BioWare Trims Mass Effect 3 Squad to Focus on Deeper Relationships

[JoshGod]

I agree that there were too many characters to use in combat, i found most useless. However What i did like was being able to have those discussions with them as they were interesting characters, except for Fine Ass, Psycho and 50 cent which i suspect will all be returning.
EDIT, strangely enough all humans. If i don't get my Mordin, Tali and Legion back It will be too much to go on living.

 

[Worr Monger]

Cool, I was hoping they'd redesign Jack as the article describes.

I thought it'd be neat to see her mature a bit, and see what she looks like with that goofy haircut all grown out.

 

[Lordmarkus]

anc[is]

And i'll be interested to see who's side Miranda is on aswell.

If you take her with you for the final boss, and pick the paragon option, she basically gives TIM the bird. So she probably sticks with Shep

Thought about that too but when I played through the suicide mission, she straight up says "consider this my resignation" when the Illusive man ask her to persuade Shepherd to keep the base.

OT: A tiny SPECOPS team consisting of Catherine Shepard, Garrus, Legion, Cpt. Andersson (you could always dream) and Liara. Might also throw in Miranda IF she manages to remain in her armor instead of slipping back into her catsuits.

Of all the praise I normally give ME2, armor selection is probably the most absurdly dumb design choice of ME2.

 

[GiantRaven]

This seems like a good idea, in theory. From just looking at this thread, I can see there are a lot of different opinions as to people's favourite characters (for example, I really liked Thane but it seems a good few people here have no interest in him). Reducing the number of squadmates means that certain players are going to be left in the dust if their favourite characters aren't available.

It's not that big of a deal but it's still something to consider.

Also, I think that might be the first vaguely negative thing I've said about Mass Effect 3.

 

[gbemery]

This is a good piece of news I think...as long as the other characters don't just fall off the proverbial map. I think a cameo, mentioning of them while talking to NPCs, or putting a bio of them in the codex would suffice. I like the idea of an overall small team. They can focus on more dialogue with the smaller team that way Garrus can finally get his calibrations done. But they better not make any of these squad members as DLC or I swear I'll throw a metaphoric brick through their window. Which does beg the question what will they have as DLC? Obviously with the non-linear storyline they have gone with they will add side missions, and tweak updates for things people will complain about ie the Hammerhead.

EDIT-Never mind about the characters disappearing I found my answer after I actually read the article and not just skim it >.<

 

[AnAngryMoose]

I like the sound of this, Bioware. Always thought the squad structure in ME1 was a bit limited and ME2 had pointless characters (Gameplay wise).

But If Tali isn't a squad member, you will evoke the force of a million angry fanboys.

Me being one of them. If there's no Tali or Garrus then I will be severely disappointed.

 

[Grey_Focks]

I like that. Here's hoping for a pleasant middle ground between 1 and 2, and from what I read of the weapon mods and power evolution stuff, that seems to be a pretty good pattern. ME2 had a great cast, but it really was too many people. So long as I get Garrus and Liara, I will be quite pleased.

 

[Drakmorg]

If that means less chance of Garrus-calibration situations I'm all for it.

Me: "Hey Garrus, what's up?"
G: "Can it wait for a minute, I'm in the middle of some calibrations"
*Five missions later*
Me: "Hey Garrus"
G: "I fucking love Calibrations!"

 

[The Great JT]

As long as the following characters come back as squadmates, I'll have no problems:

Kaidan (confirmed)
Grunt
Tali
Garrus
Jack
Legion
Wrex

Ashley I usually let die on Virmire (I'm all the combat specialization I need, and I think she got the better close to her story between her and Kaidan), Miranda, Morinth/Samara and Liara I just never really liked (Mirianda was just a pain in the ass and I really have no love for the asari in general), Jacob I just don't care enough about, and Thane and Mordin I never used enough to determine wether or not I gave a damn about them. I wouldn't mind if Zaeed and Kasumi came back too, but since they're DLC characters I don't expect them to come along for the ride, especially Zaeed who is AWESOME. Also, if I may be so bold to ask...how about a batarian squadmate?

 

[Stevepinto3]

What? Jack grew hair? Unacceptable. I want the crazy-bald-biotic-***** back.

 

[rsvp42]

Oh my god, everyone's actually okay with this, awesome! I saw the headline and I was worried there'd be a shitstorm over it, what with the response to the last two design decisions.

 

[BrotherRool]

Right, first positive comment I will make about ME and ME3 in particular:

This is cool, less characters are great if it means they can focus more on fleshing them out. Devs can't do everything and Chris Avellone admitted that KotoR 2 suffered from too many characters and they had less than 13


And back to the bad: When they say, all your favourite characters are returning in one form or another, this is a bad thing. First prediction, no-one from ME2 except maybe Miranda will be part of your party. Because if they're struggling with dev time as it is, they aren't going to waste it by making a character like Tali or Mordin (who are easy to kill off) part of your party.

Secondly, they're going to do more of the ridiculous stuff in ME2 where silly character changes lead to your friends and allies refusing to join you. They may even do the Kaidan/Ashley thing where they spit in your face a bit at first.

EDIT: No they won't do the last one, because the last one was terrible railroading so that all ME love interests will make it to ME3 where they'll probably be in your party (and I guess with maybe one exception, everyone else will be mew)

Instead they'll be really nice and supportive of you, but still refuse to join you

 

[McMullen]

I imagine that at this point, being Bioware and announcing on the internet that you're cutting characters out of the ME squad is like going to Jerusalem, Baghdad, or Kabul and starting a religious debate. There's no way it's ending well.

Wonder why they're saying it's a choice between more characters or deeper relationships. I mean, yeah I rarely use Samara or Mordin in my squad, but I still enjoy conversations with them on the Normandy, especially the latter.

As long as Udina and the Council get proper treatment in ME3 (preferably Gavin Archer style, where even Paragon Shepard doesn't leave them with as many teeth as they started with), I'll be content.

 

[gbemery]

If that means less chance of Garrus-calibration situations I'm all for it.

Me: "Hey Garrus, what's up?"
G: "Can it wait for a minute, I'm in the middle of some calibrations"
*Five missions later*
Me: "Hey Garrus"
G: "I fucking love Calibrations!"

It would be great if they actually put something in ME3 making fun of that.

You: "Hey Garrus what's going on?"
G: "Can it wait for a minute, I'm in the middle of some..."
You: "I swear Garrus if the next word out of your mouth is 'calibrations' you're gonna wish you never left C-sec!"
G: "...modifications...douche."

 

[josh797]

this is a great idea. i know we all have characters we love (i like tali, garrus, jacob, and legion) but if this means we get to have more in depth relationships with the characters that are left, im all for it and they can cut out anyone they want. i trust bioware to make awesome games. as everyone is saying, most of those characters you barely even saw anyway.

 

[Chase Yojimbo]

Bring back my favorite Krogan, Wrex, Bioware... Or the bunny gets it.

 

[Anezay]

I'm betting you get all surviving members of your ME1 fireteam back. Although I really, really like Wrex, I don't see how it would make sense for him to join you, though. I hate Liara, but she's been confirmed to be on your new squad. Neither VS ever managed to be more endearing to me than "mildly annoying," but with the potential for character development, I'll be happy to welcome them back to the Normandy. Garrus and Tali, though, I want. Destroy the Galaxy at the end of the game, I don't care, but give me Team Shepard, dammit.

As for ME2 characters, Maybe you'll keep Miranda and Jacob. I don't care about either, but I can't honestly see any of the others returning to help you in the third, at least not in the same way.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I hope Zaeed is playable I LOVED HIM SO MUCH! He was SO bad ass

 

[WouldYouKindly]

How much more streamlining can the RPG elements take before they cease to be? Good shooters are comparatively easy to find compared to good sci-fi RPGs.

OT: Less is definitely more. There were plenty of characters I just didn't care that much about: Thane, Zaeed, Jacob, even Miranda. The ones I truly cared about or found interesting were Tali, Garrus, Grunt, and Legion. The rest get a general Meh.