Mass Effect 2 Editorials
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However, for me Mass Effect got it all wrong. Naming everything the same with a different number on the end? B..o..r..i..n..g. Fable 2 was a confusing mess of items that was near impossible to sort, sift through, prioritize or work out what the hell was of worth or what was useless and it took forever just to get to that screen. BioWare is the holder of the inventory-Holy Grail (well, a wooden goblet or something, until I find something that is genuinely fantastic) in the shape of KOTOR's swag and booty organizer, so I really was hoping for something special from Mass Effect 2. This expectation was heightened further as the original Mass Effect suffered a lot of criticism for its sub-par inventory system, so I thought it would be an area that BioWare would have been keen to improve.
The shocking news is that Mass Effect 2 employs the worst system of item procurement and management I have ever seen. Even Dead Space, a survival horror title, got the basics right. It lets you choose which stuff to loot, where to keep it, whether to sell it, which parts to upgrade and so on, and that is not a game I would call an RPG or even necessarily requires an inventory. Mass Effect lets you pick up odds and ends some Element Zero here, a weapon upgrade there, but it is all rendered meaningless by a complete hands-off, don't touch approach from Bioware. There is no real on-planet exploring to do, and there are no unique or awesome items to find that aren't relegated to some type of upgrade status. There isn't even an inventory menu.
Couldn't agree more. And then we have an article on why Mass Effect 2 is barely an RPG on Everyday Gamers (thanks, RPGWatch):
One of the big things that bothers me about role playing featured in Mass Effect 2 is the way the game lets you know the moral standings of your responses. I understand it's a video game and can only fit so many options for dialog choices, but do they really have to be organized? One of the best features of Heavy Rain is the way you actually get to decide what your character is going to say next, without the game telegraphing the reactions. Mass Effect literally colors your big decisions into evil or good options. You don't get the opportunity to weigh options and decide for yourself; the game tells you what is good and what is evil. The second you see the organization and color of those choices, your personal opinion has been totally compromised.
Maybe you had an opinion of what was right and wrong. It no longer matters; you still have to choose between sinner and saint. What if you happen to disagree with the options? Where's the fun in having every choice's results revealed to you in advance? Taking away the colors and organization would force the player to make a personal decision and would exponentially increase the feeling of weight of your choice following a decision. If all three options were presented on a completely even keel, then the decision would truly be in the players' hands and not biased by any external factors, making it their own. I'd love to see the person who flew threw Mass Effect 2 do it over again fresh, without the options sorted out for him or her. I'll bet their game gets played a lot differently. This time it would be more reflective of their own personality.
