Wow... I've been gone for quite some time. Sorry about that :P Anywho. Just got back from Wisconsin for my roommates wedding. Had a blast at the reception and on the way back we visited Castle Rock which is an exposed limestone bluff that rises from the rolling plains of Western Wisconsin. Pretty rural area which I'm not used to. It was nice to get away for a weekend but its back to work tomorrow! 

The Minnesota State Fair just started this past Thursday. Its one of my favorite things to do and now that I have a job, I can actually eat to my hearts content which includes stuff like Chocolate covered bacon, deep fried mashed potatoes, and much more! 

Today's picture of the day was taken from Castle Rock towards another limestone bluff. Wisconsin was fun but I will forever prefer Minnesota, especially since we have Bret Favre now :P.  But really... County Road G in Mauston, WI is stupid... doesn't travel in a logical path. That and sideways lights are REALLY stupid. And a cheese factory is not a one room cheese stand. Just to let you know thats what you need to work on Wisconsin :P. 

 I hope everyone has had a great Easter weekend and got their fill of food and family. I had to temporarily stop posting here because my grandmother was admitted to the hospital. She's alright and was finally released this morning although she still has multiple appointments trying to establish what really happened to her. The doctors have unfortunately been unable to match all her symptoms to a disease or issue so it'll be a while before she's fully back to normal... well... normal for someone in their 80's. Oh well.

I don't have much to say unfortunately but I'll try and stick to adding more photos. 

 So today marked the first MLB game to be played at the new Target Field. Despite its controversial start that saw the threat of moving the Twins or permanently contracting the team and a stubborn public clamoring to vote no for any tax hikes, the Stadium now shines as a stunning accomplishment and a resounding rejection of modern MLB stadiums fetish with "retro" architecture. This deviation and the stadiums integration with the intermodal transportation hub while being intimately tied with the fabric of downtown has been well received. Between the limestone facade, state of the art green technology and construction, and revamped luxury food options, this stadium undoubtedly a success even before the regular season opens. I have tickets for the April 20th game and I'm absolutely thrilled! The sterility and awkwardness of the Metrodome has been cast aside and now we have the summer open air baseball stadium that since 1982, Minnesotans have wished for. 

Of course, some still wanted a roof and today they nearly got the irony needed to prove them right. Earlier today thunderstorms dumped heavy rain over the Twin Cities threatening to delay or cancel the game. Thankfully the storms moved out and the game remained untouched and the great season long celebration with World Series dreams has begun. 

PotD #6



A Severe thunderstorm with small hail pushes through Saint Paul in the Summer of 2008. The tornado sirens across the river were initiated but other than temporary street flooding, the storm was nothing more than a welcome relief from a short stretch of warm weather, one that I welcomed as I didn't have AC in that house, and still don't at my current location.  

 Back in 2007, Minneapolis announced an effort to replace some of the cities most popular and shorter (so non-express, non-suburban or connectors) bus lines with modern street cars to much fan fare. RT Rybak for years has championed this cause and was on the approach to getting city approval. Unfortunately, the Bush administration's hostile criteria for federal funding assistance stalled the street car plans to which even Rybak pointed out in his State of the City address as one of his biggest non-accomplishments. But with the election of a more transit friendly administration, the Minneapolis City Council is set to embrace a long term street car plan along the densest corridors in the city providing cheap and relatively reliable service to the transit dependent while hopefully encouraging even more dense development that was characteristic of the 2000 to 2008 boom. 

Of course, this always leads to the argument about whether this sort of funding is worth it and the inevitable "why are we subsidizing". To be frank, I find this argument rather pointless as pretty much all modes of transportation (with very few notable exceptions) require some sort of public funds either through local or state bonding and usually with a federal grant. So highway or street car, we're using public funds. At this point in American urban development, our network of highways is for the most part "complete" and the vast majority of highway projects are usually interchange re-planning or widening with the miles of new limited access roads decreasing. In terms of societal efficiency, we just don't really have the room for highways with similar levels of car dependencies. If the US does reach the 450 million mark around 2050, and the population continues to urbanize, we have to move the extra 140 million people and the net gain in cars from this population growth has to be very small. The US can't afford financially to both build and  maintain hundreds of thousands of new highway lane miles and its accompanying demand for resources. I don't doubt the benefit of interstate highways, but as the US struggles with oil dependencies and chronic congestion, we have no choice but to invest in these forms of mass transit, even if it comes at a somewhat greater public financing cost. Highways are quickly becoming antiqued and inefficient. States that are increasingly highway based also face the economic weight of gas prices now becoming an increasing burden, especially on Sunbelt states that have generally avoided mass transit. In addition to the increased societal cost of increased highway construction, and the impending oil demands, there's also the added health cost of being a sedentary population, stuck in traffic jams for hours at a time. Cities with great massive transit plans also tend to have lower rates of obesity and obesity related diseases just from the fact that you have to walk to and from transit entrance and exit points. So in a way, mass transit has a hidden cost BENEFIT that is never included in federal funds requests. Of course, no individual project can claim a reduction in municipal fat but the evidence is clear.  

In the planning community, street cars have a love-hate relationship with many. One the one hand, street cars are slow, operate in traffic, and are usually limited in scope. However, there is no doubt that these street cars have time and time again encouraged development and promote commuting and even equalize racial disparities in ridership. Unfortunately, whites tend to avoid mass transit buses in droves but change it to a street car which is essentially no different, and its a hip new clean way to travel. Its unfortunate that mass transit has to combat on social preconceptions as well as financial ones, but its the reality of American transit. So as illogical as street cars are compared to other lines, they still get the job done and encourage growth and at a significantly lower cost than light rail. Many of the lines proposed in Minneapolis' transit plan are barely a mile long (at first) but can see tens of thousands of riders a day at 1/10th the cost of a light rail line. 

I think Minneapolis is doing a great job so far in its mass transit planning (of course, implementation is a whole 'nother story) and its approach is very systematic and reasonable. Minneapolis' plan is to use a gambit of transit options to meet generally at one intermodal station that would connect buses, BRT, commuter rail, light rail, taxis, street cars and even bikes and skyways in downtown using the best solution for each corridor necessary. This is a logical plan that I'm surprised many cities aren't following through with. Yes, many cities beat Minneapolis in current mass transit construction, but many of the systems I've looked at run independently from the other systems or at best intersect haphazardly here and there. 

Personally, I just like the fact that Minneapolis used its new baseball stadium to anchor the intermodal station which will be constructed in the coming years.


PotD #5


Reflections on the Mississippi River late night in Saint Paul. Again... not studying when I should have been.

 Lets face it... the vast majority of us speed, myself included. Sometimes that damn 55 mph sign is just too slow or if you're like me you live near an interstate with illogically low speed limits like I-35E. 45 mph on the freeway is just a sin. However... it appears as though the recession is attacking even our speeding cushion. Its unfortunate that our municipal tax revenue is becoming reliant on citations to remain economically viable but at the same time, 5 mph is a reasonable cushion. I mean, all it takes for some cars to go the extra 5 mph without the driving noticing could be slight decline. For example, my car doesn't shift like traditional cars and I can't feel when my car changes gears (which I actually like) but it sometimes will hit a bump and my car will increase the gear ratio and even though my foot hasn't depressed on the gas any more than it was before, my car will respond by accelerating. Its the 5 mph cushion that makes it not a big deal but if that goes by the way side... crap...

Besides... EVERYONE speeds. I very rarely see anyone doing 55 on I-94 between Minneapolis and Saint Paul and when they do, traffic tends to jumble around them as people switch lanes to get around them. Yes, everyone's speeding TECHNICALLY breaking the law, but until we somehow convince the majority of people to stay at the speed limit, then this 5 mph cushion is needed. 

Anyway...

Today was an absolutely stunning day outside reaching in the upper 70's. I had to turn the AC in my car on (as rolling down your windows above 40 to 45 mph is wasting more gas). Summer is finally coming and soon it'll be fricken hot... How humans enjoy such heat is ridiculous. Come on fall!

PotD #4


Minnehaha Falls on a stunning early autumn evening. I took this picture instead of studying.  This is a few miles from my apartment on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi. Its a nice little park to go wading stream side, walking your dog off leash, or just enjoy the scenery.

 Final Fantasy EX Aye Aye Aye....

After a decent but flawed showing with FF XII (please learn to pronounce Marquis), Sony has released a multi-platform Final Fantasy title aimed to please as many people as possible. The newest installment is a dramatic shift from the older days of Final Fantasy RPGs for both better and worse. I have been with the franchise since Final Fantasy VII which was probably the breakout hit for the US market on the then new Playstation system. From the days of Cloud and his save the world from unsurmountable (yet I guess I did beat that game...) evil whilst breeding chocobos, talking to a variety of random NPCs for hidden gifts, and firing at random objects from a rollercoaster at the Golden Saucer, I have been hooked to the franchise. The massive nature of Final Fantasy VII is what got me into this genre completely, although I was keen on watching others play Chrono Trigger and the likes for few years. Since then I have played most of VII's sequels... cleverly named Final Fantasy 8, 9, 10 and 12. I skipped eleven as its departure from the genre into the MMORPG universe was disturbing and I think financially sound. I throughly enjoyed the story from Final Fantasy 8 but I thought a lot of the technical aspects were a bit... lacking. FF9's cartoonish vibe was a huge turnoff and probably the low for modern Final Fantasy games (excluding FF XI). Final Fantasy 12 was refreshing in both story and gameplay although I was never able to beat it do to my lack of permanent ownership of a PS2 and the workload in college. 

I believe it was three years ago when I first saw the first hints of Final Fantasy XIII and I was both hooked and mystified as what the few little tidbits and cutscenes actually meant. More importantly there was a WOE-MAN in the renders :O. A real authentic female even by Japanese RPG standards that wasn't on the lines of a shrill annoying subordinate like Misa Misa from Death Note. Although it does abide by the brooding loner cliche of most JRPG's (see Crono, Cloud, Squall, and many many many many many many many many others), but hey, I guess I can't argue with a non-male avatar for myself.  I was very pleased to hear that they were porting the game to the 360 (and I'll comment on the comparisons between the two later).

I kinda ended up forgetting about Final Fantasy until shortly before its release date and after looking at a few previews, I decided to give it a whirl.

Boy is Final Fantasy XIII different. I hesitate to even think that this can be called an RPG. Being a Mass Effect 2 loyalist til I die, I'm used to free flowing, non-linear, choice driven, story lines and in the digital age of customization and choice, Final Fantasy XIII throws that all down the drain and says "See this rail? Yea, you're on that for the next 24 hours of gameplay." For the first few hours, I thought the constant fighting with a few intermittent cutscenes was just a dramatic entry for a long awaited Final Fantasy game. But the cool down period NEVER came. Dialogue? Yea it occurred, but not in the "Lets talk to everyone on the street for no reason" format, but in a "watch this clip NOW" format. I realized that this game had totally ripped the soul of most RPG's away. There was no towns, no random NPC's. I hardly felt I was even playing my characters. There were no choices, I had no freedom to choose strategy or anything outside of battles. I was really torn apart by this development. What good is an RPG if there is no Role Playing and exploration. Anyway, let me break it down piece by piece.

Plot
Ignoring my lack of NPC's, towns, and old style role playing, the Plot is actually refreshing. Its not annoyingly convoluted and tiresome like Final Fantasy XII and its not dumbed down like Star Ocean or Blue Dragon. It certainly isn't as depressing as say Lost Odyssey either. The whole premise of this game is that Cocoon, the world that houses humans hovers above a beast infest planet called Gran Pulse and the humans live in constant fear of creatures and near God-like entities of the Fal'cie (get used to apostrophes). The Fal'cie are powerful entities that reside on both worlds and are responsible for things like food, water, sunlight and even gates and are pretty much the provider for humans. Otherwise, they try and stay out of human affairs with the exception of Eden Fal'cie which is kinda the head hauncho of all human society (as an advisory/protector role goes). Gran Pulse also have these entities which the Cocoon folks fear as they are hell bent on bring down the safety of Cocoon and destroying human civilization as they know it with memories from a previous Cocoon/Gran Pulse War driving human fears. The problem comes from the Fal'cie's ability to brand humans to do their bidding where failure leads to zombification of sorts, and success leads to eternity spent as a crystal. This branding makes humans into unfortunate slaves, called L'Cie, to fulfill a goal, called a focus. The story starts with an entire city being "purged" to export all the humans who COULD have been exposed to the Fal'Cie to Gran Pulse to maintain security on Cocoon and all your characters are caught up in this net somehow. In an attempt to save one person's fiance and the resulting Fal'Cie battle ends up with all your characters being branded a L'Cie, doomed to carry out a task which only a brief vision even hints at. As the story progresses, the interconnectivity of your characters and their string of crises of faith, and their struggles with mortality, purpose, and understanding provides a nice story line, if albeit linear. I know my quick synopsis probably doesn't do the story line justice but going through it is rather fun. The characters seem a bit like they were freshly unpacked from the archetype shipment boxes, but as you go further, they are surprisingly deep for even a Final Fantasy game. Unfortunately, a lot of the nuances of character relationships aren't exactly visible unless you read the little chapter synopses which I kinda think takes away from the game a little bit, but I can see there being a translation/cultural values difference that may have made some concepts hard to carry over directly. 

Overall, I give the plot a 9/10. The names really could use a lot of work. Lightning (an alias thankfully), Snow, Fang, Vanille, Hope... come on... Never the less the litany of unnecessarily apostrophied words like Fal'cie, L'Cie, Ci'eth....

Gameplay

I personally believe this is where the game takes the biggest hit overall. The complete overhaul of a tried and true formula is always risky and I personally believe that they have dumbed the game down for casual gamers at the expense of a decent game. Granted, RPG's belong to a niche market and for the amount of content and the costs incurred by developers for RPG's, I imagine its somewhat harder to recoup these costs nowadays. But a game on rails these days that isn't a first person shooter just doesn't seem right any more, especially in the Final Fantasy genre. This is a huge step back in my opinion. The game does awkwardly shift off the the rails for a bit on the 3rd disk and I find the transition to be very weird and nothing more than filler and power leveling. 

The battle system is actually very clean and logical and kinda does away with the complicated systems of the old days and replaces it with a simplified system that WORKS. Thats an important thing Sony... simplification for the sake of simplification is NOT good. But the days of managing 80982034 items are gone and there are far fewer accessories and weapons to equip. This lack of items is balanced by an upgrade system that is easy to understand. 

Additionally, there are paradigms, which are reminiscent of older Final Fantasies as well as FF X-2. Each character specializes in certain areas and each job is critical in how the battle flows. But this time around, the battle is less focused on the actual move a character makes then on the overall strategy. Instead of picking "Fire" or "ice" or "heal" individually, your character works under a given set of overall instructions. For example, there is the Medic "class" where your characters task is to heal and remove status effects on your other characters that could be charged with say... casting attack magic. Again, not going into the details of it, but the overall point is to balance your tasks as the battle moves. You might have to act more defensively with certain enemies or when direct attacks aren't effective you have to use sabotage or distraction as a means of finishing the battle.

Overall, I give this game a 6/10. Sorry Sony, I liked having a breather and goofing around in town. Yea know... having fun?

Graphics/Sound

The Final Fantasy series have always been on the upper end of RPG graphics and this is no exception. The lack of towns and NPCs allows for a more varied and stunningly rendered environment although in most cases I found a lot of the environment rather useless. It was very tiresome to run roughly a kilometer without an enemy, save point, or treasure chest in sight. Like... why even have it? The characters are well rendered in both cinematics and other integrated cut scenes. The PS3's graphics are very noticeably cleaner and more detailed, but anti-aliasing suffered just a little bit giving a kinda blocky edge to everything. Although, it is nice to have only 1 disc for the PS3 version instead of the 360's three discs. The environments are widely variable from urban, to trash heap, to grand wilds thus using the entire color palette that a lot of games refuse to use (Final Fantasy XII was one of them). 

The Soundtrack is alright. I feel like the used the character theme songs a bit too much, especially Serah's theme which is the one with the high pitched angelic voice/choir which sounds nice but is used in SOOO many cutscenes that its pretty much the only one I know. Otherwise, most of the music is rather forgetful which is unfortunate for a game that has a history of great music. I gather that most of the music is geared towards cinematics as each level only has one song that is played ad infinitium, although this is not unique to this game. Sound effects are what they are expected to be with the exception of the walking sounds. They are particularly loud and distracting that even people in the room your playing the game in will notice them over the actual soundtrack.

Graphics and sound get an 8/10

The game overall gets a score of 7.67/10. Now this score has a caveat that you are a Final Fantasy fan that is used to the older titles and likes them. The reason why I docked the score may be a result of Sony trying to encourage new gamers to join in and perhaps they might like this version that is simpler and less cumbersome than those of yesteryear. Lets call this ... the Simcity Societies syndrome. Dumbed down to open new markets at the expense of die-hard fans. I think you all can appreciate this final analogy. 



While we are at it. PotD #3




So called "Australian Fried Potatoes". I have my doubts on its authenticity but not its taste. They can come with ranch dressing or melted cheese. I prefer it as is. This can be found at the Minnesota State Fair and perhaps my kitchen some day.

 Its okay to disagree with the current scientific theory or study. That is how science progresses. A hypothesis based on current research is created, a study conducted to test that hypothesis, and the hypothesis is rejected or "supported" and adds to the current understanding of the world around us. In those three steps... a lot can happen and a lot of mistakes can be made and thus "results" are arguable, even if they are mere measurements of the world around us. At some point, a collection of results can lead to a "theory" and this theory helps explain a phenomenon through basic observations and can be supported by duplicable testing. A THEORY is NOT a hypothesis. In lay terms, theory is often used in place of "conjecture' or "guessing". A scientific theory is NOT just "conjecture" and you cannot disprove a scientific theory by debasing its status using the lay definition of the term. In other words... you can't say "____ is just a theory, and therefore is debatable." This is not how science works... 

Of course, South Dakota likes to think otherwise. Just like states that choose to ignore the overwhelming evidence on "evolution" because it is just a "theory," South Dakota has taken the steps to provide a further so called balance in their education system regarding global warming and man's influence. I'm going to ignore the current "argument" (which is mostly a fabrication of the media) about anthropogenic global warming. But there are several pieces of the South Dakota legislation that is just a slap to general science education and if the US wants to even pretend its still dominant in scientific fields, this seriously lapse in judgement needs to be overridden. Its one thing to want to give your children an education based on your social values, even if I strongly disagree with that too, at the very least thats a more gray area. But to deny your children basic facts about the world around them in an effort to push YOUR dying agenda into the next generation is morally wrong (ironic saying these people are trying to save morality). By pushing things such as global warming and evolution away in some backwards sense of balanced education on beliefs based off of flawed information or just plain arrogance and ignorance, these lawmakers are just going to make their children suffer. What Texas has done recently to History education by focusing on just part of WHITE culture (forgot hispanics and liberals!), South Dakota is doing with science. 

I'm not gonna review the legislation myself in this blog as Dr. Jeff Masters has done a far better job of analyzing this piece of "work" than I ever can. 

South Dakota seems to have confused genuine scientific discourse with political indoctrination. Yes, we want our children to think critically and independently, but we also don't push false science just so we can satisfy our political desires. Its okay to say, "don't accept scientists work just off their word." But to discount something without even understanding it is just wrong and states like South Dakota WILL suffer for it. 

The Great Irony of this legislation is greatly summed up by Dr. Masters here.

"(3) That the debate on global warming has subsumed political and philosophical viewpoints which have complicated and prejudiced the scientific investigation of global warming phenomena;

It's highly ironic that these politicians are complaining about political viewpoints complicating the issue, yet here they are asserting their own political views, laden with awful science, to further complicate things. I agree that the political debate on global warming has complicated its scientific investigation, since climate scientists must now spend time away from their research to defend their work against absurd attacks like this one. Allegations that the debate has "prejudiced" scientific investigation have not been proven, and unproven allegations have no place in an official resolution by lawmakers."

Way to go South Dakota... another reason for your Minnesotan neighbor to stay on my side of the border. 

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On to less damning things....
PotD #2

 Hey, just dropping a line to let you all know I'm still here.

I'm trying to figure out a direction for this blog because I can only post so many pictures of the area before even I get sick of it. I'm thinking of going through all my pictures and posting a random pic a day. I know thats pretty ambitious for someone who posts once or twice a month. I still have a bunch of pics to post from my last outing in Saint Paul as well as the recent flooding that occurred in my area. 

If people have any helpful suggestions as what to post or whatever, feel free to add. 

Anyway. All the pics I post are mine unless otherwise noted.


Here's pic post #1 back from May 2005



I took this pic on a cruise to Alaska back in my sophomore year in college. This was up a specific arm of a bay that had a glacier at its terminus. Unfortunately, the rapid melting and calving of the glacier made it impossible for the ship to reach the glacier safely but the views were none the less spectacular. For being May, the weather was fantastic and I believe we hit several records while we were there. It was funny when the local tour guide to the Salmon bake described the local weather as "cold" with a record low of -22 F. I laughed :P Those Fairbanks folks must really think fairly low of their Juneau counterparts. 

 Before I even get started with this review, I need to start out saying... I'm a Mass Effect fan boy. They could have practically given me the same game from Mass Effect with new missions and I would probably still play it and be thrilled. I heavily enjoy the story, its characters, the background information and the artistic style that make Mass Effect a game with staying power. Mass Effect has not only drained many hours from my life, but its given me faith that there is still SOME innovation and creativity left in the video game market, especially in the realm of action RPG's which by nature are more flexible than first person shooters. After all FPS are kinda defined by having one gun and being able to shoot it from a first person perspective which is very limiting in terms of game play. 

I think what attracted me most to Mass Effect is that the story line is a very believable look at humanity in its galactic infancy (even decades after they joined the Galactic community). For once humans are not super advanced and enlightened like Star Trek or a number of Japanese RPGs and nor is it post apocalyptic. Additionally the human-alien dynamic is finally believable. It seems that most sci-fi story arcs either have complete disdain for humans or love to stroke human ego's by saying how creative we are or how love triumphs over all etc etc. The humans are an awkward piece in the galactic puzzle and its believable. Some aliens react positively while others don't trust humans... but additionally, its not all blanketed across the entires species, but individuals also have their own views. Thank god cause I was getting sick of homogeneous alien belief systems. The complexity and creativity behind the aliens, technology, and even human "history" made Mass Effect a very engrossing story. 

But, even with this amazing story, Mass Effect wasn't without issue. Much of its gameplay was spent running around bland redundant landscapes are talking incessantly over pretty useless trivia. Many had complained that the first game was, for a lack of better terms, slow. I see their points, but then again, when you play RPG's, slow game play is a staple that you get used to it. I often enjoy the down times and side games, but I guess others don't. But that wasn't the only issue. Perhaps the biggest issue was the unimaginative inventory system that was very cumbersome to work with. Long load screens also became a common complaint. 

So the question is... did Mass Effect 2 keep what was strong with Mass Effect and continue the saga in a matter most befitting the storyline. 

The answer is a definitive yes. Having played the first game through the first time completely several times, I can tell you the action is probably at least doubled. The developers took player comments very seriously and upped the tempo for this overwhelmingly dark story. Much of the UI and game menus and controls have been completely altered and for once... for the better! The inventory system was for the most part scrapped, which made sense. You still buy stuff but you don't "have it" like you did in the old game. Most of the purchasable items were upgrades that you had to research to apply to your weaponry/armor. The ammo types were condensed from the old games and instead of becoming yet another inventory item, they were converted to a ranked "power". This made it impossible for your team mates to have access to all types of ammo so you'd have to team your buddies up with complementary powers to be at your most effective. 

Perhaps one of the biggest changes that at first was unsettling was the addition of actual limited ammo. It was very nice to be able to run around in Mass Effect and have no issue with lighting up the dark side of an entire planet if I had to kill a rat. But now that ammo is limited, you actually do have to a decent bit of aiming (although it wasn't by any means restrictive on Normal difficulty). At first I was a bit peeved that I had to actually watch my ammo and it seemed that some guns, like the heavy pistol, just seemed to be underwhelming in ammo capacity. For example, my vanguard Shepard had the shotgun, heavy pistol, machine pistol and a heavy weapon. The heavy pistol had some 35 bullets (perhaps it was 50, I don't recall) and even though it was remarkably powerful compared to my machine pistol, it ran low on ammo in the middle of a gun fight pretty easy. The game would often throw wave after wave at you and unless you like charging (like the Vanguards are SUPPOSED to do, but thats another time), the ammo clips would lay at the feet of the next on coming wave. So sure, you wouldn't have to wait long to get new ammo, but it just seemed tedious to empty your heavy pistol in intense gun fights when you have the machine pistol with its 650 bullets which probably ran out ONCE in the entire game. Even though it was weaker, it was perfectly fine. 

So I felt there were SOME balancing issues in terms of ammo. However, as I went through the game, the ammo aspect made sense, especially when you got to heavy weapons. These weapons were ridiculously powerful and almost unfair, especially once you got your hands on the collector ray which would take about 1 second to vaporize your weakest enemies. But because the ammo was universal for you heavy weapons, you had to be careful how you used them, especially cause you could only pick the ammo up at certain locations. This made the addition of ammo limitations forgivable, especially when you got to the mini-nuke launcher.

The story line was very entertaining if not predictable and relatively simplistic. Although there were small twists and turns, the game loved telling you over and over that "this is a suicide mission" which even for my awesome optimistic dude from Mass Effect failed to overcome. Yes game, I know its a mission of low odds... But even though the story for the most part was really good, I had one beef with it... It HAD to be divided into "missions" which I really didn't like one bit. Perhaps its a personal preference, but RPG's should never subdivide the story or side quests into "missions". The whole point of an RPG is to have a dynamic continually evolving and flowing story which Mission screens subdivide and make it feel blocky. I found it VERY irritating to earn someones loyalty by killing their worst enemy and then BAM "Mission Complete"... how cold. Yes, Cerberus is cold, but that doesn't mean the story has to be told so rigidly and its not like the Mission complete screen really told me anything new, it just sums up what just happened. That could have just been detailed in your quest log and left to the side to not interrupt the flow. 

The music and artwork were otherwise spectacular and have to be experienced first hand. The developers spent a lot of time trying to enhance the environments of the levels. In the first game, the environments were rather static and bland and the "atmosphere" was pretty universal throughout the entire game and it was only different in cutscenes or battle. In the sequel, they spent a lot of time developing the seediness of Omega, and the ostentatious Wall-Street like world of Illium and the ruins of Tuchanka. 

Character development was also upped but I won't discuss it too much to avoid spoilers. But seriously... getting Mordin to sing Gilbert and Sullivan was AWESOME!!! But a lot of the stories each character posses really adds to the backstory that was given in the first game. I know a lot of people don't like dialog in video games which is beyond me, but to each their own. However, this game I suggest to not skip any dialog and to push each character to the end of their conversation sequences because they intertwine and augment the entire universe around you completely altering much of what you new in the first game in a couple of instances.

Bioware's biggest selling point was that actions from the first game affected the story in the second game. They certainly weren't lying, but in most cases they were rarely that important or they would only give you an advantage/disadvantage for a few mins. There were probably only a few instances where decisions were VERY important (like if Wrex lived, who you killed, a couple NPC decisions). For the most part, your decisions had some minor ripples where half the time they result in you getting... an EMAIL!!!! Yea... a bit over hyped. If they continue this motif into the next game, they really need to up their effects. Although, I need to know if anyone has imported a character who let the Citadel Council die in the first game. I didn't play all the way through with my renegade character so I am not sure if there's an all human council or not. 

Anyway, this game is an absolute must have. I give it a 9.5 out of 10. This game continues to make Mass Effect my favorite game series. I just hope they can wrap the series up eloquently for a story so deserving of a grand finale.