NicklePop wrote on Jan 26, 2010, 16:35:
Can anyone speak to the alleged "dumbing" down of the game systems?

I hear they removed all of the RPG'ish stuff, and left us with Gears of War in space.

They removed some of the tedious and useless stuff. No, you no longer pick up various loots lying around. But remember all those loots used two different models anyway, and 99.999% of people just used the Spectre weapons, which were storebought, since they were the best. There was no viable reason to use any of the other loot. It might as well have just all been omnigel and credits.

But nope, in ME1 you had to fucking melt all that stuff down yourself in a cumbersome UI. So if removing utter stupidity is "dumbing down", then yes, they've dumbed the loot system down.

Let's see what else.. there are fewer skills you have to tinker with, and fewer steps in each one. For example your Charm/Intimidate are no longer distinct skills, but are rather based directly on your Paragon and Renegade standings respectively.

I guess this could be perceived as "dumbing down" but I see it as a "quality over quantity" issue. Each power is far more interesting and way more balanced than in the first game. There are no power combinations where you become invincible I.e. a Bastion Adept in ME1 with its permanent Barrier or a Commando with permanent Immunity.

Mass Effect 2, to me, feels like what they intended to do from the beginning, but they failed to accomplish in the first one. Mass Effect is not Dragon Age in Space, nor should they attempt to make it such. Yes, the RPG elements have been streamlined, but I still find them to be superior to the RPG elements of ME1.

Anything someone says has been "dumbed down" actually gives you the same or more choice in the end. They've just removed some of the tedious crap that only gave the illusion of choice.