BioWare Trims Mass Effect 3 Squad to Focus on Deeper Relationships

[CleverCover]

Would it be possible to choose who I want with me and who I wouldn't mind helping me out in another capacity? Different Sheps want different things.

I'd love to have Mordin, Legion, Tali, Liara and Grunt there to fill the alien roles and my VS as my human. The others I'm sure would be better suited to other roles in the universe. Like keeping Cerberus off my back or acting as mediators for their people.

Oh look! Six! My team is done.

OT: This is great news. It wasn't easy trying to get to know all the people on my ship and more often than not I would go an entire playthrough having had only taken someone out once or twice. I'm sure I still don't really know everyone and their capabilities.

 

[scorptatious]

Makes since, as some of the characters may or may not have a reason for leaving the crew.

Spoiler

Zaeed was only paid to help Shepard out. So By destroying/taking the collector ship, his services have been fulfilled.

Same would go for Kasumi. She'll probably go back to stealing stuff.

Tali may or may not also leave depending on how her loyalty mission went.

Samara may leave to continue her justicar duties.

Thane will most likely DIE due to his condition.

These are only a few examples I can think of.

All in all, I think this is a smart move made by Bioware. As I'd rather they focus on the established characters from the past two games rather than bringing a massive number of new characters. I'm not saying that bringing in some new characters would be bad, I'm just saying that having too many characters would sacrifice development for most of them.

 

[meryatathagres]

Listening to a company claim they are adding depth, when they are actually REMOVING it, is what annoys me more than any of the specifics.

What annoys me the most is the misconception statbased dungeoncrawlers are the real rpgs. The real rpgs are storytelling, roleplaying, interaction social games with some combat thrown in.
It should be rather plain to see that its better to have 8 characters with double the content of 16 less fleshed out characters. (Unless you care more about stats, in which case there are perfectly fine tactical games.)
Also, Truffles said she was misquoted about the stats. They're actually making them more meaningful and relevant.

 

[meryatathagres]

Tali won't she will be her father's replacement on the Admirals

Tali has been confirmed, as have Garrus, Lliara, Ashley/Kaidan and that new Vega dude.

ps. It'd be nice if people would actually read the bioware forums for accurate information.

 

[Kahunaburger]

The thing I want is more complicated relationships between the characters. Mass Effect 2 was in general an excellent game, but had this flat aspect where you never got the impression that the crew had any life outside interaction with Shepard, beyond past history, Tali/Legion, and an argument between Jack and Miranda with no build-up that you had to defuse.

What sparked the fight between Jack and Miranda? Did they ever make up or reach an understanding? Does Tali ever reminisce with Garrus or help him with his calibrations? Did Kasumi ever make her move on Jacob? Do Jack and Zaeed see each other as kindred spirits, rivals, or neither? Who, if anyone, visits Thane in his climate-controlled room? Examining these potential storylines would humanize the characters and create a sense of the "crew" more than a giant stack of dialogue trees ever could.

 

[lordlillen]

Liara, Tali, and Legion, the rest can go do something else for all I care.

what no space batm- i mean garrus?

 

[TheSorrow1145]

Link?

 

[cystemic]

i want garrus, tali and legion . *spoiler* I wonder if we'll get info on what happened to the rest of the crew after the collector mission, I assume thane dies and grunt goes back to urdnot, but it would be nice to know :3

 

[RobCoxxy]

Small squad pool is fine. I'd like some people you recruit to stay on the ship as Techies, strategists and weapon experts or something, though. Awesome much?

 

[KAPTAINmORGANnWo4life]

So, New Guy, Ashley/Kaiden, Liara, and Tali are in? That leaves a pretty large deck to draw a pair of aces from.

Jacob and Miranda are probably gone with Cerberus(they weren't the most liked characters anyway, so nobody'll cry), it would be logical for Samara/Morinth and Legion to be gone, Jack IS gone. That leaves a question mark next to Garrus, Thane, Mordin, Wrex, Grunt, and the DLC characters. Although, I'm not an expert, and I feel like I forgot someone.

I'd like to see some characters who don't return in a combat capacity actually stay involved with the crew, especially Mordin, as he was absolutely vital to your success in #2. And he sings.

 

[JediMB]

If any of the love interests don't make it into the ME3 squad, there will be blood for sure.

Well... I'd make an exception for Jacob. Nobody likes Jacob.

 

[Jumplion]

An interesting revelation. I don't mind a lower number of squad members (though around 8 would be a nice number), so this doesn't really make me go "OMG, NOOOOOO!!". I'm still a bit nervous about the game, though. Can't shake the feeling that something is off...

 

[Risingblade]

As long as I have Kasumi,Legion and Jack I'm happy

 

[ImSkeletor]

As long as they keep Mordin and Grunt I am happy. I don't care about anyone else.

 

[JasonKaotic]

Am I really the only person who doesn't like this?
I liked having lots of people around. I only ever really used Garrus and Tali, but it was always nice to have the option for lots of different squad members that fight in different ways. And lots of different kinds of people on the ship.
That's just me, anyway.

 

[mrhappy1489]

I hope that either Jacob or Kaiden, Miranda or Ashley are in the game, as well as Wrex and Garrus. Maybe thane or legion, some of those guys have to be there.

 

[FFHAuthor]

The fear in that press release was almost palpable.

 

[mizutanitony]

What about my romances? If they aren't in the squad...what happens with them? Seriously What if Tali's not in the squad but I want my romance with her..or Jack..or Thane? WTF people! Don't give me these characters I love and had the character fall in love with just to cut the story.