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It will need to be evocative enough that BioWare has a strong sense of what emotions it’ll be bringing out through its setting and characters.
Amazon mass effect andromeda deluxe edition series#
The next game in the Mass Effect series can’t just be more of the same. This will be one of the biggest challenges the game faces, with Mass Effect 3 already escalating the stakes to galaxy-wide extinction.
Amazon mass effect andromeda deluxe edition full#
To create a strong protagonist in Mass Effect 5, the developer will likely have to build a strong new story and setting first, full of colorful characters and pressing new stakes. RELATED: Mass Effect Trilogy's Companions Would Benefit the Most From Remaster Ryder's interactions with Jaal were able to lean into those assumptions. Ryder’s chemistry with Jaal also worked best because the originality of the character meant the developer was able to identify the key reactions most players would have to the him: curiosity, mild amusement, and respect. This made the one new alien companion, Jaal the Angara, the most popular new character among many fans. Ryder also isn’t a total blank-slate, but by the fourth main Mass Effect title, the companion characters were simply less interesting, at least one reason for that being players were less invested in learning about the alien races already established in the original trilogy. This would never work if the other characters in the original Mass Effect trilogy, particularly the companions, weren’t so compelling. Shepard may not be a blank slate, but they reflect what the players expect at that point in the story. Similarly, it's understood that Miranda may engender suspicion when she first appears in Mass Effect 2 in a way that other characters will not, and the dialog options Shepard has with her reflect that. The game has confidence in its own ability to make players feel a certain way.įor example, it has confidence that few players will dislike lovable characters like Tali or Garrus, and Shepard’s interactions with them leans confidently into that presumption. The game understands that in certain moments the most satisfying thing for Shepard to be is commanding, caring, or cool. While players can’t make Shepard be whoever they want, the character is designed with an understanding of what sort of stories the players might be trying to tell when they pick certain dialog options. When players want to hang up on the citadel council, Shepard delivers their final lines with Captain Kirk’s swagger, in no small part due to the fantastic performances of Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer. When players want to know more about their alien squadmates in Mass Effect 1, Shepard talks to them with ease. Shepard is a relatable character not because the commander is a blank slate, but because the character’s confident chemistry with the world around them makes them the perfect vessel for exploring the Mass Effect setting.
Shepard’s natural affinity for leadership is one of the clearest threads throughout their character, yet there’s a key reason this level of characterization doesn’t affect the player’s abilities to project onto the character. Shepard is always clear, sometimes firm, occasionally jokey, and most of all, commanding. However, not only is the character not a blank slate, but Shepard has a clear personality, one that is clear even as players choose between Paragon and Renegade morality options. Shepard has a few different origin options, but they have little impact on the game’s story overall. This is most evidently seen in RPGs like Skyrim, where nothing about the player is established aside from the opening events of the game. One school of RPG protagonist design demands that the player character be a completely blank slate. Shepard is one of few RPG protagonists to be given a voice that doesn’t create a separation between the player and the character, and the ways the character’s design pulls this off is key to figuring out how the Mass Effect 5 protagonist could emulate Shepard’s success. Commander Shepard is neither a blank slate, nor so intensely characterized that players cannot project themselves onto the commander.
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