Think I mentioned that I didn’t really mind the lack of loot. I feel it’s more of an Action RPG at this point, which is fine by me. I don’t look at the “RPG” acronym and therefore demand the exact same type of leveling and loot progression in every game. MMORPG’s are already to that point, which is why I haven’t played one in months. It’s difficult to “immerse” myself when I feel I can see the Diku-Matrix code scrolling by instead. If it’s the same circus, different tent, why bother leaving the tent I’m in, eh?

I figure if BioWare is going after their “fourth pillar” of storytelling then I’ll compare it to storytelling mediums: literature and cinema. I’ve yet to ever (fiction, mind you) read a book or watch a movie that could be compared to an RPG in which the characters are continuously changing their clothes/costumes/armor/whatever. If I was watching a documentary on Cher or Lady GaGa then the accompanying RPG would need one hell of an art staff for the countless costume changes…

MMO’s in particular have the depth of a puddle of gnat urine, so they dangle the loot carrot in front of our noses as a method of retention when the *ding!* carrot withers away at level cap. Luckily for MMO developers, despite their tendency towards nose-in-the-air elitism, MMO players are equally shallow, so it works. But for me, it’s no longer the end-all, be-all of gaming, or RPG-ing, or MMO-ing.

At first I liked the planet scanning but then an odd feeling that I was givng the planet an ultrasound kicked in and that sort of ruined it for me.

I was disappointed in the lack of customization – call it loot, whatever. One of my favorite means of advancement is going from something that looks standard or typical to something that looks heroic or epic… not just more of the same.

I can’t help but feel they pulled some things out or dropped them simply to make a deadline. That sounds worse than it is because the game is still great! So take it within that context.

“Do we let people customize Miranda’s armor so she’s wearing Jack’s outfit?”
“No, as tempting as that is, we can’t justify the expenses and resources for that feature.”
“Okay, I’ll just go sketch her naked then…”

Great game, too short and not nearly enough missions that were based on the storyline. As I said in my review, most of the game was about recruiting people and sorting their issues out then a little bit of actually dealing with the collectors.

I miss the exploration involved in the Mako stuff. It was amusing, at least for me it was.

I finished ME2 a few nights ago and I think it’s far better than the first game, I can’t wait for the third installment.