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Evening Reading: Character Carryover

by Garnett Lee, Jan 21, 2010 6:00pm PST

Last night I started into Mass Effect 2 for our review. From playing the beginning of the game a few weeks ago I knew more or less what to expect of the action but this time I'd finally get to see the continuation of the story with my character. I fired things up; pulled up the character import screen, and...wait, is that a chick? I thought Shepard was a dude.

Slowly it started coming back to me. That's right; the character I finished Mass Effect with was my ruthless dominatrix-type. I'd forgotten that. It made me wonder how muich more I've forgotten. This disconnect could undermine the game's interesting feature of relationships in the sequel showing the impact of decisions made in the original. How will I recognize the implied effects of my prior choices if I can't recall the pivotal events they reference?

It's always tough to create a sequel that works both for those who know the original and those picking the story up midstream. TV shows face this dilemma weekly and again with reruns. That's why there's always that "previously on 24" before every episode. For Mass Effect 2 it's a particularly tough challenge to hit the right balance. On the one hand I don't want the illusion broken by being overtly aware of the connection between events. Doing that would just leave me feeling like I wanted to go try all the other combinations to see what would happen and that would drive me nuts. On the other, if I don't remember enough to connect-the-dots on the relationships, their significance is lost on me.

Maybe some sort of "previously on" mechanism would have helped. Somewhere, working behind the screens of the game, there are tagged events that determine what's going to happen in the sequel. It's probably asking a lot, but I sure would have enjoyed seeing my character in quick remembrances of them as she got put back together at the start of the sequel. It sure would have had a stronger sense of continuity than the abrupt, "oh, right, he's a she." But then again, I do have a cool character to get reacquainted with now.

Here's some stories from today on Shack for you to get reacquainted with:

On a serious note, the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that limited corporate campaign spending limits

He may be leaving "America's Got Talent," but that doesn't mean he's gone from your screen. A7E is setting up the Hoff in a new reality show.

This Jersey Shore Super Mario Bros video should be watched before it's gone.

And finally, for sticking around, I have presents! YAY PRESENTS! Today's theme is Dark Void. We have 5 flight manuals, 10 Trexi figures, 10 collectors figures, and 2 copies of the game for PS3. Hop in comments for your chance to win!


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