Mass Effect 2 question (ME1 Spoilers within)

[rivethead]

I played ME1 2 years ago and I don't remember all the "choices" I made other than sleeping with Ashleigh and sacrificing Kaiden.

Do I need to replay ME1 before I start ME2, or will ME2 give me a recap of the choices I made (which I understand impact the storyline throughout ME2 and into ME3)?

Thanks!

 

[gothamhunter]

ME2 will let you choose between answers, like it'll ask:

"What do you remember about the Council?"

A. I saved the council
B. They all died

Other choices, like your girlfriend and all that, have default settings for the playthrough. But it's ok because Miranda's much better than emo Ashley.

 

[s44]

It will let you re-do the very last Udina/Anderson decision, because that was after the final savegame. Other stuff basically comes up on the fly with a reminder (hey, you remember me? blahblahblah). No big.

 

[DaveSimmons]

No recap, but the choices don't have that much of an effect on ME2 aside from who is still alive and who pops up in cameos.

 

[Fayd]

ME2 will let you choose between answers, like it'll ask:

"What do you remember about the Council?"

A. I saved the council
B. They all died

Other choices, like your girlfriend and all that, have default settings for the playthrough. But it's ok because Miranda's much better than emo Ashley.

i always go with tali tho. :/

too bad you can't get wrex back. that was the best team. eh... i guess i'll settle for headbutting worf.

 

[rivethead]

Thanks everyone!

ME1 was a pretty good story and I was worried that my bad memory would impact my enjoyment of ME2. Sounds like they thought of that and I need not worry.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The only major choices that are carried over from an ME1 playthrough are:

- Whether you saved the council or let them die. Without importing a save, the council is considered to have died.
- Whether you saved Ashley or Kaiden. Without importing a save, Kaiden dies if you're a male and Ashley dies if you're a female.
- Whether you killed Wrex or not. Without importing a save, Wrex is considered to have died.
- Who you romanced. Without importing a save, Shepard is not considered to have romanced any characters.

The only other thing you miss out on are certain bonuses to XP, credits, and resources that you get from transferring a save file. But those aren't really a big deal; you'll easily hit max level well before the game is over.

A lot of people hate the idea of Wrex being dead, but he only makes a short cameo in ME2 if he did survive, so it's not a big deal. I've never cared for BioWare romance writing either and besides, you can always initiate a romance with one of the ME2 characters if you want. You only miss out if you really want to do Liara after Lair of the Shadow Broker, but if you crave hot alien tail you can always just watch that cutscene on YouTube.

 

[Madia]

Here's a link to all of the things in ME1 that affect ME2:

http://www.masseffectsaves.com/desc.php

Also, there might be other things in ME1 that didn't affect ME2 but will affect ME3. If you haven't bought Mass Effect 2 yet I'd reccomend waiting until a GOTY edition comes out with all the DLC. Most of the DLC ranged from good to excellent (the mission DLCs, not the extra weapons/outfits) but it would cost you $50 or more to buy it all.

 

[s44]

Also, there might be other things in ME1 that didn't affect ME2 but will affect ME3.

This.

Definitely buy Shadow Broker after you first win the game, if you haven't already.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Also, there might be other things in ME1 that didn't affect ME2 but will affect ME3.

It's possible, but given how little effect your ME1 choices had on ME2, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Almost all of them were just in the form of a short conversation with someone or an email.

 

[Phanuel]

One of the latest DLCs for ME2 was an interactive (and I use that loosely) comic book re-cap of ME1 that let you make all of the important decisions in ME1 for your newly created ME2 character. This was done for the PS3 players and then eventually released for everyone else.

Otherwise I'd recommend looking for a save game site that has pre-made Shepards with any combination of main and side quests completed to your satisfaction and use those saves if you're worried about missing content in ME2 and potentially ME3.

And yeah, get Lair of the Shadowbroker. It's long and rather fun.

 

[Madia]

One of the latest DLCs for ME2 was an interactive (and I use that loosely) comic book re-cap of ME1 that let you make all of the important decisions in ME1 for your newly created ME2 character. This was done for the PS3 players and then eventually released for everyone else.

It was called Mass Effect Genesis. Here's a youtube video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvvAe_KGovs

They're actually selling it for $4 as a DLC for the pc. I got Mass Effect 1 for $5 on Steam in December of 09.

 

[PrayForDeath]

OP I suggest replaying ME1 again. If you only do the main quest and ignore all side missions it will take you only 8-10 hours, you can choose your decisions carefully, and you'll remember all the details of the story. You'll end up enjoying ME2 a lot more this way.