Mass Alex: Mass Effect 2 - Part 23

Can't wait to watch ?

Can't wait for Alex's reaction to ME3's opening and first two arcs.

Edit: Alex, if you hadn't upgraded, the small cutscenes showing crew members doing things (like Kasumi at the engine core), would've resulted in said randomly chosen crew member dying.

Edit2: Suicide mission: Samara isn't a good team leader. She's had centuries of experience as a loner, but not as a team leader. An aside, spoiler text is white on off-white now for some reason and is completely readable through the white block. You could always restart the mission or use a save editor, but I will say I've never gone through ME3 without that character, so it'll be interesting to see.

Edit3: Watching the reaper larva fight I'm reminded how easily Infiltrators cheese that fight by Cloak -> Widow -> repeat. Also Alex never equipped Grunt's special shotgun or Legion's special sniper rifle :( .

Edit4: Alex, the Reaper profile that Joker handed you was of Harbinger, as in that final cutscene Harbinger releases control of the Collector leader, revealing that Harbinger was a Reaper all along. Hence all that "pain is an illusion."

Also the deaths work out like this:

See edit 1 for upgrade deaths. Tech specialist dies if wrong team leader is chosen. Team leader dies if wrong tech specialist is chosen. Biotic specialist dies if wrong biotic specialist. Team leader dies if wrong team leader chosen. Crew will only die if character chosen to lead them back is not loyal, will also lead to non loyal character death. If you take too long on the pre-boss fight fighting, Mordin then Tali then Kasumi then the next squishiest crew member goes until you run out or finish the fighting. If the party you take with you on the final fight are not loyal, they die from the fall after the larva fight. If everybody is dead by the time Shepard has to make the jump, then Shepard dies (game continues, obviously save can't continue into ME3). Ship crew can also die if you do more than 2 missions after they get taken.

What a season, what a season. <3

RIP....

If there’s a live action Mass Effect, Kanye West will play Jacob

Gb e content > gb w content

Gonna call death by wrestling mg technician and wrong biotic shielder

So Samara was not a good choice as fire team leader. When picking her you focused too much on the "experience" aspect and not enough on the "leadership" aspect. Samara was always a loner.

IDK what Alex is getting at with Joker & EDI he’s literally shipping a ship. Like come on duder how are they gonna “start fuck’n” as you claim!? ??‍♀️

The thumbnail choice is [chef's kiss]. I know he's not everybody's cup of tea, but Joker was always one of my favorite characters in the series, and that sequence got a real laugh out of me.

I still find it jarring though when you see him just hop out of his chair. Sure he has to limp but I always felt the game portrayed Joker as being far more crippled. I guess a MGS4-style crawling sequence across the Normandy would've been less enjoyable, though.

It's so weirdly frustrating seeing somebody play a game like this without save scumming when something goes poorly, but I gotta respect it.

BTW @vinny@alex I think the answer to your mystery is it's a combination of who you picked to lead the other team and whether you choose "Hurry up" or "Hold position" when the door is being closed.

(Edit) Correction: apparently it has nothing to do with the hold/hurry option, and is entirely because of your choice of Samara to lead the other team.

@seventytwotransformations: does west do full lets plays like east? I hadn’t realized this until this moment but i feel like west does competitive stuff, one offs, and weekly legacy shows. But my most fond memories are the endurance runs or the breaking brads where they did full runs.

What a twist, i was so pro Legion and trying to keep everyone alive i was shocked my decision lead to a a Tali suicide in 3

@wiseblood:

yeah you have to take team members personalities and experiences into account. This is where all your talking to team members pay-off. Samara is experienced but not in leading a team whereas you know garrus was leading his group on Omega and Miranda led an entire project for cerberus.

The phrasing for picking team leader was awful. That's on Bioware not Alex. The people they want you to pick for 'inspiring' and 'experienced' lol. The dialogue should have talked up tactical and military experience and team leadership and Alex would have got it. He got all 3 for tech expert when they were clear about what they were asking him.

Now he needs to reload his save or ME3 is gonna be a bummer.

Why does Shepard's techno-visor display say "SHEPARD" on it

The last time I was this early, Liara was still being romanced! :O

A jest, a jape.

It’s been a good 6 years did they...change things about the mission because it doesn’t add up in parts?

Oh I get it, seems weird to mention Samara’s experience on her pick sheet and still make her a bad choice?

How did they lose Tali? I know I always send her into the shafts, was it Samara as the Fireteam-Leader? I never picked her, I always picked Garrus?

God, I forgot about the stupid "we're just gonna get on the shuttle to nowhere so we can be conveniently off the Normandy" plot device.

Just saying, it would be totally cool with me if you loaded an old save so you could have Tali back... >_>

@seventytwotransformations: pretty sure samara is a bad leader choice because her background is that of a loner.

So for Tali stuff to post further down the page. Tali can only be romanced in 2 by a male Shepard, obviously this can continue in 3, but not started in 3. Same with Garrus, though by a female Shepard. If neither of them are romanced in 2, then they get together in 3. Tali is pretty important to the plot of the second arc, so again, it'll be interesting to see a run without her there (unless you edit the save, cough).

Make sure to have the new human crew member in 3 do all the tech work, it won't kill them I promise (it is a real goofy scene that almost no one sees).

@alex You finished a mission, so Legion has more to say to you. Every party member was originally supposed to be recruitable from the first act, but it got changed at some point before release. You can mod the game to have Legion in your party from after Freedom's Progress on, and he has dialogue for every mission (as does every party member), so he acts like every party member in that you finish a mission -> talk to party member about themselves until they run out of dialogue. It is especially interesting taking Legion with you on both Tali's recruitment mission and loyalty mission.

@curiosus: No.

The game said experience in leading, not just experience.

Vinny was too nice to tell Alex he fucked up,plain and simple

EDIT

Correction, Miranda says someone who can "command loyalty through experience"

The menu then says "Choose a leader".

People who skip dialogue or don't pay attention get what they get.

God, the wording for the fireteam leader is so bad and it STILL makes me fucking mad. I had that same experience as Alex (picking Samara and getting my tech person killed) and had to look up what went wrong (and reload), especially because the cutscene makes it seem like the tech fucked up, not the fireteam person which is bizarre.

I know they want this to be a "pure" experience, but that whole situation is such garbage that I don't mind them going back for it. It always felt weird that the Cerberus people are the "right" choice since it always seemed like nobody liked them.

@epidehl: IIRC Miranda is actually a bad choice for the biotic part, despite her saying she can do it. She is a capable team leader though.

It has been a while since I played, but I think it was Tali/Legion/Kasumi for tech specialist, Garrus/Jacob/Miranda for team leader, and Jack/Samara/Morinth for biotic specialist.

Chart for who lives/dies in the Suicide Mission:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/dILld.jpg

"I actually forgot what we're doing right now."

"You're blowing up the Collectors base."

"But what are we DOING?"

"Ah, just shoot bad guys."

And that is, ladies and gentlemen, the ME2 story in a nutshell.

Also. Samara is basically a loner Space-Templar. She is experienced, but not an experienced *leader.* I think that's where it went wrong.

Sorry about your loss, Alex. Fwiw, I'd absolutely be fine with you using a save editor after this.

mad as heck

Can't wait for "Mass Effect 2: The Search for Tali"

Seriously, re-do this episode, I can't accept this.

@alex I know save-scum = bad, but I'm unofficially starting the petition for a re-do. You really need that character in 3 for some of the best story developments... :(

@beachthunder: The chart is a little bit off because you can definitely do 1 mission before going through the relay without losing half your crew.

I can't believe people are saying he should save scum or save editor this. Come on people, live with your choices. What's the point of making decisions if you're just gonna go back and change them. Would make the playthrough a lot less fun imo.

Maybe an imperfect playthrough will be entertaining, having played these games so many times I have no idea how the geth/quarian stuff will play out in 3 without Tali.

Also even a massive fan like me will admit reaper terminator is dumb. Welcome to the 2010 discourse Alex and a great job on the playththrough!

Feels like this is one of those situations where playing for an audience and recording changes things. In their privacy, who could really resist reloading until they get it right?

Does anyone know what happens in ME3 now? They're simply short one of their main squad members? Kept wishing they would reload, but maybe it's a more interesting watch to see a version not many of us got to see. It's already going to be curious for me to see Kaidan alive.

Stuff here is really gonna gate out some of the good plot things from 3. Suicide mission parameters really should have been better laid out instead of just the "I feel this..." kinda descriptions they chose.

Especially when Miranda says how awesome your wrong choice is.

@kaddion: Legion's loyalty mission is allowed if you do it immediately by talking to him, you can't touch anything else.

@ciddative: 'Command loyalty through experience' is a terrible phrase. Miranda and Jacob are still barely trusted by other crewmembers, Jack and alien crew who still see them as Cerberus. Jack was vocal about not trusting Miranda during the meeting. Its asking for something that isn't there, when it just wants experienced team leaders/tacticians. The implication you are left with is Jack is right.

@curiosus: I've definitely done Tali's and Legion's loyalty missions back-to-back with both of them in the party with everyone living. Not sure if the crew got taken in-between the missions, however.

@reaveybeach: I understand where you're coming from, though I also understand the others' feelings on the matter, as she is one of your party in 3. I also think something may not be possible without her, but I can't remember and would still be willing to see it without her around.

As this is my primary way of experiencing these games, I share Alex´s MAD-ness.

The descriptors used in each case were fairly clear, if given a moment's thought. I will grant you the Miranda line was a real stinker though.

If the crew's experiences began when they joined Shepard. you'd be right. But Miranda Jacob and Garrus clearly had experience of command years before Shepard was revived.

A decision to pick Samara based off the short time she's been on the Normandy would be even more ludicrous than the above.

Doesn't matter who lives or dies. ME3 is just bad either way.

I fully support loading an old save. I beat this game for the first time last year and used a guide the whole way for the suicide mission and have never regretted that decision. I cannot imagine playing 3 with literally anyone dead, it would feel so off. Especially someone as important as Tali.

At least now they get to move on to the best game in the series. ;)

And now we get Arrival too. Possibly my favorite DLC just because of the last scene in it.

If almost anyone else but Garrus and Tali died, I’d want Alex to continue with the save. But losing either of them really impacts ME3 in a negative way

Alex, please, for the love of god, use the cover mechanic in 3. It's driving me insane how you try to hover around corners.

Congrats on completing the main story Alex, that was a shame about Tali, she was my love interest for my male Shep in my original playthrough.

I assumed someone was going to die as soon as you picked Samara to be the first squad leader, she's a lone wolf after all, turns out it's automatically the tech specialist.

I was on edge for this entire mission, because I completely forgot who is good for which job. That fucking fakeout death got me as bad as Alex.

@reaveybeach:I'm cool with them sticking with this outcome, but I dunno about it being "more fun". Essentially every death here makes for a more boring playthrough of ME3, especially when it's missing out on thousands of lines of dialogue from one of the best characters in the franchise, and one of Alex's favourites to boot. I'm pretty sure most people would have reloaded in his case.

@ciddative: You aren't replying to what I said at all, just as you are ignoring what Miranda asks for. Yes its clear if you sit and think for a few minutes who the game really wants and is asking. Yes we know those characters are the team leaders. But what you get asked to pick by Miranda is people able to command loyalty and Jack immediately shows that Miranda can't do that because she's still not trusted and neither is Jacob. Its a pretty big mislead, maybe Alex should have slowed down and mulled it over, but it comes immediately after the game is crystal clear about what it wants when asking for a tech expert. Its bad writing and bad game design.

@reaveybeach: I would barely agree with you if Alex were given enough understanding of the consequences of his choices so he could properly make an informed choice. But still just barely. Even then, games are way less fun when A) favorite characters are killed and B) entire gameplay sections of sequels are completely inaccessible (literally removing the potential for more fun).

Some of us only play games like this once with no plans to do multiple playthroughs for the sake of making different choices. Alex has gone out of his way and added way more episodes to this series in the name of "100%-ing" the game and seeing everything that it has to offer in a single run, including the best possible outcomes and every conceivable dialog branch. To have an otherwise perfect run tarnished at the very end by one bad blindfolded decision is frustrating, not fun.

Not everybody gets enjoyment out of "living with consequences". Some of us prefer the optimal experience and nothing less.