Mass Alex: Episode 19

FINISH

THE

FIGHT

Hope Alex does LotSB after finishing the Main game it narratively feels more natural IMO and considering he has another party member to get I hope he goes after the Reaper IFF sooner than later otherwise he’ll have to twiddle his thumbs until their loyalty mission. Granted I get the feeling this series is all ready in the can with E3 looming so it’s too late.

This series also reminded me how poorly they handle the last party member , they show up way too late in the game and during a risky time and the DLC doesn’t add any new party audio, I’m surprised I developed such affinity for them in hindsight.

Episode 19

And we are in filler episode already

@awkwardl0ser: You can play LotSB whenever. I ME2 recently and did Shadow Broker in the middle of the story, it works just fine narratively.

I’m so excited for that last party member!!!

I love these fusing episodes. Having mini-podcasts accompanying the planet-scanning screensaver is very relaxing.

I got braces as an adult, and didn’t know that after they came off the orthodontist wanted me to wear plastic retainers at night indefinitely. But it didn’t take long till I got used to them, and now it feels weird sleeping without them in. It also prevents tooth grind while sleeping which a problem people often develop as they age.

Remember how long planet scanning took at launch before they patched it? Also the last party member was my series favorite.

if I remember correctly Kelly would feed your fish, but only if you go down her romance path. Like not all the way, I think.

Wait, is it just me or did Alex accidentally select to save the industrial zone and blow up the people in the residential zone?

Still, didnt seem important. Weren't even paragon/renegade points associated with it!

....do you think they know they don't need any more resources (other than maybe element zero) by now?

On the other hand, having planet scanning playing in the background is quite soothing.

EDIT: I really hope they know that story wise, the Arrival DLC is best left until after the ending.

Can save the Galaxy, but not a handful of fish.

At least the sushi last night was pretty good.

MY FISH!

Alex is the new "MY CABBAGES" guy.

@waxedpaper: It's only if you are nice to her in the beginning. If you say "Let's keep it professional" (which Alex did) the option is no longer available.

That's what I like about these episodes, getting to hear about Alex's 30 year old tv-watching snake.

Oh man, that Heavy Weapons moment had me crying from laughing so hard!

I might be wrong about this, but it might be a good idea to leave one side mission open before the IFF. There's one more team member missing and their loyalty mission won't trigger until after one mission...if there are no more missions left, you can't do that loyalty mission. But please correct me in case I have the wrong idea.

Man, I hope Alex is nicer to Traynor in ME3 than he was to Kelly in this game.

@squirrelbait: He definitely let the residential district die. That was a shamefully bad menu where A doesn't actually select the option you have highlighted.

@alex: i might be talking out of my ass, but I believe i read some time ago, that after shedding, the snake's old skin can be treated with some chemical, to allow you to use in arts&craft, like a wallet. What if when Jake died, you could preserve him buy using all the skin he shed during the years to make yourself a little purse or coin case.

I bet Alex will be as ecstatic about the fish feeding VI in Mass Effect 3, since his fish died, as much as I was.

Vinny's such a great co-pilot, taking Alex's mind off of his fish by asking questions about Jake for 6 minutes.

@b_glad: every time they post one of these, I ctrl + f search for the name to see if someone mentions him meeting it

The Hammerhead looks like a robot face with ears, eyes, and a mouth. Once you see it you can't unseen it.

Guys. only the Firewalker stuff was DLC. All those random short missions were part of the base game. There are also a bunch of missions hidden in the 0% systems you guys are just ignoring.

@cimpy: For real! This last party member is probably my favorite character in the series.

Apparently, according to google, Gopher Snakes typically live 12-15 years, but the oldest lived to 33 in captivity.

Jake may break the record!!!

If there are no more missions left, you must speak to the team member before going to the galaxy map. Otherwise, as soon as you go into the map a cutscene happens and you get screwed out of the chance to do the loyalty mission.

Can someone more talented than me please draw young Alex and Jake sitting on the couch watching Beavis and Butt-Head together?

Assuming it's the right breed (Pacific gopher snake), Alex isn't kidding when he says it's an old snake:

The Pacific gopher snake is observed to live twelve to fifteen years in the wild. The oldest known individual lived over thirty-three years in captivity.

@squirrelbait: Yeah, the way the menu is set up, the (A) button selects the Spaceport to be spared, while (B) saves the residential area. It's extremely bad.

Vehicle platforming.

No one learned anything from Blaster Master.

Press F to fish

You acquired The Golden Scale.

Shep Shep. Destroyer of... districts.

I'm so salty about Franklin being a moon of Watson.

Whoever designed the "Residential or Spaceport" UI should be fired.

Out of a cannon.

Into the sun.

In my headcanon that Batarian fiendishly messed with the controls as a last ditch effort to screw with Shepard.

has vinny ever posted a pic of his fish???

@alex Yes, you should check the advanced training to replace that flashbang. =]

Makhaira

https://youtu.be/nGKatCAQed0

I dunno if Vinny or Alex peruse these comments, but if I may make a suggestion: Do Lair of the Shadow Broker next or very soon. Without spoilers: you get some very distinct, very cool benefits from finishing it that are much more useful the earlier you do them. Personally I would argue LotSB fits best in the game if you do it pretty much immediately on meeting Liara for the first time.

As someone that hasn't played ME2 before, at this point I feel like I've lost all connection to whatever the crux of the story was. I'm not entirely sure why Shepard is doing the things she's doing now or what the stakes are; any sense of urgency or purpose faded away after the first few missions.

The 'assembling the team' framework it's using is obviously very common throughout fiction, but I think that type of story requires especially shrewd attention to pacing to prevent all those character story vignettes and world-building from derailing the narrative.

@hughj: Mass Effect 2 is best looked at as more of a season of a television show than a film, and in that sense more of a Deadwood narratively than a Breaking Bad. The praise for Mass Effect 2 doesn't come from its plot but rather its characters and dialogue.

@hughj: In addition to what Nodima said, I wonder if the DLC hurts the pacing of the A-plot as well. I had a similar experience with LA Noire, the DLC cases were spread throughout the story and made it feel overly long and drawn-out.

yes I also kept my teeth from they needed to be removed for braces. all EIGHT of them!

50% planet scanning and 50% firewalker missions. I guess the series had to have a low point and it makes sense to cram it all into a single episode.

I once kept a fully intact garter snake skin tacked by the tail onto my wall for 15 years. It barely deteriorated and would flap in the wind...