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21st-Feb-2012 03:24 pm

DEAR MASS EFFECT 2: WHY AM I NOT ABLE TO INVERT THE X AXIS

SERIOUSLY, WHY

No, really, this game allows you to choose the sex of the main character and customise his or her appearance to a considerable degree and alter your armour and choose which skills to improve when you level up, options options everywhere, and yet they couldn't include an option for that handful of weirdos who get confused when moving the control stick left doesn't move the camera right? I have enough trouble aiming even when the camera does what I'm expecting it to!

Other thoughts on Mass Effect 2 (I've only played about an hour): Jacob seems a nice guy. I hope he's not secretly evil. Miranda doesn't seem nice, but I'm sort of intrigued by her anyway. I'm really bad at shooting things, which I'd like to claim is entirely because of the lack of X-inversion but which is probably largely because I'm just really bad at shooting things.

I don't always go for the female-protagonist option when it's offered in games - I'm always a boy in Pokémon, for example - but I'm playing as a female Shepard because I think Commander Shepard as a concept is fundamentally more interesting when she's female; the male Shepard is something we've seen a thousand times before. I don't think I'd have considered picking up this game had female Shepard not been an option, in fact. My Shepard has red hair and grey eyes and I'm inexplicably really pleased to see her on the screen, even though I didn't actually tweak her that much. Look at her asking questions and making expressions and shooting things, or at least shooting hopelessly in the general direction of things whilst my teammates do the actual work! She's mine! I made that!

As always in games with morality systems, I'm being really nice to everyone, to such an extent that Miranda told me outright she wasn't looking for a friend. I feel like Pinkie Pie. Noooo, someone doesn't want to be my friend! BE MY FRIEND, MIRANDA. EVERYONE HAS TO BE MY FRIEND. I DON'T CARE HOW SHIFTY YOUR ORGANISATION IS.

Change-of-subject time: have you been feeling too productive recently? ALLOW ME TO FIX THAT FOR YOU: have a link to Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 4, a horrendously addictive rhythm-action game. It's essentially Guitar Hero for computer keyboards, and it is likely to destroy my career. Enjoy!

Tags:first impressions, mass effect, my little pony, online games

Comments

21st-Feb-2012 05:27 pm (UTC)

sai_salamander

I TRIED to play Mass Effect 2. I really REALLY tried. AND YOU HAVE PUT YOUR FINGER ON WHY I HATED IT!! Fucking game, why can't I invert the cameras?! Brooker had it right when he did that epic article about why camera inversion is The Best hehe.

It prolly didn't help that I made my Shepard look like the fugliest woman EVER, and that somehow, in that game, I became inexplicably WORSE at shooting than in any other game where you shoot ever. I mean worse than Uncharted! And that's saying something.

...you should play Dragon Age. f!Hawke in Dragon Age 2 is AMAZING. JUST SAYIN'.

21st-Feb-2012 07:26 pm (UTC)

rionaleonhart

I find it so strange that it doesn't give you the option! I assume an inverted camera isn't too difficult to program in - they had a Y-inversion option, after all (thank goodness, because otherwise I'd cry) - and not including it makes the game so much more difficult to play for some people. Even in games that don't involve aiming, not having the inversion option is an annoyance; in games that do involve aiming, inversion is essential.

(Like you, I am worse at aiming in this than I am in Uncharted. I didn't even know that was possible.)

21st-Feb-2012 09:30 pm (UTC)

sai_salamander

I've been playing inFamous 2 tonight, and I think I would cry and scream if I wasn't allowed to invert ALL THE THINGS lol. I just... non-inverted camera feels unnatural, and you're right, why would they bother putting in one but not the other o.O it doesn't make any sense! I will admit, I get confused when it gives you the option to invert both axes rather than just Invert Camera (as a whole), but that's only cos I can never remember which axis is which XD

Yeah seriously! My bf looks on aghast every Wednesday, cos I play Uncharted online with two friends then, and we like to play on Crushing for some reason, and every match we die in the most hilarious fashions (CRUSHING IS HARD, WHO KNEW) and he's just like HOW DO YOU FIND THIS FUN!? but we all piss ourselves laughing at how shit we are XDD s'great.

21st-Feb-2012 05:43 pm (UTC)

thewaterbandit

You're playing Mass Effect?! You're playing Mass Effect ajslfntnfmdksn Mass Effect 2 is my very favourite game ever, Mass Effect 1 got me into serious gaming, let me squeal and jump up and down and congratulate you on your great taste!

21st-Feb-2012 10:24 pm (UTC)

rionaleonhart

I wasn't sure whether I should pick up a copy or not; this comment certainly bodes well. Thank you!

21st-Feb-2012 09:38 pm (UTC)

sparrowsabre7

While I don't invert the X axis I can see why that would be annoying, but I don't think it's all that common, at least not as much as Y axis inversion (which I must confess I use and I'm not even sure why...)

As for male/female characters. I generally got for male when I see the character as an avatar for myself (Saints Row 2, Pokémon), but for games where you have a basically set character that you can alter a little (i.e. actual role playing/ character (who is not you) creation instead of player avatar) (something more like Mass Effect or Skyrim) I think I might play as a female character in the next game like that I play, just for a change.

22nd-Feb-2012 07:40 pm (UTC)

rionaleonhart

I don't think many people invert the X axis. I suppose I should consider myself lucky I haven't run into this problem before, to my recollection. Still, I'm quite surprised that that, of all things, is what they leave off in the optioniest game I've ever played. (Your Y-axis inversion is clearly the correct decision.)

I don't know about the male Shepard, but female Shepard's voice acting is really good. I think she's worth trying out.

22nd-Feb-2012 08:49 pm (UTC)

sparrowsabre7

Mmm, I probably will femshep when I get round to playing ME.

22nd-Feb-2012 04:42 am (UTC)

nano_moose

...I am genuinely amazed that is an issue. And maybe laughing a tiny little bit at your flailing. I'm sorry.

So, backstory? Chosen survivor of Virmire? Class? Did you pick a romantic interest or hold off? (I'm a lady Spaceborn Infiltrator War Hero who saved Ashley! And generally I go with Liara as a love interest because cute blue alien lady eeeee.) I'm also Paragon as you are, though I can't resist some of the sillier Renegade options occasionally.

Miranda's...well, she's just like that, it's no commentary on your being supernice or anything (she doesn't like people getting close). Jacob's nice and loyal and easy-going, but he has the extremely unfortunate condition of being nice and loyal and easy-going with no other notable characteristics. Poor man.

Cerberus is a bag of dicks, they just hire some okay people. DO NOT BE TAKEN IN.

Edited at 2012-02-22 05:40 am (UTC)

22nd-Feb-2012 09:45 am (UTC)

rionaleonhart

IN MY HEAD, I'M OPERATING A CAMERA ON A PIVOT. TO LOOK UP, YOU SWING THE BACK OF THE CAMERA DOWN; TO LOOK LEFT, YOU MOVE THE BACK OF THE CAMERA RIGHT.

...oh. Oh! I hadn't realised you had to download the prequel comic from the PlayStation Store, so the game just decided what had happened for me. And I got the game preowned, so the code may well not be valid any more. Oh, well. I'm a lady Colonist Soldier War Hero, and apparently the game decided by default (or at random? I've no idea) that I saved Kaidan and got the Council killed.

I shall be wary of Cerberus; thank you for the advice! But I'll still be really nice to everyone there.

22nd-Feb-2012 12:51 pm (UTC)

nano_moose

I only operate that way in Flight-Sims! TRY TO RELOCATE YOUR MENTAL PROJECTION INTO THE CHARACTER'S BRAIN? UM. I'm surprised it's not an option, actually.

The reason I bring it up is that the Soldier is the pure shooty class, placing all emphasis on gun training and drilling through tough enemies, and you might be more comfortable with...let me think...

Sentinel: biotic/tech, mostly debuffs and immobilising the enemy and SUPER tough, but low pure damage output; good support class to keep attention off the more squishy team-mates while they kill things for you.
Adept: pure biotic; excellent against other biotics and regular combatants, high damage output, but mid-range-only and fragile health. Hard to master, but a monster if you manage it.
Engineer: pure tech; good against robots, cheaper research, mid-range in most things, good for harassing/distracting big enemies but can get taken to pieces by crowds without thoughtful positioning and tactics. On the other hand, level it up and you'll be ripping enemies apart without firing a shot.
Infiltrator: combat/tech; sniper speciality, cloaking, some debuffs. From personal experience I can say they are versatile but fragile and suck against biotics, but all is made good by a certain upgraded gun you receive in the proceedings that quick takedowns of tough enemies (though swarms are still a problem).

Anyway, default, yes! That means you'll have made some genuinely bad "choices", though. D: Like, not Paragon or Renegade, just...incompetent.

Well by Cerberus mostly I mean The Illusive Man. Kelly's nice! And Joker ♥

22nd-Feb-2012 01:28 pm (UTC)

rionaleonhart

I'm actually really angry about this. The only indication on the game box that you don't get to decide what happened in the previous game if you buy it preowned is in tiny, tiny text on the back. If I'd known this, I would have bought the bloody game new! They obviously made it DLC as an incentive to make people buy it new; make it clear! As it is, the DLC costs almost as much as the game itself; buying the game new would have been much cheaper.

I'm going to see if I can get my money back and buy a new copy instead.

EDIT: NO WAIT APPARENTLY ALL THE CERBERUS NETWORK CODES EXPIRED IN JANUARY ANYWAY, WHAT THE HELL

EDIT AGAIN: ...e-except I just tried the code in my box anyway, in a fit of desperation, and it seems to be downloading even though it's apparently an expired code from a preowned game? So I had the extraordinary luck of buying a game previously owned by someone game-savvy enough to trade in but not game-savvy enough to redeem their code? And, moreover, that code still works despite being past the expiration date on the box and on the e-mail I got when I made my EA account?

It seems entirely too good to be true. I'm not going to believe it until it's finished downloading and I can actually access the content. We'll see.

FINAL EDIT: ...well, aren't I the luckiest little preowned-game buyer in the galaxy?

Edited at 2012-02-22 03:35 pm (UTC)

22nd-Feb-2012 11:40 pm (UTC)

nano_moose

Iiiiii think that they actually made the Cerberus Network/Genesis content free in preparation with ME3? Or something? I know the same thing happened when I bought my pre-owned copy, anyway.

I AM SO SORRY FOR FREAKING YOU OUT

Well, now you'll be able to see some more neat content, anyway! And have greater control over the major choices of the previous game! I just know if that you go in cold you'll have killed Wrex by default, and that is a TRAGEDY.

...I can't decide which is more stupid - porting the sequel and not the recent original, or not packaging the backstory choices with the ported sequel. Stupid EA. Anyway, yaaay! Good luck in the game! Try not to be too furious over marketing decisions made by amoebas when you play it! D:

22nd-Feb-2012 05:44 am (UTC)

vzg

You're making me really want to play Mass Effect, except I'm generally horrible at that sort of game (when I'm not shooting really poorly I'm running away and hiding and hoping nobody comes to kill me) and don't have any systems other than PS2.

24th-Feb-2012 08:10 am (UTC)

rionaleonhart

I'm so bad at this sort of game that I ended up restarting (although there were other factors involved) and choosing 'casual' difficulty instead. My pride has taken a hit, but I don't regret it. I was able to manage the Uncharted games, but at least those let you invert!

(As you have a PS2, I have to ask: did you ever play Ōkami? It's my favourite videogame in the world.)

25th-Feb-2012 12:08 am (UTC)

vzg

No joke, but I always start at the easiest difficulty setting. And usually never go to normal, because I have a hard time on the easy setting.

I have not! I will look it up, though — I do hope to hook up the PS2 again sometime in the near future!

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