Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
I was surprised at how short the plot chain of missions is. Most of the play time comes from doing optional stuff like the loyalty missions.
Well, you gotta admit, the loyalty missions (at least some of them) give plenty of emotional moments, such as Mordin and the dead female krogan. Mordin and Legion's are both my favorite, since they have far reaching consequences in Mass Effect 3 (presumably).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
I cant wait to see how the Geth will turn out now that I've freed them from the Reapers' control!


I also like Samara's loyalty mission as well. Not only because there's no combat whatsoever, but also because
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
you can choose to kill Samara and recruit Morinth instead.


The incidental material is some of the best. The adverts and conversations you hear as you wander can be hilarius. Humour was on an overall up compared to other Bioware efforts, I felt. Lots of excellent lines throughout the game, and some outstanding conversations.
From my current playthrough:
(spoiler tag to avoid clutter, not plot point)
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I must be the only one who's curious about the Shin Akiba Asari/Hanar porn games. Can't be as bad as Japanese school girl/naughty tentacles.



I love how Shepard just casually says "Charge." That garnered more than a few giggles from me.



Some achievements do give in-game bonuses. There's a 25% XP bonus for future characters after completing the game, and you're supposed to be able to pick a squad mate's power when building your next character provided you have their loyalty achievement.
I only noticed this on my second playthrough. Long Service gives you 200k credits and 50k of each resource (you never need to mine for Eezo ever again). I do miss the little bonuses, like getting a 25% bonus to the duration of Marksman for 150 pistol kills, or improving Barrier and Statis recharge time by 10% by completing 15 missions and 35 assignments with Liara.