Mass Effect 2
Game » consists of 21 releases. Released Jan 26, 2010
After a violent death by an unknown force and a timely reanimation by the human supremacist organization Cerberus, Commander Shepard must assemble a new squad in the seedier side of the galaxy for a suicide mission in the second installment of the "Mass Effect" trilogy.
Do you actually Roleplay your Shepard make him have flaws?
Often in RPG discussion and on this forum I see people saying "I'm playing Paragon, or Renegade" then they go through and min/max the choices for the "best" game or Shepard. Anyone try to take a more realistic approach?
For example my Shepard can be a ruthless cold bastard to people outside of his crew, but still for the most obvious situations he does have heart. He won't let that Quarian go into battle only to be slaughtered, and he makes sure that stoned Volus got some help. Though get in his way your getting pushed out a window. He's a great guy to his crew, helping them if they need it but still flawed and doesn't always make the right choices. I figured a "real" Shepard wouldn't have time to help everyone with there problems, so while you miss out on a few side missions and it caused some guys to get smoked in the end mission it was cool to think that he wasn't perfect.
Of course it's fun to play a "perfect game" to see verything, but I'm going to take my flawed Shepard into ME:3... anyone else?
I didn't roleplay, I played myself. What did I want to do/say in that situation. That's how I played.
" I didn't roleplay, I played myself. What did I want to do/say in that situation. That's how I played. "This, always, for first playthrough. Second playthrough I'm the asshole that kicks people out windows &chooses whichever dialogue option I find most amusing
I think I actually did.
In mass effect 1, I initially tried to go all out renegade but then there were some options where I just couldn't. So I chose whatever felt "right" for my shepard according to how she started off. That's why I like that they got rid of the paragon/renegade achievements in mass effect 2, cause now I can keep doing that without thinking (damn, I need 2-3 more big choices before the end to get either one of the achievements - in ME1, I literally got the renegade achievement with the final decision in the game since my para/ren points were so balanced out over the game)
For my second playthrough, I made a FemShep (Full renegade cause badass Jennifer Hale is badass) and decided to make her the polar opposite of my male Shepard who is full paragon. For the sequel I still played with renegade in mind for pretty much most of the game until when I finally decided to be nice when talking to my teammates. Now she has full renegade as well as over half paragon. It's like my FemShep has gradually changed her personality from ridiculous badass to ridiculous badass with a heart. Much like Sten from Dragon Age: Origins. The entire game then feels like a journey where she gets to know her crew more, much like in how the teammates open up to Shepard when they initiate deeper conversations. I'm definitely going to try balance her in Mass Effect 3 so that she's not just pure evil or pure good.
I generally play nice but sometimes the Renegade stuff looks too awesome, and I go that direction. But I usually play one that leans good and one that leans bad. I'm re-playing both Mass Effect 1 & 2 right now as a mean lady shepherd. Very fun being the tough chic, kicking ass and taking names. ;)
Yes in the first one my Shepard was very virtuous but in number two as the situation he was in got more and more desperate and became much more morally ambiguous to complete the tasks he needed to ie: Helping torturer that guy in the Garrus loyalty misson, killing that bar tender who tries to poison you, shooting through that hostages arm to kill the Spectre in Lair of the Shadow Broker ect. I think the Mass Effect story is set up to make Shepard more morally conflicted as the series goes on.
I think Bioware should take the whole paragon/renegade system out of ME 3, it forces players to min/max if they want to complete certain missions or resolve arguements. It's boring going through the whole game and not being allowed to press RT and kick a dude out a window because my 'Renegade' score will go up. Leave the speech options so I can say what I would say but not be punished for it.
" I didn't roleplay, I played myself. What did I want to do/say in that situation. That's how I played. "I concur.
This is how I play my 1st playthrough in games like this. After that I'll do all evil and all good." I didn't roleplay, I played myself. What did I want to do/say in that situation. That's how I played. "
@Jonny7892 said:
"I think Bioware should take the whole paragon/renegade system out of ME 3, it forces players to min/max if they want to complete certain missions or resolve arguements. It's boring going through the whole game and not being allowed to press RT and kick a dude out a window because my 'Renegade' score will go up. Leave the speech options so I can say what I would say but not be punished for it.
"
I totally disagree with this. Just because you forcefully ruin the game for yourself doesn't mean they should remove it. Just stop ruining the game for yourself. You've got the power to control how much or how little you ruin the game for yourself. Exercise a little self-control.
I don't really role play.
Just sometimes I think "WWMSD" (What Would My Shepard Do). And decide on an action.
Generally ends up being Paragon.
I just make a Renegade character on the 2nd run.
I played Shepard in the way I thought she would think it necessary to protect the galaxy. Not necessarily the way I would. Lady Shepard is way more of a hardass than I am, I could tell that as soon as I loaded her up into the original Mass Effect and she raised her eyebrow and frowned angrily at the report from Eden Prime. I built an image of what she respected, and what she wouldn't tolerate, and went from there.
Shepard is Shepard, Shepard ain't me. I played Dragon Age and both of the Fallout games with the player character as my avatar, but Mass Effect is Shepard's story and I'm merely guiding her through it. Dragon Age II will be Hawke's story, and I'll guide... probably him, through it. Depends on who voice acts Lady Hawke. If it's Jennifer Hale, then fuck yeah Lady Hawke.
"I picked the blue options. "
This man ruined this thread in the way it needed to be ruined.
It's a game, the games programmed to look at wiether you're being good or bad. Middle ground means little.
I roleplayed my Shep. My Shepard's personality can be distilled as "servant of the innocent first and judge, jury, and executioner to the guilty second." Basically, I picked the blue option until I was sure that the person was guilty. Once sure of wrong doing, I shot the person in the face.
I don't really roleplay it, but I do have a very clear arc for my main Shepard that I'm pretty comfortable with, going from ME1 to ME2 and it's one of the reason I'm excited for ME3. He has weaknesses, fears, vices, prejudices, hopes, and all that. While reconciling my Shepard's outlook and the way he does things with my Completionist self is a bit challenging, I feel like, from the way I've made him, and the way his story is going, I've never really had a problem. I consider myself more of the Director than anything.
So kind of, I guess.
I played as heelish as possible in the hope that his face would eventually fall off to reveal a Terminator skull. Also, pushing guys out of a window.
Kind of hard to roleplay when your only options are to be a dick or a saint.
This isn't exactly a deep RPG here folks.
I tried taking a more nuanced approach the first time through ME1, being ruthless when it mattered (sacrificing the Council, killing the Rachni, etc.), but not just being a dick for the sake of it. IIRC I still ended up being a "Paragon" at the end playing like that, which annoyed me. Playing ME1 (& later ME2) on PC I just went straight Renegade/Dick.
The whole Paragon/Renegade system and the mechanics surrounding it are hands down the worst thing about Mass Effect, because they actively discourage role playing. Those mechanics made sense in the Star Wars universe (KOTOR) and in a fairytale setting (Fable) -where people are either 'Good' or 'Evil'- but the Mass Effect universe is less black & white than that. The system doesn't fit with the universe.
The whole thing pisses me off.
Personally I'd prefer they didn't have achievements AT ALL for how you choose to do things (even if it is like ME2 where you can max either) because it still encourages you to lean more to one side. I realise this is an entirely personal problem and I could solve it by not caring about achievements but I'm addicted to those stupid fucking things, they're the bane of my gaming. The only positive I can think of for achievements is that they get you to finish things you otherwise wouldn't, or do things you otherwise wouldn't. They also seem to sway the Giantbomb editors on certain things, like Pacman DX's being so easy, which is debatably bad.
I also don't like the blue and red labels which lead to people just robotically choosing the same every time. For a game that emphasises YOUR choices and YOUR story, the idea of someone just saying, "I pick the blue options," is entirely hilarious, which I assume was intended by TheSeductiveMoose. Wouldn't it be better to use your own understanding of what is right and wrong (or paragon/renegade if you prefer) than to just accept whatever Bioware tells you is good or bad?
First playthrough, paragon. Second playthrough, Renegade. Third playthrough, I base his morals on my own.
Yeah, I did. In Mass Effect, I killed all of the colonists on Feros when they were under the influence of the Thorian. I thought about it logically from Duke Shepard's point of view. I said, "okay, they will be trying to kill me, and anybody who shoots at me, is done. What if the Thorian's control extends beyond the current subversive effect? They might be gone forever." This is how I played that. I also killed the Asari trapped in the Thorian, because she did help it, and I did not feel I could let her walk away.
But, in Mass Effect 2, I still had a chance to help Feros in a more positive way by convincing the lady to forbid all of the unnecessary testing they were undergoing. So, even though he didn't necessarily do what he wanted, he did what he had to, to survive, and he at least gained a little bit of redemption in the end.
I actually don't play all of my Shepards like this, but this is the one that I wanted to play through a specific way.
Anyway, I played pretty much straight through as Paragon, but I couldn't pass up the option of kicking the merc out of that window. I prefer DA's Party Approval system to Mass Effect's more black/white morality system though.
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