Mass Effect 2 Teaser and What I'd Like to See (And Expect To)

[nivenus]

I'm actually surprised that I haven't seen anyone post on this considering that virtually everyone I know up here is a BioWare fan in some way or another. But hey, it's late February. I know how it is this time of year.

I'm going to be brief here, in large part because there isn't much to say. We've known for quite a while that Mass Effect 2 was

Comments

Re: Forgot this bit...

[prisoner__24601]

I didn't think the romances in the last game were bad (you're right, they're definitely an upgrade from the Jade Empire ones, because HOLY CRAP SKY *facepalm*), but I did think they were definitely trodding over the same territory that they've gone over before. In the male romance options for instance, there are just so many similarities between Valen/Anomen/Carth/Sky/Kaiden. Don't get me wrong, some of those were well written and entertaining (Carth for example is the best, I think) but it would be nice to see them try writing a different romance archetype for a change - you know... something without a tragic past that you have to fix (and not using Sbarge's voice would also be a bonus). I'd love to see a romance option along the lines of Canderous/Keldor/Sagacious Zu/Bao Dur.

(Why is it always the NPC's that you can't romance the ones I like better? Maybe BioWare should come up with their NPC's decide which one they *think* should be the romance option and then actually choose the other guy, lol).

Plus I think the romances tend to overshadow the other NPCS to the point that in Jade Empire, they're mostly just background noise. So if I had to choose between having the same romance that I've seen over the last five games, and having a cast of well rounded characters with no romance at all, I'd pick the latter.

Oh, definitely

[nivenus]

Like I said, I agree that the romances tend to overshadow the other, very interesting NPCs.

I also think that you're right that the romances tend to have recurring themes. I'd go far from saying they're identical, but you're right that there's a little of Carth in Kaiden, though I think overall they're quite different. Bastila doesn't really have an equivalent in Mass Effect, but her qualities are split pretty neatly between both Liara (socially awkward) and Ashley (forbidden love).

And you're not the only one who thinks the most interesting NPCs don't get romances. Mira, anyone? Just goes to show this isn't just BioWare's problem, but Obsidian's as well.

I think the issue really comes down to the fact that BioWare (and Obsidian, by extension) are both going with what they know rather than being bold. Carth and Bastila were immensely popular characters, in part because, like any "good" NPC (note sarcasm) they petted the ego of the player very nicely. They had spats with the player, but in the end the player was always right.

Folks like Canderous, Mira, Zu, etc are all risky because they actually call the player out and serve as, not exactly consciences (after all, who can say Canderous is really more morally sound than a LS Revan) but as alternative perspectives.

It's a problem that I think plague romances in general and is the reason that the influence system wasn't very well-recieved and that some developers have confessed to hating romances.

However, based on what I've read, I think it's also a problem that's less real than developers generally think.

Enough rambling, I suppose. Bottom line, I agree. NPC interactions should be more than, as I said, one-way affection algorithims.