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For me it was Tali for maleshep and Garrus for femshep. Having them for all three games meant you got to know them the most. Garrus one was pretty funny as well.

Liara.

To be fair I've done a few so far, eventually will do them all, but for me the meeting between Liara and Shepard at the end of LotSB can't be beaten for its tenderness.

Plus Jennifer Hales voice seems meant for Ali Hillis.

Not biased honest guv.

After Liara, Its Tali, Garrus and Miranda.

Ashley,

God I always though she was awsome.

If (never did get around to it) I was a female Shep I would do Kaiden.

Those two characters were my favorite companions in damn near any game ever. One thing about them is they are like my person's conscience. Over one shoulder (nearly literally) Kaiden is saying what the good guy in me should do and Ashley is saying what the Pro-human militarist me is thinking. So one reason I liked her so much is she worked so well with me and Kaiden.


IF I was do romance another person the order would be

Ashley, Kaiden, Miranda, and Tali

Jack.

Just fits with my personality and my overall attitude. Reminds me of my current girlfriend of 5 years, to be quite honest.

I love independent women with strong, clear personalities. I never liked women who would just do whatever a man wanted.

Her body and peculiarity means nothing to me - I want a companion in mind much more than I do in flesh.

Karon wrote:Jack.

Just fits with my personality and my overall attitude. Reminds me of my current girlfriend of 5 years, to be quite honest.

I love independent women with strong, clear personalities. I never liked women who would just do whatever a man wanted.

Her body and peculiarity means nothing to me - I want a companion in mind much more than I do in flesh.

Not how I'd describe Jack myself. Also the romance kind of involves you changing her world view/making her change which kind of off-set the strong willed vibe for me. The same went for Miranda in ME2, I just couldn't take Shephard explaining how he viewed her as a human being not by her body seriously when the camera kept making ass-shots of her. I find the strong woman vibe is only well represented by having femshep go with one of your companions ie Garrus where thats particularly telling.

Tali's just so nice and sweet which are very endearing qualities in anyone. Tali does have her own mind, she is definetly one of the more 'feminine' characters (next to Jack or Miranda) and I don't assume that feminine=weak willed. Just the fact that shes on these suicide missions and is a very intelligent machinist are indicitive of that in of themselves.

Ashley's character was too narrow; 'I AM BUTCH. ALSO SLIGHTLY RACIST. RARGH - HOOAH MARINE!' She also slightly resembled Natalie Portman...

Miranda? Mnyah, sexy voice 'n' figure with no personality = ideal woman.

God damn human women....

I prefer me some risk when it comes to romance in games, so thats why I went with Tali. It could have been really awesome or really bad. Luckily it was the former ^^

Romance in games is lame. It just seems tacky and cheesy even when Bioware does it.

I'll go with Liara, simply because she's the only one I don't actively dislike.

Amaya wrote:Romance in games is lame. It just seems tacky and cheesy even when Bioware does it.

I'll go with Liara, simply because she's the only one I don't actively dislike.

You could say that about any form of media. Film, literature, television etc etc Its never done convincingly and always rests on incredibly ancient cliche. Even some of the best books I've read (Wars of Light and Shadow) have pretty predictable and cliche love interests that the writer tries to hide by spamming the same material to build character and create a false sense of depth.

In other media or if it is between NPCs I wouldn't consider it really a big deal. It's certainly less shallow then reality, but romance options in game creep me out more than anything.

Amaya wrote:In other media or if it is between NPCs I wouldn't consider it really a big deal. It's certainly less shallow then reality, but romance options in game creep me out more than anything.

Wait, you don't actually think its YOU doing the romance right? You do realise you're a third person viewer into what is basically an interactive cutscene? By that notion playing femshep suggests you want to be a woman; doesn't work like that. There is no difference between reading, say, Twilight off the top of my head and watching a video game cut scene since you're fundamentally watching another character (Shephard) go with somebody you would prefer them to be with. It would be like twilight was actually a branching events book and you could decide as the reader who the lass goes with. That is how I view it. I don't buy the 'its creepy because you're acting out a fantasy' since thats no different from other forms of media (like twilight) where a substantial number of the readers would want to be in the heroines shoes. That applies for a lot of other media where fantasy is invoked and whilst its more detached than in a video game that shouldn't confuse the issue. Infact, romance/sexual themes in general always involve an explcit amount of self-fantasy even if the reader/viewer is a third person spectator. If you find something appealing then it obviously implies that you would want what you're reading. The very fact that Shep has his/her own voice and that you view him/her in third person only adds to this. Its more like watching a movie or TV series than what you're suggesting. Only difference is that you get to decide what happens.

Morinth, obviously. Because there's nothing sexier than a woman that can CRITICAL MISSION FAILURE.

Liara is the only character that I romanced in Mass Effect, so I sort of have to pick her by default. Still, Garrus and Tali both seem like they would be good options. Especially Tali.

Tali I loved her ever since I seen her....Oh god I need help.

Jack because I enjoy women who take the lead

Miranda.

It's always easier to bag a chick with daddy issues.

I never got why people were into Tali:

Henners91 wrote:I never got why people were into Tali:

This is Bioware. Were you really expecting her to look hideous?

You just made Manchu's week Henners.

As to why folks like Tali, its the voice, also partially combined with the look, but I'd say mostly the voice.

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:As to why folks like Tali, its the voice, also partially combined with the look, but I'd say mostly the voice.

I would have to agree there with the voice, though her entire character is quite attractive.

Tali is by far my favorite. She has the most adorable mannerisms and her accent is about as hot as it gets. I love her drunk scene in ME3!

Shepard: How are you getting drunk?
Tali: Very carefully. Turian Brandy, triple filtered and introduced into the suit through an Emergency Induction Port.
Shepard: That's a straw, Tali.
Tali: Emergency Induction Port.

I just wish we could get a better official release of Tali's face than the crappy photo shopped getty image we got.

I will say that the Jack romance in ME2 is one of the more touching scenes I've seen, but I don't know how it concludes in ME3 because of a weird glitch with my import character. In my current game, I romanced Liara in ME1, and on my first play-through of ME2 I romanced Jack, then romanced nobody in my second play-through and rekindled the romance with Liara in Shadow Broker. But for some reason when I imported the character from 2 to 3, it kept the Jack romance active so I had to kick her to the curb in order to continue romancing Liara. At least she takes it well.

My heart will always belong to the most dashing and dangerous rogue of the series...

...Blasto, Renegade for Life.

Seems people prefer Liara and Tali the most.

Yeah, well I think in game romances are creepy fanservice, especially when they include what amounts to extremely softcore love scenes.

Amaya wrote:Yeah, well I think in game romances are creepy fanservice, especially when they include what amounts to extremely softcore love scenes.

And, how is that different to any other film? Or TV series? Have you even seen most of the stuff on music videos? Sexual themes are a large part of popular culture. Why should video games be singled out as a massive exception to this where its suddenly unacceptable?

Because you're playing the character and you choose to pursue that. Is a sex scene really relevant to the plot? Is not possible to write a good story without including a romance option for the player?

You can play through ME1&2 and not romance anyone and it doesn't hurt the story in any fashion.

It is fanservice at the end of the day. Feth I named my Shepard "Kirk Shepard" to make fun of the series. And was a donkeycave to everybody though out the series. And then fethed the blue chick.

Gak was so cash.

Liara. Really the only way I've every gone. I played through the plots for Ashley, Jack, and Tali as well (I hate Miranda's guts) and out of them I learned this: Ashley is a racist, Jack has some serious emotional issues and needs consoling, and Tali is... Tali.

Amaya wrote:Because you're playing the character and you choose to pursue that. Is a sex scene really relevant to the plot? Is not possible to write a good story without including a romance option for the player?

You can play through ME1&2 and not romance anyone and it doesn't hurt the story in any fashion.

And you choose to go and see a film or read a book that involves certain themes; however mildly expressed. Plenty of books describe sex and have romance when its unneccesary to the central plot (Wars of Light and Shadow) because it adds to the characters; resorting to innuendo and implying something going on just makes no sense. You're getting really hung up on the misguided distinction that because its YOU making the decision its more wrong than if you simply watch it as a passive observer. Not only is that a questionable way of thinking about playing a game since you are as much a passive observer but I fail to see how any less sin is made by watching a James Bond movie with a sex scene. Taking pleasure as a passive observer is no worse than doing so in a more pro-active role. The same argument can be said toward violence in video games. There is no difference between participating in virtual violence and being compliict by watching virtual violence.

Also you make it out as though a romance option detracts from the plot or characters in some way. Thats just non-sensical; romance is a strong theme in any genre with more than one gender (unless the characters are homo-sexual that is ). Also I think you're being far too puritan in the your interpretation of the word 'sex scene' here. You only ever see the characters rolling around together and partially naked; sex is implied but you don't actually see the deed nor is there any sort of pornographic luridness you're implying. The scenes represent the characters sincere passion and love; they're not really trying to be erotic.Its a pretty stereotypical and culturally accepted expression of how love is represented.

You know Im actually suprised Liara was so popular. Tali was no suprise of course, even I really liked Tali and if it wasnt for the fact she was an Alien I probably would have romanced her

But Liara? I always kind of just said "oh another alien, eh, she seems like an okay person, I guess im okay with her on my team"

Totalwar, stop trying to justify your fanservice by comparing it to other media. Its a flawed argument, especially because a significant portion of romance in other media is equally pointless, especially in James Bond films, where is blatant fanservice...why else would they have bimbos named Pussy Galore, etc?

The only reason to explore romance options in video games is if you're an OCD completionist WHO HAS TO DO everything or if you find it titillating. The fact people even discuss the various character traits and emotional merits of possible romance options is somewhat disturbing...more so when they compare them to people in RL...