Babble: All things Mass Effect 3 Part 3 – Plots, subplots, and related commentary (pt2)

The whole Mass Effect 3 Babble:
Part 1: Look, Gamplay and such
Part 2: #Solcomms
Part 3: Plots, Subplots and related commentary pt1, pt2, pt3
Part 4: The Extended Enging and Wrap Up

As I noted before, things have been a little... wonky. Just bear with me until I get all cylinders firing again.

I’m going to look deeper at the characters in this one. I’ll be all feminist and refer to ‘her’, but obviously I will be talking about broshep’s romantic interests in here too, don’t fret. I'll have to continue the topic in the next post. Can't get everything all jammed into one while saying most of what I would want to say about it (most not all, that wouldn't been longer. Can you imagine?).

Everyone knew that this last game was going to be an emotional rollercoaster just because it was the last one. In the lives of the characters, the climax has now finally arrived where every fear is playing out before their eyes. To say emotions are running high is a bit of an understatement.

Shepard

Bioware said it and, in this case, I agree with them: This isn’t the same Shepard as before. The creators really made a point of showing her as a human being first, hero/saviour/soldier second.

Shepard had done all she could to warn others and still it wasn’t enough. She repeatedly put her wellbeing and those of her crew on the line for a galaxy that couldn’t have been less bothered. And then all she had warned them of came into being. The reapers invaded and no one was ready. And while the lesser characters would be forgiven for going off the rails, Shepard obviously can’t. For one thing, it would’ve been a very short game if she did. Character-wise, she could only do what she has always done which is to stand her ground regardless of the cost. But people aren’t just physical. They aren’t just skin and meat and bone. They have emotions. In this instalment, the creators really went into that. It was one of the best choices they could have made. And it most certainly paid off.

Shepard was always the one causing others to respond, ordering them, challenging them or simply showing them that there is another perspective to consider (as in Miranda and Jack’s storylines in ME2 among others). She was always their immovable centre (to quote Dr Chakwas); the thing they could anchor themselves onto.

 In ME3, Shepard can’t but be moved herself. She can’t but realise the futility and it shows in everything she does. The heartache, the impotence, the frustration; it’s is written in every muscle twitch, in every line of dialogue. It is not as if Shepard doesn’t still affect others, but Bioware (finally) decided to turn the lens to the main character and help give us an idea of what’s going on in her mind. I can recall only two times where I saw Shepard buckle and that was during the locker scene in ME1 and the cabin scene in ME2 Lair of the Shadow Broker after the big fight.

It’s not as if they made her into a baby. She doesn’t sit and cry and wait for others to pick her up and dust her off again. The circumstances are simply so large, the sacrifices countless, and the death of friends so many that not reacting would have made her an incredibly heartless person.

In this final game of the series, Bioware went all out to tell a compelling story… sortof. And regardless of gender or age, fans could get sucked into this character. Where most RPG/FPS games simply gives your ‘character’ a face and a name – sometimes not even that – Mass Effect gives you a person. And that makes a helluva difference.

Romance

I will be babbling on the different love interests on the ship with each character as I discuss them. I do feel like commenting on the fact that the romance –with comparison to ME2 – was surprisingly dry. There were very few moments where you could see moments or gestures of intimacy. I don’t mean that you need to have a boinking scene every minute, but the only time I saw some form of intimacy among the lot of them was Shepard pulling Liara onto his/her lap and just holding her.

There IS a war going on and we’ve already establish that there are a lot of emotions flying about and lots of unspoken speculation of how quickly they were going to be made splat. So why wouldn’t there be some form of intimacy? Why wouldn’t there be more dialogue between the characters that give some kind of reflection of that? I found this a little baffling. There is some dialogue/banter while you’re on a mission, but that’s about it. Hm.

With each romance, you could also reject a previous love interest. I didn’t see all of them so I’m only going to comment on the ones I have. Also, there are also some confrontations if you didn’t stay true to a love interest from ME1. But seriously though, the only one of the three I would understand that reaction from is Liara. At least she gave you the time of day in ME2 and in the Shadow Broker DLC she gave you more. The others? Meh. It’s interesting to note their reactions, but that’s about it. You can also ‘cheat’ on ME2 characters and have similar confrontations. I like the fact that they brought it in. My favourite part of it though is the tension between squad mates in the docking tube as you’re about to make your way to the geth ship. If you take in a former love interest and a current one, the comments are rather amusing to listen to.

Councilman Udina

I have to make a quick mention of Udina. You only have a few interactions with him besides the fact that you get to shoot the indoctrinated bastard (which was sweeeeet!!).

I was rather surprised by how Udina’s character really felt fleshed out even though he said very little. He brought across his interest in earth and even though he was still an asshole he wasn’t one just because he was supposed to be someone you hate. He developed into something deeper and that was something that was noticeable enough to give me a moment’s pause. I love how he was manipulating Ash/Kaidan and, even though you saw it clearly, it was still something where you could nod at as a typical thing Udina would do – which again just shows you how quickly you get to know him.

I didn’t like the fact that Udina would end up earth’s representative on the council even when you chose Anderson before. I do realise that there are novels and comics and all kinds of stuff that gives you the explanation – and I do think it’s awesome that they brought that into the game – but I did sulk about it somewhat.

Diana Allers

Ha, I’m back to the ugly wench.

Character

Simply put, the idea of a reporter on the ship was a really good one. As I’ve said before, this would have been the opportunity to play the devil’s advocate; to ask hard questions and demand them answered. To really show the mettle of both the choices made throughout the game as well as the characters of not only Shepard but the rest of the squad AND even the crew of the Normandy as well.

The problem being that Bioware made this poor woman as flat as a pancake. They gave her no personality and brought nothing to the table that would have justified her being there at all.

Romance

Allers is one of the characters Shepard can sleep with… why on earth she/he would want to is something only the creators would know. Simply put, the character is a quick lay and I have to say if I were Chobot, I’d be supremely pissed.

James Vega

Character

Vega is supposed to present a blue-collar soldier… a grunt in some ways. I can actually understand the idea given that most of your squad are either exceptionally talented individuals or groomed for leadership. Vega is neither – besides being built like a tank.

There is some backstory brought in about the character and it does have substance. I like the idea of having a character who isn’t someone rushing towards command. What is sad though is that they didn’t do much with Vega except give him an inferiority complex and make him whiney. The whole N7 discussion… I’d rather have Shepard know it was something that Vega was considered for and support him in doing it – if humanity survived afterwards. I don’t like Vega saying to Shepard “You are my mentor, I’m seeing this as N7 training”. Shepard by nature is a mentor. If you really want Vega say the line, have him tell it to someone else.

So basically Vega started strong, had potential but fizzled out in the end.

Romance

None. I’ve seen petitions made about this. If the man had backbone, I might’ve agreed with them. If.

Combat

James is simply a soldier, but simply doesn’t mean he is worthless as one. If you’re any other class, you might want to have him tag along to pound the creatures while you do what you do – be it to throw biotics at them or take them out with a sniper rifle. I found him highly affective as a tank.

Ashley /Kaidan

I haven’t focused as much on these two characters. But I feel like throwing them together since they virtually play the same role.

Character

Ashley Williams is career military and if she said “I’m an Alliance soldier, it’s in my blood” again in ME3 I might have shot her then and there – or at least waited until she was protecting Udina. I didn’t feel she had much of a backstory. Her family is basically married to the military, there is scandal about the grandpa surrendering to the Turians during the First Contact war, she has siblings of which she is the eldest and… that’s about it. Meh. Okay.

After ME2 she got promoted… and that’s it apparently. Alrighty then.

Kaidan Alenko is an Alliance soldier and biotic with an L2 implant which is a tad unstable and gives him migraines. He was taken into an early biotic school as a kid, treated horribly, liked a girl who got hurt by a trainer, snapped and killed the trainer. Okay, so some backstory there.

After ME2, Kaidan was promoted and commands a biotic unit. I found it puzzling that Jack sticks around with her kids being only a trainer while Alenko feels no urgency to join his own. Okay it might be that they’re on earth and he can’t get to them, but that should still frustrate the hell out of him, right?

ME3 story

I feel the response of Ashley/Kaiden to Shepard on Horizon in ME2 makes them the kind of people I want to kick to the curb. Seriously, if you had them as a romantic interest you’d have thought their first reaction seeing you alive would be pretty much the same as Liara’s and then have them whine about Cerberus. But no. Accuse first and marvel only in ME3. To hell with them then!

So both will get onto the Normandy and be part of your squad on Mars. Both will be bitchy about Shepard’s former involvement in Cerberus and show severe distrust. NOT a good start at all but it is in line with how they acted in ME2 so I’ll give them that. Then they get horribly injured by pre-EDI fembot and it is here that were you really feel something – be they a love interest or not. You care about the fact that an evil Cerberus fembot seemingly killed a squad mate in front of you and it is your second major shock in the game – the first being pre-space child kiddles getting blown to bits.

What I really liked about this sequence is how Shepard responds when she carries them up the Normandy and then in the Normandy itself. I loved the fact that if broshep had Ashley as his only love interest, he cradles her as he carries her into the Normany as opposed to using a fireman’s carry.

The Spectre arch was a really interesting idea. You could see Udina basically trying to replace Shepard, the disgraced human spectre, with someone who would be more pliable. You could also see how Kaidan/Ashley would fall for it. Hell, becoming a spectre is a massive honour and having Udina bestow that on them would of course endear them somewhat to the sneaky git. You could also see why they would be conflicted in protecting Udina and believing in Shepard given the fact that she had worked with Cerberus in the past and here she wanted to shoot one of the councillors that the group was also gunning for them. I thought this was masterfully crafted.

What I also liked about the face-off scene is that, if you managed to talk them down and they didn’t like you, they will still wait for you at the Normandy and apologize. And you still get to invite them on board despite the mutual antipathy. It may seem silly, but it speaks of professionalism and respect – if given grudgingly – and of integrity. All old-school notions that I appreciate.

It’s just a shame that the characters basically fall flat right after that. There is more that could have been done and it just wasn’t. I also didn’t like the idea of Kaidan trying to justify Shepard working with Cerberus. “Oh so the Cerberus scientists that brought you back to life were nice? Oh so there are good people in the organization and they’re not all evil? Oh well then that makes everything fine and dandy in my little judgemental box.” Ashley not really commenting about it after the standoff made more sense. She was still hostile and had every right to be for goodness’ sake! Just look at what they were doing now! That made me want to go back to the standoff and just shoot Kaidan instead.

And maybe he needed that justification. And maybe Ashley needed to go “well, stuff you, I don’t care about the whys. Cerberus is evil and it’s going to take a lot of time for me to deal with that. Whatever the case, if you want to bring sense of trying to reason Shep’s involvement with into the story, why not with different crew discussions? If Tali gets killed, Ashley states that she always saw the quarian as a little sister. Well, why not use that? Have Tali chat to her and they discuss the whole Cerberus thing? Wouldn’t that have been more interesting? If Kaidan needed justification, why not talk to Joker or Garrus? The Normandy is pretty quiet despite all the conversations and crew movement. It would have been great to fill those empty spaces. Ashley most certainly couldn’t spend the whole time on the Normandy leaning against the wall in the observation deck ignoring the view. That’s just silly.

So while having some of the best moments in the game, I still felt the two were underused – which was a shame because, even if I still want to smack them around for ME2, they really could have been used more effectively. Especially given the fact of how much face time they were given in the game promotions. In the end they basically became shrubbery.

A last thing that just baffled me enough to mention it: I did not understand Ash’s binge moment. Yes, it was funny. Yes, it showed that Shepard has a sense of humour. But for what? At least in Tali’s scene there was some understanding. Ashley’s came out of nowhere and had no real point to it. Sure, all of the crew members are feeling the strain and have their own way of dealing with it. I can go with that, but how about showing her on the binge and then doing the hangover on the cold floor thing? At least then it wouldn’t have been so utterly random.

Romance

I honestly don’t feel like either of the two characters should be romantic interests. They’re both still very much in the dog box. But okay, let’s look at them.

I felt the build-up for both were pretty lame. Kaidan’s one I don’t get at all. I don’t know how he jumped from ‘oh so some Cerberus people aren’t so bad’ to ‘oh hey, let’s drink and sleep together’. Ashley’s is a tad better. What I really did like about Ash’s approach to the final romance scene is that they show how well the two characters know each other. Ash knows that she needs to pull Shep away from the work knowing he’s done everything he could. Shep knows she’s doing it and when he snaps, she doesn’t get defensive. She instantly knows that he’s trying to push her away. I love that.

What I didn’t like was how she went on about how Shep’s return was a miracle. There was nothing wrong with those lines at all, it’s just that should have been her reaction in ME2. Not after she first told him that he was crap working with Cerberus, distrusting him on Mars and having a gun trained on him in the Citadel. You put that kind of talk before all the damage and not after. It felt like a moment that wasn’t earned.

Combat

 I can’t comment much on Kaidan’s use as a squad member. As a sentinel, I assume that he obviously may be kick-ass at biotics, but why would I need him if I have Liara and her fantastic singularity?

Ashley plays as an infiltrator… she has had a bit of an identity crises methinks because I’m sure she was a soldier in ME1. However, she appears at least competent with sniper in hand. She would not be one of the two squad members I’d take with me in the last push to the beam (and the monster massacre that occurs while getting the missiles launched – good grief what a nightmare) though. I don’t have a lot options in my Bastard Shep (as my broshep has become known as due to his rather bastardly behaviour) playthrough seeing as he got most of his people killed and we’re not even on Tuchunka yet.

So basically, I can’t say much of either. If I wanted an infiltrator it would be either Garrus or my Shepard. If I wanted a powerful biotic, it would be Liara. Sorry guys, you’re just not a good fit.

Mordin

Mordin was as awesome as ever. I love the character to bits.

His arch was the only one that really came directly from his ME2 loyalty mission – which I thought was utterly fantastic. I would have loved to see something similar in the others, but okay, I shan’t whine about that in twenty words. Only 21 haha.

So you meet Mordin at a Salarian base where they have stashed the Krogan females and are trying to keep them alive for some nefarious scheme. Seriously, why would they keep them for any other reason than trying to find out how they became fertile and how to prevent it? Anyhoo, from there you can already see that there is some change in Mordin. When you get him on the ship, he’s supposedly as chipper as ever as he helps Eve, but even then one has to wonder about his zest.

I loved the Tuchunka mission. I thought it was well put together. The thresher maw was epic. I loved Wrex’s comments and I thought Mordin’s dialogue in the tower was amazing – especially if you challenge him on why he is now suddenly so eager to help the Krogans. “I made a mistake!” is a line that was beautifully delivered and incredibly striking at that moment. It was the first time you could see Mordin seriously struggling with what he had done before and the depth of his regret. If you played Renegade, you could actually confess to Mordin that the tower was still sabotage and you can stop him… by shooting him in the back. His rogue death scene was one of the most upsetting scenes in the game, but so well done.

His ‘Paragon’ death scene was also incredibly powerful and sad. Lots of tears were shed at the conclusion of this mission, make no mistake.

Jack

Not much to say here because there’s not much to tell… why the hell not?!

 So you’re given the option of doing a side mission that you can decide to skip. You need to go help a biotic school which is being attacked by Cerberus. The baddies want to experiment on the kids and you have to get them out asap. In this mission, you also encounter another extended universe (what else do you call it?) character Kaylee who runs the student programme.

If ever you can be proud of a video game character… I couldn’t be prouder of Jack. Her growth was nothing short of amazing. I absolutely love what they’ve done to her. From her hair, to her approach, to her consideration of her kids. I felt like my heart could burst. I am surprised that she could leap like that in six months, but I could also see that being possible. She was put in exactly the right environment to grow exponentially and she did.

One of my favourite moments in the mission is when some of the kids express doubt as to Cerberus’ intentions. When Shepard gives a blunt response to the students, Jack charges up and grabs the student who spoke (Rodriquez) and then Jack turns her own neck to the side and points out the scars that Cerberus had cut into her. Up until that moment, I hadn’t ever noticed the scars – though they were there in ME2. I love also the fact that she wasn’t abusive to the kid as such, but desperate to make her understand. Her approach was very Jack-like, but the motive was visible and that was great to see.

If you don’t take on the mission then Cerberus wins. They cart off the kids and Jack to a research facility where they examine them and modify them. While in the Cerberus base you can listen to a recording of Jack’s defiance while being tortured. You eventually encounter her in the base as a ninja chick. You kill her, a squad mate mentions that that was Jack (though you can see it over her health bar during the fight) and Shepard basically goes “Huh.” … WTF??? 

Romance

Jack is one of the three characters that never join you on the Normandy. I really disliked that. For one, you have virtually zero interaction with a character that is really interesting. I would have loved to hear what shaped her to that point. Imagine the type of interactions she could have had with the rest of the crew. Stupid, stupid idea.

As a romantic interest this is particularly stupid. Shep talks to Jack two times after your mission with her – one in a bar and the other through a holo-vid where she tells Shep that he’s going to get laid if he survives. Nice. While not necessarily completely out of character, you have to wonder how she went from scared and vulnerable to overconfident when she only had a couple of months with Shep and then a six month gap with no communications – where I think she could have had some correspondence – and then where one of her few encounters basically is a chat about a continuing relationship.

I thought Jack’s relationship was really crude, weak tea. For a character they shifted so dramatically, you would have thought they could’ve spent more time on her otherwise.

EDI

We knew it was coming. Okay, maybe we didn’t know it was coming, but it wasn’t a surprise when EDI managed to find herself a body. How long could Bioware keep Joker’s love interest a disembodied voice?

I do have to say that it was a really good setup and execution. Evil fembot takes out a squad mate and gets herself dumped unceremoniously in the AI core which appears to be the robot brig and then EDI goes “Hmm…”

Crew member responses were really nicely played. I love Dr Chakwas' unphased but incredibly funny response as EDI walks through the medclinic. Kenneth of course takes the prize 

Her story is also an easier one in terms of learning about relationships and morality and being able to reprogramme herself. She makes some interesting comments on human behaviour and how they now keep approaching “this body” if they want to have a chat. Of course, that might be because you can’t talk to her anywhere else on the ship. Really? Ship AI only reachable within what is basically nothing more than a node? Hm.

Combat

I wouldn’t have thought it to be true, but EDI ended up being an awesome squad mate. In the last London battle I had her and Liara with me and the two are a potent combination of electronics and biotics. I had initially avoided bringing her with me to missions. I felt other team members would be more capable – just from a design point of view; she was clearly there for Joker not to be worth a crap in any other way – but I was definitely wrong. The bot knows how to kick-ass.

Joker

Miles Monroe definitely undertook quite a change after the Collector base. He doesn’t feel like the same smart-ass pilot. He is quieter, more emotional, more pensive. He seems to have become the crew’s emotional thermometer to some extent and provides the summary of whatever mission you had just undertaken. It makes him interesting. Even though you find him in the Citadel with EDI and whatnot, he still felt underused for me.

The idea of a relationship with EDI is still… I can go with the idea in a game, but I’m in the “AI will always only be AI” camp (or VI as Mass Effect distinguishes the two). Also, I doubt that the fembot was designed to the specifications required for EDI to be as human as they try to paint her. She would have to be able to have a sensual experience for one thing. You should be able to prick her finger with a needle and her have feel pain. I also seriously doubt fembot was designed to be a sexbot. But maybe I’m just being too…  logical?

I like the idea the writers brought in to give the nod to those who asked “Why not Shep/Joker?” The conversation at Purgatory with Joker was well played. The soft let down was really well handled.

Grunt

Also a character you see very little of, but he is the one character I can accept as not having to be on the Normandy. I think he would have been a fantastic part of the team, but if I had to decide who would have been the second to stay off the Normandy it would have been him. It just felt like he didn’t have any loose ties with those on the ship. It made more sense for him to be where he was.

It was really good to see him. I loved how he “thrived” after ME2. His last stand had me in tears (yes, I’m a sap, I cried through most of ME3). The action sequence – how they made him charge and use his shotgun – made him really look like krogan aren’t as clumsy as they can be when you usually face off with them.  And the score written for that scene was perfect.

(If you’re wondering about who’d get booted first, it would’ve been Jacob. Third place would go to Wrex, but that’s for the same reason as Grunt)

Thane

Thane Krios was also one of those characters I never really was a major fan of.  He would’ve been fourth off in Survivor: Normandy. Given his condition, I knew that if he made an appearance in ME3 it would be a very brief one. He had already said that the collector base attack would be his swan dive and the period between ME2 and ME3 was six months. If he was still tip-top in ME3, I’d have cried foul.

They did give him a really good send-off which I think most fans would be satisfied with. I like that he could go toe-to-toe with Kai Leng. You’re left with the impression that Ninja Boy may have gotten his ass handed to him if it had been six month earlier. The final hospital scene was touching – and I didn’t even like him. I loved the prayer in the end being directed at Shepard. It was a lot more striking when FemShep reads it, given how the pronoun changes. And yes, there were some tears involved.

Romance

From what I’ve seen via youtube, it seemed that it was rather short and clipped. Yes, the dude kicks it in the end and yes you’re expecting it and yes, you’ll be rather emotional by it. But I’m not sure I would’ve been satisfied if I had taken him as a romantic interest. It had more meat than Jack, but not by much.

Jacob

Mr Too-Smooth-Chocolate-Need-No-Sugar Taylor looked like he took a shrinking pill. I can’t say all that much about him. As said above, he would’ve got kicked out of the Normandy first. Didn’t like the guy in the slightest. Had him as a romantic interest once in ME2 (just because the alternative was between a bird and a toad) and just… no. The side mission was simple enough and quick to work through. In, out, leave. Pretty much like your relationship with him.

Romance

… He knocked someone up. Shepard was out of the picture for six months and he not only cheats on her but manages to impregnate someone. And if you think about it, it had to have been damn fast to get over Shep.

The little lying, cheating bastard! I don’t care how thorough I’m trying to be in my ME2 playthrough and I don’t care that I’m not actually giving him the time of day in the game, Mr Sugary Taylor is going to die in the vents. It’s as simple as that.

 I'm ending it off here. More on the other characters in the next post!