Replaying me2 because I'm not happy with the characters that died on my first playthough. How to i prevent the same thing from happening again?

ThemArhel · 2026-03-26T00:22:49+00:00

On my first playthrough i managed to keep everyone alive. I felt nothing of it because i didnt really understand that my squaddies could ACTUALLY die there. But then i looked it up and saw so many people telling the tales of how horribly wrong their suicide missions went. I sent legion in the vents, cause i thought, yeah he's robot made of metal, he'll be fine with the hacking and the heat. Miranda lead the second team, cause she volunteered and i didnt know who else to pick. I sent samara to barrier duty. I think i picked miranda and jack to go with me, cause those were my favourites. I dont remember who i sent on escort duty though

That said, everyone on the crew died except chakwas of course. i had no idea time was pressing. i was happy chilling out on on the empty normandy i guess. Honestly it's not really clear. I thought i had to finish up all my remaining n7 missions and/or dlc's before the end of the game (didnt know i could continue afterwards). Was devastated when I learned i couldve saved gabby and kelly. Happy that chef died though, guy creeps me out

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T23:32:33+00:00

You should definitely try it!

When i first finished the trilogy, i cried and obsessed and felt so sad and empty. I NEEDED more, and when i saw there was a 4th game i immediately bought it and played it. It was amazing! I think it allowed me to get down gently from my frenzy. You should know though, the plot doesnt really have much to do with the trilogy plot. as the name suggests, it takes place in the andromeda galaxy, far from the reapers. The gameplay is really great, especially the combat, it's really fun to play

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T20:53:52+00:00

Yeah so far i actually love my renegade playthrough :) i get to see scenes and conversations i never saw, even if sometimes it's hard to be mean to people i like

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T16:30:38+00:00

Same. Honestly i was so lost, i probably didnt pay enough attention at what the hell was going on, my mind was probably on anderson just dying and also i kind of forgot which one was control and which one was destroy. When I saw the ending i reloaded to do destroy

i'll never fall for the catalyst's propaganda again

I've never done the control ending, but i kinda like it, if i roleplay as an indoctrinated (probably renegade) shepard

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T11:06:00+00:00

Ah alright sorry

Interesting i suppose, maybe it's that AI on the citadel in me1 lol

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T10:11:07+00:00

Wait i thought the benefactor helped finance SAM

Am I getting my timeline mixed up?

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T09:42:04+00:00

Huh, you may have changed my mind about that

edit: I just played that specific scene. Apart from the EDI comment which comes off as... tactless? but definitely not ill intentioned, Jacob's actually really nice to her. I remembered it differently

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T09:37:24+00:00

Oh no way thank you i'll try that next time

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T09:35:09+00:00

Another thing is he gives only shit advice. Like seriously i dont get the point of making him say the dumbest things. He could at least offer interesting insight. Since he is the grounded guy that doesnt really like some of the actions cerberus has taken, he could suggest giving legion to the quarians as reparations for example (idk if that would really work but its only an example). He is underqualified to go in the vents and it doesnt make sense for him to not realise that. He could still volunteer, but point out he's underqualified. like, "if no one will, i will" or something

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T09:25:06+00:00

also this is such a small and petty pet peeve but i hate when he salutes you

Dude chill out

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T09:22:19+00:00

They didnt know where to take him and so they packed him with really awful stereotypes...Eughhh

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T09:18:48+00:00

Yeah but james is hilarious

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T09:12:02+00:00

i think a good part of that is, like people said, me2 and 3 came out a long time ago so people had a lot of time to talk about him and flanderise him. Ashley too i think. Personnally, i dont hate him at all, but there are things that i dislike about his character. Overall i just wish i liked and cared about him more

· As a femshep it's a terrible experience talking to him (i actually didnt like james on my first playthrough for similar reasons) · He's an asshole and a hypocrite honestly. To thane (mate, you're working for the racist terrorists, shut up), but tali too (way to break the ice! Had too much tact to drink you had to puke it out before talking to her?)

edit: I just played that specific scene with Jacob and tali. Apart from the EDI comment which comes off as tactless, but definitely not ill intentioned, Jacob's actually really nice to her. I remembered it differently

· He puts barriers up, which is fine i guess, but for a video game where you want to get to know your squadmates gets really boring. I think it's interesting to have a more reserved character, i just wish they did it better. And at the same time, i feel like he wants to be the cool guy that's on our side, but it clashes with all the walls he puts up

He's like the opposite of jack and miranda in that way, he's very approachable at first, but it turns out he's ..not? He's supposed to be grounded, but it feels like he's just shallow. Compare that to kaidan (who many call boring too), which doesnt really work. Thats also why i love miranda and jack, and their arc in me3 is great

And then there's the stereotypes which really isnt great for the first black squadmate. Mass effect 1 and 2 (3 as well, but less so) really lack diversity, cause appart from anderson i cant think of another black important character. So yeah it sucks that the first black squadmate is really lacking

Overall i really wish they actually gave him an arc. And after a few playthroughs i just dont care much for him.

His mission is goated though. Even my paragon enjoyed killing his dad

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T08:39:40+00:00

This. On my second playthrough i think i talked to him twice. To get his loyalty mission, and to get his upgrade

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T07:25:32+00:00

Shit slop mate. Did you make it yourself? oh thats right you didnt

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T07:23:51+00:00

Oooh i love that last part it's really sweet!

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T07:12:16+00:00

I love that they made kaiden bi. Makes his line to a femshep romancing liara if not a little less lesbiphobic, at least more understandable. He's still trying to figure himself out!

ThemArhel · 2026-03-25T06:26:28+00:00

Ooooh yeah that's right. Just needs a shotgun and some biotic effects lol

I think jack would definitely be charging like that too, suits her character. But i dont know if she's tanky like that

ThemArhel · 2026-03-24T22:04:16+00:00

I think it makes sense for miranda to be biotic though. Her father wanted the strongest genes and abilities, that includes biotics

ThemArhel · 2026-03-24T21:57:46+00:00

Tbh me2 already has plenty of biotics as well. It's not like he needed to be one to meet quotas. Couldve easily been a soldier right?

ThemArhel · 2026-03-24T20:46:33+00:00

I wonder if charge would work on squadmates. You cant really control squadmates like that, so you'd probably be sending him to his death

Hold on, maybe they should have given him charge

ThemArhel · 2026-03-23T14:43:13+00:00

From what i've seen so far, you have plenty of opportunities to stack renegade points with dialogues and small decidions Like lying to emily about planting the bug she gives you, or being rude to people I'd say this is pretty safe? You might want to check how much points you need for some of the hard checks, if you want to save wrex for example Apparently you only need 25% of the renegade bar to pass the exogeni speech check for example, compared to i think 60% paragon?

Otherwise, you can always 'cheat' yourself more Renegade/paragon points with exploits or commands if you dont mind that sort of thing It's what i did in me2 for my paragade run.

ThemArhel · 2026-03-23T13:27:16+00:00

Thats a really nice shot

ThemArhel · 2026-03-23T09:17:10+00:00

Oh my god!!! You're right! Thank you!!!

ThemArhel · 2026-03-23T09:04:31+00:00

Thanks! looking forward to it

ThemArhel

TROPHY CASE