ME1 --> Mass Effect 2 Character Import

[Schadenfroh]

Greetings,

Thinking of playing through Mass Effect 1 again, as I have recently purchased Mass effect 2. I was curious how much of the items / skills / attributes / decisions carry over from the first game.

When you launch Mass Effect 2, will it ask you to import a character and then most of the important decisions you made in the first one cause consequences in the 2nd one?

Or is it like in Baldur's Gate 2, where your decisions in the first one do not matter and you simply select to say stuff than happens in the first one for the NPCs to explain away, like when some NPCs came back to life. Also, waking up in a lab full of people that I might have executed in the first one is not good carry over...

Finally, any good mods for the first one? I played it through with only the patch last time, but since there is no editor, I doubt that there will be many worthwhile content / bug-fix mods.

 

[MJinZ]

I got really bored of Mass Effect 1 and haven't finished it yet.

I might go through them all when Mass effect 3 comes out.

 

[Skurge]

Its going to be like boulders gate.

Some things will pop up that will really be cool if you imported your character. Most of the stuff doesn't have a REAL effect. Its worth playing ME1 again just to make sure you have the character you want for ME2 (Paragon/renegade wise)

 

[thedosbox]

Its going to be like boulders gate.

Some things will pop up that will really be cool if you imported your character. Most of the stuff doesn't have a REAL effect. Its worth playing ME1 again just to make sure you have the character you want for ME2 (Paragon/renegade wise)

This. Some of the decisions from ME1 affect the availability of some side-missions in ME2, but nothing particularly key.

 

[Cheesetogo]

If you don't import a save, the game will act as if your character was as evil as possible. Pretty much everyone that can die in ME1 will be dead in ME2. That doesn't have a huge impact on the game, but I think it is a bit more fun when you import your own save.

If you don't feel like playing ME1 again, there's websites that offer ME1 save files that you can use to import. You can rechoose your class and looks (but not sex) in ME2, so you should be able to find a save file that works for you.

And it's worth doing it just to see your conversations with Conrad in ME2. I nearly fell out of my chair watching some of the dialogue options.

 

[TheVrolok]

http://www.masseffectsaves.com/

 

[Lonyo]

Most of it is storyline/references and not material to the game.
There are interactions with different characters etc depending on who you recruited, who died inc in ME1.

Obviously they can't really change the main storyline, but it is nice to have the references to your ME1 playthrough rather than any old past events.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I got really bored of Mass Effect 1 and haven't finished it yet.

I might go through them all when Mass effect 3 comes out.

First time I played ME1 I stopped because I was bored. Second time I powered through the initial stages of the game and it really got a lot better. Great game, and mass effect 2 was way better.

 

[Skurge]

First time I played ME1 I stopped because I was bored. Second time I powered through the initial stages of the game and it really got a lot better. Great game, and mass effect 2 was way better.

Yeah, I got bored too. When I was in the citadel. Some one told me I got a whole bunch better after that. I kept playing and it just got more epic as I played.

 

[Phobic9]

Yeah the Citadel in Mass Effect 1 is probably the most boring part of the game. Amazing that they started the game with that but I guess it didn't stop me from beating it 3 times.

 

[BeauJangles]

I stopped playing ME1 when I was in the Citadel. Too much running around and the plot wasn't really gripping.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah, I got bored too. When I was in the citadel. Some one told me I got a whole bunch better after that. I kept playing and it just got more epic as I played.

Yeah the Citadel in Mass Effect 1 is probably the most boring part of the game. Amazing that they started the game with that but I guess it didn't stop me from beating it 3 times.

I stopped playing ME1 when I was in the Citadel. Too much running around and the plot wasn't really gripping.

It must be a major problem with BioWare games. KOTOR started you out on Taris, which has to be one of the most boring openings in any game. I haven't played any other BioWare games except the Mass Effect games so I don't know if that holds true for the others.

ME2's opening is much more succinct and better. You do one QUICK mission and then you're thrown in the thick of things.

I'd recommend importing a Mass Effect 1 save from the link above. In addition to the little side stories you get, you also get a couple free levels, some credits, and some resources to start out.

 

[Qbah]

Let's see... It's mostly extra dialogue or email and sometimes an extra mission. The quests are (as far as I remember):

- the secretary chick from Noveria (Illium)
- Conrad Verner (Illium) - best renegade dialogue in the game IMO
- the Asari from Zhu's Hope (Illium)

However, you get a lot of emails and there's plenty of information from the news feeds about the result of your actions in ME1. Also, you meet a few extra people if you didn't kill them in ME1. It really makes the Mass Effect world feel full and alive. You also get some resources and a level or two, depending on how high was your ME1 char. If you create a new character:

- you let the council die
- you killed Wrex
- you killed the Queen
- you didn't romance anyone and chose the same-sex person to die on Virmire

You can only select who's on the council between Udina and Anderson. And that's it.

Also, I think the beginning of ME2 is the most epic introduction ever to be present in a game. It is, for the lack of a better word, perfect.

 

[MJinZ]

OK Bastards I reinstalled ME1 and replaying it. Attempting to do the "full completion" in one game.

I had lost the CD Key as well (it was printed on a friggin card in the box) but I registered the key for Bring down the Sky in my Bioware account thankfully.

 

[frostedflakes]

Let's see... It's mostly extra dialogue or email and sometimes an extra mission. The quests are (as far as I remember):

- the secretary chick from Noveria (Illium)
- Conrad Verner (Illium) - best renegade dialogue in the game IMO
- the Asari from Zhu's Hope (Illium)

However, you get a lot of emails and there's plenty of information from the news feeds about the result of your actions in ME1. Also, you meet a few extra people if you didn't kill them in ME1. It really makes the Mass Effect world feel full and alive. You also get some resources and a level or two, depending on how high was your ME1 char. If you create a new character:

- you let the council die
- you killed Wrex
- you killed the Queen
- you didn't romance anyone and chose the same-sex person to die on Virmire

You can only select who's on the council between Udina and Anderson. And that's it.

Also, I think the beginning of ME2 is the most epic introduction ever to be present in a game. It is, for the lack of a better word, perfect.

I didn't even know about that one. It's been so long since I've played through ME1, I can't even remember if I talked to this guy. Whatever I did, though, he isn't around in my ME2 game.

And yeah, some of the decisions in ME1 could end up having some pretty big implications for the final installment. For example, the rachni might end up being useful to have around in ME3 for the fight against the reapers.

I need to set aside some time to play through ME1 again, there are a couple things I wish I would have done differently. Or maybe I'll just be lazy and download a save to import into ME2.