Mass Effect - Andromeda's Main Characters Are Brother And Sister

Steven Bogos

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Jan 17, 2013
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Mass Effect - Andromeda's Main Characters Are Brother And Sister

The male and female player characters for Mass Effect will be brother and sister, rather than a gender-swapped version of the same character.

In the original Mass Effect trilogy, players assumed the role of Commander Shepard, who could be played as either a man or a woman. Mass Effect - Andromeda [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/mass%20effect%20andromeda?os=%20mass%20effect%20andromeda] will still allow players to choose their gender, but rather than simply being a gender-swapped version of the same character, the male and female PCs will be brother and sister.

The revelation came during Sony's Andromeda showcase [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5QP8KsSWXM] the other night. "We're seeing our male character, at E3 we got to see our female character. A little surprise here: These two are actually brother and sister," explained BioWare creative director Mac Walters. "They both exist in the game world at the same time. If you're playing as the female Ryder, your brother is out there somewhere in the universe."

[gallery=6469]

Additionally, the father of the Ryder siblings is someone we have already seen. "The character we saw two E3s ago, the N7, is actually your father. So we have got the full Ryder family revealed. We'll do names and things in the future."

It's an interesting way to handle having a multi-gendered main character. It means that no matter what gender you choose to play, you're still "canon".

Source: IGN [http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/09/08/mass-effect-andromedas-main-characters-are-brother-sister]

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Hawki

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So...what's the Andromeda Galaxy's take on incest? ;p

Snark aside, I think this is a nice choice. At the least, it's a very different dynamic from Commander Shepard.
 

Aggieknight

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So we have Dragon Age 2 all over again, where Bioware will use the other sibling as a cheap plot device?

Color me unimpressed.

(The video is nice though)
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

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Sep 28, 2009
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Jumping? In Mass Effect?

WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS!?!

Video looks nice. Looks like we have a ways off before we get this...
 

Darth Rosenberg

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So it's kinda like FemHawke and BlokeHawke, just, y'know, in the same universe? Sorta? No? Moving on, then...

I don't mind one player character, or siblings. Dragon Age II dealt with sibling and family relationships quite well, so more of that wouldn't go amiss. Having connections to other principle characters is generally a good thing, and it's harder to get much more connected than family.
 

Kingjackl

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So will you be able to customise them both like the husband and wife in Fallout 4? Or does it generate the other sibling's appearance based on yours?
 

Ukomba

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I actually really like the idea of a brother and sister team. It's too bad the game designer is such a raging racist that I can't bring myself to buy or support the game.

Not sure about the father being in game, how does will work with the race and appearance of your character being mutable? In fact, will your siblings appearance change to match yours?
 

Sniper Team 4

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I watched this video, and the first thought that jumped into my head once the family was laid out was, "Please don't be like the family in Ghosts." We have a father figure who is a bad ass, and two siblings who are no doubt dreaming of following in his footsteps and earning their own N7 ranks. This type of family story set up can get boring real quick. Here's hoping that BioWare can avoid this pitfall.

That being said, the game sure looks pretty. Would have liked to see some combat, but whatever. Still keeping my eye on it, but Mass Effect 3's ending is still burning in the back of my mind, so the excitement is not there.
 

SlumlordThanatos

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Ukomba said:
I actually really like the idea of a brother and sister team. It's too bad the game designer is such a raging racist that I can't bring myself to buy or support the game.
I must have missed something...what are you referring to?

OT: Neat. Dragon Age II did sibling dynamics rather well, though I'm hoping it doesn't end quite as tragically as it did in DA II. I'm curious to see how it is handled, and if you get to fight alongside your sibling and Daddy-O.

I mean, I seem to be the only person here who was merely disappointed with ME3's ending and not still angry over it.
 

Erttheking

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SlumlordThanatos said:
Ukomba said:
I actually really like the idea of a brother and sister team. It's too bad the game designer is such a raging racist that I can't bring myself to buy or support the game.
I must have missed something...what are you referring to?

OT: Neat. Dragon Age II did sibling dynamics rather well, though I'm hoping it doesn't end quite as tragically as it did in DA II. I'm curious to see how it is handled, and if you get to fight alongside your sibling and Daddy-O.

I mean, I seem to be the only person here who was merely disappointed with ME3's ending and not still angry over it.
Twitter nonsense. If I were you I'd just ignore it, but I think we had a thread on it not too long ago.

OT: I actually like the concept. Still not sure if I want anything to DO with the game, but hey. It's not like I WANT it to be bad.
 

Steven Bogos

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Jan 17, 2013
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SlumlordThanatos said:
Ukomba said:
I actually really like the idea of a brother and sister team. It's too bad the game designer is such a raging racist that I can't bring myself to buy or support the game.
I must have missed something...what are you referring to?

OT: Neat. Dragon Age II did sibling dynamics rather well, though I'm hoping it doesn't end quite as tragically as it did in DA II. I'm curious to see how it is handled, and if you get to fight alongside your sibling and Daddy-O.

I mean, I seem to be the only person here who was merely disappointed with ME3's ending and not still angry over it.
I think he is referring to this: http://heatst.com/culture-wars/mass-effect-designer-manveer-heir-hates-white-people-and-wants-the-world-to-know/

Take it as you will.
 
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unless the game goes back to its roots as an rpg and somehow makes me orgasm out of every orifice, they won't be getting my money after me3 happened.

I wasn't aware of the manveer heir thing, he seems like an extremely stuck up douche who is full of himself judging by those racist tweets and the tweets about the new deus ex, but I'm sure those are dime a dozen in the industry so I'm not gonna hold that against the game.
 

RebornKusabi

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Steven Bogos said:
SlumlordThanatos said:
Ukomba said:
I actually really like the idea of a brother and sister team. It's too bad the game designer is such a raging racist that I can't bring myself to buy or support the game.
I must have missed something...what are you referring to?

OT: Neat. Dragon Age II did sibling dynamics rather well, though I'm hoping it doesn't end quite as tragically as it did in DA II. I'm curious to see how it is handled, and if you get to fight alongside your sibling and Daddy-O.

I mean, I seem to be the only person here who was merely disappointed with ME3's ending and not still angry over it.
I think he is referring to this: http://heatst.com/culture-wars/mass-effect-designer-manveer-heir-hates-white-people-and-wants-the-world-to-know/

Take it as you will.
Wow, what a piece of shit human being.

I'm white and I don't find racism against people that big of a deal, but some his comments are pretty bad. Surprised EA has let him get away with that, his ethnic background be damned.

My thing is that I've always been wired to judge the art not the artist, so if this gutter scum wants to be a racist asshole, well jokes on him because the game he's working on stars two white people,
 

Strazdas

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May 28, 2011
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Steven Bogos said:
SlumlordThanatos said:
Ukomba said:
I actually really like the idea of a brother and sister team. It's too bad the game designer is such a raging racist that I can't bring myself to buy or support the game.
I must have missed something...what are you referring to?

OT: Neat. Dragon Age II did sibling dynamics rather well, though I'm hoping it doesn't end quite as tragically as it did in DA II. I'm curious to see how it is handled, and if you get to fight alongside your sibling and Daddy-O.

I mean, I seem to be the only person here who was merely disappointed with ME3's ending and not still angry over it.
I think he is referring to this: http://heatst.com/culture-wars/mass-effect-designer-manveer-heir-hates-white-people-and-wants-the-world-to-know/

Take it as you will.
Oh well then. I know what game i wont be buying now.
 

InsanityRequiem

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Bro/Sis dynamic again? Taking bets folks! Who bets that the sibling you don?t play as dies during the game? I bet the sibling dies roughly 1/4th of the way through the story!
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

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I find the family dynamic as a game mechanic to be interesting.

Geez dad! I'll bring the New Normandy back with a full tank!
 

Casual Shinji

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They're not gonna force you to try and care about this guy/gal if you're one or the other, right? Because that worked out so well in Fallout 4.

Don't make the plot be 'I have to find my bother/sister', please.
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

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Sep 8, 2011
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Congratulations Bioware. You did something that I can't criticize. It's a fun little idea. I'm still never going to buy another EA game for more than $10. If I decide that it's worth playing at all. Considering how much I hate the idea of a new galaxy I'd say there's 99% chance I'll never play the damn game.