A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Dialogue Trees

[Susan Arendt]

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Dialogue Trees

How a small detail in Mass Effect 2 tells more story than hours of dialogue.

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[Slycne]

Susan Arendt was vaguely disappointed that Joker wasn't a romantic option in Mass Effect 2.

If only to hear Mordin explain how best to approach that without breaking him in two.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Nice article, I noticed that too, Liara didn't seem like the innocent young Asari my Shepard fell for (also, Tali was not available in the first game), so when Tali's loyalty mission came around I was literally feeling upset for the poor Quarian... It had to be her.

 

[Ghonzor]

Susan Arendt was vaguely disappointed that Joker wasn't a romantic option in Mass Effect 2.

If only to hear Mordin explain how best to approach that without breaking him in two.

Pretty much

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

The lack of closure with Liara has pretty much been my only real gripe with Mass Effect 2 at the moment. My Shepard became more angry and reckless as a result, after seeing Liara's coldness she started throwing people out of windows, beating people senseless and operating on a bit more of a hair trigger.

 

[Amarok]

Do not lament too soon, maybe after Mass Effect 3 Liara and Joanna will be reuinited!

Or they'll both be dead.

 

[Cpu46]

Through the unfortunate pressing of the X button I missed the entire romance cutscene. Damn, now I will have to play throught the game again to see what Tali looks like without her helmet. Oh well, no loss there.


EDIT: Apparently I didnt miss much by skiping it. Im still going to play through it again though, that game was awesome.

 

[Susan Arendt]

The lack of closure with Liara has pretty much been my only real gripe with Mass Effect 2 at the moment. My Shepard became more angry and reckless as a result, after seeing Liara's coldness she started throwing people out of windows, beating people senseless and operating on a bit more of a hair trigger.

I totally get that. I was surprised at how upset I was by Liara's brushoff. But Joanna is too dedicated - or perhaps introverted - to take that out on anyone.

 

[cheywoodward]

Through the unfortunate pressing of the X button I missed the entire romance cutscene. Damn, now I will have to play throught the game again to see what Tali looks like without her helmet. Oh well, no loss there.

Trust me, don't worry about it.

 

[AC Medina]

Great article; can't believe I missed the picture on my first playthrough.

I was likewise surprised by the way that the Liara reunion was handled. After doing that side-mission for her on Illium, I kept waiting for a message to pop up on my private terminal telling me that she had finally located the Shadow Broker and needed my help--a mission which would then lead to a more satisfying and closure-providing resolution one way or the other. It just seemed to follow logically, especially given her "Not now Shepard, I need more time to do what I do" dialogue.

So the whole thing kind of smells like cut content to me, which would be terribly disappointing. Or like upcoming DLC, which would be terribly cheap from a storytelling perspective.

edit: The next post rightfully made me consider the possibility that they're just waiting until ME3 to bring her back in full force...I have to admit, depending on how they do it (and there's no reason to doubt Bioware will do it well) that may actually be a masterstroke.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

The lack of closure with Liara has pretty much been my only real gripe with Mass Effect 2 at the moment. My Shepard became more angry and reckless as a result, after seeing Liara's coldness she started throwing people out of windows, beating people senseless and operating on a bit more of a hair trigger.

I totally get that. I was surprised at how upset I was by Liara's brushoff. But Joanna is too dedicated - or perhaps introverted - to take that out on anyone.

This is a remarkably telling statement about Mass Effects ability to well, effect people through its narrative. It proves how much story people can build onto the game through their actions and how much narrative it can create that goes unspoken in the actual game dialogue.

Take my own character, Chell Shepard (named after my Fiancee NOT the character from Portal thank you very much) she's a bit emotionally broken due to her Sole Survivor origin and has always had some issues with loss, she tries to be as good as she can but occasionally snaps and Liara's coldness seems to have driven her towards greater violence towards people she feels deserve it and more protective of people she feels deserve a second chance. Since she holds on so tightly to the people around her after losing them before she'll probably hold out that desperate hope that Liara will eventually come back to her (you listening Bioware?) sometime in the future.

 

[seditary]

You can't romance Joker cause he's already in love with the ship.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

You can't romance Joker cause he's already in love with the ship.

I can't see him and EDI being seperated now... ever.

 

[Fuhjem]

I noticed that photo, too.

Move over Ashley, you were mostly an accident because I slipped up and drove Liara away with a dialogue option. Tali's my fictional girl!

 

[The Bandit]

Why does everyone romance Liara? I mean, I get it if you don't like Ashley or Kaiden... But you think LIARA is a better alternative? I hated her so, so, so much. Her voice was horrible.

 

[Ph0t0n1c Ph34r]

I noticed that photo. Also, if you have a romantic relationship wij anojer character, and that picture is shown knocked down, so you can't see the face.

 

[Ph0t0n1c Ph34r]

You can't romance Joker cause he's already in love with the ship.

I can't see him and EDI being seperated now... ever.

And EDI can see everything joker does. Everything...

 

[Irridium]

Wow really? I never noticed that. I'll have to go back and check.

But damn, thats a pretty, well, outstanding thing. I haven't really seen something show so much emotion since The Darkness, when you cuddled and watched a movie with your girlfriend.

You can't romance Joker cause he's already in love with the ship.

I can't see him and EDI being seperated now... ever.

And EDI can see everything joker does. Everything...

To quote EDI:

I love seeing humans on their knees.

 

[jtesauro]

It's worth nothing, I continued my Mass Effect save, and I had previously romanced Ashley. Despite temptations, again the more I got into my character I really did enjoy the interactions he had with Miranda and the surprisingly endearing times with Tali, but ( on that playthough ) anyway, my Shepard stayed single.

So where as if I had romanced someone else, the picture would have been turned over, instead right before the final mission, there was a cutscene of my Shepard in his quarters, staring at the still upright picture of Ashley. He smiles a little at the end, and then it's time for the mission.

I dug it. A powerful and endearing moment.

 

[Ph0t0n1c Ph34r]

Wow really? I never noticed that. I'll have to go back and check.

But damn, thats a pretty, well, outstanding thing. I haven't really seen something show so much emotion since The Darkness, when you cuddled and watched a movie with your girlfriend.

You can't romance Joker cause he's already in love with the ship.

I can't see him and EDI being seperated now... ever.

And EDI can see everything joker does. Everything...

To quote EDI:

I love seeing humans on their knees.

That was a joke.

I wonder if anyone has 34'rd that yet. Nevermind, I don't want to know.