A comparative discourse on Bioware games Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins
One of the biggest games to come out lately was Bioware’s Mass Effect 2 (ME2.) Although most of the reviews have been positive, the buzz on the internet has come from people comparing it to Bioware’s other game that came out late last year: Dragon Age: Origins (DAO), especially in terms of romance and sexuality. To be fair these games are not the same, but they aren’t completely different. It’s like comparing red apples to green apples- somewhat the same, but each have a distinct taste that’s hard to equate to one another. So the actual gameplay will not be compared, but there are two things that I think are worth comparing: the characters and the romances. The games being compared are both the Xbox 360 versions.
First, a short description of both games. ME2 is a combination Role Playing Game and Third Person Shooter. The RPG element is very streamlined and although the player can customize their character, it’s not to the extent of a pure RPG game. The combat is in real time, you are able to give your teammates directions, but are not able to take control of them. DAO is a pure RPG game, with the player able to customize down to the most minute detail. The combat is turn based, and the player can take control of the teammates at anytime during combat. ME2 takes place in the far future, out among the stars and many different aliens, and DAO takes place in a land called Ferelden among elves, dwarfs, humans, and other creatures.
Characters
First, a look at the characters and character development in both games.
Dragon Age: Origins: In DAO, the player can choose between 6 origin stories from three different races: human, elf, and dwarf. Depending on the character and origin you choose, this will change how people in the game react to you. Since elves are looked down upon, playing as an elf will not make you popular in human settlements. If you play as a human, you will not be welcomed by the elves, and so forth. You have the chance to pick up various teammates throughout the game, and how you interact and the choices you make on missions will change how they interact with you. For instance, always choosing what seems like the good dialogue option with your teammates may actually make them dislike you MORE. So being polite and nice to all your teammate might make some of them actually leave you. Learning how to interact with these various characters is a challenge, and makes the game very interesting. It is very hard to play as a purely “good” or “evil” character in this game. At times you think that you are making a good choice, and 3 hours later it will come back to bite you in the ass. This games LOVES it’s morally gray areas, and if you are a person who wants a clear line between good and evil, this is not a game for you. When you finish the game, the epilogue lets you know just how well you did with your choices, and trust me, there is no perfect good or perfect evil ending. No matter what you choose there will be both good and bad things that happen.
One of the best parts of this game are the way the teammates interact with one another when you bring them on missions. To be blunt, their conversations with each other are hilarious. If you bring two characters who are vastly different, they may spend the entire time mocking each other. If you start a relationship with one of the characters, the other characters will randomly comment on it and may possibly tease you. It is important to listen to these random conversations, as they give you insight into their personalities, and will help you gain their loyalty. The more they like you, the more they are willing to stick around and help you. Each of your teammates has a fascinating background, and you will have to talk with them many times, and gain their trust to find out their stories. You can spend a good hour back in your campsite just talking to the various teammates to see what makes them tick. If their like of you is not high enough, though, they may not open up to you, making you work hard just to get one morsel of information.
Mass Effect 2: In ME2, you play as either a male or a female human named Shepard, You have a choice on your background and personality. You can either have been born on a colony, a space ship, or earth, and you can have a war hero or a ruthless personality. At the beginning this does not affect how people react to you, but it helps you gain either paragon (good) or renegade (evil) points quickly. You gather your team, the same at DAO, with a few major differences. If you choose to do so, you can completely ignore your teammates, and they won’t leave you. EVER. Once you have convinced them to follow you, they will do just that. You never have to talk to them again if you like. You will have the choice to do a side mission with them to gain their loyalty, but all that will effect is who survives in the end. Talking to your teammates, though, does get you some bonuses. You can be super nice or a complete asshole to them, and in the end you’ll get the same reaction. This was disconcerting the 2nd time I played through as a Renegade, and realized I was getting the same responses from my teammates. In the end, it didn’t really matter if you were Paragon or Renegade, the game ended almost the exact same way. The one thing I found really odd in ME2 was that at a certain point, you couldn’t talk to your teammates anymore. They would tell you they were busy, and that was it. I never got that point in DAO, but perhaps the same thing happens there too. Clearly, there can only be a finite number of conversations you can have, but in ME2 there seems to be so few. It was very abrupt and jarring, and made me a little sad I couldn’t interact with my teammates more.
That’s not to say the characterization was terrible- it was not. The conversations between your teammates on missions was just as amusing, and the banter between Joker and Edi on the ship was pretty damn hilarious. You saw how their relationship changed throughout the game, every time you talked with them. It was very clear which choices talking with your teammates were the good, and which ones made you a jackass. If you wanted to be purely good, you could do that, and all your teammates would love you by the end. The nuances that you saw in DAO are not as clearly well defined, if there at all.
Romance:
Now, a look at the romance options for both games.
Dragon Age: Origins: In DAO, there are a total of 4 romance options. If you play as a male, you can romance either Morrigan, a female witch, Liliana, a female bard, or Zevran, a male elf assassin. If you play as a female, you can romance Liliana, Zevran, or Alistar, a male Gray Warden. to court them. Some are easier then others (such as Zevran) and others are much more difficult (such as Morrigan.) The romance is not easy though- you have to figure out each person’s personalities, and take the time to get to know them. Once again, figuring out what makes each person tick is key- your romance may get pissed off at you due to some action you make and leave the team. They may think you are hitting on another teammate and confront you about it. In short, the romances are almost as complicated as they are in real life (although I doubt that giving your significant other shoes will have the same effect that it does when you give them to Liliana…..).
Mass Effect 2: The romances in ME2 are a little more complicated. If you played Mass Effect 1, then you have the option of importing your character over to ME2. You may have already completed a romance from that game- Liara or Ashley if you were a male, Liara or Kaiden if you a female. In ME2, those characters are not available to romance (since any of your teammates may die in the final battle, the word on the street is that Bioware wanted those three choices to survive for ME3 to wrap up the story), but there are 6 romance options. If you play as a male Shepard, then you can romance Miranda, Jack (a female), or Tali. If you play as a female Shepard, then you can romance Jacob, Thane, or Garrus. In addition, you can flirt with another member of the crew, Kelly Chambers, although this does not count as a “true” romance as you do not get the paramour achievement with her, and does not count as “cheating” on your former romance from ME1. And don’t even get me started on her “dancing” for the male or female Shepard. The less said about that gratuitous display, the better. Romancing is relatively easy for ME2. All it requires is to talk to your romance interest a lot, and to be nice to them. Since the top options are always the paragon options, as long as you use those, your romance will progress with few bumps in the road. The only requirement is that you complete their loyalty mission, but in order to get the best ending on the game, you will want to do that anyway.
Homosexuality:
The most glaring difference between the two games? How each game deals with homosexuality. In DAO, you can have a gay male relationship or a lesbian relationship. Two of the characters are bisexual, which is even MORE of a rarity then a gay or lesbian character. I bought DAO the day it came out, without knowing that as a female you could romance Liliana. It came as quite a shock to me when I realized she was flirting with me! One of the better parts of the game is that the other teammates never cared if you were romancing a male or a female. They treated it like it was every day life- a breath of fresh air to many gay and lesbian gamers who are used to seeing homosexuality mocked in video games. ME2 has no such homosexual option. I know people will argue that if you romanced Liara in the first game, that counts as a lesbian relationship. Liara is part of a race of aliens called the Asari, who are “mono-gendered.” I am right there with you, since all the Asari are voiced by women and have typical female bodies. But Bioware insists that they are neither men nor women. This is too bad, because I know many lesbian gamers who LOVED the idea of playing as a strong female character with Shepard, AND then getting to have a romance with another woman- it was a dream come true! So why wouldn’t Bioware, which had such options in DAO, not do that for ME2? In an interview with IGN, Ray Muzyka of Bioware answered that question:
“Here’s how the games are different: Dragon Age is a first person narrative, where you’re taking on an origin and a role, and you are that character at a fundamental level. It’s fundamentally about defining your character, including those kinds of concepts. In Mass Effect it’s more a third person narrative, where you have a pre-defined character who is who he is, or she is. But it’s not a wide-open choice matrix. It’s more choice on a tactical level with a pre-defined character. So they’re different types of narratives, and that’s intentional…..
It’s first person versus third person narrative, and the types of choices you get to make within that are related to that, whether you’ve got a pre-defined character or a wide-open character.” You can read the rest of the interview at IGN AU.
Nice try Mr Muzyka, but I am calling Bullshit on that excuse. The very nature of video games is that it’s a predefined character. No character is truly wide open- the player is bound by the code the programmers have put into the game, which means, you chose not to have a homosexual romance programmed in. It’s a shame, because the Mass Effect story as a whole is such a good one. But especially for the gay or lesbian gamer, this glaring omission is very apparent, and leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth as they play. And if you wanted Mass Effect to be a predefined character as you defined, then why even have the player choose a romance, or even have a romance at all? Other games have the romance built into the storyline, where the player does not get to choose. The fact that you do let the player choose, but then limit those choices, is disappointing. The other question is, if the character is so predefined, what is wrong with having Shepard as bisexual, which the player being able to choose? On various forums where this is being argued, players have pointed out that then even more code would have to be written, in and more romances added in, and that takes up valuable time and space. This would be true, IF you were introducing other characters as options. You can easily do as DAO did, and make a male and female teammate able to be a romance options for either a male or female Shepard. This is not totally out of line in the story, either. Jack alludes to have romances with both men and women. So, why is she not an option for the female Shepard, as she is for the male? You can use the same dialogue, so nothing would need to be added. This has the distinct aroma of homophobia, and it just plain stinks.
In the end, both games are fun games to play, and although I love the Mass Effect franchise, I have to give Dragon Age: Origins the proverbial gold medal when it comes to the romance. I will probably buy every Dragon Age sequel that comes out right away, even though there are fewer characters with which to have a romance, the fact they can be both either male or female make this game much more enjoyable to play. Mass Effect toes that line, but is then pulled back at the last minute. This disappoints myself and the other gamers that have been waiting for the sequel. I can only hope that Bioware attempts to change this before Mass Effect 3 comes out. Changing this could make what is a great game into a fantastic, must-buy game.
Article by Xan
32 Responses to “A comparative discourse on Bioware games Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins”
Leave a Reply
Some of our Reviews / Articles
 |
Game Review - Child of Eden from Ubisoft and by Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Music game with a difference. |
 |
Game Review - Playstation Move Ape Escape. It's monkey business, but not as you know it. |
 |
Game Review - Portal 2. It's baaaack and the cake might be a lie, but this is good stuff. |
 |
Article - Comparative Discourse on BioWare Games. Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins. |
 |
Article - L Word Meets XBL Avatars. They're cute and bitchy and they're all here! |
 |
Art Works - Lesbian Gaming Trysts. Female video game characters coupled up! |
 |
Articles - The Vagina Gamerlogues. Miss Anne Thropic wrote these awhile ago, they're still thought provoking. |
The LG Poddy
Follow Us on Twitter
Join the new Forum – Recent posts below
Social Stuff
Flickr
At one point, I honestly thought I was blundering into a male-male relationship with Jacob. As this was an imported character whom I wanted to stay faithful to Liara, I didn’t go there, but I was glad to see the option. Turns out I was wrong, but I wouldn’t have minded Jacob turning out to be bi (I say bi only as the romance option to me seemed to start when Shepard quizzed Jacob about his history with Miranda; I like to think I’d have found a gay Jacob equally interesting).
“It was very abrupt and jarring” I think that somewhat describes both ME1 and ME2. It felt to me like the main plot picked up and took off and then stopped repeatedly in both games. I loved both games, but this did put me off when this happened with conversations or the main plot.
Carora, I think it’s always a compromise when a game combines a broad, explore-everything sandbox play style with a “galaxy under urgent peril” plot; cracks are always going to show somewhere.
I was actually quite surprised to discover that ME2 included actual consequences to taking a break from the plot and chuffing around the galaxy for a while. I’m acting with a bit more responsiveness on my second play through.
And I almost wish they had a couple of different chunks of dialogue once you’d exhausted a team-mate’s plotline, like a “Screw you, Shepard; you’ve got my loyalty on this mission and that’s all” if you’ve pissed them off or “For you, friend, always – but I don’t know what else we can talk about!” if you’re good.
Great read, pointed out some very interesting things.
I for one was very dissapointed in not being able to romance Jack, who herself alluded to being a bi-sexual, so why not?
Bioware is my favorite games company, but they have certinly lost a few points with me here.
Another issue is the blatent sexism of having only male versions of each alien species (except the Asari, but don’t get me started about them) this is inexcusable in my mind.
Keep up the great writing!
You forgot the that we see female quarians, Alcopop, but I do take your point – it’s disheartening to not meet any female turians, krogan, volus or elcor. At least BioWare tried to explain the krogan situation (low fertility, too valuable, etc.) but it’s still sad that they were only talked about, not seen, on Tuchanka.
@Alcopop
Although I do agree with that Jack should have been bisexual, I think what she said about “boyfriends or girlfriends” was more about how she didn’t view sex as something romantic. She’d usually use sex to blow off steam, or as a weapon.
Also, remember that the quarians were finally represented in both male and female form in ME2, although I do think that not having at least shown a turian or salarian woman yet is pretty lazy.
“… smells of homophobia.”
What’s disconcerting is that in my opinion it CAN’T actually BE homophobia, because, well, this is the same company that has plotted out lesbian romances in every game since Knights of the Old Republic (though that one got chopped to hell), as well as plotted out an entire extra lesbian romance with Ashley (and most of a gay romance with Kaidan), as evidenced by files found in the PC version of Mass Effect 1 … and of course it’s the one with Zev and Leliana to begin with! Not to mention that it can’t be corporate pressure from Electronic Arts, realistically, since … well, Sims 2 and 3 let same-sex couples get joined, the latter calling it ‘marriage’.
The problem is, if it’s not corporate homophobia, there’s no good explanation for those remarks. Then again, the forums I’ve been in suggest that BioWare doesn’t always have a good explanation for a lot of things they do. (Witness Garrus getting a bigger reaction out of Shepard than Liara, even if she’s the LI.)
But in my personal opinion, they’ve got a right to say ‘pre-determined’… but, if so, they’ve ‘pre-determined’ that Female Shepard is bisexual, in my eyes.
Jayla pipped me to the post there. I was going say that I disagree with the ‘homophobia’ remark for those reasons already given. I agree that there should’ve been a better representation of both sexes in the game, though. I always thought of the Asari as androgynous up to a point, and though it is clear through plot devices that Turians, krogan and Salarians, etc, have females among their people, it would’ve been nice to see some in the galaxy. I suppose that time is a factor in this, but still, I hpe they will make an appearance in ME3.
I seriously need to make time to play Dragon Age. I just gave up on Mass Effect 2 when FFXIII hit, but now I hardly have time for any of them because I can’t manage to eject Bad Company 2. Sigh.
The only thing I disliked about dragon age opposed to ME 2 was the lack of “control” over the character in combat. In ME 2 you have to actually aim ad the target and dodge/take/use cover on your own requiring a certain degree of skill that keeps the combat exciting all the way through.
In DAO the combat is largely “hands off” ala world of warcraft where you simply select your target and let the computer takeover all the attacking/dodging, with you only pausing every few seconds to issue orders and que up special abilities. This makes combat a bit repetitive and boring over time since you really have no way to “hone” your combat skill or “out maneuver” your opponents.
If they’d given DAO a more “hands on” approach to combat ala Elder Scrolls Oblivion or The Witcher it might have had a bit more lasting appeal in the combat category.
Still both games are great fun and well worth picking up, although ME 2 is a lot more enjoyable combat wise, it pales in comparison to DAO’s storyline/romance.
I have to admit I was totally gutted in ME2 when I realised you couldn’t romance any female characters if you played as female Shepard. It seemed so weird to me, that after having the Liara/Shep romance in ME1 Bioware backtracked. I was expecting to see more freedom on the romance side of things and maybe even a gay male relationship (shock horror!) so I was genuinely really disappointed when it didn’t happen.
I mean, come on female Shep and Miranda would have been HOT.
I was clamoring for Mass Effect 2 because I thought I’d get the chance to have a love interest. But the fact that they intentionally left it out left a very bad taste in my mouth. I love ME, it’s a great franchise, but really? I think I have to give DA:O the plus on that spectrum too. Hell, I’m playing FFXIII over finishing ME2.
Hopefully they’ll correct in it ME3.
Its a shame Biowhere didn’t release a toolset for Mass Effect so the modding community could (in theory) tend to the lack of same-sex relations like they did with Dragon Age. The Equal Love mod for DA gives me the additional option of romancing Morrigan, which is *so* much fun.
@ Silveressa – I felt the same way you did in regards to DAO when I first started playing it. However, after having to figure the best possible combat tactics for everyone in my party and for those who I switched in and out, the combat system was actually pretty fun. I liked figuring out when to use certain spells at certain mana/health levels and certain combination of spells created interesting effects. Overall, it was a fun game. Of course having my female mage make out with Leliana was fun too! Oh the accent… so hawt!
Overall, I enjoy fighting in the moment and usually turn away from turnstyle fighting like Final Fantasy. *shudder* I just can’t bring myself to play that series.
I’m reposting the comment I made on the Mass Effect Forums, since it covered my feelings fairly thoroughly.
***********
It was the greatest disappointment for me that Tali was not romancable by a Female Shepard in ME2.
During the first game I kept thinking “Liara’s great and all, but I really wish I could start a romance with Tali.” When I first discovered a romance was possible in the second game I was elated – but when it started to look like Tali wouldn’t be falling for my FemShep I fealt trepidatious … was it possible they would bring me so close to my ardent hope and then deny me at that step? Rushing to the forums I discovered this was, in fact, the case and it killed part of the game for me.
Sure, I *could* start another game with a Male Shepard and pursue the relationship that way – but it wouldn’t be *my* Shep; MY Shep was a proud, devious, unforgiving, rogue of a woman who also happened to be a lesbian, and to change that … well, it would have taken the story away from me and I would never have got it back.
So I had to watch my Shep grow close to the crush of her life and never be able to breach the barrier between them. Perhaps there is something in that, for purpose of rp, but it doesn’t leave me happy and – if it has to be that way – I still wish the game had let me investigate that route more fully. (I would not mind playing the angsty “I’ll never have the woman I love” Shep, but if I have to I’d like the story to recognize that)
****************
I had not been aware there was originally a lesbian romance plotted out for Ashley in ME1 – I would have liked to try playing through that as well.
As much as I adore Mass Effect 2. As a lesbian myself I am (like others) left with a sour taste in my mouth because as a female Shepard I can’t romance Tali or Miranda for that matter.
For me Tali and Miranda would be my top choices. Tali probably even more so.
I do get the “linking suits” comment from Tali as a female Shepard on Xbox 360. But I have not gotten further.
I just hope it will change in ME3.
I’ve seen this in other comments and this bugs me as well: Tali had the ‘linking suits’ comment but after that nothing happened! It’s like BioWare wanted to put something in but pulled out the last second. Any thoughts?
ps.: I’m new to the site and I love it!
good read and your right. i think there should be a homosexual romance in mass effect there are meny male and male couple in mass effect. i hope in the third mass effect the put it in there.
Well from what i’ve heard Mass Effect isn’t an orginal IP from bioware but one they got the rights to make a video game out of. if that’s true the they are working with a universe and characters that already had everything decided for, they are just trying to stay as true to the source as they can (with in reason) and not stray too much. with DAO it’s a completely original IP so they can make everything and everyone how ever they want and still be completely true to the source cause it IS in and of itself the source. i was disappointed with the lack of lgbt romance options too but can understand why they were there with ME2.
No, Mass Effect is Bioware’s own Intellectual Property, for which they have made two games, written two or three books, a few comics, and have a movie in the works. (well, Bioware isn’t doing the movie themselves, but it is using their IP)
In the latest DLC “Lair of the Shadow Broker” you are given the chance to meet up with Liara once again and if you stayed true to her, get a rather well done relationship scene with more depth and intimacy than any of ME2′s love scenes. (you “fade to black” rather than fumble through a poorly done sex scene, but get a lot of material before that … I won’t go into it, though, so as not to ruin it for anyone)
It was very nice to see this after the initial half hearted reunion the two of you have in the original release.
How can you accuse Bioware of being homophobic when, you admitted that DA:O (by the same company) had homosexual relationships?
Now we’ve wandered into an area where Bioware loses their creative freedom to tell as story as they see fit, or face being labeled. *shrug*
“How can you accuse Bioware of being homophobic when, you admitted that DA:O (by the same company) had homosexual relationships?”
Simply – different teams made both games. And ME team’s lead designer – Casey Hudson – is homophobe (at least saying that there’s no homosexual romance because they wanted them to be “innocent and fun”, and that there’s no homosexual romance in ME1 because Liara is not female, and that Shepard is predefined as straight – is homophobic to me).
Saying Shepard is predefined as straight isn’t homophobic, just short sited. (and *come-on* if you’re female and you are sleeping with Liara you ARE at least bisexual!) But stating that there is no homosexual romance because you want to keep the game “innocent and fun” … yeah, that rings of homophobia … or at least obsessive heterocentric cognition.
Hi, your blog site is fantastic. I like your blog posts. Thanks for the interesting content. I’ll be back!
In homosexuality: No words! Excelent mental labor!
No one’s going to tell me *my* Commander Shepard is straight. She’s my character, with her own personality and backstory, all created in my head. I get to decide what she looks like, what moral route she takes, what dialogue choices to make, and who to sacrifice along the way. And someone wants to slap a label on her for me? I think not.
My FemShep romanced Liara and only Liara. She had no interest in any of the men. She’s a lesbian, and that’s all there is to it. Another player’s Shepard may be straight. But that’s not mine. There is no canon Shepard, it’s about time people realised this. >.>
And if a player wants to play through the Mass Effect games as a male Shepard and not romance anyone, stating the reason for that is because the character is gay and hasn’t found anyone they like, what’s wrong with that? It’s their character, their save file, their choice. It’s a *role playing* game after all.
Even so, I do not think BioWare are homophobic. They’ve just made some pretty silly marketing decisions, is all.
Anyway, great blog post and you have a wonderful site. I’m a bit late to the party but thought I’d leave my little rant all the same.
Just seems worth noting, dialog has been found in the ME2 programming implying that at the very least, Miranda was originally going to be a romanceable option for Femshep. And I’ve heard that Tali was going to be as well, but apparently the VA wasn’t comfortable with the idea. The former there is evidence of around the web, the latter… Rumor. Can’t verify it. Haven’t heard anything about possible gay/bi male relationships.
>>And if a player wants to play through the Mass Effect games as a male Shepard and not romance anyone, stating the reason for that is because the character is gay and hasn’t found anyone they like, what’s wrong with that? <<
For me, my Shepard had a terrible crush on Tali in the first and second game, but Tali wasn't reciprocating. She ended up dating Liara and cares a lot for her – but Tali has, thus far, become my character's "love that got away". I'm sure this is something most homosexuals have gone through at least once in their life.
ive read online that there is rumors about having a homosexual pairing possible of ME:3 but only if you havent romanced anything in the past 2 games
male/male love is confirmed (RoosterTeeth.com has a hilarious comic about it). And they’re going to open up relationships on the femshep side. I think the major issue is that homophobes are a bit louder and more negative in the forums. Perhaps it’s time to spam for “Love and fandom!”
And the programming in both ME1 and ME2 had events seem sooo strong to suggest that Ashley and Miranda wanted to boink with Femshep but looked down and was like: “Oh no, it’s a girl!” Felt like a metaphysical brickwall in gameplay. Same with Jack’s homophobic slur.
Great universe, great writing… lacking in romance, minus FemShep/Liara… who is a girl! – don’t care what they say – mono-gendered is still a gender.
Bioware does a great job adding romantic interest in their games, I’m not going to lie, and I love it. They’ve also done lots of great things for the LGBT community by allowing samesex romances in both Dragon Ages. Actually, I would have liked to have some girlish fun with Morrigan in DAO, but I got she was straight, and that’s fine, some characters are straight, some others are bi and some others are gay, and that seems so fucking real, that is good. The problem with Mass Effect comes when they just yell some stupid excuses about same sex romances;
1 – “Shepard is a predefined character” we all agree that’s a lie since the game lets you take your own decisions, background, aspect, etc. But let’s just ignore that little lie and go on, okay, Shepard is straight, no matter if it’s a male, or a female, redhead, brunette, blonde or bald, it’s a straight character. How come, being a “straight predefined female Shepard” can I try to start some romantic conversation with Jack? I could totally handle Jack saying she’s not interested, that would be fine and realistic, she’s just not into you, but then, please don’t tell me my character is straight because it came that way from the factory.
2 – “Assaris are mono-gendered, then nor male or female”, “just assari”. Great, I buy that excuse. But then I just remembered, in MA2, in Samara’s personal mission, you go to the killed by samara’s daughter girl, and watch her videodiary where she clearely says “I’m confused, because she (Samara’s daughter) is a girl, just as I am. Oh wait…something sounds like an excuse to not admit that FemShep/Liara is a lesbian romance.
They’ve said it, and it all leads to the same conclusion, samesex relationships were thinked to be included in the game, then, God knows why, they aren’t, and if they are (Liara) they try to deny it.
Yeah, I have to agree in calling the predefined thing bullshit. However Asari see themselves, they have female physiology from a human stand-point. If there was mono-gendered species that appeared male, I would have no interest in pursuing him. My Shepherd went after Liara because my Shepherd is attracted to women, end of story.
That being said, I don’t think its fair to say Mass Effect 2 is homophobic for not including a gay option. First off, they obviously allowed some sort of romance with Kelly, however shallow that actually was. More importantly, though, its not unrealistic for a gay FemShep to not find any woman on board the Normandy that is attracted to her. It certainly takes away from some of the fun to not have a romance option, but the same thing can be said about staying faithful to your love interest from the first one.
I’m not even sure what my point is, anymore. Anyway – great site, I’m really happy to have found this!