I just finished ME2 the other day and it left me with a strange bitter aftertaste. Did I spend 40+ hours just rounding up my team for a short end mission? I know I sound picky since the game is extremely well made in every aspect. But the story was so weak I can barely remember it (cockroach aliens kidnaps humans, stop them... is that it? Sounds like a bad episode of Dr. Who).

The character drama was great. The moral choices were fine. The action was satisfying. The RPG elements were sparse (at best).

So am I crazy for thinking ME1 was a more fun game? It had a much more fleshed out story with a couple of great twists that made sure that not only the beginning and the end mattered.

(I know. The gameplay wasn't that great. But it was good enough).

It's simply a matter of structure. I thought of ME2 as a heist movie and everything was great for me, though it is normal not everyone gets in on it.

Trust me you're not alone.

I liked ME2, I did. I think it's a great game. I had the same feeling you did. I really was kinda stupefied that I spent the whole game recruiting these people who I more or less could have just ran into the Collector Base when I felt like it. Granted, I waited until I got everybody before starting on the loyalty missions to get maximum time with them but still, loyalty missions weren't really all that main story-centric, they just had to be done if I wanted my crew not dead. I mean, I cared and everything but they were to be done outside the main storyline. I know it was strange back in ME1 where upon landing on the Citadel they basically dump your entire team on you in the time span of an hour but that at least got them out of the way so they could focus on tracking down Saren with the character-specific missions popping up after some time.

In any case, aside from a few new ones, ME3 should have your crew all set and ready now and should be able to focus on whatever it is we're going to do.

Opinions are pretty crazy things.

the true ending for ME2 imo was the Shadow Broker DLC.

@niamahai: 
I hope I can get Shadow Broker for the PC version, then.

Yes. They have to conclude each story for the characters. If not during the game, then at least in some massive end scene.

@OmegaChosen:
I'm affraid Bioware uses the recruitments as filler for every game they make and I don't think ME3 will be any different. My guess, the team splits up, again, and you have to recruit them all, again.

I just hope we get served a little more twists and turns with the main story this time.

All I really remember about Mass Effect was that I was on a dozen different planets that were pretty much the same except some have streams of lava while others are covered in snow and then there's a galaxy-wide chase after a Spectre-gone-rogue who owns the biggest ship in the universe. To be honest I was never really impressed by the story of Mass Effect. However, I do love it the same reason I love Mass Effect 2; the choices are personal, the characters are well developed and the Mass Effect universe is populated by a rich sense of history that I can be fully immersed in.

ME was a reminder of KOTOR for me. ME2 had better combat and seemed to be its own game, though at times I felt the game was a little bit linear. also, the fact each of the women had a personality was nice, considering having sex with them all actually felt like it meant something this time around :)

"

@OmegaChosen:
I'm affraid Bioware uses the recruitments as filler for every game they make and I don't think ME3 will be any different. My guess, the team splits up, again, and you have to recruit them all, again.

I just hope we get served a little more twists and turns with the main story this time.

"

What? Which game has recruitment as filler? Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 give you a full team pretty much from the start, NWN barely had anything resembling a team, in Mass Effect every team member is encountered as the plot enfolds, Dragon Age doesn't even pressure you to assemble a team, giving only a few mandatory team members in every game and allowing you to kill off most of them (the only required guys are Alistair, Oghren and Morrigan in Origins, in Awakening you meet everyone anyways, in Two it's just Varric, Merrill and Aveline, arguably Anders).

Mass Effect 2 is the only one that has something like that, but the difference is it's not filler, it's the game's core.

Gathering characters IS the story. And yes the overall story isn't the greatest, but people who only do the main quests shouldn't be judging the game since they decide not to play a lot of it.

"@OmegaChosen:

I'm affraid Bioware uses the recruitments as filler for every game they make and I don't think ME3 will be any different. My guess, the team splits up, again, and you have to recruit them all, again.

I just hope we get served a little more twists and turns with the main story this time."

You have an opinion that differs from the popular one? Yep, crazy, send him off to the loony bin.

You are not alone. The overarching story in ME2 is much weaker than in the original. The best part of the game is the characters that you meet. Hopefully Bioware can end the series with a bang by making ME3 have a strong and engaging plot.

Fully agree. ME1 did everything way better.

@Ghostiet:
I realize "filler" was a badly chosen word so I take it back. Bioware uses the different character threads to flesh out the universe and make you feel more invested in the story. This doesn't always work, in my opinion, making it feel more like unnecessary obstructions.

But whatever your opinion on recruiting party members, I don't think ME3 will be completely free from it. That was my point to begin with.

Trust me half the ppl likes the story in mass effect better. They only like mass effect 2 for having way more missions.

MAD, MAD I SAY!

ME1 felt way more epic, way more grand.

And really deserving of the words "space opera"!

You'd be correct, I love the game, but I freaking hate some of the loyalty missions, and really, despite what people might say, you pretty much have to do them, otherwise you miss out on XP and upgrades you'd otherwise never get. I mean how many of these characters had family or daddy related issues? Really think about it? Jacob hates his dad, Miranda hates her dad, Thane's son hates him,Tali has daddy issues, Jack is insane and has abandonment and childhood issues, Samara has daughter issues, and the only other characters worth a damn are Grunt, who is genetically engineered and therefore is awesome, Garrus is basically the Red Hood,  Zaeed, who has a grudge against someone who shot him, and Kasumi, who has a grudge against the crimelord that wasted her boyfriend. Legion doesn't really count because hes found so late in the game, not to take away from how cool he was.

I love Thane, Garrus, Tali, Grunt, Legion, Samara and Kasumi, but lets face it....the fate of the galaxy is at stake, and Shepard is not Ricki Lake...why am I leading the charge against an cybernetic horde of super-ships with a team that makes Delta Squad from GoW look professional? It just seems like a bit of a waste, earning the respect of people who are mostly useless to you, most of whom are just being hired/ordered to go with you....

Ehh the story is ok, I enjoyed conversing with the teammates in ME 2 more than anything else.

ME 1 is a superior game in every way.

I just finished my renegade play though of ME1 and damn if that game is not pure fun. The story in ME1 was better than the second. Virmire and Ilos are still a fucking marvel to play through each time.

Opinions are pretty crazy things.

I'm going to be picking up the DLC very, very soon. I just need to get around to it is all. But yes, the ending of the game itself before DLC was a little anti-climatic. Not as anti climatic has Halo 3 was....but still, a bit unrewarding. I felt the same way. I spent 20 hours building a team, just to walk into a ship, down a couple things, walk out and call it a day. I wasn't playing for an in depth story, but social aspects. There is a load of social stuff among the other characters that I enjoyed in the first game so much.