• Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Sensor
• Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Hazards
• Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Pollution
• Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Gases

One of the most dramatic scenes from the original Final Fantasy VII involves the entire party parachuting down into the city of Midgar amidst total chaos. Developers reportedly first considered a drastically different outcome for the sequence that would have involved killing off several characters close to the game's big finale.

Mass Effect 2: Atmospheric. EA Games Soundtrack. September 7, 2010 4.4 out of 5 stars 4 ratings. $3.99 Start your 30-day free trial of Unlimited to listen to this. Mass Effect 2 Bioware Join EA Play Learn More Deluxe Edition BioWare’s critically acclaimed sci-fi adventure returns to make your PC the coolest thing on the block. The Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition takes players on a new journey with Commander Shepard. The galaxy has seen better days.

Considering how much of the story has changed with Final Fantasy VII Remake, whenever the series reaches this point in the narrative in Part 2 or a later entry, developer Square Enix ought to reconsider this more dramatic approach. The perfect way to do it is by emulating Mass Effectand its sequel.

Spoilers follow for all FF7 and Mass Effect games.

Polygon's oral history of FF7 by Matt Leone, published online in January 2017 and in book form in September 2018, features interviews with around 35 individuals involved with the original game's creation. One of the most intriguing details revealed through the interviews were early plans for more characters to near the end of the game, long after Aerith's infamous demise at the end of Disc 1. It was revealed during a conversation between co-director Yoshinori Kitase and character designer Tetsuya Nomura.

'If I hadn’t stopped you, in the second half of the game, you were planning to kill everyone off but the final three characters the player chooses!' Nomura said to Kitase. 'In the scene where they parachute into Midgar. You wanted everyone to die there!'

Here's the sequence in question from the original game.

This gnarly plan was scrapped because it went against the game's core theme of 'life,' and it would have 'dilute[d] the meaning of [Aerith's] death.' But the threat it presents lingers all these years later.

Particularly because FF7 Remake seems more about changing destiny than anything else, future installments have the opportunity to make more adventurous narrative choices ... such as killing off other characters instead of Aerith. Given how much of the original story the first FF7 Remake covered, the scene where the party parachutes into Midgar would probably happen in FF7 Remake Part 3 or 4, but Square Enix could do interesting things with continuity if they consider tracking progress between installments.

Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Sensor

During the original game's second disc, the planet generates several bio-mechanical kaiju called WEAPONs to defend itself, but rather than target the villain Sephiroth, the WEAPONs attack major cities that are draining Mako from the planet. Shinra defends Midgar with a massive Mako cannon called 'Sister Ray,' but not before the DIAMOND WEAPON destroys a huge swath of the city. The mad scientist Hojo wants to fire the cannon again, but doing so would level Migar, so Cloud and friends parachute into the city amidst all the chaos to stop him.

Diving down into the city is nothing short of epic.

While you do select your two companions for this FF7 mission, nobody dies. (This mission is also clearly the inspiration for the parachuting scene in FF7 Remake Part 1 where Cloud, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie dive down from the top plate into the Sector 7 Slums.)

But what if the FF7 Remake series followed through on Kitase's original big twist? All of the other party members not selected for the mission might die in dramatic fashion, and then after stopping Hojo, the only thing left to do would be to confront Sephiroth at the Northern Crater to complete the game. The game's ending could be different based on these choices.

Both FF7 Remake and the original track Cloud's overall intimacy with other members of the party based on sparse dialogue choices and who he spends the most time with. The results are subtle or meaningful — like who shows up to fight alongside Cloud first in Remake's final battle. If subsequent games explore a similar kind of intimacy ranking, key decisions could influence who lives and who dies in a more nuanced way. In fact, the FF7 Remake should invest in this mechanic even more by emulating what happens in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect famously features one mission where your group splits up, and you have to choose which of your teammates to rescue: Alliance marine and human biotic Kaidan Alenko or hardened human soldier Ashley Williams. Whoever you neglect nobly sacrifices their life for the cause. The survivor will be mostly MIA in the direct sequel and then rejoin your squad in Mass Effect 3. So there are significant lasting consequences at play here. These kinds of impactful narrative structures are what made BioWare a big deal throughout the early aughts and what make the Mass Effect trilogy so beloved in particular.

Perhaps an even more compelling feature came with Mass Effect 2's Loyalty system.

Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Hazards

Essentially, if you talk to your squadmates enough, you'll be able to do optional side missions where you help each them accomplish some personal goal. If you don't complete these optional missions, then characters die in the final 'Suicide Mission' at the end of the game.

Most of Mass Effect 2 is spent either recruiting the 12 characters or completing their Loyalty missions, but rather than feel like a chore, the experience is a meditation on human intimacy. You know, despite the fact that most of the crew are aliens.

When the Final Fantasy VII Remake series reaches that thrilling parachute scene into Midgar, it would be perfect opportunity to take a similar approach to what Mass Effect 2 does with Loyalty ratings.

The FF7 plot already has a series of missions that feel like Loyalty Missions for the various characters, so if Remake were to make them totally optional and give the player consequences for neglecting them, it would really enhance the role-playing aspects of the game.

By all accounts, the frist FF7 Remake makes it seems like Aerith might live in subsequent entries, so it stands to reason that one or more other characters might have to take her place at some point. If Square Enix were to borrow the core Loyalty mechanic from Mass Effect 2 to create divergent and surprising plotlines, then it would make for some seriously dynamic storytelling unlike anything Final Fantasy has delivered in the past.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 is currently in development.

Overview

In an interview with G4TV, Mass Effect 2 lead composer Jack Wall stated the following in regards to how much of the game’s music would end up on the soundtrack release: “We didn’t want to throw everything in as motifs repeat and the edits I did for each theme represent my take on the essence of those themes. There is actually a LOT more music in the game, but I’m not sure how interesting they are outside the game itself.” Despite Wall’s efforts, Mass Effect 2‘s two-hour soundtrack release suffered from an over abundance of repetitive action material and anonymous underscore that tended to bury the truly engaging portions of the compositions.

Eight months after the release of Mass Effect 2, Electronic Arts went ahead and released Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Additional Videogame Score in September 2010. However, instead of including material from the game’s DLC, or releasing the whole hour’s worth of Mass Effect 2 material that didn’t make it on the initial score album, EA only packed a slim twenty minutes of atmospheric underscore on the digital release. Considering this and Wall’s above statement about how interesting or not the previously unreleased Mass Effect 2 music might be, one might suspect this new release to be a mere cash-in. Does the release do enough to dissolve this initial impression?

Body

How necessary is the Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Additional Videogame Score? Well, to put it bluntly: the last adjective that comes to mind when listening to this soundtrack is ‘essential’. Not surprisingly, most of the time the score eschews Mass Effect 2‘s propulsive action elements and instead focuses on layers of synth washes, which are occasionally complemented by orchestral elements. As on Mass Effect 2, both electronic and orchestral sounds are brought together in a very wet, sometimes almost muddy mix. Another hallmark of Mass Effect 2‘s score makes its return: the solo cello, although it doesn’t get to perform any of the thematic material that it presented on the original album. However, more disappointing than this missed opportunity to create thematic coherency is the fact that the solo cello hardly get to add anything to the compositions that include it. “Facial Reconstruction” resurrects elements already prominent on the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack: Philip Glass-like string ostinati, swelling brass chords and simple synth motifs that are repeated ad nauseatum. And when the solo cello is added, it’s in no way integrated into the cue’s structure, but simply plays single, sustained notes in its lowest register. During its brief appearance on “Charges Of Treason”, the cello’s contributions blur into the overall soundscape, due to the aforementioned wet acoustics. The effect is that the instrument becomes a mere textural addition. At least, the relatively harmonious and soothing synths of “Charge of Treason”, laid over a pulsating electronic beat, make the composition pleasing easy listening music.

The majority of tracks on the additional score are plagued by somewhat predictable problems: an utter lack of development, and an over reliance on a wall of spacious synth layers that are supposed to be atmospheric, but end up being mostly bland. “What the Future Holds” and “Negotiating With Miranda” evoke a sense of the expansiveness of outer space through their echoing, resonant synth pads. But once this initial atmosphere is established, both compositions fail to do anything with it and remain disappointingly static. “What The Future Holds” at least changes its textures to a degree during its running time to take on a more ominous mood, but still fails to conjure a compelling mood. “Shuttle Ride” falls into the same trap when after its opening, standard sci-fi brass figures, the track lazily and almost exclusively relies on a bed of harmonious deep strings, over which single synth elements appear and disappear without making any impact. “Finding Archangel” and “Chatting With Mordin” slightly improve on this with more successful attempts at evoking a particular atmosphere. “Chatting With Mordin” simply regurgitates the chilly, forlorn Blade Runner-esque mood that had dominated the first half of “Mordin” on Mass Effect 2, but while hardly original, the cue is certainly less humdrum than “Shuttle Ride” and “Negotiating With Miranda”. “Finding Archangel” initially puts greater focus on orchestral elements through some minor key string melodies. Once the strings subside though, the track goes back to the familiar mix of layered electronic textures with the occasional synth noise or sound effect on top. The synth pads nicely hold the balance between subdued sadness and menace, but nevertheless don’t generate much interest.

Fortunately, the two longest tracks are also the best cues and the only reason to get this release (of course, you might also just download these two single tracks alone). As on Mass Effect 2‘s soundtrack, the character of Samara seems to have inspired the composers the most. “Samara” was Mass Effect 2‘s stand out track, and “Finding Samara” does the same for this album. Its opening synth backdrop is denser and more colourful than almost any of the musical textures dished up by other tracks. The resulting brooding atmosphere still hints at powers waiting to be unleashed, and at 1:45, an energising electronic beat kicks in, adorned with a gritty, yet spacious synth accompaniment. The sudden breakdown at 2:50 is momentarily irritating and reminiscent of those less than subtle segues within tracks on Mass Effect 2. But the pulse-pumping section that builds from there compensates for this shortcoming. “Pure Krogan” offers an even greater degree of satisfying development. The track organically develops from an oppressive beginning full of bulky synth pads at 1:00 into a lighter section. During this stretch, the spacy, intricately layered synths are imaginatively complemented with an insisting deep string pulse that adds both a welcome sense of forward motion and slightly out-of-the-norm musical colours. The track finishes with a more relaxed section that suggests grandeur when its ethereal synths build towards the composition’s finish.

Summary

Despite two tracks that are engaging and offer a range of atmospheric textures and even some rousing action material, the Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Additional Videogame Score comes across as an exercise in franchise-milking. Most of the material on this release qualifies as bland underscore which ranges in quality from uninspired to merely passable. “Finding Samara” and “Pure Krogan” would have been worthy additions to the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack album, but the other tracks never warrant being collected and released on a commercial album. Electronic Arts’ tendency to squeeze as much money out of its titles as humanly possible is well known, but in the case of Mass Effect 2‘s music, the result is particularly tragic. A single, one-hour score release would have resulted in a strong musical representation of what Mass Effect 2 has to offer, but instead, what we get is an overblown initial release, followed by a needless additional album. And I doubt anybody would be surprised if more EP length releases with previously unreleased Mass Effect 2 material were to follow. In short, the Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Additional Videogame Score is not a complete musical failure, but the release politics behind it warrant a downgrade in the final verdict. Strictly for completionists.

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Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Pollution

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Simon Elchlepp. Last modified on August 1, 2012.

Mass Effect 2 Atmospheric Gases