for a character driven shooter. I was looking for an RPG with a truly awesome story, like the first one. Plus, I love loot and the complaints about the inventory system in the first game kind of eludes me. I played through the game probably 4 or 5 times and really it never bothered me. I liked always getting new and better armor, weapons and ammo for my guys. I think I'm at the point where I know that Mass Effect 1 will remain my favorite game ever, unless something truly spectacular comes along. I don't have high hopes for ME3, although I will still buy it and play it. I just want closure I guess.
 
Bioware is streamlining their games and I think that ME1 will be their last great game, to me. I liked Origins enough but I found the combat terribly boring and the setting and story were so uninspired.

" I kind of agree.  Without it's great characters and stories, ME2 is nothing but a mediocre shooter with boring level design (I mean schematically ... it's always a linear path with the occasial room on the side and when you see cover, enemies will spawn). "

Upgrading armor pieces while being to change the color scheme was far more fun than finding tons of random, usually useless, ugly armor like in ME1.  
Dealing with lots of clutter and menu bullshit does not equal "intelligent gameplay" or "complexity". The changes made in ME2 were the right ones.

" Everything about the gameplay in ME1 is trash. If a "true" RPG means crappy shooting, clunky inventory, awful menus, shit vehicles, repetitive environments, and shoddy technical performance, then I do not want to play a "true" RPG. I have serious trouble understanding why anyone could prefer ME1 to ME2.  "

It was a good game, maybe not as good as all that hype but good none the less.

I don't understand how you could expect to be able to import your character cross platform. Is anything similar possible in any other games?
 
Anyway this game is my all time favorite. Loved every aspect of it.

" It was a good game, maybe not as good as all that hype but good none the less. "

" @big_jon said:

" It was a good game, maybe not as good as all that hype but good none the less. "

Thing is that it exceeded the hype. Everyone was blown away by it.  Well, most people atleast. "

" @HandsomeDevil said:

" Everything about the gameplay in ME1 is trash. If a "true" RPG means crappy shooting, clunky inventory, awful menus, shit vehicles, repetitive environments, and shoddy technical performance, then I do not want to play a "true" RPG. I have serious trouble understanding why anyone could prefer ME1 to ME2.  "

Pretty much this. I loved everything about Mass Effect 1 except for when you actually had to play it. "

While I was playing it Mass Effect 2 seemed like one of the best games ever. The more I've thought about it in the wake of beating it, and the more I try to play through the game a second time, the worse I feel about it. They completely killed the replayability compared to ME1. Sure, the characters were likeable, the writing was sharp and the setting was interesting, but the combat was just too bland, the level design was too rigid and predictable, and the final boss was too...stupid.
 
Bottom line, I love RPGs. My two favourite games of all-tme are Oblivion and Dragon Age: Origins. RPGs are my thing. So when they took a game I loved (ME1) and stripped away the RPG mechanics, it hit a sour spot with me. There are tons of generic third person shooters, and not enough quality RPGs. ME2 might have been the best third person shooter I've ever played, but it just wasn't enough of an RPG. The RPG aspects of ME1 weren't perfect, but they were there.

Oh this is one of those April Fool's joke right?