This is actually a very interesting conversation with Mina. I feel the need to point out that if Mina liked us at the end of the game, that she'd come in person to have this chat. (That would also be the point at which you can have sex with her to get XP and level up.) We'd also have the choice of asking her to find a safehouse to hide if we didn't want her to go back to Alpha Protocol. Since she hates our guts, this conversation is played over the monitor and Mina stays there regardless.
You can also use this point to uncover that Mina is the one who cut you loose, like we did here. If you fail to get enough dossier entries and connect the dots, then it becomes a bit of a loose thread. Although, by this point I don't think a detail like that matters. By now, Thorton has enough of an interest in stopping Halbech that Saudi Arabia is a passing concern.
In another nod to how old this recording is, we were discussing the revelations with Edward Snowden at the time. It had just hit the news and was a major topic. Without delving too much into politics, government spying and overreach have been massive topics for the past decade or so. As a result, it makes sense for a modern day spy game to have some commentary on the matter. This just happened to be an interesting thought in light of what was going on at the time.
"We might be able to finish this by the time I start class next month." In retrospect, that comment is one of the funniest things I said in this block of episodes. Such optimism. Such blind, stupid optimism.
So yeah, spoilers. We plan to do the finale without a guest. Sorry about that, but it's thematically appropriate!
I'm not going to comment much on the conversation we had with Shamus. Honestly, I think it stands for itself without requiring further input in text form. All I'll say is that it was a delight to bring Shamus on for the recording. In another season, sometime before Half-Life 3 comes out, he'll be willing to join us again sometime. For now, you may be interested in his other musings about Alpha Protocol: here and here.
4 comments:
Regarding the mechanics Obsidian does...
I like that the perk system gives you bonuses for successfully stealthing past a group of enemies - notably, I'd love to see it implemented in an MMORPG at some point - I mention that because stealthing in SWTOR, for example, is absolutely useless unless you're going to break stealth to critically hit a single mook or something. There's no benefit other than not needing to deal with combat to stealth through the game, and since as F2P player, you actually kind of need the exp from combat to stay on level - combined with the fact that later on in the game, enemies will detect you if you try to stealth past them (Notably in the Tatooine end story quest for the Republic Smuggler), it really felt like a wasted skill.
But if it gave you bonuses like Alpha Protocol did, it'd be a way to get benefits related to stealthing or non-combative mechanics in that game.
Worth noting is that Alpha Protocol gives you XP for dodging enemies and avoid detection, as well as for defeating them.
It's so sad how the very mention of Bioware these days causes reflexive screaming and revulsion. Sigh.
That too - It's been so long that I actually forgot if it gave you XP for doing it, or just the perks that you get for stealthing past a large number of them.
Man, I really need to play this game again at some point.
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