Wasn’t gonna say something, but I just have to add a few things. Not gonna bother with ME1 or ME2, because that would make this way too long. All of these are just ones I can think of right now.
- Ashley’s entire look was sexist. They decided to “let her hair down and give her sex appeal” while Kaidan “got bulked up to show that he’d seen some action.” Out of the two characters, Ash is the hardass soldier. She, more so than Kaidan, would work her ass of in preparing for the war.
- Or how about the fact that Bioware didn’t bother to use a face model for FShep? And, in ME3, even had some kind of beauty contest for the face of default female Shepard? Now I actually like how the default FShep looks in ME3, but that doesn’t mean that the lack of an actual face model for all three games doesn’t give a real “we really don’t care about this character” feel from Bioware.
- MShep can shoot Ashley down if she accuses him of cheating. FShep can only apologize to Kaidan. In both cases the woman is in the wrong. Also, Kaidan accuses FShep of cheating twice. And neither times can she defend herself. While Kaidan and Ashley may be different people, Shepard isn’t. Regardless of gender, Shepard should’ve been able to defend themselves and tell Kaidan/Ashley to shut it. There’s is absolutely no reason why FShep would want to be nice to Kaidan. Some FShep players may want to do that, yes. But others would want to tell him to shut the fuck up. This is a roleplaying game after all. It’s the fact that we don’t get the option that’s a problem!
FShep’s options with Kaidan:
MShep’s options with Ashley:
- Jacob cheats on Shepard and she has no option to get pissed about it. Instead she is expected to be happy when he informs her that he is going to be a father. Hell, there’s even implications that Jacob cheating on her was Shepard’s fault - “come on, Shepard, did you want me to wait forever?” Considering that only 6 months had passed since ME2 and Shepard was locked up, that makes Jacob a colossal asshole. And what are Shep’s options? Either you can pick “I understand” or “Kiss me Jacob”. And the second one is a real WTF! That’s it! If we were given any real options, Shepard should have been able to say “did you wait 5 minutes?”
But, no, Shepard has no other option than to just take it. Instead of being able to tell him to fuck off.
- You can’t tell Vega to stop flirting with you. You can tell him to stop calling you Lola. Hell, the nickname is bad enough. He calls FShep “Lola” because of some woman in the past that he thought was hot. But he calls MShep “loco” because that’s what he thinks he is. What stopped Bioware from just having Vega go loco/loca?
- But the flirting is forced upon Shepard. What’s worse is that Shepard automatically flirts back, like in the tattoo scene (you are such a tease, Vega). Bioware basically forces you to accept Vega’s flirting and even takes the choice away from you by making Shepard flirt back. Instead of you being able to tell him to knock it off. In short, MShep is Vega’s ultimate hero, his idol. FShep is someone he can flirt with. And they’re supposed to be the same person, who have done the same things.
- And don’t even get me started on Miranda and Samara.
Miranda’s ass and Samara’s chest gets as much screen time as they do. Considering what type of person Samara is, her outfit makes no sense. And Miranda’s outfit is just a sign that Bioware clearly have no idea how anatomy works. Not to mention that in ME3 she’s on the run from Cerberus, why the hell would she be wearing that exact same outfit?
- Then we have the Citadel DLC. The ending of the Citadel DLC if you’re playing MShep and is romancing any of the ladies, goes like this: Shep is standing at the dock, looking at the Normandy. His LI walks up, grabs his hand and leans on his shoulder as they have their little heart to heart. When playing FShep, you have her standing at the docks, LI walks up and just stands next to Shepard. Liara is the worst one.
She is romanceable by both genders, yet Bioware made sure she acted differently around MShep. Which makes no fucking sense, if Liara would snuggle up to a MShep, she would do the exact same thing to FShep. So I’d LOVE to hear how anyone explains this.
And I’m certain Shakarian players would’ve loved having Garrus put his arm around Shepard’s shoulder. Or having Kaidan snuggle up to a Shep of either gender. Or having Traynor grab FShep’s hand. But, no, according to Bioware, cuddles are reserved for the straight couples. But only if Shepard is the male. If Shep is female, you should feel lucky that they are even standing next to each other.
The only character who touches FShep during the Citalel DLC ending is Joker, when he walks up and puts his hand on her shoulder. And he does the same thing to MShep. This happens if Shepard isn’t with anyone, BTW.
- And this: “And bullshit on LI, both have a even distribution, characters that appeal to both genders, characters that are straight, bi, and gay/les.”
You’re kidding, right? Because you can’t be fucking serious! Even distribution? How is letting MShep have 8 straight romances while FShep only gets two an even distribution? Thane dies no matter what you do. Jacob cheats on you. Garrus is only available if you romanced him in ME2, Kaidan might be dead. ALL of MShep’s LI are loyal to him.
Then you have the bi/lesbian romances. You have Liara, who is available for both genders. Kelly, who is available for both genders. And, finally, Traynor who is the only FShep exclusive lesbian romance in all three games. A fact that a lot of straight male gamers whine about, I might add.
Then there is the gay MShep. Again, you wanna talk even distribution? How about the fact that the players who wanted to play Shepard as a gay man couldn’t do shit until the third game? Where they get two LI! Wow….
Kaidan, who again might be dead by the time ME3 starts. And Cortez, who admittedly is the sweetest guy around and I absolutely adore him, but he is clearly on the rebound.
Sometimes I wonder if I somehow played a different game from everyone else.
I love these games, but as a female gamer there are some things that stand out like a sore thumb. And if we want game companies to learn from their mistakes, then we need to say something about. This basically is me saying “hey, Bioware, I really liked this thing. But I want you to do better!”
