games  anime  |  toys
This is a Dtoid readers's blog. For staff blogs click here. Confused? read this Create you own!  |   Members: Login now



Mass Effect 2: Me No Love You Long Time, Or Put A Ring On It?
Ffordesoon | 11:50 PM on 06.01.2009 5 comments


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?



  related blogs:
 

Is this post awesome? Vote it up!

0


Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

5 comments | showing # 1 to 5

prev next

ArrestedDeveloper's Destructoid Blog
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.
Ffordesoon's Destructoid Blog
...

Balls, you may be right! Consarn it!

Well, assuming you DO see your ex in the game, then.
Tubatic's Destructoid Blog
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.
Professor Pew's Destructoid Blog
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?
Ffordesoon's Destructoid Blog
"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.


prev next


Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

Comments policy

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?

Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!

 about me

 friends' updates
Tubatic's Profile Tubatic
My Cat Found A Game He Likes On The Wii


 

 
  get involved

register or login
post a blog
post a forum
enter a contest
contribute a news tip
suggest a feature
be a guest editor
support

new member's guide
login assistance
tech support
report abuse
email our editors
read our dev blog
nuclear crisis?
keep in touch

RSS feed
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Flickr
Game nights
Meetup+play online
seriously

about Destructoid
advertising
terms of use
privacy policy
jobs at MM
buy our crap
our network

Tomopop
Japanator
Despingation?




Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
living the dream since March 16, 2006