Corolinth wrote:
The addition of an ammunition mechanic to a game world where ammunition has become largely irrelevant was a step backwards. They took what was shaping up to be a solid futuristic science fiction rpg and devolved it to a first-person shooter. Allowing all classes to pick locks and open doors was another example of this.
I really enjoyed this change, actually. The first game, you could just sit back behind cover all day long, and win every fight. You never had to be in any danger, or leave your comfort zone. This was even more effective once you unlocked the Spectre weapons. In the second, the "ammo" change forces you out of cover, and makes it much more dangerous. I really didn't have a problem with this change at all. And don't even get me started on the inventory system from the first one. Ugggggg. Don't miss that at all.
Corolinth wrote:
Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 both suffer from a character advancement mechanic that ultimately achieves nothing. Leveling up your character is a zero sum game. You get twenty more hit points? All enemies now deal an additional point of damage to compensate. Your avoidance improves by one percent? So has enemy accuracy. Now, we can present the argument that a long-time staple rpg has the same problem, except that your opposition becomes more diverse. When a 5th level D&D party faces opponents with numbers scaled to their level, more happens than just bigger numbers. Most of them have special abilities that make them both scarier, and different from their lower HD counterparts. In Dragon Age, you are literally fighting goblins and orcs with scaled up numbers to counteract any level gain you might have. It's like a palette-swap to create newer and stronger versions of old monsters, only without the palette-swap. Mass Effect 2 was the same way. Shepard leveled up and got some extra hit points and shields, but enemies chew through it just as fast.
The reason this is such a huge problem is that figuring out what to do with your experience points is one of the most exciting things players do in a role-playing game. Another one is treasure, which Dragon Age has, but Mass Effect 2 lacks. These two elements of the game are just as big a deal as any story or plot provided to the players.
I'm not sure what platform or difficulty you played at, but I'm playing through DA:O on Hard right now, and I feel my characters have grown in power significantly. Remember the Ogre you fight in the tower at Ostagar? The one that killed 2 of my party and barely missed taking out me & Alistair. Last night, I took on 2 at the same time, and was never in danger of losing anyone. AND they were with about 12-15 darkspawn. No way would I have survived that at lower levels. It's all about the abilities you choose and how you use them. Also, the abilities and spells seem to scale really well with your stat points, unlike some other games I've played. Maybe your stat points were a little off? Not sure, but I certainly haven't experienced what you are describing in any of my playthroughs.
As far as ME2 goes, it was the same way. My Infiltrator got MUCH better once I maxed out things like Incenerate, Reave, and/or Warp Ammo. I never felt like the enemies were just as powerful at later levels as the lower ones. I always felt like my characters were getting stronger as they went along. I'm really not sure where you are coming from on this one, because that hasn't been my experience on either game, and I've played through both of them in the last month or so.
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