This was on the latest checklist and here’s what was completed:
[Ended February 8th]
- Complete Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
- Complete Mass Effect 2 for the first time.
- Play at least 10 hours of Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
- Complete Indigo Prophecy
- Find all treasure locations in Bayonetta
- Possibly play Bioshock one more time before the sequel releases.
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Yeah…didn’t have time to play anything besides Mass Effect 2, which I completed and a little of Bowser’s Inside Story. 
[Impressions]
[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]
I’ve only clocked in about three hours of this game, not even close to the goal I had, mainly due to the amount of limited time the entire week. So far, I feel right at home with this game as with the previous installments. It actually seems a lot better already than the last DS title, “Partners in Time” since you control Mario & Luigi and Bowser simultaneously. It maybe the same concept as the last game but the central idea and theme for the game already have me enjoying it a lot more than I had imagined.
No problems with it so far. I’m loving the all the conversations and little tidbits as well. The Mario & Luigi RPG series have a great track record in adding humorous scenarios and by far Nintendo has gone the extra mile with this one, including new characters such as Broque Monsieur, who is indeed a true comic relief for this game. Fawful makes a return too, which is also awesome because of his ‘awful’ grammar and crazy antics. There’s much love for this game so far even though I already loved the previous installments. Let’s just see what other surprises are in store as I’ll continue playing through this throughout the week. Hopefully finishing this by the end of February.
[Mass Effect 2]
I have a lot to talk about this game, from beginning to end, so here it goes. From the beginning sequence, I was liking what I was seeing. It felt really engaging and interesting from the start on how everything was set up. However, after completing the first mission and witnessing the changes, I started to feel empty. Empty on the fact that there were many streamlined changes, making it feel more shooter oriented. Yes, the shooting elements were WAY better, plus the biotic powers and abilities transitioned nicely, but having stripped away some of the powers you had in the first game felt strange. Also, since I was playing as the Vanguard class most of the time, it seemed as if I wasn’t doing much damage or enjoying being a Vanguard through the first few missions.
All the changes, such as stripping away the exploration that many people complained about, made me feel…as I said, empty. I adjusted slowly to the feeling of not exploring the outskirts of each new world, but loved that it was simpler and not making you explore every single aspect of the area. Props to BioWare to making almost every city that you can explore more believable and having life, unlike Mass Effect 1’s cities. Plus, changing the mineral mining to mineral probing is a lot easier, but tends to drag on and on. It’s simpler yes, however, I wonder why BioWare couldn’t just reinvent in someway using the Mako in mineral mining and exploring, instead of the simpler alternative.
Another big change was the EXP System. I was confused on how I wasn’t gaining any EXP at all during the first few encounters in the beginning of the game. I’m still unsure about BioWare’s focus on having a ‘Mission Completion’ EXP-type System. It may be more simpler and straight through, having interesting summaries/details on what you just did, but couldn’t they have kept the EXP system in the first one, in this one? I still question this. I understand the switch to ammo from thermal guns in the previous game. If they had kept the infinite heated guns then the Heavy-type weapons would be overused and are really meant to destroy the biggest of enemies. They still could have just made it recharge and take forever to use again, but either way, the ammo system is fine as they supply enough ammo throughout the game.
One last big change that I’m still iffy about is upgrading and not buying new weapons or picking up new loot. It’s strange how they implemented it differently from the first. Instead of looting a corpse and customizing through the inventory they had in the first, they completely changed it by simplifying it. The changes are various from having to scan weapons/upgrades during missions or exploring as well as buying these through the Normandy or in various stores in the cities. I was very iffy and I can’t stress this enough on how I wasn’t enjoying these changes. It took a bit to get used to them, at least for me, but I can see why they did this.
Now, let’s talk about the rest of the game. I love every other single aspect of Mass Effect 2, ranging from the character interactions, story, the amount of depth put into each scenario/character and the overall landscape BioWare implemented. It’s just so damn good to have this much content and be able to control most of what you ‘want’ to happen. I love the fact that BioWare made all the new characters more important, plus, adding in old ones from the first that are still alive. Everything about it and just how overwhelming the nostalgia is, makes me want to play this game again and again. There’s just so much to love about it. BioWare definitely raised the bar from the previous installment, even with the iffy changes. Character loyalties, romances, and just having more options at your disposal makes you feel really engaged with each and everyone one of them, except maybe Zaeed, the DLC character, who wasn’t really ‘needed’ per say.
All the beginning missions and recruiting everyone went seemingly, making me feel happy on all the choices and outcomes I had witnessed. The middle part of the game, switching onto the next disc felt very much the same. I just disliked mineral grinding as that’s what I did more often it seemed, then other misc. type side missions. It was an investment on its self and paid off towards the end of the game. End game was definitely the spectacular point of Mass Effect 2 as everything pulled together so nicely that I’m happy with the outcome I received. All the choices and all the investments you did throughout the game either made or break the final mission, which was definitely the best mission (so far) in the Mass Effect series.
With all that said, I can’t wait for Mass Effect 3. It feels like it’s going to take forever until the next game and I’m anxiously waiting, among many others for it. It will be amazing, just as Mass Effect 1 & 2 are. I’m also wondering how much BioWare has in store and how all of our choices will affect the last game. It’s going to be…one hell of a wait for the closure we’re all wanting.
- Chrono
P.S. Completed this game in 40 hours, doing absolutely everything possible, besides buying the remaining upgrades for weapons.
P.P.S. This is definitely my favorite game of the year so far. :]
