ME2 is when I knew Bioware was dead. It's no surprise that it was followed by DA2 and ME3, since all of the flaws present were already in ME2. The decline might have started the moment they began to chase the console market with KotOR and Jade Empire, but by ME2 it was over.
Actually, KOTOR was the rise of Bioware. Prior to that, it was just seen as a cute little RPG company; making a blockbuster Star Wars game, during the height of SW mania in the early 2000s, put Bioware on the map. KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age were the zenith of Bioware's classic game design, before they started whoring out to FPS fans with ME2 and action game fans with DA2.
The game completely abandons reasonable writing, consistent worldbuilding and verisimilitude to instead tell a very railroaded story of Shepard dying, coming back to life five minutes later and then completely ignoring the Reapers to go solve his friends' daddy issues (almost every loyalty mission fits). Gone was any attempt to at an interesting building an interesting sci-fi setting; we were now just railroaded along a Rule of Cool(tm)-driven adventure, where the dialogue wheel doesn't offer any choices but obsequiously agreeing with whatever the Illusive Man wants to you do. It's such a drastic and sudden step down and the game makes sure to rub it in your face with the opening.
ME2's main story was absolutely atrocious, but it is kind of funny how with the character writing you get these glimpses where there were old guard Bioware writers not totally on board with the direction things were going in.
Of course pretty much all of them left the company shortly thereafter.
Well, that's because they were trying to copy movies and graphic novels. They wanted to ape the cinematic feel, and movies tend to have such plots where it's mostly suspense over logic. Hence why Shepard was killed off then brought back, when it would've just been more appropriate if Shepard was incapacitated and Cerberus offered to help heal and rebuild the wounded Spectre.
But if ME2 did one thing right, it was the party member backstories; the main story had all the depth of the Arnold Schwarzenegger
Commando film, with you just going over there and gunning down a large number of bad guys to get your people back. But it was getting to know your party members and their stories which made ME2 great. Hence why it got all the glaze and the love from the fans.
And like with Fallout New Vegas, it was all downhill from there. Especially when ME3 felt like they were rushing things, when ME3 was the perfect opportunity to create a longer game split between multiple chapters to handle the galactic-scale conflict with the Reapers. What Blizzard did to Starcraft II, Bioware should've done with ME3. EA could've made multiple parts of ME3, each sold as full-price games, and made more money while giving the writers enough time and room to expand upon the characters and the conflict, to give the franchise a satisfying and cathartic ending that recognizes your choices throughout the series.
I think
this was the single best article in Shamus' retrospective (although the TIM Island one might be the most fun). It perfectly encapsulates a lot of why ME2 feels like it's where it all went wrong.
You wouldn't know that from the fans' perspective. Hell, if ME3 had a decent ending, we wouldn't care, since the series would still be going strong. Or at the very least, treading water enough to the point where it still exists as a relevant franchise.
It's come to my attention that you only need the illusion of a well-written story to string people on; not an actual well-written story. So long as you have enough suspense and stakes to keep people hooked, they'll accept it. Even if at times, the logic doesn't make sense.
What doesn't work for me is the level design of Mass Effect 2.
That's due to the fact that you had a lot of goobers coming in from the CoD fanbase that Bioware wanted to attract. And they weren't in the mood for exploring maps or mazes. CoD maps are even more straightforward than Halo's; it's practically a hallway shooting gallery, and ME2, which is a game made to attract those kinds of players, fit right into that.
I still think it's a crime that the Legendary edition didn't come with the multiplayer gamemode.
I'll wait with buying it until some modder manage to use it for something so all those maps and classes don't go to waste
Ironically, the ME3 multiplayer mode is what stood the test of time. Not only is it fun to keep playing, especially with all the races and classes, but you can make up your own stories as to why your character is gunning down Geth/Cerberus/Reapers/Collectors, which does wonders for the role-playing aspect of a role-playing game.
