Mass Effect has been a largely successful series of games spanning across years. Starting in 2007, ME and Commander Shepard have come to grow in the hearts of many (this gamer chick not excluding). The combination of role-playing and action really make me think Bioware knows how to woo a girl. I fell head over heels for their story line and characters, and using both weapons and abilities was even more fun than playing footsies with Kaiden (well, almost).
As gaming goes, there is nothing quite as exciting as stepping into a room full of the people who created one of your favorite games. I have never been the kind to overly obsess over anything, but even I still have times in my life that can only be described as geeky joy. So when I stepped into the Bioware Base on Level 2 at PAX I couldn’t help but be uber excited. Yes, uber.
The panel included in order from left to right:
- Preston Watamaniuk (Lead Designer)
- Parrish Ley (Lead Cinematics Director)
- Dusty Everman (Level Designer)
- John Dombrow (Writer for ME3)
- Raphael Sbarge (voice actor of Kaiden).
Alright, I lied a little bit. The very first guy was an HR person but I can’t for the life of me remember his name.
I was half expecting Kaiden to give me that sad conflicted look he normally did and then tell me how much he enjoyed talking to me. Luckily, I refrained myself from asking what he thought of the mission.
A lot of other people did ask questions, however, despite my own silence. There were a lot of questions that centered around the panelists’ opinions over things in the game more than anything else.
What character was your favorite/least favorite?
Preston: “…Depends on the game…in ME1 my least favorite as a companion was Ashley. Just because I found her skillset redundant to mine. In two it was Tali. And three it was James. Again, just because of their skills. I love their characters. I liked to talked to them, but I would never take them out. I got called out in the Citidel, right. Well I never get to go out. My favorite was Wrex in ME1, Miranda in ME2, and in ME3 was Tali. Tali and Garrus.”
Parrish: “My least favorite is Tali from ME1. I just, we didn’t really click. BUT one of my favorites though is Tali from ME3, and I think because they just won me over with where they were going with that character. I think to begin with I didn’t quite see it…then in ME3 it all comes together.”
Dusty: “…that’s so hard. There are so many that I love. The one that kind of stands out, maybe that not everyone agrees is Samara. I really loved her back story, and she seemed like the equal of Shepard. It felt like she had a trilogy of games already behind her before she even met Shepard. And the least favorite. Oh that’s even harder because I spent so much time with all of them, and they’re all so good. So the odd answer might be Edi even though in ME3 I took her all the time. I loved her but if you had to say, ok, all that love which is the one – Ehhh Edi.”
John: “Um, that’s hard. I guess, in three I had the honor of writing Garrus and Javik. So as much as I enjoyed them I won’t include them here. Outside of that I really enjoyed Mordin in two…I thought he was hilarious, funny, and deep all at the same time. My least favorite, probably Jacob. I don’t know if I even talked to Jacob all that much.”
Raphael: “This kind of came up in the romance panel I did before this, but someone had asked me that if when I play the game, do I play with myself? I told them it’s a personal question.”
The panel was funny, interesting, and overall one of my favorite things I did at PAX. Sure, that may have something to do with the fact that playing Shepard as you kick alien Reaper ass with rad friends like Joker or Garrus (sorry Jacob), and discuss important very non physical mission reports with Kaiden is just about my life’s desire.
But can you really blame a girl?
What really made this worth missing the Game Like A Girl panel though, is a speech of Raphael. While he may possibly be my alter ego Commander’s soul mate, most of his answers were funny or nonexistent (from lack of being able to have as much of an input as a voice actor). Yet there was a moment where the whole room first sat in a second of awed silence before exploding in applause.
Raphael:
“So we were recording some of the Citadel. The final goodbye. And a slide came up which was a direction to the actors. And I saw it, and I went, Oh shit. This is intense. And I took a picture of it. So you know I don’t put this stuff out, and we are obviously very protective of this in your best interest but I got permission…this is what it says. So Citadel final goodbye scene:
Raphael thumps John on the back amidst clapping and says:
“This man wrote that.”
He continues:
“You know yesterday we were at a much larger panel. You know everyone switched it up and spontaneously applauded the extraordinary people who made this game. And I’m so grateful to be apart of that, truly. But you know in a way through one and two and three, you know we’ve all been through so much, right? And I think you know there was a great sadness expressed by fans about the ending of the game. There’s a great sadness on this side, too. You know this has been a powerful journey. And I was really touched by that moment just because all us had that feeling, this sense of like wow you know we had this shared experience…I think whatever happens as they go forward with Mass Effect and whatever else…this was a special thing we all shared…”
With that I wiped a tear from my eye, and was thankful for each and every head shot I ever got on every last damn Collector. That was for you, Kaiden.
That was all for you.
