Just finished the game a few minutes ago. For the record, I found Mass Effect 1 to be interesting, but entirely average, bordering on the negative more than the positive. Having finished Mass Effect 2, I feel comfortable saying it's in my top 5 RPGs of all time. That's a very strange thing for me to say, but I honestly feel its true. ME2 started as a TPS first and a RPG second, which is the reverse of ME1, and I think that's where it succeeded. Instead of trying to be an RPG and then dumbing itself down, it tried to be a TPS and added RPS elements to itself. The simplified gameplay was far less distracting and far more entertaining. The NPCs were, bar none, much more interesting and I actually got invested in them in a way I never did with ME1. The main storyline may have been less 'grand' than ME1, but there was a level of sheer balls-to-the-wall entertainment in the last 1/4 of the main plotline that had me absolutely riveted to the game. It was, simply put, great entertainment. I am extremely eager for the sequel; Bioware have outdone themselves with this game