Arrival starts small, with an innocent-sounding mission to rescue a covert operative, and takes a little too long building toward its major reveal: a plot to slow down the Reaper invasion by fucking exploding a mass relay.

Which threatens to be a really compelling side-story -- but is immediately interrupted by space madness indoctrination and a rushed-feeling series of fights before Shepard presses the "blow it up" button and calls it a day.

Arrival's ambitious plot is underserved by how little storytelling time it actually gets. And while it's fun to observe the effects of this mission in Mass Effect 3, re: pissing off the batarians, I can't help but be disappointed that the angles of understanding and interfering with Reaper tactics are glossed over so quickly.

Better than: Mass Effect 2: Zaeed - The Price of Revenge
Not as good as: Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker
All in all, despite a handful of cool ideas: Mass Effect 2's DLCs feel ... unnecessary, neither as compelling nor satisfying as the main game's character-centric missions.

Unlike Overlord, the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC story sticks closely to existing Mass Effect lore.

In fact, it's part of the setup for Mass Effect 3, showing how Liara went from investigating the Shadow Broker to being the Shadow Broker. And that's about it.

The mission starts with some intrigue, Liara going dark and Shepard following her trail ... but it isn't long before you're just mowing down wave after wave of goons on your way to the Shadow Broker's, uh, lair.

Ultimately this DLC's story feels like a two minute cutscene stretched into two hours of gameplay. While that gameplay isn't "bad," per se, it's unremarkable; more of the same stuff you're already doing in Mass Effect 2.

And since "Liara is the Shadow Broker" is such a minor plot point in the third game, this DLC's narrative payoff doesn't end up feeling very meaningful.

Better than: Mass Effect 2: Zaeed - The Price of Revenge
Not as good as: Mass Effect 2: Kasumi - Stolen Memory
Meeting a Yahg was pretty neat: now I'm disappointed that they didn't play a bigger part in the series.

Mass Effect 2: Overlord is a strangely ambitious DLC pack, and while it makes admirable attempts at several mold-breaking innovations, I wouldn't really say that they paid off.

It's got a mostly self-contained story, for one thing, a story which ultimately reaches a pretty fascinating conclusion without leaning on Shepard or the Reapers or other established lore. ... however, up until that conclusion, plot development is scant and slow. The premise is genuinely good, but it just isn't well-integrated with Overlord's early and middle missions.

Partly because - and here's another surprise - those missions can be tackled in any order, across a free-roaming planet map. Like Uncharted: The Lost Legacy's Western Ghats level, Overlord feels like an experimental taste of non-linear sandbox world design, using the new Hammerhead hover-tank to physically travel between missions at your own discretion.

This new approach is definitely promising, and probably helped inspire Mass Effect: Andromeda, for whatever that's worth. But here, it's very prototype-y and under-done: secondary objectives and interesting scenery are both sparse, and so the illusion of openness breaks down pretty quickly. Plus, the Hammerhead kinda sucks.

And then there are the missions themselves, which you can tell are really trying to do new things that Mass Effect players haven't seen before; but when those things are a tile-sliding puzzle that's almost solved already, or a draw-the-enemy's-fire encounter that can kill you in one shot, they just ... aren't very whelming. One could even call them underwhelming.

Overlord gets some credit for bold new ideas, but it doesn't take any of those ideas far enough to compete with the main game's excellent content.

Better than: Mass Effect 2: Kasumi - Stolen Memory
Not as good as: Batman: Arkham Origins - Cold, Cold Heart
Spoiler alert, there is a satisfying throwback to Overlord: in Mass Effect 3, but ... I'll have more to say about "throwbacks in ME3" later.

Mass Effect's Mako tank sections were so bad, that Mass Effect 2's launch-day content didn't have any driving sections. I'd argue that it should have stayed that way. Alas...

The Firewalker Pack adds a small handful of missions where you pilot the Hammerhead hover-tank, and if you think the word "hover" makes that sound cool, just, simmer down and remember the Mako for a moment.

Conceptual coolness aside, the Hammerhead is not fun to use. It hovers about as well as a tumbleweed, getting stuck on terrain almost as often as a non-hovering tank would; its mission objectives are limited to remedial strafe-around-stationary-targets combat, and tediously flying through nav markers; and the narrative backing for these missions is a lazy throwaway side-plot about researchers finding a wholly-unremarkable Prothean ruin.

It speaks volumes that Mass Effect 3 never got driving sections.

Better than: Fallout 4: Automatron
Not as good as: Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky (which, honestly, had more interesting mechanics in one mission than Firewalker had in five)
The Hammerhead also features in: Mass Effect 2: Overlord, and isn't great there, either; but at least something interesting happens in that story.

Like Zaeed, DLC character Kasumi really doesn't measure up to Mass Effect 2's other party members.

Her backstory is a little more nuanced, although it doesn't really bear fruit until the next game. And her loyalty mission is a little more engaging, although still not as exciting as a "rich party heist" feels like it could've been.

But crucially, Kasumi's conversations with Shepard are mostly one-sided, and her story includes only a couple minutes' worth of character development.

For a "master thief," Kasumi is pretty boring.

Better than: Mass Effect 2: Zaeed - The Price of Revenge
Not as good as: Batman: Arkham Origins - Cold, Cold Heart
I'd still push Zaeed out the airlock first: but if I had to sacrifice two crew members...

When, mere minutes ago, I effused about the quality of Mass Effect 2's character-centric storytelling, there was an implied asterisk. The Legendary Edition package was my first run with DLC character Zaeed, and he sucks.

Not in gameplay terms - I mean, as a soldier, he seems fine I guess? - but his "grizzled old mercenary" personality never evolves past a flat stereotype; his backstory-revealing mission is narratively and mechanically uninteresting; and his conversations with Shepard aren't really complete.

I should be clear: when Shepard talks with other crew members, they often both talk, to each other. In contrast, Zaeed mostly talks at you. (Spoiler alert, so does Kasumi.)

Mass Effect 2 is at its best when you're learning more about its characters and probing them for fun reactions. Zaeed is ... not Mass Effect 2 at its best.

It's not that he or his loyalty mission are "bad" -- they're just bland.

Better than: Borderlands 2: How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day, Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky
Not as good as: Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock vs. the Son of Crawmerax
If the Collectors had forced me to sacrifice a crew member: it definitely would have been Zaeed.

Yes, this is the best one.

Mass Effect 2 fixes most of the first game's shortcomings - combat is streamlined, character and inventory management is a breeze, the Citadel is mercifully dotted with fast-travel points - and brilliantly iterates on its predecessor's excellent world-building, by populating that world with exciting and compelling characters.

Shepard's new squadmates make the returning cast seem dull in comparison: Mordin and Jack are easy favorites, but even the monotoned Samara gradually unfurls a truly fascinating backstory. Every member of this main cast is charming and memorable in their own distinctive ways. (Well, maybe not "every" member, I actually forgot all about Jacob -- but, uh, everyone else is memorable.)

And the hub-and-spoke narrative design, with squadmate recruitment and optional loyalty missions all branching out from the "main" plot, puts the player mostly in charge of the game's pacing. It's a great approach to player agency and makes jetting around the galaxy - to pursue your own agenda, in your own way - feel really fulfilling.

... of course, taking full advantage of that agency requires some reading ahead. I'd definitely call it a "design flaw" that Mass Effect 2's quasi-point-of-no-return is totally un-telegraphed, and knowing about it beforehand is critical for exploring as much of the game's content as possible.

I also consider it critical to take a technical approach to Paragon and Renegade responses. I've done no small amount of complaining about Mass Effect's dialog options, and have given up on the idea of "playing a role" through them; but when you consider the Paragon and Renegade statistics to be just that - statistics - then dialog becomes just another game system, and achieving good outcomes (like making Tali and Legion get along) requires optimizing that system.

That change in my perspective is probably the biggest reason why I'm increasing my rating of Mass Effect 2 from the "Good" score I gave it ten years ago. Not because the Legendary Edition makeover has fixed its imperfections - notably, planet scanning and hacking minigames are still tedious as hell - but because, this time, I played the game "right" and spent more gameplay time focusing on its strengths.

When you treat Mass Effect 2 like the "dysfunctional crew management" game that it really is, it's easier to appreciate and have fun with Shepard's interstellar crew of misfits.

In fact, it's so easy that I had to go ahead and finish the entire! third game before taking a break for Glog posts. How's that for an endorsement?

Better than: Mass Effect, Mass Effect 3, Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Extended Edition
Not as good as: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Now, as for this installment's DLC: eh, they're better than the last one, but still don't feel vital to the experience.

Progress: Finished on Normal.

Like I said, Mass Effect's side missions are lackluster and dull. The Bring Down the Sky DLC, included in the Legendary Edition package, is better... but not by much.

There is at least a little gameplay variety (avoiding proximity mines!), and a short storyline to follow, in this DLC's single narrative mission.

And then it's over. Seriously, this is one mission's worth of content. And an optional additional objective.

Better than: Borderlands 2: Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre
Not as good as: Borderlands 2: Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary
Did anyone seriously pay: $5 back in 2008 for this one-hour side-mission? I hope not.

Progress: Finished the main mission, but the scientists are still missing.

Even in its time, the first Mass Effect was a mixed bag. The Legendary Edition remaster shows that its good qualities still hold up; despite its bad qualities, which the remaster has ... also preserved.

Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that the Legendary Edition still has lackluster side-missions, an empty-feeling galaxy, narrow characterization choices, and confounding inventory management. (The item limit is higher, now, but cleaning items out remains a chore.)

It is a little surprising that auto-saves are still infrequent, menu navigation still doesn't work quite right with a mouse, and decade-old stability bugs are still around today.

And while I can appreciate that controlling the Mako is less painful, the barren landscapes you drive through are still painfully un-fun.

But the sometimes-tedious gunplay, the often-awkward dialog, and the usually-dull exploration are still worth tolerating for the sake of Mass Effect's intricate and enchanting universe. Just like my first time through, I was happy to spend hours upon hours digesting the game's lore through conversations and the in-game codex.

The "world" is the real star of this show, and the Legendary Edition's updated graphics show it off splendidly.

... I mean, given how much-improved I remember the next game being, I might still consider this entry little more than a prologue. But it's a fine prologue, just like it was before.

Better than: 3030 Deathwar Redux, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Not as good as: Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
As for the DLC: well... I'll be brief.

Progress: Finished on Normal.

SuperHot certainly doesn't wear out its welcome.

At about 90 minutes of linear content, the game is more than just a well-polished tech demo, but there's still not much meat on its bones. The story is a fun-enough throwaway, with an "illusion of choice" motif that evokes (but doesn't measure up to) Spec Ops: The Line or BioShock; and the extra collectibles and other post-game features don't really seem worth exploring.

SuperHot's core gameplay, a balance between first-person shooting and puzzle-like movement tactics, is ... pretty fun! And with complementary mechanics like throwing objects, disarming enemies, and turning a dude's gun right back onto him, that tactical-shooting action remains engaging throughout the story's 20-30 short levels.

I don't know if I'd say that it left me wanting more, though; I feel pretty satisfied with what I got.

Better than: Mr. Shifty, Rogue Warrior, Wanted: Weapons of Fate
Not as good as: Portal
Now, if there was a rewind feature, encouraging longer and more-intricate levels: then I'd be up for more.

Progress: Finished the story levels.