I was blown away by Dragon Age II; not the gameplay itself, which was rather ho-hum, but by the depth of the characters created, especially in the party. I would walk around Kirkwall with different combinations, listening to their chatter, which was not just focused on their main quest; they discussed city politics, ethics, the relationships that I had with them, that they had with each other and that other members of the party had with non-party NPCs (see: Varric and his brother). When we were on missions, they would weigh in with their opinions without prompting. And they MOVED. I did not have to go and visit each of them to find out about their backstory. They would go to my house to see me, to talk about important and not important things. They even visited each other: one of my favourite memories is visiting the tavern to find that the character I was courting (the virginal Merrill) was seeking relationship advice from the brass, sexually active Isabella.
I eagerly awaited Mass Effect 2, hoping for the same depth of writing that is so lacking in games. Sadly, Bioware disappointed me. Oh sure, the characters were great: the assassin haunted by his past, the monster bred for war, even the obligatory black guy had an interesting plot line.
But that was it: it was just a plot line. I would go visit them in their room, fly to the correct place in the galaxy, shoot some people, visit them again afterwards for the wrap-up, and them it was done. They never developed new problems, they never came to visit me in my cabin, they never even got involved with other characters (expect for 2 staged disputes). They existed only for A) being called out to the battlefield, where I cannot remember them making a single comment that illuminated a part of their character outside of their given story missions, and B) if I wanted to perform what felt like an interrogation, where I had to ask the right questions to get them to reveal part of their back story.
Now I am wondering if it is part of each games inherent structure. In Dragon Age, you spend a lot of time walking with your party, and the conversations exist as a way to pass the time. In Mass Effect, each character has a room on the ship where they can relax while you insta-travel from one shooting gallery to the next.
What I want to ask you is whether you think this can and will be changed in Mass Effect 3. Will the characters roam the ship, meeting in the mess hall, or interrupting you while you work? Or will they remain automatons, fighting soullessly in battle and remaining in their rooms to be dealt with like books, to be read or discarded at leisure?
I eagerly awaited Mass Effect 2, hoping for the same depth of writing that is so lacking in games. Sadly, Bioware disappointed me. Oh sure, the characters were great: the assassin haunted by his past, the monster bred for war, even the obligatory black guy had an interesting plot line.
But that was it: it was just a plot line. I would go visit them in their room, fly to the correct place in the galaxy, shoot some people, visit them again afterwards for the wrap-up, and them it was done. They never developed new problems, they never came to visit me in my cabin, they never even got involved with other characters (expect for 2 staged disputes). They existed only for A) being called out to the battlefield, where I cannot remember them making a single comment that illuminated a part of their character outside of their given story missions, and B) if I wanted to perform what felt like an interrogation, where I had to ask the right questions to get them to reveal part of their back story.
Now I am wondering if it is part of each games inherent structure. In Dragon Age, you spend a lot of time walking with your party, and the conversations exist as a way to pass the time. In Mass Effect, each character has a room on the ship where they can relax while you insta-travel from one shooting gallery to the next.
What I want to ask you is whether you think this can and will be changed in Mass Effect 3. Will the characters roam the ship, meeting in the mess hall, or interrupting you while you work? Or will they remain automatons, fighting soullessly in battle and remaining in their rooms to be dealt with like books, to be read or discarded at leisure?
