Hello to fellow N4G-ers. This is my very first time of blogging, and since gaming one of my favourite topic of conversation, I thought very first blog should be about gaming. I’m sure I’ll be making mistakes first time here, so feel free to comment, criticize, and spew vulgarities to me, so I can improve on my blogging skills. For my ideas to come, I’ll be using codenames I create myself, and if somehow, Bioware miraculously take my ideas, hopefully they can come up with better names.
I remember just a back two months ago, I was eager to get my hands on a copy of Mass Effect 2. I can’t believe that time passes by so fast, and I was already done with the story mode. While it’s generally agreed upon that Mass Effect 2 is a brilliant game, fans of the original are torn on the new direction taken in the sequel. Some lauded the move of trimming the fat of the original and improving upon the combat as a good move, the hardcore RPG fans on the other hand was disappointed over how the game was oversimplified, to the point that even I admit, it’s just not an RPG anymore, it’s just another shooter with RPG elements. I consider this as one of the major problems of Mass Effect 2, as it divided the fans of this series. Hence, I have suggestions that would help with this issue as well as other improvements that can be made.
Gameplay Mode
The thing is, why not, rather than having bits and pieces of both genres, Mass Effect 3 becomes the master of both worlds instead? So here comes my first proposal. The game should have two gameplay modes that cater to casual shooter fans and RPG fans respectively, which I codename the “Shooter mode” and “RPG mode”.
While “RPG mode” will keep all the RPG elements intact, and is the way the game is meant to be played, “Shooter mode” will be a simplified version of the “RPG mode”, where everything is kept simple. Weapons will be automatically upgraded and equipped as you progress through the storyline (in other words, it’s unlocked at a specific point), and the dialogue wheel is absent, hence results in a fixed storyline path, with shortened and fixed dialogue sequence. There’s no character choice as well, you only get to play as the default Shepard (Soldier, Earthborn, Sole Survivor). Since there are should be no skill tree here too, health is regenerative and fixed according to difficulty chosen. Free roam is not available too, at the end of each mission, there will be a summary screen to view your achievement, and from there you choose which level you want to go next. The “Shooter mode” should start with an introduction summarizing the canon events of the first and second game, and proceed straight to the action. Codex should be kept in the shooter mode though, as it’s only an optional feature, so casual players seeking clarification over the storyline can browse through the codex. I believe the “Shooter mode” is good way for beginner, casual and non-RPG players to get into the Mass Effect universe, even though getting in at the third game seems late, and business wise, is more marketable.
Before I start on the “RPG mode”, I would like to say that, while I like how the RPG skill tree and inventory is trimmed, it was slimmed down too much, to the point that the RPG elements were borderline anorexic. The great thing I believe about their new RPG skill tree is that, they merged skill tree with similar capabilities, so it goes from 2 or 3 skill tree to just 1 skill tree. For example, in Mass Effect, it has fitness, assault training and class ability, but in Mass Effect 2, they merged it all into the class ability. It’s great, but didn’t leave us with much upgrading to do. Trimming down the RPG elements alienate the RPG fans, but don’t necessarily attract the shooter fans that prefer simplicity in gameplay, and with RPG elements added to it, it’s not the simplest to play shooter around.
In “RPG mode”, it should be like Mass Effect all over again. Inventory should make a comeback, but this is one aspect that can be simplified without compromising the RPG experience of the game. Gamers should have to open many windows just to modify a single weapon, so everything should be displayed in one window only. Upgrades should be sellable, though players should get only a small amount of money or fraction of the original price paid. This will make players think before making a mistake in upgrading their weapons.
Abilities should have their own skill tree, just like in Mass Effect. I dislike the fact that they took out the abilities skill tree, only to replace it with ammo type skill tree, which voids the fact that their attempt to trim the fatness of the RPG elements in Mass Effect. However, all abilities should be unlocked from the start, and can be upgraded as you increase your skill points and level up; i.e. through killing enemies or solving side missions and completing additional requirements in a mission (i.e. saving citizens even though it’s not the main objective of the mission).
Compared to the “Shooter mode”, where there will be a need for a “Mission Complete” screen due to the linearity, RPG mode is open-ended, so it only needs a pop-up displaying a summary of XP points accumulated, Paragon/Renegade points obtained, and so on. The pop-up should be big though, I find the pop-ups in Mass Effect 2 quite intrusive.
Lastly, I would like to suggest a mode that might not be necessary for the final game, but can be placed in the game to add value to it, provided it doesn’t interfere with single player. There can be a co-op mode featuring three players online, where the host will take control of Shepard, and two other players choosing their choice of squad mate to play as. This is similar to horde mode, where maps taken from the all the Mass Effect games will be used as a battle ground where the three member squad must survive as long as possible. Gameplay will be similar to “Shooter mode”; as this is an online mode, it’s not feasible having to pause to browse the interface.
Choices
This suggestion is directed to the “RPG mode”. Aside from the Paragon/Renegade system, I would add an Optimist/Pessimist system, Believer/Sceptic system as well as the Allegiance system, which will serve as a subclass of the Paragon/Renegade. Alongside the Paragon/Renegade system, all these character indicators will factor into the choices you can make, becoming the modifier in the storyline.
For the Optimist/Pessimist system, Optimist character will usually make choices with confidence that they will succeed; players may be rewarded nicely, but the risk taken could be high, and the difficulty could romp up more, for Pessimist character, actions with more realistic outcomes and the safer path will be taken, which results in a high probability of achieving the mission goal, but golden opportunities may be lost.
In the Believer/Sceptic system, Believer player tend to trust more easily, usually acts based on faith, sometimes without needing proof, which might generate trust between player character and other NPC characters, but may also lead players into danger if their trust was betrayed. Sceptic players tend to not trust easily, require proof before jumping into action and treating everyone with scepticism; this will help players achieve goals with minimal faults, but could also result in less trust between player character and NPC characters.
Allegiance is slightly different from the other systems. This is an indicator of Shepard’s loyalty towards certain factions. Decisions carried from previous games could contribute to allegiance points either towards Alliance, Cerberus or any faction Shepard is working together with in Mass Effect 3. For example, with Cerberus’ reputation, other characters may be weary of you; you will not gain much trust from other friendlier factions, which may or may not be crucial.
Depending on all the character indicators mentioned, they will act as a modifier to dialogue choices, which will lead to the proposal on the dialogue wheel. There were some complaints about dialogues in Mass Effect 2 being vague, that some choices that award Paragon points might seem like Renegade choice to the player. For example, destroying the Collector base rather than just kill the Collectors awards characters with Renegade points, but if looked from a different point of view, if the Reaper technology is salvaged and used against the Reapers, hence increasing survival probability among all species, then it would be a Paragon decision wouldn’t it? Hence, with the modifiers set by the character indicators above, dialogue choices can award both Paragon and Renegade points. The difference is that the choices will be arranged according to which choice is biased to which side. Choice with more Paragon option (+2P, +1R) will be at the top, choice with more Renegade points (+1P, +2R) will be bottom, and a choice somewhere in the middle (+1P +1R) will be in the middle of the dialogue wheel of course.
Combat
The combat in Mass Effect 2 is vastly improved over Mass Effect. It has the “feel good” feeling attached to it, and overall it plays like a good shooter should play like. It’s not without shortcomings though. For one, I feel the autoaim is a bit sticky, not as sticky as Grand Theft Auto 4, but it can be sticky at times. It doesn’t take much skill to shoot an enemy, and if you die, it’s because of the stickiness of the aiming. Gears of War didn’t resort to it, which is why the shooting in Mass Effect is not considered on par with Gears of War. I didn’t like that you’re limited to certain ammo depending on your class, hell, I didn’t like the fact that ammo type becomes a skill tree. How in the world is Incendiary ammo an essential human skill?! There should be freedom to use the ammo type you like, so Bioware should integrate it in the weapon wheel. Speaking of weapon wheel, they should make it fill up the whole screen, instead, put it at the corner of the screen and let players choose their weapon without the need to pause the game.
As for the abilities though, I wouldn’t mind if you have to pause for a while to take a shot with your abilities, as abilities has a more tactical aspect to it, hence players should get the chance to think about the ability to be used on the enemy. But I would not prefer if players have to pause completely the whole game to choose the ability they want to use, instead, time should slow down for them to choose. This opens up a possible skill tree, which I call “Adrenaline”, where as you upgrade to a higher level, you get more time to choose your abilities; it’s as if tension is reduced for you to think faster; as well as a longer time for you to die after being heavily injured.
Cover shouldn’t be scripted all the time, instead, they have to be created. This could make for some puzzle sections, and require some player creativity. In Mass Effect 2, cover is readily available, so it doesn’t give much challenge to the player. Depending on the squad mate brought, for example, if you brought a biotic squad mate along, to create a cover, you can use pull to pull a damaged vehicle near you for cover, if you have engineer squad mate, you can deploy shield (geth and collectors can do it, it’s unfair that you’re never allowed to do it). This could open up another skill tree, “Perception”; the higher the level of “Perception”, the brighter the highlight on possible covers to hint the players; covers that can be created by soldiers are red, biotics blue, and engineers yellow. Combination of powers among squad mate type can also be used to create even more resistant and effective covers.
Side Activities
To avoid slowing the pace of the game, the hacking and mining should be completely removed; when you’re going into battle with the Reapers, you don’t have time for this nonsense in the real situation. Instead, your upgrade level of your omni-tool upgrade will determine how much you get from looting. Mineral should be obtainable automatically, through minor quests, or bought with creds.
An RTS side game could be fused together with the galaxy map. Some areas on the galaxy map, such as the Terminus System, where pirates always look for an easy score, you will occasionally get attacked, depending on your heat level with them. You can control the Normandy SR-3 to deploy various weapons, probably something similar to the Oculus from Mass Effect 2, and control the units to counter-attack on your attackers. After a brief fight, you can go to the ship repair station to repair your ship, but for free though, as whatever faction you’re working for will finance it.
Conclusion
Mass Effect 2 is a brilliant game, but like every masterpiece, it has a number of flaws that stops the game from being near perfect. Mass Effect 3 didn’t really need much change over the two predecessors, but since this will be the final chapter of the trilogy, it’s obvious that fans will want the most epic experience in playing it.
I hope I did okay with my blog here. It’s quite long, but I hope you find my ideas interesting enough that it’s worth the read. If you have any ideas to improve over mine, feel free to add to it. Thanks for reading.
Gary Green said: You’ll be forgiven if you haven’t heard of the Ar Tonelico trilogy. The previous two games arrived so late in the PS2’s life-cycle that they simply went unnoticed. While most were tinkering with their shiny new PS3s, Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia and Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica were being ‘returned to sender’ by your local Game stores. Luckily, you won’t need to have played them to understand and appreciate this third and final chapter, Qoga (pronounced k-yoga) tells the story of a racial war between humans and Reyvateils, a breed of biologically produced female cyborgs capable of reproduction, while still having a digital mind.
Oh my god. I kinda wish this would get a remaster on PS5, it would be awesome. One of my favorite games on PS3.
That and 3D Dot Game Heroes. It's a shame that some stuff is stuck on PS3.
In our review of Remnant 2: The Forgotten Kingdom we look at the latest Remnant 2 expansion. Will it meet expectations, or was it better left forgotten? - IS
Stellar Blade is a visually stunning game with engaging combat and a variety of enemies. The game’s breathtaking design and challenging combat system draw inspiration from Sekiro.
As much As the wider gaming community appreciates the fact that you have taken the time to share you opinion with us, It is quite frankly a quite poor one.
To be honest, I stopped reading at the notion of a shooter mode and an RPG mode, which pretty much assured me from the start that your entire blog would be remarkably free of any actual interesting content.
Just skim reading through the blog now, It seems a bit strange. The optimist/pessimist system? Are you serious? What game developer would butcher their game with meaningless system? For a choices system to be meaningful It has to be at least related in some way to morality, making us question our greater ethical senses. Optimism and pessimism are entirely seperate from this.
Also If you want to become a more successful blogger, you need to offer an incentive for the reader to read your article, in both the title and the actual article itself. Try having a quirky statement at the start, so the reader feels compelled to investigate. It will also help heaps If your opinion is funny. It seems like I don't want to read this one because of this lack of incentive. I mean you have some semi-interesting ideas... but they aren't humourous, and don't have any chance of ever coming true, so why would I want to waste my precious time and effort reading it. They need to be one of the two.
Take my advice on board, don't give up, trust me, I know what I am talking about, having written plenty myself for a independent website, plus I Am currently studying Marketing at Uni.
Also, get off N4G onto a more reputable website as soon as you can. N4G is kind of the running joke in the videogame journalism industry.
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I want to get the achievement points. And the achievement is null and void if you change the difficulty during in-game play.
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