Okay. So, I just re-bought Mass Effect 2. And after about a five hour period of downloading and installing this 12GB beast, I'm now doing the intro comic.
When I first got Mass Effect 2, I rented it. As some of you may know, the "online pass" for Mass Effect 2 on the PS3 is the intro comic that abridges the first Mass Effect, and allows you to make some decisions which will alter your Mass Effect 2 experience.
With renting, I missed out on the intro comic and my decisions were pre set. And by the time I got around to downloading the "online pass", I had already finalized a "main save". And with my next two go-arounds with the game, I just chose random choices since I was going to be rushing through to get the Platinum. I never actually had a chance to have these decisions matter. And with Mass Effect 3 right around the corner, I think it's time I right that wrong.
So, I'm stuck on the decision to jeopardize the Alliance Fleet by saving the Council, or sacrificing them to save the fleet. And I'm not sure what to do. If I recall correctly, this was a pretty big decision in Mass Effect so I'm not sure what to do. And having not played this game in a year, I do not remember the consequences of either decision. So, now that I'm on the case of making a straight-up-Mass-Effect-3-ready-save, I'm not sure what to do.
Giant Bomb. Help me. I've been looking at this screen for the past 25 minutes and I just want to start playing. I've still got to go through the Cerberus tutorial and a lot of work ahead of me.
Mass Effect 2
Game » consists of 21 releases. Released Jan 26, 2010
After a violent death by an unknown force and a timely reanimation by the human supremacist organization Cerberus, Commander Shepard must assemble a new squad in the seedier side of the galaxy for a suicide mission in the second installment of the "Mass Effect" trilogy.
Save the Council or Sacrifice them?
The only decision that is actually important is whether or not you saved Wrex. Nothing else matters. At all
But which one would have more story impact? This is just a small little decision for a comic, but this was late-game, shit's-getting-reeeeeel decision in the first one which could alter uniting everyone against the Reapers. Do I need the Council? Or would it be better to, essentially, kill them all?
This is bothering me more than it should.
@MildMolasses: Of course I saved Wrex. Shepard. Wrex.
If you want the Paragon choice, you'll have to save the council. As for right now, no ones knows if saving them or killing them off will help or make it worse for your playthrough. Have to wait for the third. It may have to do with aliens helping you in the end or not, 'cause if you kill them off it'll make it seem like you're only fighting for a human cause, and they won't want to help, or at least it'd be harder to get them to help.
I haven't played through ME2 having saved the Council (so I can't really compare), but I did feel like letting them die was nicely reflected when I visited the Citadel in ME2. It felt like there was a lot of racial tension as a result, and some face spaliens were pretty hostile towards my Shep.
IIRC, there are also news announcements on the Citadel about the Turians et al militarising in response and breaking battleship treaties (which is a reference to the Washington Naval Treaty, which was broken in the build up to WW2).
I saved the Council. As much as they can be assholes they are important and useful for the galaxy, also, the fleet has a couple of hundred humans, the Destiny Ascension, the ship that's carrying the council, has over 10.000 Asari on board, so you save the council and a whole lotta Asari plus that awesome ship
Do the Paragon thing, I think it affects the story in Mass Effect 2 in a much cooler way
Huge Mass Effect fan here, saving the council is much better
@N7 said:
But which one would have more story impact? This is just a small little decision for a comic, but this was late-game, shit's-getting-reeeeeel decision in the first one which could alter uniting everyone against the Reapers. Do I need the Council? Or would it be better to, essentially, kill them all?
That's just it, it doesn't factor into the story of ME2 at all. The only thing that should determine your choice is down to just what kind of Shepard you're trying to create; it may not leave any lasting repercussions, but it still helps shape your own Commander Shepard. Generally speaking, you're to sacrifice the sons of shits if you're aiming for a Renegade run, and save them for Paragon, if you prefer to spread your morality on thick.
It's easier to understand from a perspective after playing through the original; the council are complete and utter tools who won't listen to anything you say about the Reapers and aren't very useful, but sacrificing them for the sake of then having an all-human council totally makes you a Super Space Racist 5000. On the other hand, you could be sacrificing them because you don't think it's worth putting so many alliance troops on the line for what could be a lost cause, when they'll be required to take down Sovereign (who you do still beat, no matter what decision you make btw).
@N7: You should save them, or should have by now. It won't affect ME2, but that doesn't matter, 'cause it's not just about one game but the entire series when it comes to Mass Effect. If you want a happier conclusion, or the best conclusion, you should save them. It's all about paragon and renegade, unless in the end choosing renegade was the right choice.
Diversity does matter. It makes a lot of sense. The human race isn't the only ones who matter, it's about everyone. And to write them off because they are a bunch of dicks is wrong! I am going to go back and save them!
@Abyssfull: You are right too. I am not going to be this racist dick Shepard who believes humanity is the only way. Diversity! Team work! Ethics!
This was the right way to go, and now I see! Paragon for Paragon, Renegade for Renegade. Never thought of it like that.
@N7 said:
But which one would have more story impact? This is just a small little decision for a comic, but this was late-game, shit's-getting-reeeeeel decision in the first one which could alter uniting everyone against the Reapers. Do I need the Council? Or would it be better to, essentially, kill them all?
This is bothering me more than it should.
@MildMolasses: Of course I saved Wrex. Shepard. Wrex.
I don't like that people can just click 'yes' on that one and save Wrex. You actually had to work for it in Mass Effect. You either had to have a full 'conversation' skill or had to have done a specific quest for him. I know people who weren't able to save them and felt really bad, and how happy I was that I built a friendship with the character. A simple yes/no option does not do it justice.
@N7 said:
@ajamafalous said:Spoilers in the thread title.Spoilers? This is like the first 20 minutes of the game.
Mass Effect 1 spoilers, silly.
Get two playthroughs, one paragon and one renegade.
In the end paragon will most likely set you up for the reaper threat.
Here are the benefits
- Have the backing of council races
- Gratitude of the Rachni
- Persuaded the Quarians to fight the reapers instead of the geth
- Reprogrammed the Geth as opposed to destroying them
- Retains Spectre status and all its perks
If I remember right, if the council dies then humans basically step up and pretty much take the reigns, and you'll get chewed out by some folks. If you save 'em, they'll still be around and will interact with you. Don't remember it having any HUGE impact.
There are actually three choices in Mass Effect 1 though: let the council die, save the council, or focus all efforts on bringing down the Reaper. While the third still results in a dead council, I wish there was some dialogue option in ME2 along the lines of "We needed to destroy the reaper, to save the entire Citadel." but they just treat it like you make the choice to let them die.
In fact, if I also remember this right, even if you choose that third option Joker just shuts of communitations to the council flagship as if I said to let them all die. Always sucky when a choice is just illusory.
@N7 said:
But which one would have more story impact? This is just a small little decision for a comic, but this was late-game, shit's-getting-reeeeeel decision in the first one which could alter uniting everyone against the Reapers. Do I need the Council? Or would it be better to, essentially, kill them all?
This is bothering me more than it should.
@MildMolasses: Of course I saved Wrex. Shepard. Wrex.
You should play the first game if you can. It's pretty good and the decision should be much easier for you to make when you see it in context.
Also, saving Wrex wasn't just a decision in the first game. You had to have high enough paragon/renegade skill to even get the option. I think it helped if you found his ancestral armor too. Anyway it was entirely possible to have no other option but to shoot him in the head if you didn't (cheat) know what was coming.
My opinion was always Fuck The Council. Everything should be focused towards saving the galaxy. You don't have your most advanced ship break off at the most critical moment to save a few whiny bureaucrats.
They can make you a Spectre again and you get the "Reapers" joke if they live. That's the only difference I can remember.
@N7: Save the council. I have a feeling that choice is going to be the one that is most likely to bite people in the ass.
See, the major thing that the Reapers always used to their advantage was the systematic dismantling of galactic government. It destabilized the galaxy and with no government leaders, everyone ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. You want to avoid that, so save the Council. I could be reading too much into these brilliant games, but I don't think so.
@ExplodeMode said:
They can make you a Spectre again and you get the "Reapers" joke if they live. That's the only difference I can remember.
You can still regain your Spectre Status if you sacrifice the original council, though I think it's only brought up if you chose to place Anderson in the council.
@Oldirtybearon said:
@N7: Save the council. I have a feeling that choice is going to be the one that is most likely to bite people in the ass.
See, the major thing that the Reapers always used to their advantage was the systematic dismantling of galactic government. It destabilized the galaxy and with no government leaders, everyone ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. You want to avoid that, so save the Council. I could be reading too much into these brilliant games, but I don't think so.
That was always my belief/hope with how it would be handled. Better the enemy you know. Or, more accurately, the enemy you know who also has some idea what's going on and knows you aren't lying, who you also have sway with for saving their asses.
The puppet government that forms if you let the old council die makes me wary that the rest of the galaxy would rebel against humanity. They already have enough enemies. My playthrough after making the choice to let the council die felt wrong. The humans who die if you take the effort to save the council serve as a statement that humanity is willing to sacrifice for the greater good.
I don't think it's fair to say none of your decisions matter. They may not change the content you see significantly, but even subtle changes in tone can make a meaningful difference to how that content is experienced by the player. My Shep was pretty ruthless about putting humanity first when it mattered, and I felt like that was pretty well reflected in ME2. You get a sense that your decisions have had far-reaching consequences (see my previous post), even if you aren't directly shown them.
It is possible for content to be branched significantly in big budget games (the second act split in The Witcher 2 proves that), but it is asking a lot. I thought the decision to try and alter tone rather than content was a decent compromise and very smart development on Bioware's part, especially considering they were right in the middle of a trilogy. They probably should try and be a bit more ambitious with this stuff in the third game though - it should be more feasible now that the end is in sight.
Yeah, I forgot. But if the council offers it to you, you can have the satisfaction of telling them to shove it - so that's another thing.@ExplodeMode said:
They can make you a Spectre again and you get the "Reapers" joke if they live. That's the only difference I can remember.You can still regain your Spectre Status if you sacrifice the original council, though I think it's only brought up if you chose to place Anderson in the council.
When I first played Mass Effect 1 I was entierly paragon, I wasent "going for a paragon run" I just tend to be a good guy. When it came to that final choice I knew "save the council" was a paragon choice but honestly I thought the true "good" choice was to save the thousands of men and women serving in the fleet, the council is about 3 people who seem to barely represent anyone (just like current politicians) and I didnt see any reason why three lives would be worth more than a thousand (of any race). It gave me "renegade" points but I dont care i the goverment called me renegade, I did the right thing regardless of public opinion.
When I was playing Mass Effect 2 I remember taking some heat from the general populace and higher-up's but I took my lumps for Good and Honour.
I recently played the game again as a female paragon, and I chose to sacrifice the council in order to concentrate on Soverign. The other races were definitely hostile to me when I visited the Citadel in ME2, but that seems to be the only difference so far. Also I chose Anderson to be the Counselor.
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