Oh crap.
Oh crapcrapcrap.
I just realized something about Mass Effect 2 that... unsettles me. Because if it turns out I'm right in my suspicion, it's going to be a hard choice on a level that the first ME only dreamed of. This is only idle speculation, obviously, but it would be massively cool if it happened.
So your save from the first game carries over to the second and third installments.
And Bioware is keen on romantic subplots in their games.
And they just recently revealed a trailer for ME2 that shows Dr. Liara T'Soni, who happened to be my (and, by extension, Shepard's) flame of choice in the first game, seeing Commander Shepard come out of the shadows and saying something along the lines of "Shepard! But... you're dead!"
Anybody connecting the dots here?
Let's assume that Bioware has another romantic subplot in ME2. If you romanced Liara in the first game, does this mean that you aren't still together with her? If you're not still together with her, can you get back together with her? Perhaps she has someone else now? What if you fancy a new character more than Liara, but Liara has been chastely waiting for your safe return? Do you cheat with the newcomer, or do you stay with Liara? How would she react to the revelation that you cheated? Would Ashley (the other girl you could bump uglies with) react the same way? Do you stay with the character you've grown to love, or do you risk pissing that character off by finding someone new?
Yes, that's right. For the first time in a video game (that I'm aware of, anyway), you would have the conscious decision to cheat and the potential for meaningful consequences as a result of that. I submit that if you've already spent a whole game with one character by your side, that character's disapproval would carry a great deal of emotional weight. You have been through shit with this character, and now you're gonna throw it all away?
But what if New Character is really cool? What if you really have "moved on?" And what if you could somehow finesse a threesome, as you could in Jade Empire? ;)
See? It boggles the mind. If there is a romance subplot in ME2, it will be genuinely hard for me to pursue a new girl, but if I like her enough... I mean, I honestly don't know what my choice would be. It would be damn hard to make either way....
Anyway, I just thought that would be really cool if Bioware did it. Anyone else think so?
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The idea is interesting but I'm pretty sure that isn't Liara. Go back and look again, she looks scalier than Liara and has a deeper voice.
...
Balls, you may be right! Consarn it!
Well, assuming you DO see your ex in the game, then.
Fable II. Cheat on your wife, and there's potential for being blackmailed.
Also, The Sims.
Grand Theft Auto IV? Enh, not as a major part of the story though.
Could be interesting in the context of Mass Effect. If they go there.
If it's a problem, you start a new character :)
Also interesting is how character you let die in ME1 will be dead in ME2. I still have to play through ME2 as an evil bitch, but I plan on romancing Ashley and then sacrificing her later one. Hopefully the sequel will complain about how little you care about your partner or something?
"Fable II. Cheat on your wife, and there's potential for being blackmailed.
Also, The Sims.
Grand Theft Auto IV? Enh, not as a major part of the story though."
All technically correct, but none of those games had infidelity take a serious emotional toll on you. Much as I love Fable II, it's hard to care about my wife in any serious way. In The Sims, it's not necessarily the player who cheats, but the sim. In GTAIV, Nobody really matters but Michelle, and she's... hard to love.
ME2 is unique, because you've already actively pursued and cultivated a relationship with a character in ME. I have never felt genuine guilt at betraying a video game character, but I genuinely might here, because I already worked so hard to build that relationship with Liara in the last game. If I cheat, and she looks at me with tears in those big doe eyes, that's gonna sting me in a way a game's never stung me before.