And we're back! On this part we'll be talking about everyone's favorite blue race of aliens and their respective ark.
Great White Buffalo
I think my biggest problem with the Asari in Andromeda is that they aren't properly utilized as a race. Every Asari feels the same, almost as if they're all still in their rambunctious maiden phase. Even the veteran Asari on the ark seem to make costly and short sighted decisions. In a way, I can see a good explanation for this behavior being that only young Asari decided to come on this expedition. Matriarchs wouldn't bother with that type of venture and certainly wouldn't commit to such an impulsive effort with no clear outcome.
But the game doesn't offer this explanation. I made this point in my Retrospective: Peebee (and many other Asari) essentially feel like humans with a blue paint job. Her mannerisms are human, the words she uses are based on human concepts, and she has absolutely no regard for Asari at large. This isn't a flaw as much as it is just bizarre.
As a writer, language matters not just with regard to grammar or syntax but how your characters speak. How Peebee speaks says volumes on where she's from, her point of view, and what she values. And everything Peebee says makers her seem more human than alien. Liara in Mass Effect 1 has a bit of dialogue where she described her impressions of humans; intimidating, brazen, and quick to action. She relates these behaviors as possibly due to a shorter life span. Her dialogue is stilted and she makes verbal blunders in trying to translate her meaning to you. Compare that to Mordin's dialogue in Mass Effect 2 about Salarian lifespans and how fast he talks; it feels like we have a consistent writer that understands the weight of dialogue (maybe not bad, just not edited as much as I might like). I don't know what picture Peebee helps paint besides... Milky Way is old hat, Andromeda is where it's at.
Stranger still is that this makes the only insight we get on the Asari come from Cora. On the reverse, Cora feels like a young Asari with a human paint job. Cora as a mouth piece for an entire race of people that aren't her own just feels off and only further cements her as an outsider to the group of people that want nothing to do with her. Cora's character arc makes sense, but with so little content over hours of gameplay, our main impression of her is that she'll always be an Asari wannabe.
Long story short: if you described the Asari as the wise, diplomatic, and patient aliens we come to know them as in the original trilogy, I wouldn't think you were talking about the aliens we see in Andromeda. And none of this is a problem in it of itself. It just doesn't make sense as a continuation of a species we already know about. You might as well have made a new species and put in effort to accentuate them.
Problem #2 - Tending to the Flock (Quest given by Head of Colonial Affairs, Addison)
The premise of the Asari ark quest goes something like this.
1. Cora keeps an eye for the Asari ark
2. Survivors from the ark relay a story of being hunted by an elite group of kett
3. As you find the ark, you discover the Asari pathfinder's second in command stole important data. 4. This is why they are being hunted and resulted in the death of their original pathfinder
5. You save the ark and help Cora make the decision to reveal that it was all the second in command's fault.
It's fairly well done and helps temper Cora's hero worship mentality. The resulting choice to reveal the second in command's actions and if she should remain the new pathfinder is a nuanced layer of decisions in a complex scenario. You can choose to not reveal her actions. You can reveal her actions and get her fired. You can reveal her actions and keep her around. It all depends on what matters to you as the player. Round of applause.
But the story's separation from the main game is still fairly noticeable considering it involves ten thousand missing Asari. This is another instance of the game not being able to narrow down what it wants to be about (this quest is optional in the game after all). My change to the quest would mostly deal with integrating it with meeting the Angaran race.
As the natural diplomats, the Asari would want to be at the forefront of extending any olive branches. In the rework version; Addison would talk to you about a distress beacon being given off by the Asari ark at their designated habitat world. In this version, it's Aya (the main world Angaran exist around, though not their homeworld). The Asari, being open to peace, would opt to try and share the space while also keeping their cards close to the chest.
*Sidenote: For the sake of companion pacing, this would be a good place to be able to pick up Peebee and Jaal as party members. Between this planet and Elios pizza in the last one; we get to actually encourage the player to go to these first two worlds in order to build their team and learn more about this new galaxy. The third quest (and subsequent ark) would become available once Ryder has proven him/herself as being able to handle one or more of these quests.
The distress beacon relays a message of losing planet viability and possible resources. What the Asari don't mention is that they're referring to the Angaran people. I mentioned before that I wanted the kett to be twisted versions of the Angara as a result of the scourge's influence. After agreeing to work together, the Asari dig through the local vault's database and discover the Angaran were created by the Remnant. The scourge as a weapon would be meant to undo the Remnant's creations and turn them into monsters.
The Asari as of ME3 were revealed to be holding onto secret information that could've changed the landscape of the galaxy. Leaving them as the ones holding the cards in this similar scenario allows us to play out the story from their point of view. More importantly, as an "advanced race" we get make decisions from the point of view of a foreign colonizer. It'd be an interesting scenario on a large scale that gives us more room to understand our role in this new setting.
The quest structure would revolve around fighting off the Kett mutations and stabilizing the effects of the scourge by reaching deep into Aya's vault and control center. We save the day with Peebee's expertise and Jaal's local knowledge. But the ultimate choice boils down to if we ought to make the Angaran's origins public knowledge.
The Asari, prioritizing stability and being traditionally against rapid uplift of species, would argue for keeping it quiet and letting the Angara slowly come into their own. Your decision would affect the Angaran presence within the main story and how they might be available for endgame encounters.
P.S.
To reiterate the purpose of this re-work (since it's been so long since I started this whirlwind affair), I'm not bashing on the original game as not being "good." I certainly don't prefer it in contrast to the original trilogy but the originals have their problematic moments as well. For anyone new and confused as to the reason why I go so far into depth about how I would've done it; (besides being bored) this is simply how I enjoy the medium. As a writer, I enjoy taking it apart, mixing and matching pieces and seeing what fits and what could've been done. It helps hone my own work as a writer and gives me an outlet to express how I feel about content I have genuine love for.
Stay tuned for more!
- Gabe
Writer, Gamer, Content Creator for Huffle N' Stuff
@GabeNStuff
 |
| Embrace Eternity |
I think my biggest problem with the Asari in Andromeda is that they aren't properly utilized as a race. Every Asari feels the same, almost as if they're all still in their rambunctious maiden phase. Even the veteran Asari on the ark seem to make costly and short sighted decisions. In a way, I can see a good explanation for this behavior being that only young Asari decided to come on this expedition. Matriarchs wouldn't bother with that type of venture and certainly wouldn't commit to such an impulsive effort with no clear outcome.
But the game doesn't offer this explanation. I made this point in my Retrospective: Peebee (and many other Asari) essentially feel like humans with a blue paint job. Her mannerisms are human, the words she uses are based on human concepts, and she has absolutely no regard for Asari at large. This isn't a flaw as much as it is just bizarre.
As a writer, language matters not just with regard to grammar or syntax but how your characters speak. How Peebee speaks says volumes on where she's from, her point of view, and what she values. And everything Peebee says makers her seem more human than alien. Liara in Mass Effect 1 has a bit of dialogue where she described her impressions of humans; intimidating, brazen, and quick to action. She relates these behaviors as possibly due to a shorter life span. Her dialogue is stilted and she makes verbal blunders in trying to translate her meaning to you. Compare that to Mordin's dialogue in Mass Effect 2 about Salarian lifespans and how fast he talks; it feels like we have a consistent writer that understands the weight of dialogue (maybe not bad, just not edited as much as I might like). I don't know what picture Peebee helps paint besides... Milky Way is old hat, Andromeda is where it's at.
Stranger still is that this makes the only insight we get on the Asari come from Cora. On the reverse, Cora feels like a young Asari with a human paint job. Cora as a mouth piece for an entire race of people that aren't her own just feels off and only further cements her as an outsider to the group of people that want nothing to do with her. Cora's character arc makes sense, but with so little content over hours of gameplay, our main impression of her is that she'll always be an Asari wannabe.
Long story short: if you described the Asari as the wise, diplomatic, and patient aliens we come to know them as in the original trilogy, I wouldn't think you were talking about the aliens we see in Andromeda. And none of this is a problem in it of itself. It just doesn't make sense as a continuation of a species we already know about. You might as well have made a new species and put in effort to accentuate them.
 |
| Jazz Hands! |
The premise of the Asari ark quest goes something like this.
1. Cora keeps an eye for the Asari ark
2. Survivors from the ark relay a story of being hunted by an elite group of kett
3. As you find the ark, you discover the Asari pathfinder's second in command stole important data. 4. This is why they are being hunted and resulted in the death of their original pathfinder
5. You save the ark and help Cora make the decision to reveal that it was all the second in command's fault.
It's fairly well done and helps temper Cora's hero worship mentality. The resulting choice to reveal the second in command's actions and if she should remain the new pathfinder is a nuanced layer of decisions in a complex scenario. You can choose to not reveal her actions. You can reveal her actions and get her fired. You can reveal her actions and keep her around. It all depends on what matters to you as the player. Round of applause.
But the story's separation from the main game is still fairly noticeable considering it involves ten thousand missing Asari. This is another instance of the game not being able to narrow down what it wants to be about (this quest is optional in the game after all). My change to the quest would mostly deal with integrating it with meeting the Angaran race.
As the natural diplomats, the Asari would want to be at the forefront of extending any olive branches. In the rework version; Addison would talk to you about a distress beacon being given off by the Asari ark at their designated habitat world. In this version, it's Aya (the main world Angaran exist around, though not their homeworld). The Asari, being open to peace, would opt to try and share the space while also keeping their cards close to the chest.
*Sidenote: For the sake of companion pacing, this would be a good place to be able to pick up Peebee and Jaal as party members. Between this planet and Elios pizza in the last one; we get to actually encourage the player to go to these first two worlds in order to build their team and learn more about this new galaxy. The third quest (and subsequent ark) would become available once Ryder has proven him/herself as being able to handle one or more of these quests.
The distress beacon relays a message of losing planet viability and possible resources. What the Asari don't mention is that they're referring to the Angaran people. I mentioned before that I wanted the kett to be twisted versions of the Angara as a result of the scourge's influence. After agreeing to work together, the Asari dig through the local vault's database and discover the Angaran were created by the Remnant. The scourge as a weapon would be meant to undo the Remnant's creations and turn them into monsters.
The Asari as of ME3 were revealed to be holding onto secret information that could've changed the landscape of the galaxy. Leaving them as the ones holding the cards in this similar scenario allows us to play out the story from their point of view. More importantly, as an "advanced race" we get make decisions from the point of view of a foreign colonizer. It'd be an interesting scenario on a large scale that gives us more room to understand our role in this new setting.
The quest structure would revolve around fighting off the Kett mutations and stabilizing the effects of the scourge by reaching deep into Aya's vault and control center. We save the day with Peebee's expertise and Jaal's local knowledge. But the ultimate choice boils down to if we ought to make the Angaran's origins public knowledge.
The Asari, prioritizing stability and being traditionally against rapid uplift of species, would argue for keeping it quiet and letting the Angara slowly come into their own. Your decision would affect the Angaran presence within the main story and how they might be available for endgame encounters.
 |
| Everything the light touches... is ours now, thanks. |
To reiterate the purpose of this re-work (since it's been so long since I started this whirlwind affair), I'm not bashing on the original game as not being "good." I certainly don't prefer it in contrast to the original trilogy but the originals have their problematic moments as well. For anyone new and confused as to the reason why I go so far into depth about how I would've done it; (besides being bored) this is simply how I enjoy the medium. As a writer, I enjoy taking it apart, mixing and matching pieces and seeing what fits and what could've been done. It helps hone my own work as a writer and gives me an outlet to express how I feel about content I have genuine love for.
Stay tuned for more!
- Gabe
Writer, Gamer, Content Creator for Huffle N' Stuff
@GabeNStuff
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